Once upon a time I started a series called Blog Tip Tuesdays! I haven’t shared a blog tip in awhile but recently I discovered a free and effective tool that has made my blogging life so much easier and I had to share about it: hello, Google Drive!
Chances are – if you’re like me – you’ve been a gmail user forever but you may not have tapped into that little grid in the top righthand corner of your inbox. Well, go there and begin to explore your Drive! It’s awesome!
What do I love about Google Drive?
- It’s connected to my email and I usually have my inbox open throughout the day.
- I can access it on my phone, anytime, anywhere.
- It’s easy to use and I can create a new document, begin typing, and x the page all while knowing whatever I wrote down got saved.
- I can have an infinite number of folders — and, even better, I can color coordinate them!
- I can create spreadsheets, word documents, forms, or pull in templates.
- I can share documents easily.
- The interface is clean and familiar.
As you can see (below), I created several file folders within my Google Drive account, everything from ambassador program information to blog design ideas. Most of these folders aren’t as detailed as I’d like for them to be, but they’re buckets waiting to be filled!
I have a similar system for organizing my emails. I have a folder for everything and it really helps a.) keep my inbox tidy (unless I need to respond to an email, it gets filed) and b.) makes finding old emails for reference a lot easier. I really love this post from Rhiannon of HeyGorgeous Events on how to tackle your inbox.
Speaking of color coding, I also house my Editorial Calendar on Google Drive. As you know, I use the WordPress Editorial Calendar on my dashboard within WordPress but in addition, I use this Blog Editorial Calendar by Editor (search your Google Drive for the template titled “Blog Editorial Calendar by Editor”).
I really love this calendar because it allows me to color coordinate things, move them around easily and highlight posts when they’re scheduled and after they are published. My good friend Jennifer from Scraps of Life told me about this calendar and I’m so glad she did because I love it.
Since I access my Editorial Calendar a lot, I decided not to put it within a specific folder; however, Google does offer a few quick links to pull out documents filed within various folders. You can select “Recent,” or “Starred” to pull up files you’ve worked on recently or starred for importance or quick reference. I’m trying to keep my drive as clean as possible so right now I only have my Editorial Calendar starred!
At the end of the day what I really love about Google Drive is having one place that I can dump all my ideas, to dos and reference information. I’ve tried writing things down in a special notebook or sending myself emails but having a set place online really works best for me!
One last tip – I recently started recording my monthly users and page views on Google Drive in the folder I’ve titled “Analytics.” It’s great to have this information at-a-glance instead of having to into Google Analytics and search for it every time I need it. I think this is particularly valuable as you try to grow your blog and begin to work with brands. It’s great to be able to show how far you’ve come. Just look – my first month of users was 537 and last month it was up to 7,523! Woo hoo! We’re growing! 🙂
I am always on the hunt for blogging tips and tricks, please share yours!
Do you use Google Drive for blogging?
What are your favorite blog organization tools?
*For more blog tips like this one, search “blogging” in the category drop-down box.
So glad the Editorial Calendar spreadsheet worked out for you and that’s a FABULOUS idea to keep your analytics by month in a document–definitely going to start doing that (along with numbers from other social media site so I’m not opening half a dozen tabs just to fill out campaign apps).
Oh wonderful! Yes, it’s been a huge help to have everything all in one place, especially those analytics! I never thought to include my social media site stats but I’m going to add those! Your editorial calendar was the PERFECT addition to my new obsession with Google Drive. Thank you so much for that!!!