Welcome to the Productivity Blog

This is honestly one of my biggest struggles as a blogger.

As a freelance writer with a blog and a day job (plus everything else that goes on in my life), the amount of free time I have becomes a lot smaller. But what’s growing is the list of projects I want to do for my personal brand. 

So why do I do it? Why do I run two blogs that I publish content for every week? I don’t monetise them, yet blogging has become such a big part of my life that I spend a huge amount of time committing to it each week.

You might be in a similar position as a blogger.

Maybe it started out as a hobby and you just published a post once every week. Then you realised that the quickest way to grow would be to publish content more frequently. But after that, you learnt that it’s actually more about promoting your content than it is about hitting that publish button.

Now you have an editorial calendar, you’ve got a social media posting schedule and you write guest posts for other bloggers - it’s these things that’s getting your name out there.

But you don’t want to cut down the number of times you post on your blog. You love writing and you know it plays a bit part in getting you to where you want to be. So what do you do? How do you manage both? How can you promote yourself online and still have time to write for your blog?

At the moment my time is very limited, so being productive and managing my time well is key. Luckily, I’ve found some strategies (or productivity hacks) that have helped me build my platform as a blogger and freelance writer, whilst still publishing frequent content on my blog.

This is how I do it.

Read More

Well would you look at this. Two posts in a week! What’s going on? Well it’s all part of me realising that not only did my traffic take a hit when I went down to one post a week, but I also missed posting extra content too. So here we are.

Anyway - onto today’s post.

There seems to be a lot of mystery surrounding SEO in the blogging industry - how important it is, what it actually involves, whether you have to be technical to understand it and so on. This is a post I’ve actually been meaning to write for a while and now seems like quite good time to do it.

You know - since SEO isn’t really going anywhere.

They’re not so much tips to make your organic traffic soar out of the roof or so your favourite brand hits you up for a massive opportunity. They’re more tips that I’ve learnt myself from working in the industry, and from the various training sessions I’ve been to about digital marketing.

So here are seven of the top SEO tips that I think you need to know, and we’ll also be busting some huge myths too. Spoiler alert: the basics aren’t actually that difficult to get your head around.

#1 | WRITE DESCRIPTIVE TITLEs THAT ARE SHAREABLE

If you take anything away from this post, let it be this: your headline is arguably the most important part of any piece of content you create. Yep - more so than the lovely words you fill your actual blog post with. Why?

Because your headline is what actually gets people to click through to your content. It’s the gateway.

That means it has to be descriptive, attractive and offer a promise.

Holly, you’re hyping headlines up a lot - surely they’re not that important, right?

Think again.

8 out of 10 people will read your headline, but only 2 out of 10 will read your entire post - Copyblogger

Basically, the better your headlines, the better your chances are of beating the odds and getting your content out there in front of a wider audience of people.

You want your headline to tell readers what they can expect in the post, but you also don’t want to give everything away. Take these as some examples:

• Stop! This is why you need to rethink using ads on your blog
• 41 of the best ways to use Twitter to improve your blog and personal brand
• How to keep your blog running when you go on holiday
• 7 of the biggest reasons why you’re just not getting the job

Each of those examples instantly interests the reader and this is a key point - you’ve got to keep your audience in mind when you’re writing headlines.

You write content for your readers, yes? So you want to craft a headline that your readers will want to click on.

Let’s go back to the examples above. What words do you think people would search for, for those articles to appear?

• Using ads on blog
• Using twitter to improve blog
• Keep blog running on holiday
• Why I’m not getting a job

What do you notice?

Each phrase is included in the headline in some way.

Read More

If there's one thing I talk about a lot on this blog it's productivity. Being productive with your blog, being productive with your routine - but have you ever stopped to think about this personally? 

Have you ever stopped to think about what a productive day would look like for you?

A key thing that will really help you to achieve your goals is visualising what success looks like to you. Want to lose weight? What result will make you feel like you've made it?

The same goes for designing your day. Want to feel super productive when you sign off for the day? What will that look like?

I've been giving this some thought recently and I think I've come up with a basic foundation that anyone can apply to their own lives to design a productive day.

