Trying to figure out how to use Asana to its full potential? This is for you.
Over the last 10 years, I’ve tried over half a dozen different product management services.
Asana, Basecamp, Trello, Notion – you name it, I’ve given it a go.
As an inherently unorganized person, project management tools seem like they would be an absolute necessity to run my business and life smoothly.
But when you’re an unorganized solopreneur? The simple process of sticking with and keeping your project management system organized and up to date can be a surprisingly monumental task.
Of all of the different services I’ve used over the years, however, there’s one that has worked far better for me than anything else:
Asana.
Something about Asana has just clicked for me more than everything else.
I’m able to use it as a dumping ground for all of my thoughts and manage both my three websites and personal life and tasks within its system.
I’ve been using it since 2016, but to say I’ve been consistent with it would be a lie.
It’s always kind of been there, and there have been periods where I’ve been more religious about using it. And when I did? Generally, my life was more productive and put together!
But during most of the pandemic? I became sidetracked and my Asana account became a boneyard of half-completed projects, and dozens of content ideas that never saw the light of day.
In fact, I’d gotten to the point where I canceled my paid account because I was so ashamed of how bad it had gotten.
That is, until 3 months ago I came across my saving grace: Asana for Bloggers.
Asana for Bloggers taught me fundamentally how to use Asana.
In this review, I’m going to share my experience with Asana for Bloggers, and show you exactly how it not only restored my motivation for using Asana, but has led to one of the most productive, organized, and stress-free periods in the 13-year history of Location Rebel.
What is Matt Giovanisci?
Before I tell you what Asana for Bloggers specifically is, we should talk about who is behind Asana for Bloggers.
This course was created by one of my favorite people on the planet: Matt Giovanisici.
For years I’ve admired Matt for not just the quality of his work, but the creativity and breadth of what he does.
Matt has created a wildly successful niche site in the pool care industry.
Similar to me, he’s very good at building things around what he loves to do.
He took close to a $200k hit to his income, only to get creative and make even more money the following year.
He produced a rap album (that is actually really good!) Check out Begging for More, that’s my favorite track.
He creates what might be the most intricate and well-done YouTube videos of anyone I know.
Ever watch HGTV?
Oh, and he created the theme that Location Rebel is built on.
All that to say, he’s very talented, very funny, and is one of the first people I call whenever I need business (or life) advice.
Essentially, he’s the ultimate “lifestyle entrepreneur.”
What is Asana for Bloggers?
Ok, now that I’ve thoroughly talked him up, what does this have to do with Asana?
Well, on top of all of this stuff, Matt has developed a series of courses for bloggers.
He covers SEO, YouTube, PageSpeed, Email Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, and most relevant to this post: Asana.
Matt has used Asana for years to manage his three websites.
The unfortunate thing is that despite looking up to him and trusting his advice, and knowing he’s had this course for years, I never actually took the time to go through it.
Until recently.
Asana for Bloggers is the most on the nose name for any product I’ve ever seen, because it is indeed, Asana for Bloggers.
In the course, Matt breaks down all of the features in Asana, what to really pay attention to, what you can ignore, and most importantly for me, how he personally uses it to manage his day-to-day tasks.
3 months ago I drew a line in the sand. I knew that if I was serious about not just growing my 3 brands, but sustaining them over the long term, I’d need a better way to track and organize my life.
So I figured Asana for Bloggers would be as good of a starting point as any.
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How Asana for Bloggers is Laid Out
For me, the most important thing I needed was to get control of my editorial calendar. I needed a system for managing dozens of pieces of content, and dozens of tasks a month across my websites.
Asana for Bloggers is built on the Podia platform, which is good news for you. I’ve found Podia to be the most user-friendly course software to use as a customer. It’s clean, easy to track your progress on, and genuinely looks good.
In Asana for Bloggers the first two sections are:
- Fundamentals
- Blog Editorial and Marketing Management
I’m focusing on these, because these were the two sections that were the most valuable for me as I got started. But I’ll talk in a minute about how it was some of the later content that I wasn’t expecting that puts this course over the top.
In Fundamentals, he covers all of the basics of Asana. He goes into detail on how Asana works, how tasks work, and how it all works together to be a useful tool when done right.
I found the first 4 videos of the course to personally be more useful and directly relevant than Asana’s own training and onboarding videos.
In less than an hour, I had an entirely new perspective on what Asana is and how I could be using it.
To be clear, Asana isn’t that difficult to use – that’s what makes it great. Anyone can go in and create a to-do list very easily.
But the magic in Asana is when you go beyond that, and having a framework for how to do it, is what I’ve been missing.
Using Asana for Bloggers to Create a Content Calendar
The biggest problem I needed to solve was not just creating a content calendar, but having a system around all of my content.
I mentioned that Matt has 3 websites, and I do as well.
