There’s four emails in my inbox today which all ask the same question.
‘What do You Do with Your Blog When You Go on Vacation?’
I’ve written about it previously (links below) but I thought it might make a good reader discussion question (and topical too as many of us are on the cusp of taking time off).
So what do you do with your blog when you travel, take a vacation, need to take extended time away from the blog?
Looking forward to seeing the mix of answers.
Once you’ve left your answers – you might like to check out these previous posts on the topic:
thats honestly a really good question, i am going on break this week too! thanks for the tips! :D
Honestly, I cannot remember the last time I took a vacation..
I wrote most of my posts ahead of time and pre-posted them (so they would automatically publish while I was away). A few days, though, I posted from my vacation spot just to say “hey, what’s up” and add a few interesting tidbits about my trip.
Vacation? What’s that?
Actually I’ve got a few days coming up in the new year where I’ll be in ‘sunny’ Melbourne so I’m in the process of pre-writing a bunch of blogs, tutorials and other bits and pieces that I can setup to be published while I’m away. I might even try and line up a guest blogger, though I dont think I’m well enough known in the blogging community to get someone really good yet..
Nothing! Let them suffer!
Or
Create a bunch of content bots that will post in one’s absence! However, then they might acquire intelligence while the owner is gone and proceed to take over the interwebs to the horror of all!
I’ve been pondering this myself. It seems as if many of the blogs I read will stop posting, or at least severely slow down over the holiday period. This got me thinking, if I ramp up my posting now, will I get more visitors due to a lack of competition? Or are the others taking a break because they know there aren’t that many people reading blogs over this period.
I figured the safest way to try this out is to pre-write a few posts and delay them so they get spread out over the next week or so. If traffic spikes, I know it’s a valid tactic that I can use during other quiet blogging times. If not, then I haven’t really lost anything.
I give my blog a vacation too.
I’ve written a couple posts on this topic on my blog:
http://btr.michaelkwan.com/2007/11/12/preparing-for-a-vacation-as-a-freelance-writer/
http://btr.michaelkwan.com/2007/12/17/guest-blog-or-dead-blog-a-bloggers-holiday/
The first is a little more oriented toward freelance writers, but the same concepts and strategies apply to bloggers as well. In terms of maintaining my blog, I use a two-pronged approach. First, I time-stamp a handful of blog posts, just so the blog keeps getting updated. Second, I grab WiFi access where I can and do a couple of live posts if at all possible. Depending where you are, free Internet access can be quite plentiful.
The alternative would be to get some guest bloggers, but I’d use this strategy with extreme moderation. People visit your blog to read your thoughts, not the thoughts of a guest blogger. An occasional guest blogger can change things up and refresh perspectives, but you should definitely avoid over-using this approach.
I usually just leave a note that the blog will be dormant until such-and-such a date.
I usually don’t like to advertise the fact I’m going on vacation on my blog. So I will usually just say I’m taking a break – whether I actually leave town or not.
But nowadays it’s getting a lot easier to post from where ever I happen to be. So rarely do I stop posting for extended periods of time.
write the posts for the vacation time and change their time stamp
I use twitter instead.. and leave a note saying I am away.. but that seldom happens because I carry my laptop everywhere and find internet connection! :D
hehehe..
I take it with me. Right now I am on-line in a hotel in Springfield, Illinois. Yesterday, I was blogging from DeForest, Wisconsin. Last week, it was from Virginia Beach Virginia.
Actually, for me blogging is still somewhat a hobby, and – since I’m retired – I take my hobbies with me when we travel and make them a part of the trip.
(We’re heading home half a day early to try to beat the storm slated to hit Wisconsin over night.)
Ideally I’d write several posts and set them to publish on a future date so it looks active. What winds up happening is that the sites just go for a few days with nothing happening.
I write posts in advance and set the date and time to be published during my vacation.
I will take the vacation and enjoy life with family and friends. The readers also need some break so why expect them to read my posts while I am vacationing. If some one really want to read, can read some older posts.