Now this isn't a formula that has to be set in stone - you can adapt it so it looks differently for each and every one of you. But I do believe if you make time for each of these activities and work to integrate them into your day, you're going to see an increase in your productivity immediately. 

#1 | START YOUR DAY ON TIME

What happens in the first ten minutes of your day can also set your tone for the rest of it. And it's hard to have a productive day when your morning goes wrong. Fact. Oversleeping, hitting the snooze button or waking up in a bad mood all lead to your day being completely unproductive. 

This takes a lot of self-discipline, which doesn't come naturally to people. For me, I have the same routine every morning, and I have no problem getting up when my alarm goes off at 6:30 during the week. 

For others, it's not that simple. For when you're struggling, try this instead - give yourself something to look forward to in your routine. Whether it's an exciting breakfast, getting to watch a YouTube video while you get ready or whatever it is that puts a smile on your face - add that in. You'll find that if your day gets off to the best start possible then you'll be super productive and boss it.

#2 | CREATE A MORNING ROUTINE

However much time you have in a morning, establishing a simple routine is key to being productive. Getting to where you want to be doesn't come down to luck - it comes down to working smarter, not harder. That's where your morning routine comes in.

I wrote a whole post about how you can take back your mornings here, but these are a few pointers for you:

• Plan ahead
• Don't hit snooze
• Get focused
• Don't check your emails first thing
• Manage your energy

Read More

When it comes to your career, it’s not quite as simple as simple getting paid to do what you love as soon as you start out.

For most of us, we’d love to run our blogs full-time. The question you have to ask is this: is it realistic? 

Usually, the answer is no. So instead, we look for a job that’s somehow related to blogging. But the question I see people asking all the time is, but how do I find a job when I don’t have any skills or experience?

The truth is the skill set and professional value you’ve developed as a blogger means that your career options can be far more diversified than you think.

When I graduated from my Masters and started looking for jobs, (you can read more about my career journey here), one thing I noticed was that most companies in the digital marketing sector were looking for the same things: management of social media accounts, high quality writing skills, editing experience, coming up with ideas, working as a team, being organised and so on. 

Yes, they’re very general skills to ask for, but the majority of them can be applied to a variety of scenarios and a variety of career paths. And do you know what’s even better?

You can do all of them.

So today, I wanted to talk about the skill set that all bloggers have at their disposal. Hopefully, this will help you succeed in your next job interview or inspire you to be more confident in the job you’re in now.

#1 | Your own opinion and writing experience

When you become a blogger, you instantly create your own voice. The content ideas you come up with are from your own mind and you write about them using your own thoughts and opinions. And as you grow as a blogger, your view and your words develop an authority that people want to hear, to communicate with and to get involved with. 

Think about the way you communicate with your audience right now. It’s online right? But think of all the different ways and the different channels you communicate on:

• Blog posts
• Comments
• Social media
• Live video
• Imagery
• Online conversations (Twitter chats/Facebook groups)
• Email marketing

The amount of ways you can communicate is so diverse and even better than that - you have the knowledge about how to use that communication for each one too.

Read More

Some of you might've seen that not only do I manage and run this blog, but I've also recently started a new one. 

As someone who has got a full-time job, a blog, does freelance work on the side and is in the process of looking for a house, you can see there's a lot going on.

So why would I even consider starting a brand new blog on top of all this?

I don't know a lot of bloggers in real life. But the ones I speak to online all love pushing themselves to try new things. 

And so do I 😉

My friend Stephie has just rebranded her site and launched a brand new interview series with creatives. 

Another blogger I love, Anna, has also gone through a redesign and is producing better content than ever. 

I love writing, and I've always wanted to go back to my roots of why I started blogging in the first place.

So if you're considering starting not just a new blog, but a new project, and you're not sure whether you'll be able to handle it - go for it. You can have doubt after doubt, but I'm here to tell you that it IS possible. Plus, there are so many benefits to having more than one creative project (especially more than one blog).

First of all though, I wanted to talk to you about why I decided to start Little Branches.

NOT ANOTHER LIFESTYLE BLOG!

A few months ago, I was talking to Tom about all my dreams for ABOH and described how I really wanted to fit in a way that I could document everything that was happening in my life. 