But this works just as well (if not better) if you’ve just got one business you’re focused on.
I love that the stuff he teaches isn’t theoretical. In the videos, he shows you exactly how he creates a project for “content ideas” and then creates a separate project for his “Editorial Calendar” for each of his businesses.
I was super surprised at how much the content ideas section has changed the way we look at our business. We’re now able to very easily see which posts are the highest value ones to work on for each business, and then easily slide it over to the content calendar when we’re ready to start working on it.
Here’s an example of some of our content ideas for Location Rebel.
Another thing we’ve adopted is his system for creating content with multiple writers.
Each piece of content that goes on the editorial calendar also gets a Google doc that’s linked within the task. Everything is created and edited there, before being imported into WordPress for final publishing. The approach is very clean, and while it takes a couple of extra minutes to setup each task and post, it’s been well worth it.
Simply having this reliable and repeatable system to rely on has made Asana for Bloggers worthwhile.
3 months in, and I can honestly say it’s the first time ever I’ve had an organized editorial calendar in my 13 years of blogging.
The calendar view of our content calendar for Location Rebel.
The board view of our editorial calendar in Asana.
You may have noticed that we’ve been posting more content lately at Location Rebel. We’ve also been updating a lot of older content. This isn’t a fluke. It’s a direct result of the system we’ve learned through Asana for Bloggers.
Other Cool Features of Asana for Bloggers
The things I mentioned above were really the only things I wanted to get out of the course. I just wanted to have an organized system for creating and managing content, as well as my day-to-day personal tasks.
But it was how much more real-world detail he went into throughout the rest of the course that puts Asana for Bloggers over the top.
Matt goes into detail on how he tracks things like blog growth, and business revenue in Asana.
He has an entire section devoted to managing his YouTube video workflow. Another lesson related to managing the course creation process in Asana. And one of the most useful for me, was the video about how he uses his Asana to also manage his personal life.
There are bonus spreadsheets and templates as well that go beyond Asana. They’re valuable for anyone who has a blog or content-based business and is looking for tools to legitimize their backend and organization.
For me, it’s important to have one spot for everything. If I have an idea, a task, or anything that needs to get done, there has to be a place to put it.
Asana works best if you go all in. You make it your second brain. And while I still have a little work to do to fully get on that level, that’s the direction we’re heading.
Do you need Premium Asana to Go Through the Course?
Nearly everything he teaches in the course can be done with the free version of Asana. And if he shows something that is for premium members only, he mentions it.
I pay around $200 a year for my Asana account, and that feels like a bargain for something that has become so vital to what we do (you know, when I’m actually using it.)
So while you can totally go through this with a free account, I’d recommend the upgrade to the premium version of Asana for one main reason: custom fields.
Our current content ideas section for Breaking Eighty – still have a few updates to make.
I mentioned our new “content ideas” page had become a really valuable planning tool. Adding the custom fields you see in the image like “keyword difficulty” or “search traffic” is something you need a premium account for. Being able to see this stuff at a glance has been a big upgrade over here at LR HQ.
And for those inevitably wondering, I use SEMrush to do all the research on my keywords and get these numbers.
Do You Need to Be a Blogger to Get Value Out of This Course?
Asana is a super versatile tool, and businesses of all shapes and sizes use it.
But this course has a heavy focus on how to manage content creation, publishing, and promotion on a blog or website.
So while someone who isn’t building this type of business will absolutely glean some insights about how Asana works and best practices, it’s definitely geared more towards content creators.
Want to Know How to Use Asana? Just Get the Course…
It’s not very often I do reviews like this. Sure, Matt’s my friend and it’s always fun to promote the work of people you like.
But I would never write something like this just because “he’s a friend.”
I’ve never bought another course that has had such a tangible and immediate effect on my day-to-day life.
I’m not an organized person by nature. Far from it. No really, VERY far from it.
But these days, occasionally I feel like I get to masquerade as one, due to the systems that are now in place to run my business.
(After all, this was my main goal for 2022.)
This wouldn’t be the case were it not for going through Asana for Bloggers.
So if you’re looking to add smarter, sustainable business and content systems to your life – consider both Asana and this course.
At $97 it won’t break the bank, and if you take these lessons to heart and apply them, the value you get will far exceed what you pay for it.
Check out Asana for Bloggers at Money Lab.
Affiliate Disclosure: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links. Meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. If you have any questions about this, feel free to contact me!
Sean Ogle
Sean Ogle is the Founder of Location Rebel where he has spent the last 12+ years teaching people how to build online businesses that give them the freedom to do more of the things they like to do in life. When he's not in the coffee shops of Portland, or the beaches of Bali, he's probably sneaking into some other high-class establishment where he most certainly doesn't belong.Join over 40,000 people who have taken our 6 part freelance writing course. Sign up below and let’s do this together.
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