Blogs are a lot of work. For me, anyway. I spend a lot of time, every single day, doing blog related activity. Even when I am on vacation I still try to answer blog related emails.
As my blog has grown, I’ve found myself getting more overwhelmed with the time and effort required for me to sustain it. I’m not complaining, because at any time I could just stop blogging if I didn’t like it, but it’s a known fact that running a blog isn’t easy.
I didn’t know you could outsource anything blog related until early this year. It turns out you can outsource a whole lot, though, and you can find a lot of the services on Bloggers Classifieds.
Here are 5 time sucking blogging activities that can be outsourced:
(Also, I realize that this sounds like an advertisement for Andrea, but it’s not. I have the best of intentions, I swear!)
Commenting
Commenting takes up, hands down, the most time of any other blog related activity on my end. It’s a time suck. Especially if you want to leave thoughtful comments that are more than one sentence long.
You can outsource commenting, and a couple of bloggers will go out and leave comments for you for per-comment fee.
This is not something I’d pay for, simply because while commenting is a time suck, it’s also my favorite part of blogging. Plus, I feel like I’ve built relationships with the bloggers that I frequently comment on, and it would be odd if somebody else was to comment on their blogs on behalf of me.
However, if you can’t comment on the amount of blogs you’d like to, and you want to respond to frequent commenters on your site, outsourcing commenting can be a good way to do it.
Carnival Submissions
Submitting to carnivals can be a very important way to build links, create relationships, and drive traffic to your blog. Carnivals are essentially just a big, long link round up, usually on a specific topic, that a host posts on their blog.
Because these roundups are so big, it’s not like a weekly link love that you are included in because a peer liked your post. Instead, you have to actually do some leg work and submit your posts to these carnivals.
While this isn’t as big of a time suck as commenting is, carnival submissions still take a bit of hunting around, and let’s be real – it’s not even close to being as fun or engaging as commenting.
I outsource my carnival submissions to Corey over at 20′s Finances. He’s great.
Techie Issues
I’ve mentioned before that I suck at the internet. Anything techie is really beyond my scope of knowledge, and while I’m sure I could learn, I have no interest in it either.
When something goes wrong on my blog, no matter what it is, I take it to Twitter. Twitter rarely has the answer, so then I take it to Andrea. She’s a godess and saves me a huge chunk of time every time (which is often) I break something on my blog.
Since internet/tech/blog issues are the things that give me the most headaches, it’s always worth it to outsource it for me.
Design
The average blogger does not have the know how or eye to go and design their blog to make it look half decent.
A bunch of them thing they do, but in reality, owner designed blogs can be hard to look at, not very functional, and inefficient.
That includes me. My blog is suffering right now but I have something in the works for it. Once again, Andrea is your go-to girl on this one. She’s fabulous and, frankly, kind of a perfectionist. Which can definitely work in your favor.
There’s something so nice about having a beautiful new blog design without having to lift a finger.
Social Media
I handle all of my own social media now (Twitter, Facebook, Google+) but it’s getting time consuming having to update all of the social media that I am on, and sometimes I let it slip through the cracks.
You can outsource social media management so that you don’t have to worry about keeping up with all that is out there.
This is something I should definitely do, because my Facebook page looks a little empty, but I do plan on working on it eventually.
What do you outsource blog-wise? If you don’t outsource anything, do you plan to?
At See Debt Run, we are still doing all of this stuff ourselves.. There are two of us, so that it makes it a bit easier, but yeah– a few of those can be a bit of a time suck.
I can’t imagine paying someone to do my commenting.. Michelle has been doing probably 75% of it in recent weeks, but commenting is about building relationships and community. This is what will help one’s site grow.. Yes, it is a time suck. But like you said, Daisy, it should be fun. I understand that not everyone will have the time to do it right, however.
That said, one big exception to our DIY is when it comes to site design. Neither myself nor Michelle has a knack for design, and we have been talking to the wonderful Ms. Nuts & Bolts lately about a rework.