See, I wanted to keep ABOH in line with its specific purpose - to inspire you to get to where you want be, using my own tried and tested strategies that really work.

If I started documenting my life in sand amongst all that other content, it just wouldn't fit in with the flow of the blog. 

So the thought of having a separate place to write about all things lifestyle didn't seem like such a drastic idea. I knew I was cutting the posting schedule down on this blog, which would give me more time to write content for the new blog - plus I wanted to do it. So I went ahead and created Little Branches.

Read More

Running your own blog is a great way to develop new skills, make yourself stand out and can bring you loads of opportunities. But no matter what you write about - whether you use it as a space to document your life or market it as a platform to sell your services - it's hard work. And there’s something I’ve learnt over the past three years.

You need to make some sacrifices in order to get a breakthrough. 

A few weeks ago, I talked about my creative process and how you can create systems for your blog that will help you be more efficient and successful. But that doesn't happen on it’s own. Making some important decisions based on your priorities will help you to reach your goals.

Managing a blog requires a lot of hard work, dedication and patience to see results. Thankfully (and if you’re a blogger you’ll know this), there are still endless benefits to being a blogger.

For instance, my blog has played a huge part in me getting to where I am today. It’s helped me be successful in my career and because I’ve worked so hard (and implemented my own strategies), I met one of my end-of-year goals in July.

Now, even though I’ve cut my publishing schedule down, I’m feeling more confident about my blog than ever. This all wouldn't have been possible without having made some sacrifices along the way.

So if you’ve got big goals for your blog, here are some sacrifices you could be looking to make in order to get a breakthrough… or two 😉

Read More

Since I started blogging seven days a week back in March, things are now looking completely different.

I've developed a lot as a blogger over the past few months and I've watched everything about my online presence grow. As my workload has become larger and I've had the urge to create more, I've had to refine my processes to find a more systematic way to get everything done that I want to, whilst living my best life.

And if you've seen my tweets recently, you'll know I've been feeling the pressure.

If you run a blog alongside your day job or you've got loads of projects going on at once, I'm sure you can relate to my current situation. 

But even if blogging is only a small part of your life - I'm sure you've felt the pressure of keeping up and getting noticed, right? I mean, it's so easy to get sucked into this world and everything it has to offer.

One day last month, everything just became too much. I hit a big wall. I didn't feel like I was accomplishing anything, I felt completely overwhelmed, my mood was affected and I couldn't remember the last time I had some free time to play around with.

This told me that I needed to make some changes to create a better routine that would involve everything I wanted to do in my life, whilst being manageable and helping me move forward.

I also wanted to start doing more things for me. My blog is partly a hobby still, but there are so many other things I’d like to try in my spare time that I don’t get chance to do. Things like reading books and makings, baking, DIY projects and flower arranging. Plus re-watching Gilmore Girls and Gossip Girls from the very beginning 😉

So during September, I’ve tried out this new method for creating my routine and carried it out. Because it’s gone so well, I really wanted to share it with you today, in the hope that it can inspire you to make some change to create your ideal routine. If you want to feel more in control of your work, whilst still making the most of your life, I really think you’ll find this helpful.

Read More

Twitter is my go-to social media platform for anything and everything blogging related. It's the one channel I truly couldn't live without.

While it's easy to pass Twitter by because hey, there's only 140 characters to work with - there is so much more to this platform than you know.

With analytics, optimal times, chats, hashtags and so much more, its benefits really are endless for bloggers, entrepreneurs and small business owners.

So to get your Twitter mind thinking, here are 41 of the best ways this social platform can help you get a breakthrough with your blog and/or business.

Read More

I’m going to really help you today. Why?

It’s time to bust through some more myths!

 

I’ve already written a post about what social myths to ignore, and today we’re talking about all the rubbish that’s made up about digital marketing. 

So often I see blog posts and articles online all giving advice that I just want to write the word ‘ignore’ across. I think to myself, how many people are going to actually listen to this rubbish? Some people could actually not do things they love based on these lies!

I know that the people who will have written these articles will just be speaking from experience and that’s fine.

But what’s not fine is the fact that some people take this (bad advice very seriously). Like, ‘I’ve never written anything in my life before so I can’t start a blog.”

