Managing one blog is time-consuming enough, so why would anyone want to run multiple blogs?

Lots of reasons!

Maybe you want to have another blog just for fun.

Maybe you want to start networking in another industry.

Maybe you want to build another revenue stream.

Maybe you are a professional blogger that needs to manage multiple blogs for clients.

There are so many reasons for managing multiple blogs, and although all the experts say it’s silly to spend time focusing on more than one thing, let me explain why it can benefit your life.

When I first dipped my toes into the blogging world, I started with a blog for college students because that’s what I knew best. From there, that blog morphed into a few other niches where I eventually landed on copywriting, my true passion.

If I hadn’t given myself room to try multiple blogs, make connections, and build out my portfolio, I wouldn’t be where I am now.

Not everyone is lucky enough to know what their true calling is, and I am a firm believer in the idea that blogging can help you discover it. Blogging can also help build your small business and depending on your marketing strategy, I’ve seen some benefit from running multiple blogs.

No matter your reason, this article will show you exactly how you can manage it all.

1. Decide on a realistic publishing and work schedule.

When starting any creative project, most of us have an optimistic view of being able to fit it all in. It’s easy to imagine that you can fit in multiple blogs a week and maintain that schedule for the whole year, but you don’t want to overwhelm yourself before you even begin.

It’s better to start slow and work your way up than starting out with a lot of posts and burning out before you gain any traction.

Even if you can only publish one piece of content every other week, the best thing you can do for any blog is stay consistent and keep going.

2. Pick your tools.

There are no “one-size-fits-all” solutions to managing your creative workload. Some people prefer digital, some prefer paper. I’m (mostly) a paper girl myself, but I understand the benefit of having everything digital. If you’re like me and prefer to brainstorm offline, paper might be your best bet.

The most important thing is to use tools that don’t get in your way. You want them to work for you instead of you working for them.

How I do it:

Here’s what I do, the tools I use, and the process I follow so please borrow what works best for you. My process is also incredibly cheap so you can do this whether you’re a beginner or expert.

The biggest hurdle for me to overcome in the beginning was organizing all the ideas I had in my head and being able to put them all in order.

I joined Trello and set up a board for each blog. I have one category called “Ideas” where I type post ideas as they come. I also carry a small pocket notebook so I can track ideas and then funnel them into Trello as I go. You never know when inspiration will strike!

A note: Trello now also has a calendar option, so you can use that, too.

3. Brainstorm content for the months and year ahead.

Once you have a whole list of ideas, it’s time to organize them all.

I look at the year and imagine what I want each blog to achieve by the end of the year. Maybe you want a certain amount of posts, a networking opportunity, a set number of followers… Whatever it is, knowing what you want in the future will help you organize your steps now.

I use a Crayola’s child’s floor pad that you can buy online or at any major store, like Target. They’re huge and it helps you truly brain dump your entire year.

I make little squares for each month on these sheets and then I start plugging in my focus or theme for each month.

For example, let’s say you run a fitness blog. January would be New Year’s Resolutions, April would be starting to lose weight for summer, June could be healthy summer recipes, Thanksgiving could be – you get the idea.

Be sure to plug in when you’re launching products, writing an ebook, going to conferences, or anything else that will shape your focus each month.

I go through pens like crazy, so here’s a professional writer tip: buy them from closeout stores. These are my personal favorite and I can’t recommend a pen/highlighter combo enough.

This will help so you can highlight the most important events and topics you want to cover each month.

Now that you have a publishing schedule and a general outline for the year, at the start of every month you can look at your lists and plug them into your monthly calendar.

If you keep them all together on one planner, be sure to start color-coding each blog so you can find your To Do’s easily.

4. Give yourself room to adjust.

Being able to juggle multiple projects isn’t easy, but it’s worth it once you get the hang of it.

The most important thing to remember is that if you fall off the wagon, miss a few days, or have to focus on something else, it’s truly no big deal in the grand scheme of things.

Just pick right back up where you left off. You’re human! People will understand. The biggest mistake people make when trying to manage multiple blogs is quitting before they can get the ball rolling.