I still do all of it, too. It is extremely time consuming. In the future I may have to outsource, but for right now it’s all me.
More like 90%…but who’s counting?
hehe
Daisy, this is a new one for me. Never ever thought bloggers outsource. I always do the time sucking stuff – commenting etc. as I believe that’s what makes it personal and fun. I have 3 kids, a full time job, elderly parents and hobbies so I must be doing ok with my time management – lol! My blog needs a revamp so I’ll be getting in touch with Andrea; thanks for the tips.
I hope lots of people want your commenting services
Definitely seems like something that’ll work for you. I don’t think I’ll outsource though, as I like what I do. Well except for design, I’ll have to hire Andrea soon.
I barely outsource anything — nothing except a little bit of advertising — and consequently nothing gets done. I’m bad for commenting, I don’t do nearly enough of it, and my blog has never been featured in any carnivals. I have a graphic design artist working on a banner for my blog right now though so I guess that’s some progress haha
I outsource my carnival submissions and have outsourced a couple of posts to be written.
I’ll probably hire more ghost writing in the future. Paying somebody to comment is something I’ve considered in the past as it does take WAY too much of my time to comment on everybody’s blog. However, as you mentioned, it is the most fun thing to do.
I’ve been wanting to outsource more, but at this point I’ve only been outsourcing design work. I think the only other thing that I might start paying for soon is carnival submissions. It does take some time each week, but I know I submit to a lot more carnivals myself than if I was paying someone else to do it. So I’d probably try to hire someone who would do a little higher volume.
I can’t imagine outsourcing my comments. Personally, if a comment gets left by Money Beagle, I want it to be from my fingertips touching the keyboard. I understand why people do it (and I agree with most of the other items on the list) but I don’t see commenting is one area I’d ever want to give up.
I had a hunch there was a place to go to get things done! I only outsource my marketing to Crystal at BIFS. Meanwhile, everything else (good and bad) is me. I’ve read about a lot of other bloggers outsourcing post writing; but usually only if they run more than one blog. I don’t think I would (or could) outsource comments – that just feels weird. The Carnival Submissions was another thing I had considered outsourcing – it is a big chore every week!
LIAR! This whole post was just a cleverly disguised advertisement for that lunatic at Nuts and Bolts Media! But I guess I shouldn’t talk smack about her since she designed all my stuff. =P
Anyway, I don’t outsource anything because I’m too much of a control freak. I’d love to have a VA to help with emails, but I don’t trust anyone to know what I need to see and what I don’t. I’d spend all my time checking up on their work, and I might as well do it myself if I’m going to do that. Maybe someday I’ll calm down and stop caring so much, but not anytime soon.
Andrea, you are freakishly controlling. Just like me! lol
Excellent sponsored post, Daisy and Andrea!
I currently don’t outsource anything for my blog or my freelance jobs. But it’s something I’ve been considering doing for a while now. The only reason I can’t get myself to start outsourcing, is because I’m a control freak and like everything to be just so. I like to think I have high standards, but I think I’m just being OCD. I should probably take the plunge and find a good VA to hire – even if it’s for 10-20 hours per month. I bet my stress would decrease and productivity would increase too. Hmm, this sounds like a good project to research.
I don’t recommend certain things for outsourcing like comments – to me this is personal and represents the online brand. I think often the price doesn’t match the service.
I don’t outsource anything, because I still want my blog to reflect my personality and be all 100% me. I know it sounds stupid, especially if I want my blog to grow…but I still want to keep my blog just for my sake. If it doesn’t grow, that’s fine, but if it does, that’s fine too! I think a blogger’s goals will have to align in order to outsource some things. I’m still doing it old school and keeping my blog 100% Erika
I only outsource advertising, and that’s because evidently I have a bad attitude.
Because blogging is such a time-consuming task in all phases, outsourcing sounds like a great idea. This is especially true if your time is limited in the first place.
