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I’m Hailey – content strategist and founder here at Your Content Empire where we help you create more profitable, purposeful and productive content — and hopefully enjoy yourself more while doing it too. Learn more about me here >>
You know the drill. Summer vacation is calling – or even if isn't you might still be feeling the pull to take things a bit easier with a full or partial break from blogging, hang out with friends on the patio drinking margaritas or curl up to tackle your summer reading list. And even if that isn't your intention, try telling that to the people around you who are wrecking havoc on your to-do list with their laissez-faire approach to deadlines.
So … why not summer-proof your content strategy?
Give yourself a little extra breathing room.
You deserve a break from your business. Like a real break. One that doesn’t involve guilt or that sick nagging feeling that there’s all of this stuff you should be getting done.
But it’s hard to let go of that feeling – especially when you’ve been kicking butt on your content lately and are finally starting to see some traction in terms of growing your community, visibility and engagement! I get it – You’re afraid of losing your audience or getting out of the habit of posting content regularly.
But as important as blogging and your other content are, it’s just as important that you are able to shut off for awhile and focus on other areas of your life.
There are so a lot of benefits to taking producing content for your business, like increased creativity, focus and energy. Why work harder to get less content done – especially since it isn’t as creative or original as it could be if you let yourself work in your best conditions? Breaks are a part of the creative process.
The best way to overcome these feelings? Feeling like you’ve prepared so that it looks like the machine is still running even though you’re not at the wheel. Luckily, this isn’t that hard to set up!
On your blog that is! Why unintentionally turn your audience off of reading posts that you published in the past that are just as relevant today? It also helps when you’re taking a break from blogging so it doesn’t look like you’re one of those people who posted for awhile and then vanished into thin air! In WordPress, you can do this by going to settings -> permalink and changing the structure of your links and then there should also be an option in your theme to stop displaying the dates of your posts (where it depends on what theme you’re using).
Know some people who would be a great fit for your audience? Ask if they’d like to post something or go into a Facebook group and pose the question: “I’m looking for guest posters on [insert your website]. I write about x, y and z. Please comment below or pm me know if you’d be interested!” Schedule their posts for the days you normally publish. You get coverage, they get exposure and your audience gets a new post. Wins all-round!
Write posts in advance and schedule them to go out while you’re away.
Sure there are some people who will remember when you feature an existing post on your social media channels or newsletter, but most will not. So print out a calendar covering the time that you’ll be away and map out what content you’re going to distribute through your channels. (If you want to download my Monthly Content Planning Kit here)
Another route is to create posts that don’t require a ton of effort (like lists or resource round-ups). These will provide a ton of value for your readers and it will also build relationships with fellow bloggers and business owners. Look for free resources from bloggers or business owners who compliment your own offers but that don’t offer the exact same thing.
You can either do one of these options to cover you during your entire vacation or you can mix it up and try all four. Once you figure out your plan for your blog during your holiday, preschedule some social media posts and your regular newsletters.
Once you've done this, the only question is what you're going to do with all that extra content vacation time?
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