It’s been a while since I published a new post on Fabulous Blogging. I’ve been keeping up on my other blog, but with personal life getting in the way these days, it’s been difficult to find my creative mojo for WordPress, design, and blogging. So rather than pretend everything is easy, I’m going to face my demon head on and tackle how to deal with your blog when your life gets in the way!
1. Don’t go it alone
When I realized I needed some help to get back in the saddle, the first thing I did was ask some blogging friends, “Please give me an idea. Anything.” And did they! They thought of things I never would have! If you’re stuck, you need someone to pull you out. This means letting another fresh brain come up with an idea for you. Of course, if you don’t have any trusted blogging friends, you need some. In the meantime, you can use the Hubspot Topic Generator if you’re really desperate.
2. Get some guest posters
If you are lucky enough to have a trusted community, ask some friends to write a few blog posts for you. Then when they are in a dry spell, you can return the favor.
3. Ghostwriting
Maybe guest posting isn’t your thing. In that case, why not hire someone to write a few posts for you? There are lots of freelance bloggers you can find on oDesk or in a Facebook community. I’ve paid for a few posts here when I had an idea that I knew I couldn’t cover as extensively as another expert. Maybe it’ll cost you $50.00, but if your site is one with a lot of traffic normally, that’s worth the piece of mind. And if you don’t have a heavily trafficked blog, you don’t need to sweat your break anyhow!
4. Change your format temporarily
Over on my personal blog, I have a daily snapshot on the front page. I found I had enough energy to give little snippets, without having to come up with a whole blog post. Can you change something on your front page so your site looks fresh even if you aren’t writing any long-form pieces?
5. Read other blogs in your niche
Find another blog that you enjoy and read their latest posts. Is there any keyword or topic you can expand upon? Even if it isn’t 1000 words, you can make an illustrative graphic or video to hold your readers over until you’ve got something new to share.
6. Keep up on social media
Sometimes writing just doesn’t work (especially if you have a lifestyle blog and your life is a mess). In that case, just keep up on your social media streams so it doesn’t appear as if you’ve vanished. If you use Feedly and Hootsuite, you can simply share other peoples’ content.
7. Revise old posts
Don’t worry about the new stuff right now. Go through your archives and spruce up the posts you’ve been meaning to get to. You can always share those on social media as well!
8. Blog about it
Why not? If it isn’t going to hurt you or the ones you love, go for it. This only works if your life circumstances somehow match your blog niche. Otherwise, skip this one.
9. Keep writing — either anonymously or privately
I had a period in my life where I knew I couldn’t blog publicly about my situation, but I still needed to write. During that time, I kept a small email list and wrote out some private blog posts. It kept me in the groove without sacrificing my online reputation.
10. Give yourself some space
For the month of August, I decided to not write any new pieces here, and despite a bit of guilt and trepidation, I remembered that this month is usually not a busy time for traffic anyhow. There were/are plenty of old posts to chew on, and my favorite saying…
“No one is paying as close attention to you as you are to you.”
If you’re worried about losing readers, announce your hiatus. I have mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, it’s good to let people know. On the other hand, should a burst of inspiration come along, you don’t want to have boxed yourself in!
Your blog should function without you once in a while
This is a goal for all of us bloggers to remember – if you are writing evergreen content, your blog should be able to withstand your dry spells. I didn’t post for a month here, but my traffic has remained steady thanks to search engines and backlinks from Pinterest, Google, and other places. If you notice a severe drop when you stop posting, this is a sign that you might want to spend time building up your evergreen content. No one can feed their blog 24/7/365!
Despite my dryspell, I’ve been busy working on new site designs all over the Interwebz. I hope you’ll check them out!
