When life gets crazy, how do you manage? CoSchedule is the best time management tool that helps stay organized, get things done and get on with the rest of life!
A quick note before getting into this post: I don’t usually post blogging tips here. I know this post won’t be relevant to all of my readers, so I won’t be upset if you choose to skip it. However, for all of you bloggers or those of you thinking about starting a blog, I hope you’ll read on.
I love this here blog. It’s my hobby, my baby, my joy. However, it’s not my only job. Along with blogging and training for the Philadelphia Marathon and the Dopey Challenge, I also have an awesome full time gig at an ad agency.
As this blog continues to grow, it requires more work, and more work requires more time – which I simply don’t have. Recently, I’ve been getting a little overwhelmed with it all. The first thought I have when a friend or family member asks to make plans is, “I want to, but when will I have time to blog or post to social media or follow up with all my linker uppers?!” I’ve gotten annoyed at work for getting in the way of blogging. I’ve gotten annoyed at blogging for getting in the way of work. I’ve gotten annoyed at both for getting in the way of life. I don’t want to be that person. Like I said, I love this blog, but, just like my ad job, it should never get in the way of my personal life. I’ve thought about scaling back, but I really don’t want to do that. I also don’t want to sit here and complain, so… I found a solution!
I’ve heard a ton of bloggers talk about the awesomeness that is CoSchedule and how great it is for organization, but I’ve always been a pretty organized person. Why spend money on something I can do on my own?
Well, on one particular day (actually, it was on my flight home from Blogfest), I was feeling a little bit like I was drowning in catching up with the blog and work and life after being away from it all for a weekend, so I asked Annmarie to show me how it works.
I was hooked. This would be so great for me! I could schedule everything ahead of time and not have to worry about it! I could go out with a friend for a drink and my tweet would be posted for me. I could promote old content with the click of a button. It was genius.
I immediately signed up for a free trial and soon after decided to shell out for the full program. I absolutely love it and want to share its awesomeness with all my fellow bloggers out there. So, allow me to shed some light on what CoSchedule is and how it can help you/your blog.
What is CoSchedule?
CoSchedule is an all-in-one marketing calendar that brings all your content and social media to the same place. You can plan our your content and social shares as far in advance as you’d like. It’s great for helping me organize posts and even better for helping me promote said posts on my social channels. If I need to reorganize, I can simply drag and drop to move things around. It’s SO much better than my old pencil and calendar that was filled with so many eraser smudges I couldn’t read a darn thing! Also, I can access my calendar anywhere there is internet access, which is ions better than schlepping my physical planner around.
How Does CoSchedule Work?
CoSchedule integrates with WordPress, Evernote, Google Docs, Google Analytics, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Buffer and Google+. I use their WordPress plugin and Twitter/Facebook/Butter integrations to schedule social media promotions right from my blog posts. It’s so easy! Check out this video for a more in-depth overview:
How Can CoSchedule Help?
- For one, it makes planning SO much easier! Beyond scheduling my posts, I can map out social shares for the day the post goes live, the day after, a week after, a month after – forever! I can pretty much create a post and map out promoting it for life. It’s a great way to keep people coming for old content and not just the newest of the new.
- It saves me so much time! I write my post. I write a few social posts. Done. No more thinking about it. No more having to tweet from happy hour or rush home to post to Facebook.
- It gives me analytics! CoSchedule shows me how much a post has been shared on different social platforms and what my most popular posts are. That way, I can easily map out more ways to promote them and keep people coming by way of my most popular content. Because of CoSchedule, I know that this post has been shared on Pinterest 2,509 times! I should probably keep an eye on that post, make sure it’s up to date and continue to share it to drive traffic.
How Much Does CoSchedule Cost?
You can try CoSchedule out for free for 14-days. If you’re hooked after that, there are a few different plans you can choose from ranging from $15/mo to $60/mo. I opted for their Solo Marketing Plan, which is $30/mo. It’s not the cheapest. However, CoSchedule offers a great referral program to help bring your costs down (10% off for every person you refer) and will also give you 50% off of your subscription for writing a review!
While I will receive a discount on my subscription for writing this post, I really and truly wanted to share CoSchedule with you. It helps me preserve my sanity in this crazy busy world we live in. It helps me keep doing what I love doing – blogging and connecting with all of you, while also helping me get things done and get on with the rest of life.
So now I’m going to go schedule some social promotions for this post, close my computer, and enjoy a date night with Will!
Let’s Chat:
Bloggers, how do you manage blogging and the rest of life?
What organizational/blogging tools do you love?
Have you tried CoSchedule?
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