What do you do when you don’t have the time to update your blog
One of the main reasons i believe blogs are left to rot is posting frequency. It can be very difficult to juggle your personal life and still keep your blog updated as much as you would like. This is perhaps why it’s so common for blog posts to abruptly stop without any indication why.
Posting frequency plays a big part in the success of a blog so it’s advisable to keep the posting frequncy at a steady rate. In practice, this can sometimes be difficult (due to time constraints in the last 6 weeks i have felt the strain of regular posting myself). Most new bloggers post a lot when they first start a blog and then relax into a regular posting frequency.
Anyhoo, i don’t want to talk too much about blogging and time management in this post however i do want to give you some ideas of what you can do if the time you have set aside for blogging has been greatly reduced.
The following tips are for bloggers who now have less time to blog than they used to have :
- Reduce Posting Frequency - Traffic and subscribers will probably drop a little however a blog can still be successful if the posting frequency is dropped. You just need to make sure that post quality remains high. If you currently post on your blog every day you could reduce posting to once or twice a week. If you choose to do this then i strongly recommend letting all of your readers know about this change.
- Sell the Blog - I’m actually surprised that so few bloggers let their blog die instead of selling it. The bottom line is, if a site has traffic and content then it has a value to someone else on the internet. I was a bit surprised that Shayne from Ask Shayne didn’t choose to sell his blog (though i don’t know why the blog has not been updated). Although every site with traffic can be sold, you need to be realistic about your blogs worth. Put yourself in the buyers position, a personal blog with 20 visits a day is lucky to fetch over $30. If you run a good blog and your time for blogging has been cut short, selling the blog should be considered as an option.
- Ask for Help - If your time management problem is temporary (weeks rather than months) then you could always ask for help from fellow bloggers and commentators. With guest posting becoming more and more popular i have no doubt that finding some good bloggers to fill your shoes when your away won’t be too difficult. You should do your best to reward anyone who steps in for you full time. If your blog is making you money then you could pay for posts however most bloggers would be happy with a link back to their blog. If you plan on keeping the blog and don’t want posting frequency to drop too much then getting some guest bloggers could be your best option.
- Let your readers know about your absence - In the unfortunate event of something bad happening in your personal life (eg. family death) then you might not have the time or the right frame of mind to get my first 3 suggestions organised. Therefore, i recommend making a quick post letting your readers know why you won’t be posting and ensure them that the blog will be back to normal shortly. If you know that you will have time problems later on then i think that you should reduce your posting frequency or get some guest authors in but if your time problem is unexpected, letting your readers know that you won’t be posting for the next few weeks is a good option.
If you have any tips on this then please leave a comment or write about it yourself on your own blog (and ping this post so the discussion continues).
Thanks for reading,
Kevin
GoddessCarlie | June 20th, 2007 at 4:22 am #
That’s why I try to keep ahead of my posts - mass post and time stamp it all. That way I can relax for the week (with a couple timely posts) and then just keep adding to them if I get time. Sure, it takes some planning, but I usually have at least four days of posts lined up
KCLau | June 20th, 2007 at 4:33 am #
I agree with GoddessCarlie, use the time stamp and at least write 5-10 post ahead.
KC TAN | June 20th, 2007 at 7:09 am #
Yes, the time stamp feature is very useful especially we can mass post our posts in the weekends and spread it across the following week =)
A Tentative Personal Finance Blog | June 20th, 2007 at 7:50 am #
I love timestamp. I do most of my posts over the weekends or late and night and timestamp lets me trickle those post (2 a day). It’s a life saver.
I suppose setting up a regular post schedule and not having erratic posting times would be beneficial to you and your readers.
AmeyJah | June 20th, 2007 at 9:24 am #
hey kevin it’s my first comment on your blog.
i don’t agree your last point. sometimes it happens but if you tell your readers that you may not update it till so and so day or something like that then it’s natural that they would leave it and even worst that they will unsubscribe your feed.
so you can use autoblog feature of keep some buffer posts always so as to simply tackle such situation.
Vijay Teach Me | June 20th, 2007 at 10:33 am #
Hi Kevin,
Nice exit strategy…
Vijay
Rea Maor | June 20th, 2007 at 11:44 am #
Arrg, updating your blog daily can be very frustrating,
if you choose the Technology niche like I did it can sometimes cost you your health…
I always struggle to post daily, mainly because I’m running out of topic ideas and second
because I never receive enough feedback
Success Online | June 20th, 2007 at 6:38 pm #
Worth noting some points on this one. I find that the timestamp will become more and more important for me as I start to develop my other ideas online.
Getting a frequency down is important. You build and expectation from your readership. If you change the experience that they expect you can seriously impact your return readers in a negative way.
If you plan on making changes should you just tell them then?
Net Business Blogger | June 21st, 2007 at 7:17 am #
Reducing posting frequency will definitely hamper the traffic of your blog, which in turn will affect your earnings. And if you blog just to make money, I’m sure you are better off without this!
Selling the blog is a very good option if you are offered a smart price. Don’t go for it if you have a successful blog. NetBusinessBlog was sold (by Matt to Adie) a couple of days back for a mere 13000$, but the blog WAS making over 1000$ per month. With increasing traffic and popularity, Matt could have easily fetched 13000$ within 6 months, and after that? he could have pocketed thousands of dollars each month!
Getting others to post for you is ok, but i personally feel that readers are not ‘that’ keen on reading other’s posts on your blog. After all they subscribe only because they like YOU and YOUR posts.
Letting you readers know about your absense is the BEST option to chose from. Making a quick post tellng your reader why you are away and for how long will definitely help in maintaining loyal readership. I have personally experienced this. If a blogger stops posting in his blog for a couple of days, i unsubscribe. But if he leaves a message telling that he is away(for days or weeks) i NEVER unsubscribe!
Nice post Kevin!
Dan | June 21st, 2007 at 1:09 pm #
I’m also surprised that more blogs aren’t sold, but then again how do you find someone to buy the blog anyway?
The Freelance Writer's Blog | April 4th, 2008 at 9:05 pm #
Kevin I’ve used a series of “Quick Tips” when I knew that I had a particularly hairy week on tap and wasn’t going to be able to post that frequently.
These quick tips can be links to other blogs in your niche with a quick observation you made, or just a tip of the day you wanted to pass along that is relevant to your audience. I did this about 3 weeks back. The series was entitled “Quick Tips for Freelance Writers”. I did it for a full week.
I always explain why I’m doing it and it’s worked out wonderfully for me.
Great topic to think about.
Yuwanda