From Ordinary Blogger to Organized Blogger

I’ve been blogging for almost 6 years, and in that time I’ve learned a thing or two. I’ve learned that to be a great blogger, you have to be flexible in arranging and rearranging your priorities. I’ve learned you have to juggle many roles: writer, site administrator, creative expert, and statistic analyzer. If you saw my workspace over the last several years, you’d see that though I manage to get it all done, I’m not the most organized person in the world.

Until now.

My first task as part of the Mosaic Review Team was to review a blog planner. A free blog planner. Did I mention it is free? You’ll want to remember that, because after reading this review, you’re going to want to print out this planner.

I was given a choice of several blogging planners from which to choose, and I settled on My Blogging Planner by Mama Jenn Blogs.

About Mama Jenn’s Blogging Planner

I’ll be honest. The first thing that drew me to Mama Jenn’s blogging planner was the bright pink daisy right on the front cover. I love daisies, and I love bright colors. What better way to brighten up my work day than to look at a cheery flower? The cover just begs me to open the planner and get to work.

Of course an effective planner needs to be much more than a pretty picture, and My Blogging Planner doesn’t disappoint. My Blogging Planner includes the following to make blogging just a little easier.

*Twelve monthly calendars with space to write blog post ideas/titles. Also in each daily space are social media checkboxes, so you can remember to share your post on social media sites.

*Blog Post Notes pages, where you can record your blog post titles and topics for the month, as well as notes and ideas you want to remember for writing the post.

*Giveaways/Reviews pages, where you can record information about any giveaways and reviews you have scheduled. The page reminds you to record the vendor, price, and most importantly the due date, as well as any notes you have about the product.

*Blank Monthly Blog Planning Checklists, where you can list posts to write, blog goals, and to-do lists and check off your tasks as you complete them.

Each of the monthly pages listed above is color coded by a colored daisy assigned to each month. So if you’re flipping through the planner and see the blue daisy, you know you’re in July.

My Blogging Planner also comes with a page for tracking monthly statistics, a blank checklist for future blog post ideas, and blank note pages.

How I Use Mama Jenn’s Blogging Planner

After downloading Mama Jenn’s Blogging Planer, I printed out all the pages (double sided). I printed extra Blog Post Notes and Giveaway/Review pages for each month, so I would be sure to have enough room to make notes on all the posts and reviews I do.

For each month I put the calendar first, the Monthly Blog Planning page second, followed by the post notes and review notes pages.

After December I placed a 2013 calendar at a glance, the statistics tracking page, future blog post ideas, and notes. Finally, I used a divider to separate the planner from another section in my binder, in which I store my review information: flyers and letters companies send me when I review their stuff. That way, all the information I need is right there in my binder when I’m writing the review.

So far it’s worked pretty well for me. My big goal this month was to create an editorial calendar, and though I’m not quite there yet, My Blogging Planner has definitely given me a leg up. I have my post ideas down on paper, and now I just look at the calendar and figure out where to plug them in.

The Low-Down on Mama Jenn’s Blogging Planner

The Pros:

• Bright and Cheery
• Customizable, as you print it and arrange in a binder any way you want
• Lots of space for post ideas and notes
• Reminders to submit posts to social media sites
• Pages to organize reviews and giveaways
• Statistics tracker
• Months are color coordinated for easy navigation
• Did I mention it’s free?

The Cons:

• None. Unless you’re one of my male readers. Then you might not appreciate the flowers.

My Overall Opinion: If you’re wanting to use a paper blog planner and don’t want to shell out any money, you should download Mama Jenn’s Blogging Planner. Since it’s free, you can’t go wrong. It’s really helped me to get organized, and that’s saying a lot.

As with any planner, to be effective you actually have to use it. But when I use it every day, it really does help me stay organized.

It’s very rare that I give five stars to a product for review, but Mama Jenn gets five for her Blogging Planner. And just so we’re clear: this post does NOT contain affiliate links. I just love the planner that much. You can download Mama Jenn’s Blogging Planner here.