Or, “well lots of people say you need to spend thousands of pounds on a kick-ass blog design if you’ve got any chance of getting noticed.

And on, and on.

But what gets to me more than anything is that this advice stops people - stops YOU - from doing what you want to do.

That’s why I’m writing this post.

So we’re going to clear up 11 of these biggest myths today. I’m even going to give you some real examples so you can see how rubbish they really are.

Let’s get into it.

Read More

I talk a lot on this blog and on my social channels about setting and re-evaluating your goals.

Setting one goal for the whole year isn't too realistic - your mindset, passion and circumstances chance overtime. As you grow, that means your goals adjust and change too.

The last quarter of the year is usually seen as a big push. We want to achieve those goals we set ourselves so many months ago and we want to push ourselves out of our comfort zones. This is the last chance of 2016 to make big things happen with our online presence, so it's natural to want to strive for more right now.

SO WHY DO I NEED A SURVIVAL GUIDE?

It’s good to have a survival guide for the rest of the year to help you work towards your goals. This is always a tough and busy time of the year, so you want to make sure you’re working in a way that makes you feel good and fulfils you, whilst also making sure the work you’re doing is productive and worthwhile.

A survival guide helps you achieve your goals on your terms, in the best way possible. You decide what your survival guide is going to include. But it also helps you take care of yourself in the right way. We all need to practice self-care in order to make big things happen. 

If you feel like you need something to get you through the rest of the year, I have the perfect thing for you.

After evaluating my own processes recently, I’ve created my own intentional survival guide to help me achieve big things for my blog and business over the next few months. I’ve crafted it in a way that works best not just for myself, but for my readers and clients too.

This survival guide will help you take some important steps to help you get to where you want to be. So below, I’ve listed the parts that make up this guide that you can use yourself, whilst still enjoying yourself in the last months of 2016.

Read More

A few months ago, I stumbled across the blog of Boho Berry. It was like no other blog I’d ever seen before. Kara is a productivity whizz and I soon spent a decent chunk of time reading all her posts.

Then I came across a collection of her posts on something called a Bullet Journal. I was instantly intrigued. At first, it looked complicated. I thought, there’s no way I could do that. But the more I read about it, the more I realised how suited to me it was.

So I researched, pinned things I liked and watched videos, all with the aim of helping me try and create the perfect bullet journal for me.

 My first go was way too complicated - I wanted to include #allthethings. But recently, I’ve cut back and found a method that really works.

Something I pride myself on is my productivity and motivation. I’ve always been a driven person - but my problem has been trying to keep on top of everything I want to do. That was until I started bullet journaling, and now I’m achieving more than I thought possible.

 I’ve shared some images of my bullet journal on my Instagram and talked about it on Twitter - so this post is for everyone who asked me share an insight into how I use it. I want to do a video at some point too, so let me know if you want to see that. For now though, let’s get into it!

What even is a bullet journal?

The way I’d describe a bullet journal is that it has everything in one place. It was originally created by a guy called Ryder, and it’s basically a notebook system where you can organise yourself. You can include lists, plans, goals, your diary - basically anything you want.

There’s a very thin line as to how much you include. I used to struggle to use mine effectively because I was including too much information. But after refining how I wanted the bullet journal to work for me, it started solving all my problems.

I’m definitely no expert, so if you want to know more about how the bullet journal works, watch this video.

WHAT EVEN IS A BULLET JOURNAL?

Ryder does actually sell journals you can purchase, but I also know a lot of people who purchase this one on Amazon.

You don’t need any extra special tools for this - I use a notebook that I bought from Sainsburys, because all my stationery has to be extra pretty 😉

Don’t pick a notebook just because everyone else is - pick one that’s right for you. When it comes to size, A5 is the most popular choice and I haven’t seen any bigger or smaller than that. This size means it’s easy to carry round with you, you can use it whenever you want and you don’t need to squint to see your writing.

In terms of pages, I’ve been used the lined style, but I’m leaning towards going for the dotted look next time. Something you’ve got to remember about the bullet journal is that you can listen to lots of advice - but it’s all about personal preference.

ALRIGHT, I'M INTERESTED - WHAT DO YOU PUT IN IT?

Anything. That’s the beauty of the bullet journal.

