What Do Bloggers Do All Day: How I Actually Spend My Time Each Day

What do bloggers do all day? If you’re wondering what they are busy with aside from writing and drinking coffee, I’ve got you.

If you’re totally new to this business model or haven’t even started your blog yet, you might have no idea what blogging actually involves. And while the reality might look different for you, let me share how it is for me and most other bloggers I’ve learned from or have been in contact with over the years.

I’ve been blogging for over a decade now, run multiple blogs, earn a full-time income from this, and also teach blogging as a business. So I love sharing the ins and outs of it.

If you want to start your first blog, you can enroll in my free course that covers the steps:

If you want to dive deeper into this business model, feel free to check out the blogging courses I offer, or join us inside the membership Fearless Bloggers.

Blogging is not just writing.

One of the biggest misconceptions about bloggers is that they just write and publish content.

And while that’s a big part of what we do, there’s a lot more to it. 

Content is at the center of everything else, but it also includes things like:

• Keyword research so you can cover topics that are in demand;
• Planning your content – creating an outline, deciding what points to cover and what other keywords to include;
• Tracking your content – I do that in a spreadsheet and add the date it was posted on, the keyword it was optimized for, its title, and the URL. After some time, you can go back and update the post, see how it’s ranking and what you can do about it;
• Speaking of which, updating old content is another one of the most important tasks of a blogger. It can be small updates (like updating the images, fixing some formatting errors or adding new internal links) or big ones (such as optimizing for a different keyword, adding more content, and republishing the post to today’s date);
• Sharing the content – content marketing is a whole group of activities that bloggers do, and they can vary depending on what channels they promote their content on. Each social media channel has its own rules, for example, and as bloggers, we need to learn how the platform works, post consistently, engage with people, and grow our reach there. That takes a lot of time and effort. 

What else do bloggers do?

Bloggers also review analytics often and take decisions based on it, engage with readers in any way they can, and use different tools (for SEO, content management, and anything else).

Pinterest for bloggers

Pinterest is a blogger’s best friend, and that usually involves daily tasks such as:

• creating new Pins for old posts;
• creating Pins for new content;
• optimizing the Pins;
• pinning them;
• using a tool to schedule Pins in advance;
• doing keyword research in Pinterest;
• checking Pinterest analytics;
• planning more content for Pinterest;
• creating blog posts based on Pinterest keywords.

Now image all these tasks (in one way or another) for each social media channel you’re on. 

Each takes time and a specific set of activities, learning how the algorithm works, taking courses on the topic, staying up to date with the latest trends, reading about the platform, and so much more.

Emails

Bloggers also spend a lot of time in their email inbox, answering emails. They could be from brands who want to work with you (and publish sponsored content on your site, for example), guest posting opportunities, potential collaborations, questions from your audience, and anything else.

We also do email marketing. The initial setup (starting an email list, having lead magnets, creating opt-in forms, placing them on our site, etc.) might include one-time tasks, but there’s a lot you need to keep doing, such as:

• sending regular newsletters to your audience;
• reviewing and updating automated email sequences;
• tracking analytics (email open rate and click-through rate can tell you a lot);
• using other features of your email marketing tool;
• growing your email list
• creating new lead magnets;
• updating old ones;
• email list cleanup.

Blog maintenance

Bloggers also need to take care of their blog. That can look differently depending on the content management system you have. 

I use WordPress, and I need to update plugins sometimes, clean my database, check for broken links and do something about them, etc.

All these usually require one click as the plugins are that good, but still, they are little things on my to-do list.

Blog maintenance also includes moderating comments, testing forms, checking the site’s metrics, testing the site speed, re-designing pages, auditing your WordPress plugins and removing some, or replacing them with better ones, optimizing your images, etc.

Monetization Tasks

Other things bloggers do have to do with their income streams.

For me as a course creator and a membership site owner, for example, that means:

• posting new content for members;
• engaging with them;
• updating course content;
• launching new programs;
• updating sales pages;
• adding new lessons to existing programs;
• rethinking my offers and whole product suite
• and so much more.

That’s like a whole business on its own, aside from blogging. And that’s why not every blogger creates and sells digital products.

Your other income streams, even if they are passive, also require some work. 

Affiliate marketing might involve writing affiliate reviews, updating old affiliate links, or sharing an affiliate campaign in your weekly newsletter.

Advertising is related to blog traffic, so you need to constantly be checking your stats and make sure traffic doesn’t go down. 

You may need to change how ads appear on your site so they don’t interfere with the user experience, or disable some options for mobile.

Sponsored blogging is my favorite blog income stream, but that takes work too. Every day I open dozens of emails from existing clients or new ones contacting me to discuss a potential collaboration.

I recently updated my media kit (I share all this inside the membership but also in my course The Blog Sponsorship Boss).

I also have a freebie you can grab if you want to start earning from sponsored content on your blog.

Aside from discussing partnerships, I also publish content clients have provided or create it myself. I send invoices and track payments. I constantly make improvements to my site so it’s attractive to sponsors.

I discover new sponsored networks for bloggers and add my site to them, and so much more.

Also read: The Most Authentic Way to Get Into Affiliate Marketing as a Blogger

What if you own more than one blog?

What do bloggers do if there’s more than one blog in the picture?

Then your day gets even busier because you need to take the same actions for any other site you own and are growing.

There are ways to automate some tasks, be more strategic with your marketing, create content in bulk, and use AI to help you.

But each blog requires new content, optimization, content distribution, and so much more. 

Over time, however, as the site grows, you may need to invest just a few hours weekly in it.

Also read: How to Start a Second Blog (for Free) with WPX Hosting

The Daily Routine of a Blogger

You might be wondering how the day of a blogger goes exactly. Well, there isn’t a fixed way in which you need to spend your day.

If you’re already earning a full-time income, you have total time freedom and are flexible, so you can start and end your day when you want and do work during your most productive hours.

You may do 4 hours of work a day (like I do) if that’s what gives you the best results, or 6-8 hours. You may work 3 days a week, or 7. 

You’re the boss and that’s the beauty of it. Of course, that goes with its own challenges (such as finding discipline, actually getting things done and removing distractions) 

It takes time to see when your most productive time of the day is, how to find focus, what habits to form so you can keep working on your business and enjoy life at the same time. But you’ll get there.

If you need some more specific examples, you can read this post where I share my daily routine as a blogger.

What Do Bloggers Do: The Things You Don’t See

I want to finish this post by mentioning a few things you may not have considered, but which are also a must for everyone building a blogging business.

Personal growth is key. That means building better habits, hacking productivity, prioritizing, reading powerful books, developing a strong mindset, and increasing your emotional intelligence.

All this will make you a better business owner, help you get more done as a blogger on a daily basis, and will guide you to the right next steps and decisions in business.

Another thing you can’t stop doing is learning more about business, and blogging in particular. 

It could be by: 

• reading books;
• listening to podcasts;
• watching videos;
• following bloggers you admire on socials;
• studying the sites of others your niche;
• taking courses;
• joining memberships;
• blog coaching;
• getting a blog audit (I offer that too, by the way) and anything else.

Find the format that works for you and the people who truly inspire you. Learn from those who are living the life you want and who empower you.

Final words

So, what do bloggers do all day according to you?

If you’re a blogger, let me know what other tasks you have on your daily or weekly to-do list.

I hope this post gives you an idea of what your schedule might look like as a full-time blogger. There’s a lot of flexibility in this business model, though, so you can do it all on your terms. Don’t forget that.