Commenting is usually the big time consumer for me. However, I think that I would rather do that task myself rather than outsource. As the blog owner, I try to put a lot of care and consideration into my comments. I don’t think that outsourcing would meet those criteria,
Yet, I still think that outsourcing overall is a great idea for busy people.
Why blogging if you want to outsource any part of it? This is about you and your unique style and that’s why I read blogs. For the unique content and style. So, i disagree about outsourced commenting? If you are to busy to reply then so be it, I don’t need a robot to reply to my comments. For that I have call centers.
I really need to outsource a bit more. I feel overwhelmed and squeezed for time pretty much constantly now. I would hate to outsource commenting since it is one of my favorite thing to do. Carnival submission – sure.
I really need to start outsourcing commenting and other smaller things. I just don;t have the time.
I know that you can outsource commenting, but I still prefer to do it myself. What a VA writes just isn’t the same as what you write.
I am not making enough money yet to outsource. I do eventually plan to hire someone to redesign my blog and submit my articles for carnival submissions.
I agree that outsourcing is vital but would never think of outsourcing commenting – this is my way to keep in touch with an exciting and vibrant community.
I don’t outsource anything yet because I am just starting out and learning the ropes. Eventually i will probably hire Andrea to properly design my blog and I might even outsource carnivals. My blogs needs some income first though.
Outsourcing would only be viable if the service would pay for itself or if you’re blog is starting to make serious dough. I’m saving up for logo and site design as my next steps.
Hey you know I don’t outsource my comments since they always have typos
meant to say “your” blog.
Amen, amen, amen! It is so much work. I am so struggling to figure this out and balance it all. Appreciate the outsourcing idea, but moreover am glad to know I’m not alone in trying to keep up with my blogging work!
I don’t think I could ever outsource commenting. It is my favorite part about blogging. While it is a lot of work running a blog I think it is totally worth it. Techie issues I try to fix myself, but most of the time I run straight to Andrea because she is so good at it.
I outsource my carnival submissions-which has been amazing for site traffic, and Andrea did my header thanks to a great twitter recommendation. She also gave me a few tips and answered all of my questions. Great post!
The idea of outsourcing comments is a huge turn off to me. I would be annoyed if I found out someone was doing it on my blog and I would never use someone to do it because it’s insincere and the exact opposite quality of what I enjoy about the blog world; intimacy.
Great tips for outsourcing. I’m definitely going to look into all this carnival business that’s for sure.
I can’t imagine having someone comment for me. That’s so strange! Well of course I got my pro website redesigned. I’m glad I did. I could have done it myself eventually, but it wouldn’t have been worth the stress and headache. And on the technical side, I plan on getting my PF blog moved over to be self-hosted so I can start putting ads on. Again. I have bigger fish to fry, so if I can get help with that I will!
I outsource carnival submissions through Corey. It is such a relief not to worry about it! Other than that, I am on my own. I did outsourced my blog re-design because I am not a techie and don’t have time to learn.
I outsource my carnival submissions, website coding, and general tech stuff troubleshooting . Comments, and social media I’d never do, simply because I wouldn’t be in touch with others and leave my personal touch.
One other thing you can outsource is bring on a VA, and a second writer. I’m at the point where I’m starting to consider a second writer, having one will give me more time to chase new business.
I don’t know how I missed this post until now. THANKS for the mention! Outsourcing saves a lot of time. I’m glad to help.
I have Corey handle the carnival submissions for me; I wasn’t ever too consistent with it, so it’s nice to know everything is getting done.
I’m also going to be getting a new banner for my blog from Andrea soon, because I suck at doing it myself.
This post is super helpful, Daisy! I need to outsource more; except for the awesome work Andrea has already done for me (Yes, I love her too…), I do it all myself, and don’t do much of it well because I’m trying to stay on top of two very separate blogs!
The carnival submission stuff especially is something I’d like to outsource, I should contact Corey.
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I outsource the technical side — such as troubleshooting when a virus attacks my site. I’m also looking to hire a designer to re-design my site.
But I do 100 percent of the writing and the commenting myself. I don’t trust (or want) anyone else to speak for me.
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