This is where you need to do some research. But set yourself a time limit, because the tunnel of bullet journal inspiration is never ending.

Some people use their bullet journal for everything. Some people have different bullet journals for different areas of their life. Some people store memories, goals and wishlists in them. Some just use them as a day to day planner. It’s completely up to you.

Read More

Are you on LinkedIn? You should be.

This is one of the most valuable online tools out there to help you develop professionally in your career. And if you’re job hunting? Well, it’s a no brainer.

If your profile is out of date, your profile picture is a poor-quality selfie or all you do is talk about how much you love your cat, you could be missing out on some big opportunities.

Don’t get me wrong - it’s a big job. Not only do you have to create a LinkedIn page, but you’ve also got to keep it up to date too. Plus, there are so many different parts to fill in. Before you’ve even started, you feel instantly overwhelmed and wonder where to even begin.

Through my LinkedIn page, I’ve received both job offers and freelance gigs, which means my profile is doing it’s job. So how do you know if yours is? Today, I wanted to share with you these 16 simple hacks I’ve used that can help make yourself more hireable on LinkedIn. Let’s go.

#1 | Make sure you’ve got the basics up to date

These might seem like the least important things to you, but overall they can make a huge difference. Here are a couple of things to check:

• Make sure you’re using a custom URL. So when you originally set up your LinkedIn page, your URL will just look like a load of numbers. What you can do instead is change it to something like this: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hollysutton2. Putting your name in it makes you instantly recognisable and brands yourself too.
   
• Include your email address, website and social media platforms. If someone wants to get in touch with you through another channel, including these makes that happen. There’s nothing worse than wanting to get in touch with a person and not being able to find their contact information.

#2 | Make your headline creative

You might think your headline should be your current title, but this is actually a big mistake. Instead, be creative. Use your headline to describe what you want to do next. Plus, you can include more than one title too. 

Really, I class myself to have three jobs - my full-time one, my freelance business and my blog. That’s why I’ve included three different titles in one headline, so each represents one part of my career.

One thing to remember as you work through your LinkedIn page is that this is your chance to show off. Don’t miss out on an opportunity to show people what you can do!

 

Read More

It might seem like writing a blog post or creating a freelance writing piece is easy. You just type up the content on your computer, hit publish and you’re done, right?

Wrong.

For the past week or so, I’ve been taking you through my creative process step-by-step. This has shown you what blogging looks like behind-the-scenes for me.

The first thing I do is discover the idea. This involves going through different methods to make sure I come up with an idea that directly speaks to my audience.

Before I get started on writing the content, I do some research around the topic and create a full outline for my post. This is a hugely important part of my process. Without research, your content will never deliver as much as you want it to, which is why I never skip this step.

Then it’s time for the words, which is always the step of my creative process that takes the longest, and takes most of my energy. I write the content and in a perfect world, it should be good to go, right?

Unfortunately, no. And this leads us to the last step of my creative process: editing, delivery and promotion.

 

So like I said, in a perfect world, a blog post would be good to go when you’ve finished writing it. But that isn’t usually the case for writers. Many people find the editing stage quite tedious - and some skip it altogether. Let me tell you. Whenever I see an error on a blog post, I leave straight away.

Editing and evaluating allows me to review my work, challenges me to become more intentional with my words and results in even better content for my audience. Here’s what the first half of step for looks like in my creative process.

 

Read More

Like most careers, it’s so beneficial to have a process in place for your work to help make you more productive. I’ve seen many designers approach this subject, but not bloggers.

My method may not suit everyone out there, and that’s completely fine. Instead, I hope it inspires and encourages you to think about your own creative process.

Having a creative process is a way of being able to craft the best content possible. It contains various steps that you have to take to get to a finished product. (Want to know why it’s so important to have a creative process? Check out the first post of this series!)

 

As a blogger, I know you have a lot of fears. One of the biggest of these fears is the feeling that you’re writing to no one. The feeling that you’re not giving your audience something; whether that be entertainment, motivation or teaching them something new. 

Coming up with a solution to a reader’s problem that really speaks to them is the biggest struggle when it comes to communicating an idea. That’s why this part of my process is one of the most important - and also the most difficult. 

