How to handle posting to your blog when you want to take a break.
This is something I have struggled with often over the last 4 years. It is also a question I have received quite a few times over the last week or two. And with Christmas just a couple of days away, I thought this might be a good time to see if we can resolve this issue.
Here are a few things you can do and I have tried most, if not all of them:
1. Don’t do anything
Seriously, why worry about it if you are only taking a few days off for a holiday. You can do a few post up to the time you take off and then do nothing while you are gone. And if it is just for two or three days, I don’t think your readers will miss you too much.
2. Post-Date Some Post Ahead of Time
Which is exactly what I did on this post. I wrote this post 2 days before I posted it. Blogging software like WordPress and TypePad have the ability to post-date your work. What this means to you is you can write a post on one date, set it to post down the road and it will go up for you without you doing anything else. It will appear as if you are their slaving away at your keyboard.
One thing you want to be careful of using this method is to make sure you are not posting something that may be time or issue sensitive. And you want to make sure the posts are relevant to the time too.
3. Guest Blogger(s)
This is a method I have used and still use quite often. I love it when I get guest bloggers. Some I ask to guest blog and some contact me wanting to guest blog on Blog For Profit. (Side not, we are working on drafting a set of guidelines for guest bloggers to use).
Using a guest blogger accomplish two great benefits for you. First, you get to hand off the duties of writing a post to someone else. You don’t have to worry about coming up with the topic, nor writing the post. Second, your readers get to read someone else for a change. They get to see what someone else may be thinking on a particular topic. Or they get to read some helpful tips and hints from someone else.
If you are going to use guest bloggers, make sure they understand you want them to stick to the general theme and topic of your blog. And see if you can get them to give you the post already setup with the html and hyperlinks they want to use. In addition, try to get the post well ahead of time so you can proof them and get them set to go. You can also use the method we discussed in #2 and post date them.
4. Do your post while on your vacation or holiday
I use this method more then I want to admit. Since I use a MacBook and take my office with me, it is not difficult for me to take a break from the holiday and knock out a quick blog post. You can also use your same laptop to moderate the comments coming in on your blog while you are out of the office. Moderating your comments is a must if you have an active readership which gets involved in the conversation with you.
The biggest disadvantage to this method is that you are doing exactly what you may want to get away from for a few days. You are working. But there are times we just have too.
Whatever method you use, it has to work for you and you need to be comfortable with it. One of my goals for 2009 is to not feel like I can’t get away from my blog for a few days. I do have some conferences planned in 2009 and I want to go to them and not worry about getting a post up if I don’t have the time. And, I plan to take at least a couple vacations next year too. It would be nice to get away and not post.
Leave us a comment and tell all of use what method you might be using to handle your posting while you are either on vacation or on holiday.
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