December again, and that means the holidays are back! It’s time to deck the halls, light the candles and join in the spirit of the time of year. Between getting and giving presents, attending parties and finishing up the rest of 2013’s work ‘stuff’, probably the last thing on your mind is managing your blog. After all, this extremely social time of year can be physically and emotionally draining. It can be easy to let your blog fall by the wayside, but it’s important to follow your routine.
During the holidays, your readers will still be looking for new content. Blog followers can be impatient, so if you go without new posts for a few weeks, they will start to look for alternatives to your blog. By the time January rolls around, it may be too late to win them back. Here are a few simple tips on planning ahead this December to keep up with your blog and everything else on your plate during the holidays.
Set Up Your Posts in Advance
Perhaps the best advice is to schedule your posts in advance. Have a free night this week or weekend? Write a few of your posts and set them up to go over the next few weeks. Be sure to schedule them to post on days that you know are going to be hectic for you. That way, you won’t even have to think about publishing them when the time comes. This also comes in handy if you have family or friends over for the holidays – your attention won’t be split!
Recruit Guest Bloggers
Guest bloggers are a great way to not only give you a little free time but also to expose your blog to a new audience. If you already know some people who are regular commenters, ask them if they’d like to write a guest post for you. You don’t need go searching for people don’t know, and they’ll probably give you a shout out on their own blog. Not to mention, you’re getting new perspectives, different writing styles and interesting posts for your readers.
Go with Simple Topics
It’s the holidays – give yourself a little leeway! Not every blog has to be a high level topic. Relate your posts back to the holidays: talk about a favorite Christmas memory of the “good old days” or why you enjoy this time of year. This is a chance to show off your blog’s personality, so go for the human-interest pieces. If you can’t be a little sensitive during the holidays, when can you?
Create a ‘Best of 2013’ Series
Running low on ideas for new posts during this time of year? Why not feature some of your most commented and shared posts again? Make sure they’re from much earlier in the year, and be transparent with your audience. (Make sure you clearly state that these are previously published posts revisited). General topics that still apply are never a bad idea!
Blog Less
If you usually blog twice a week or more, it’s okay to slow down a little bit during the holidays. This is first and foremost, time to be spent with your family and friends. If you can only blog once a week during the holidays and can’t get a guest blogger, then just be honest with your audience. Tell them when to expect new posts, and they’ll appreciate that. Remember, they’re busy too. And speaking of busy, it’s about time for me to make up a nice cup of hot chocolate and sit in front of the Christmas tree!
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Scott Huntington is a blogger, writer, and researcher for 12 keys rehab. When he’s not at work or blogging, he loves to spend time with his family outdoors. Follow Scott on twitter at @SMHuntington.
It looks like Patricia is following your advice and inviting guest posts on her blog. 🙂 All of these are very good points, especially during the holidays.
Glad you enjoyed it, Cheryl!
In particular I like the suggestion, “blog less.” Makes perfect sense for me Cheryl. You know how we introverts are. LOL. Merry Christmas.
Yep! That’s the same take I utilize. I’ve got a guest post on my writer’s blog, and have done a primarily visual post on my travel blog, so not much writing was needed. It’s great that we can have posts sitting in draft mode and just upload them a the appropriate time. Cheers!
That’s a great idea to have them already saved in draft mode to upload them whenever. That way you can just spend a couple minutes on it.
Your visual posts are terrific Doreen. It’s proof of how loud pictures speak. This approach makes good sense particularly around the holidays. Merry Christmas.
Good advice. Personally noted that the usual drop in number of clicks stopped thanks to Google Authorship.
Usually post an article about a general topic for holiday reading and it has worked fine for me so far.
Yeah, it’s a great idea to keep it simple around the holidays. People are relaxed and don’t really want to read about a huge 3000 word article on a serious topic.
You’re a real pro with blogging Catarina. You know I’ve followed you a few years now. I don’t remember your general topic for holiday reading so I hope I haven’t missed this years. Merry Christmas.
Hi Scott and Patricia!
Thanks for reminding us of all this.
I’d add one thing for readers – consider your future blogging homebase and whether your progress warrants an upgrade.
For example: A unique domain name and some trustworthy hosting space are usually a move in the right direction – it shows people you’re going places in the new year 🙂
Great to read your work through B Helping B, Scott.
Greg
That’s a great point, Greg! Having a unique domain name really helps your blog be taken more seriously.
Up your blogging makes perfect sense Greg. Particularly since the field in general is soooo crowded now. Thanks for that idea. Merry Christmas.
I’m worried about keeping up with my blog, not only because of the holidays, but also because on January 7th, my husband and I leave on a month long trip in Southeast Asia followed by having to settle into Hawaii for 3 months while he does a sabbatical there. (Hey, it’s tough, but someone has to do it). I know that scheduling ahead is vital. I am hoping that I’ll use the 36 hours of air travel to get to our first destination to build up my supply of posts. Then, all I’ll have to do is find some reliable internet in the jungle and I’ll be all set.