1. Pre-publish posts
2. Blog on the move from where you are
3. Post photos (wish you were here)
4. Explain you need a break
5. Get guest bloggers to post (hint, hint :-) )
Dr.Mani
I am making a pre publich post. So that even I am out with my kids.. The readers will be able to read something from my blog..
Everyone needs a vacation and your readers will understand. Post a big notice:
…GONE FISHING…
…Not sure I’ll ever be back…
…Keep checking here…
a) feel really guilty about doing nothing or b) pre-publish photos/videos/links of the day or c) mention break
Hm.. for me.. If i’m on vacation..
I just relax. And enjoy my holiday…
Preparation is the key word here:
-You want to relax on holiday
-Therefore you don’t want to exactly write posts, you want to chill
-Write posts ahead of time
-Time-post them! It’s very easy from within WordPress
-Enjoy your holiday.
– I tell my co-blogger that I’m away
– I write a couple of articles to be published while I’m away
– I convince myself, that my blog is NOT the center of the universe, and that my readers can manage with a little less acitivty
I used to leave it as is and used to blog very rarely during holidays, exams and other such distracting stuff. But I found many people unsubscribing from my blog (when they unsubscribe of email feeds we come to know). May be they wanted article and I wasn’t delivering..!
This time I timestamped articles for full 35 days in advance and hence the recent exams and then the festival break off to village didn’t disrupt my posting schedule and the feed subscribers haven’t fell down.
One must pre-plan for such stuff..
timestapming is the best!
I always leave a holiday message and I think my regular readers understand the need for breaks. I have a fairly small blog so I don’t have to worry about losing visitors too much. However, I am trying to make a few pennies from blogging now that I have been going for a while so your posts are very helpful to me. Thanks
I was on 10 days leave from 7 to 17 December 2007. What I did was pre-write my posting and use the WordPress Post Timestamp.
So it look like that I never was away from my regular posting at http://www.fredchanblog.com
Fred
For me, I take the vacation and don’t worry about the blogging. Life is just too short to worry about writing posts in advance or posting while on vacation. Your blog isn’t going to suffer drastically if you don’t post for a week or two. Heck, this is the 2nd year that I took off the month of December from posting on my blog. Makes for a very stress free holiday time and you do get to spend more time with family and friends.
So, take the vacation and leave the blogging behind. Otherwise, the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future my come visiting you ;).
When I go away for a while i usually ask people to guest blog but unfortunantly they are always hoping to profit directly with it instead of getting a payment throught their post.
So just to make sure the content keeps showing I always set up some scheduled posts
I usually have my laptop with me when I go away so I might post sporadically. Generally I write ahead or bring in guest bloggers. There are three or four regulars – and I guest blog for them as well.
I also have Jodee, who I can’t live without. She posts the job leads every day and is always happy to step up and pontificate in my absence.
I usually write a few posts up front, and try to get a few posts as well. I slow down my posting schedule, so that I post every two or three days – and I use the future posting feature in WordPress to automate when the posts appear. While I’m away I try to login every couple of days to approve comments – that’s the only part that doesn’t work so well, so I think next time I’ll ask someone to look after my blog for me.
What is this “vacation” you speak of? :-)
Seriously: I shut it down and don’t give it a second thought. It won’t die if I leave it alone for a few days or even weeks. In fact, usually nothing changes: the stats stay about the same, revenue stays constant.. it’s fine unattended.
It’s my consulting business that won’t leave me alone on vacation.. which is why I usually just take short bursts – 3 or 4 days here and there.
If I’m going to have a busy vacation or limited Internet access, I write ahead of time and schedule the posts to appear each day. If my vaykay is going to be more leisurely, I take the laptop with me.
I’m on vacation right now until January 4th. All of my blog posts are written in advance up until January 15th. It feels nice. :)
I must work a lot because I’ll go to the beach next 19th.
Thanks Darren.
Well,
In my case, when I’m on a vacation, I don’t usually update my blog. A very good example is this last week when I was on a vacation, though I have been taking a look at other’s blog as well as problogger too. How could I forget to do this.
