- Ask a Question – one of the simplest types of posts to write is the ‘reader question’ post.
- Run a Poll – a variation on the ‘question post’.
- Update and Repost an Old Post – there’s gold in those archives. Updating and/or reposting your archives is not only a good way to get a new post up but it can help readers who are new to your blog to find useful content.
- Point back to something in your archives – similarly, a post that points back to your archives to ‘classic posts’ can be useful to readers. I see a lot of blogs that do this by posting links to what was on their blog 1 year ago. The key is to point back to useful/timeless posts. Alternatively write a compilation post of posts you’ve written all on a similar theme.
- Guest Posts – if you have a friend or fellow blogger who is able to quickly stand in for you a guest post can be worth doing. This is particularly useful if you are sick for an extended period of time.
- Raid your ‘reserve posts’ – many bloggers have a little stash of posts that they write in advance for those occasions when blogging isn’t possible (when you’re sick, away or have other priorities). Think ahead and have a few posts that you can quickly hit publish on and your blog will continue to tick over.
- Write a ‘what do do with your blog when you’re sick’ post – I guess that’s what this post is…. (cough… sneeze…. sniffle). But seriously – sometimes a quick ‘list post’ on a topic that is relevant to your blog can actually be a worthwhile thing to do.
- Take a Day off Posting – don’t just throw up something for the sake of it. If you’re sick, your body is telling you to have a break so if you don’t have the energy to do one of the above – take the day off. There’s not really any reason for telling your readers about it. As bloggers we tend to think of ourselves as more important and central in the lives of our readers than we really are. Most won’t even notice if you don’t post for a day or two. Make your priority getting well and you’ll do your blog more good in the long run than posting something off topic or of a low quality.
I’m off to bed. Lucky I’ve got another post or two written from yesterday to put up over the next 24 hours! (see #6)
PS: What do you do with your blog on sick days? (#1)