Writing the actual content is the part of my creative process that makes me the most nervous. And, no surprises here, it’s the most time-consuming step too. The way the blog post is going to look and how my readers react to the content, all hinges on each individual word that I write. 

It’s been eye-opening for me as I’ve written this creative process so far. It’s made me realise why I spend so much time in steps one and two - coming up with the idea and doing the research. It’s purely for the writing.  

You might not think writing a blog post is that difficult or time-consuming. You might be able to smash one out in half an hour. So why does it take me so long? How do I go about putting the ideas and research into words? How do I get to the finished blog post? Here’s a look into what step three of my creative process looks like for me.

Read More

Like most careers, it’s so beneficial to have a process in place for your work to help make you more productive. I’ve seen many designers approach this subject, but not bloggers.

My method may not suit everyone out there, and that’s completely fine. Instead, I hope it inspires and encourages you to think about your own creative process.

Having a creative process is a way of being able to craft the best content possible. It contains various steps that you have to take to get to a finished product. (Want to know why it’s so important to have a creative process? Check out the first post of this series!) 

 

It wasn't until I started working in the online marketing industry for a living, that I began to understand how important (and eye-opening!) the research stage is. 

I used to just write my content straight onto the page without any real structure or background information. But when I discovered that one - Google favours factual content, and two - readers build more trust with you when you include real facts - I started to take this part of my creative process more seriously.

 Now, I’ve made it a priority to include research time when it comes to putting each one of my blog posts together.

This step gives me time to learn, time to explore and time to get even more creative. It’s become fundamental for the way I create content for my blog, guest blog posts and my freelance clients.

Here's an exclusive insight into the second step of my creative process and what this looks like for me.

Read More

Like most careers, it’s so beneficial to have a process in place for your work to help make you more productive. I’ve seen many designers approach this subject, but not bloggers.

My method may not suit everyone out there, and that’s completely fine. Instead, I hope it inspires and encourages you to think about your own creative process.

Having a creative process is a way of being able to craft the best content possible. It contains various steps that you have to take to get to a finished product. (Want to know why it’s so important to have a creative process? Check out the first post of this series!)

 

I’m a blogger. I’m a writer. I’m a freelancer. These words sound so simple, but when you dig into them, you find they’re made up of so much more. People worry about telling others when they have one of these professions. This is mainly due to the complete shock on someone else’s face. You do this for a living? How is that possible? So we usually come up with some other explanation that has a bit more weight to it.

But the longer you’re a blogger for, the more you realise just how much is involved in that term. Writing isn’t just about publishing great content (although it’s definitely something I strive towards). It’s about discovering an idea that translates to solving a problem.

My readers have problems, even if they don’t realise it themselves. They can’t find the motivation to accomplish their goals. They’ve got social media channels, but they don’t know how to use them effectively. They struggle staying on top of everything or coming up with ideas, etc.

In order to help my readers, solve their problems and communicate with them on the same level, I have to be aware of what they want to know. That’s where step one of my creative process comes in.

Read More

As a blogger and digital marketing freelancer, it’s become really important to be able to pin down my creative process. It might seem like writing a blog post or creating a freelance writing piece is easy. You just type up the content on your computer, hit publish and you’re done, right?

Wrong.

Writers, designers and creatives alike are all problem solvers. We have to know there is a problem worth solving and then come up with a solution. That involves a whole lot of steps to get to the finished outcome.

Like most careers, it’s so beneficial to have a process in place for your work to help make you more productive. I’ve seen many designers approach this subject, but not bloggers. So over the next few weeks, I thought it might be helpful to launch this series. I'll be sharing my own creative process as a blogger and freelancer.

My method may not suit everyone out there, and that’s completely fine. Instead, I hope it inspires and encourages you to think about your own creative process.

Having a creative process is a way of being able to craft the best content possible. It contains various steps that you have to take to get to a finished product.

Without a process, creating content is a lot harder than it needs to be. You lose your message, your voice and your path.

You might think that creating a blog post involves the same process and that’s sort of true. It involves the same type of tasks, but their method will never be exactly the same.

So the series officially kicks off tomorrow. But today, I thought it’d be worth explaining why having a creative process is so useful in the first place.

Read More