I will however be updating my blog now on. And, yes if you want to take a look at my blog as well as beautiful pictures of the Himalayan mountain range do visit my blog in a few days time.
Cheers
I run a travel blog, so I just take it with me on vacation. ;)
I’m not sure what I’ll be doing now that I have (or soon will) four, however.
i write advanced and save as draft , most probably my friends theywill publish that time – http://www.vhxn.com
My answer should be : ” I will try to write at least a post a week in order to be consistent ” …
The truth is : I just came back from a vacation and I didn’t do anything in that time … so …. that’s my answer…
When I go on vacation, I leave my blog open for hackers to steal my domain name, and hold it to ransom.
Sounds like a joke, but sadly, that’s exactly what just happened this past month.
Here’s hoping I can reverse the situation and rescue my business.
I hope all’s well Darren.
When I read your earlier post on this topc about How My Blog Traffic Grew 20% During a 3-Week Vacation I realised that that was exactly what i had done when I went of a four week holiday to Italy and Greece in September. So I wrote up A href=”http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2007/11/29/can-you-take-a-break-from-blogging-without-losing-readers/”>the story of what I did to keep my blog running and posted it to my blog. I really appreciated that article giving me the spark to write my own article.
I just keep on blogging, even on vacation. I NEVER stop blogging. I love to blog, and no vacation is gonna get in the way of my blog.
Why on earth should I ever make my readers wait a few days or even a week for a new post?
The answer is, I don’t.
I live to blog.
i just got back from vacation and what i did was find a computer so that i could still make my m-w-f posts. and i first published a little disclaimer stating that i was going on vacation and that the posts might be more sporadic than usual.
the one time that i didn’t post for five days traffic fell off dramatically, so i just don’t not post anymore.
james lee stanley
datamusicata
This year over the holidays I have a big writing project I need to work on. And since I don’t want to work my tail off during this time of year, I decided to treat it as a blogging vacation.
I went through my archives and found 8 of my best posts, updated and rewrote them, and have reposted them for the next two weeks.
With nearly 600 posts, some great material was getting lost. So this way I resurrect it and still get a break (yippie!). :)
I just stop blogging, perhaps with a post to explain why. Might post something while on holiday, but only if the urge hits me – enjoying the break takes priority.
I can’t imaging getting old, looking back over my life, and wishing I’d blogged more often. But I can easily imagine looking back and wishing I’d taken more time to relax.
I pre-post comments on a regular basis, but I have had some guest posts when I know I’m going to be away. It all depends on what’s going on.
I generally try to avoid looking at blogs on vacation– spend time with the family– but I’m not always successful! :)
Once i did nothing.
But now i use an inactivity notice.
Well I really haven’t had a vacation yet since I started blogging 3 months ago but next month I’ll be going to Egypt. Since I don’t have an army of guest bloggers readers to go, I guess I’ll have to rely on myself and timestamp about 10 posts in advance. Or maybe I’ll ask a couple of friends to guest post…
I started blogging a few months back.
I have not taken a vacation since then like a few bloggers above. If I m on vacation then I want to switch off from the rest of the world. So I will not check my blog and post nothing.
If I am on a long vacation meaning 2 weeks or more then I will write some posts in advance and post them at regular interval.
I will avoid spending time on my blog unless I come up with some kindda inspiration while I am vacationing. In that case I will choose to wake up in the middle of the night when no one’s seeing me, write my post and go back to sleep..
vineet
http://vineetnair.com
Problogger,
I guess if I put myself in your shoes then it must be difficult to imagine spending a single day without looking at your blog as it is a big gig for you.. But currently I m a small time guy in blogging and don’t have any readers. Nada!!
I want to be in u r place and sometimes I m sure you d want to be in my place :))
cheers
vineet
I’m currently on vacation and my it is definetly more difficult to keep my blog updated while I’m away. Using a dial up computer really slows everything down and sometimes you don’t feel motivated to post.