A Day In The Life

Posted by Khris in Khris' Corner

This was originally meant to be a snarky response to an email exchange I’ve had with a recent visitor who insisted that I custom design a couple of projects for her – for free – because, you know, I obviously had a lot of extra time since I’m “just a blogger” and “that’s what this site is for”. (Really? Indentured servitude has never been promoted as a feature on this site.)

While I usually don’t engage my readers in any drama, that was just too funny not to share. It’s also a great segue into giving you a peek at the behind-the-scenes of what it takes to keep DIY Bride chugging along in the blogosphere.

DIYBride.com is not my sole source of employment – and I really argue “employment” because I have historically received no revenue from it and pay for all of the hosting fees, project supplies, and other necessities out of my pocket. But I’m not complaining! This site is a labor of love for me and I wouldn’t give it up for anything. I’ve met some amazing, kind, and utterly delightful people and do have a blast with the site.

That said, I do get a bit peeved when visitors make assumptions about how cushy I have it here or when they have a messed up sense of entitlement to my time and resources. I volunteer my time, creativity, and funds because I want to. Not because I owe it to anyone. For the most part, my visitors are gracious, fun, and lovely people and the take-take-take-gimme-gimme-gimme folks are few and far between.

Ah…where was I? Oh, yes… There seems to be a misconception about what I – and other bloggers – do to keep our sites going. It’s a hell of a lot of work, even if you don’t see it! The amazing Kathleen Fasanella of Fashion Incubator posted about this very topic a few months ago in response to another post at ProBlogger that gave a little glimpse of the daily blogger grind.

My list is very similar to Kathleen’s so I’m going to amend my answers to hers so that DIY Bride readers can get a the behind-the-scenes peek at what I do. (My notes are italicized.)

All day long, every day, Monday through Sunday (no days off):

1. Deleting spam comments
2. Responding to comments
3. Writing to people who comment
4. Responding to reader emails
5. Deleting bogus forum registrations (30+ a day)
6. Responding to forum topics
7. Moderating the forums, deleting spam.

Daily:

1. Writing entries and sometimes even posting them. (This cracked me up! I’m entirely guilty of this.)
2. Reading what other bloggers write on my topics of interest.
3. Taking calls/emails from genuinely nice people with a “quick” question -at no pay
4. Researching and compiling resources of interest to DIYers.
5. Visiting industry-related sites and associations.
6. Monitoring and tweaking SEO. This is an ongoing, tedious task.
7. Check MySpace. Add new friends. Respond to comments.
   

Weekly, off and on:

1. Checking for updates, plugins and utilities for the blog
2. Brainstorming for ideas for features, projects, and topics. I keep copious notes.
3. Keeping up with the field via traditional media.
4. Monitoring and posting to other forums
5. Tweaking the site templates, updating links, fixing configuration errors.
6. Monitoring site stats to see who’s sending me traffic. I often post on referring blogs.
7. Uploading and editing photos, one of my least favorite activities. It also takes time (you wouldn’t think file organization is an issue but it is). This is one reason I’m doing fewer tutorials lately. The rest of the site work eats into my time. (Couldn’t have said it better!)
8. Creating projects, writing instructions, taking photos. There are so many things I have offline right now, it’s not funny.
9. Network with other bloggers and industry folk online and off.
10. Research business stuff: blogging, advertising, marketing. Lots of reading.

Monthly/Intermittently/Occasionally:

1. Searching for sites reposting my original content.
2. Modifying widgets, spam blockers, keeping up with the latest blog software and forum software updates.
3. Field calls and emails about “business opportunties”. Find out who’s legit, who’s a scammer; evaluate if offer is good for me.
   
4. Investigate ad and sponsorship opportunities.
5. Mentor other bloggers, writers, crafters.
6. Review submissions from guest writers.
7. Research project ideas, resources, ideas for new books.
8. Investigate new features for the site, test them out. Decide to implement or pass.
9. Update /monitor Flickr and YouTube. I’m pretty lax on this, actually.
   

And then, after all that, I spend time working on my (sometimes) paying job(s) as a crafter, author, instructor, and event coordinator. More often than not, the paying stuff comes first, and the list for those ventures is much longer than the DIY stuff.

So, there you have it! My wish is that when you visit blogs that you’re kind and gracious to the people that operate them. Many of us are completely (or very poorly) uncompensated for our work and the amount of love and passion we pour into them. A little thanks and a little understanding are all we need to inspire us to keep moving forward.

Cheers,

Khris