When you’re a busy blogger, it can seem like you always have a mile-long to-do list. From coming up with topic ideas to writing, publishing, and promoting, there are plenty of important tasks to keep you busy every day. But are you being as efficient with your time as you could be?
If you’re not actively applying the 80/20 rule to your blog, you may be missing out on the opportunity to get better results with less effort. Want to learn more? Check this out…
The Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 Rule, states that 80% of your results come from just 20% of your efforts and activities. When applying this to your blog, you may notice that approximately:
It's important to note that 80/20 is a benchmark, and the actual ratio isn't set in stone. For your blog, it may be closer to 70/30, 85/15, or even 95/5. The ratio itself isn't nearly as important as what you do with it.
The secret to success lies in recognizing that not every hour of work is of equal value and that keeping yourself busy does not necessarily generate extra income. As a blogger, you can create more time in your day and increase your revenue by focusing on the 20% of things that create the most significant results.
To identify the activities that fall into your top 20%, start by writing down everything you do when you blog and all of the other tasks that fill up your workday. Then use that list to identify the tasks that are high-value and the ones that are just taking up your time.
Note that some of the tasks that fall into the 80% category may still be important, so you shouldn't necessarily stop doing all of them. However, you'll want to make sure you focus on the 20% tasks first, then move on to the rest of the tasks only after all of the high-value tasks are done.
Still not quite sure how to apply the 80/20 rule to your blog? Start with these quick tips.
According to the 80/20 rule, the bulk of your traffic and sales likely come from 20% of your blog posts. So, make sure you're using Google Analytics or another tracking and reporting service to keep track of which blogs are performing the best.
Once you’ve identified your high-traffic blogs, you can focus your efforts on promoting them to an even larger audience. You may also find that it’s possible to update old blog posts that were top performers in the past, so you can revive them and start driving traffic again.
Once you’ve identified the tasks that are not part of your 20%, it’s time to decide whether they’re really necessary. You may find that it’s possible to eliminate or automate some of the things that have been taking up your valuable time. Then, start thinking about outsourcing your blogging tasks.
Generally, if a task is not something that only you can do, it’s a candidate for outsourcing. Some ideas to consider include:
Once you start focusing on your high-value tasks, your revenue will increase. Then, you can use a portion of your new profits to cover some of the costs of outsourcing. Ultimately, you’ll end up freeing up more time while also setting yourself up for even greater success.