That’s a great idea to use some plane time to write posts! You could also give your readers an update on your trip every once in awhile, those posts are usually very quick and easy to write.
Love that piggybacking on to Suzanne’s idea Scott! Thanks for adding even MORE value.
These are all great comments, especially the guest blogger one. But in terms of posting on your busy days, I feel I need to have spare time on my busy days, as I need to reply to people’s comments and reciprocate on their blogs. So, it’s not just sit back & ignore it. I’d rather not put out anything than not be able to follow through.
That’s a good point. It might even be nice to say at the end of the post “Well, I’m off to _____ but I’ll be able to check comments on ______ when I’m back online again. See you then!” So you still get people commenting but they know you’re not ignoring them.
Acknowledging upfront how we might be unavailable sounds so easy Scott. Thanks again.
All wise suggestions, especially the list and wrap-up idea. It’s on everyone’s minds, we talk about what we liked or didn’t like about the year gone by, the highlights, the lowlights – it’ s a natural. And isn’t this the time of year when everyone catches up on the news from folks that you might not see at other times of the year? Thoughtful post!
Yep! I great idea would be to think of a December post as your “Christmas Card” to your readers. “This year I’ve done ____ and ____ and here are some pictures of ____.”
Sounds like it will make for a great visual kind of post – heavy on the visuals and light on the words, or at least even.
I decided to just take Christmas week off and not do my usual two posts, but I am planning to do a better job of arranging guest posts in the future for when I need to be away.
That can be a good idea too. It’s nice to have a little break every once in awhile!
Thanks for these great tips. I’ve been wrestling with how to plan my blog for the next few weeks and your information was very helpful.
Happy Holidays,
Carrie Arnold
Scott absolutely delivered on this post Carrie. Delighted it helps with your planning as we get into one of the most overwhelming times of the year.
Glad you found it useful, Carrie!
It’s hard to do it all well time and time again. I try to plan ahead and schedule my posts well in advance. It’s hard at times because it takes me longer then most to write a post due to my dyslexia. I love the idea of guest posts but I have to say 9 times out of ten I just don’t like what I see making that a be problematic. I love some of your tips and thank you for reminding of some thing I could be doing. 🙂
The Best of 2013 sounds like an easy approach for a few post series doesn’t it Susan? Hoping you did find some thing to help.
If the blogger is not available to respond to comments I would opt for “blog less”. The comment section is what brings a blog to life. If readers take time to engage with the blog I would argue that the blogger is also obliged to engage with the readers as well.
Setting up posts in advance is a great advise, but the premise must be that we are able and willing to respond to comments.
Hi Soren! In a previous comment I mentioned the idea of telling your readers “Well, I’m off to ____ so I won’t have internet access for awhile, but I’ll be sure to check up with you all and respond to comments on _____, See you then!” Works great!
Thank you very much Scott and Patricia, I am really new to blogging, so that advice is like jam to me !
Glad it was worthwhile, Oksana!
Scott -.you must have been reading my mind. Stay tuned — in a few hours you’ll see a guest post on my blog from my webmaster. A really meaty piece on web hosts. And I will be doing a year-end wrap-up on my most popular, and my own favorites blog posts.
Sounds great, I’ll go check it out! Thanks!
Wonderful suggestions for this crazy busy time of year! Just like scheduling social media posts, scheduling blog posts sure helps alleviate a little bit of stress that unlike family or travel, you can actually control!
You’re right, scheduling social media fits right into this sort of thing!
All good tips that I’ve been using and they work well. I’m in the process right now of scheduling upcoming blog posts for the holidays. I may not be doing as much return visiting, but at least I’ll have my content during this busy time that is coming up.
That’s great, Arlee! Glad scheduling them is working well for you.
Scheduling ahead is a great idea. I used have my blogs planned out several weeks in advance, but unfortunately as I spend more of my “free” time doing things for my day job, the ability to stay ahead has dwindled. I’m hoping the holidays give me some time to catch up on my writing and get some posts prepared for the new year. I love the idea of a holiday themed post.
This is so helpful and timely. I’ve been feeling a little bad about slowing down on the blog over the last couple of weeks, but the fact is, I really want to enjoy time with my family. Thanks for reminding me that’s OK!
Patricia it is funny I wrote a blog that relates to the Christmas Holidays. I am taking your advice and I do not plan to have a blog post next week. When you have a good group of followers, they understand and will be there after our break. It is always good to have blog ideas in your back pocket for the times you get too busy. Have a good holiday
For the holidays I’ve posted a short story on my blog. It’s a Christmas story featuring a single mom, lost kids, a missing donkey. Since I’m a writer it gives a reader a story to read for ten minutes or so in the doctor’s office or on the way to meet family. And since it has a HEA it will leave most readers with a smile on their lips. At least Imlike to think so.
I went for the guest post option. It was the best for me as I wanted to ensure that comments were reciprocated even if I do not get to them all.
Thank you for the other suggestions, I will definitely keep these in mind 🙂