Things to Avoid - Blogging about Not Blogging
Just wanted to apologize about the lack of posts around here. Things have been busy with my school and work schedule. Expect the posts to pick up soon. For updates, please subscribe to the feed.
Enough is Enough - Stop Blogging About Not Blogging
If you go through as many feeds as I do, the last thing you want to see is another post about not being able to blog. It brings attention to your blog (in a bad way) and only gives lip service to your dedication to your readership.
There are exceptions to this, such as emergencies and extended vacations where blogging (and future posting) are not possibilities.
A “Not Blogging” Analogy
Imagine calling someone and the call goes straight to voice mail. The voice mail message states, “I’m sorry I can’t take your call right now. I’ll try to get back to you, but due to my hectic schedule, I may not. I’ll try not to be so busy in the future. Bye.”
Would you not think that leaving that voice mail would be a waste of your time? At the same time, going to a site or reading a feed that says, “Sorry for not posting” is an insane waste of time. I don’t come to a site to read about someone not being able to blog. I come to a site to read content. If that content isn’t there and all I get is excuses, then it’s bye bye time.
ProBlogger has some useful tips on what to do if you are too busy to blog. Hare are some more suggestions:
Have a Post Ready
Bes (The Reasoner) suggested that if you do happen to write a post apologizing for the lack of updates, there better be a post with some real content also.
Have Guest Bloggers
Another way to get posts on a site when content is lacking is to allow guest bloggers. Unless you have a good network of friends, it’s difficult to find guest bloggers in your niche. Fortunately there is a new service (that I have yet to try out) called Guest Blogger that looks really promising.
Simply Don’t Post
When I am too busy to blog, I simply don’t post. I don’t like to fill my blog with meaningless “I can’t post” posts.
Have Re-Runs
If you simply can’t post, why not write a short paragraph describing a post you’ve written in the past. If people are interested, they’ll click on it and read. If not, at least you tried.
Conclusion
What do you think about blog posts that just apologize for the lack of posting. Do they actually help?
inspirationbit says...
Ronald, you should’ve highlighted that first paragraph differently. For a moment I got really confused - what is Ronald talking about, what school, what about all those regular posts at RA?
Anyway… since I can get very busy, I do need to find and use a variety of options to keep my blog updated and interesting for readers even when I don’t have time to write.
I do think that it’s a good idea to apologize and perhaps explain the reason of being silent on the blog, but I do agree that such posts shouldn’t start and end with the apology only. Often if I don’t have time to write, I simply don’t write… but it after a few days, I finally write a post apologizing for my silence and like Ronald suggested, add something more meaningful and interesting for readers as well.
Guest bloggers really help in such cases. You can check out Ronald’s guest post on my blog, if you haven’t read it yet.
LaurenMarie says...
Vivien, I like it that you do not post “I’m sorry.” You are on a business trip this week and you said so (explained your leave, but not being annoying about it) and then gave us stuff to read. I think those kinds of apology posts are ok.
As to other ideas, speaking purely from a reader’s perspective:
I think guest blogging is a great way to “disguise” the absence of the blog owner. Online comics do this all time.
I think another way to do this is to have an extended writing session before a known absence and then post one each day (or whatever your schedule). If you will be away from technology, create a login for a very trusted person to do it for you.
I also like what Johno does with Snippet Posts. At least he points me to something that might be of interest and let’s me know he hasn’t forgotten me, his reader. Sometimes the short little paragraph posts are nice for me, as a reader, because I can still keep up with a blog and not have to read a three page report. I really don’t mind the occasional three or four sentence article!
Ronald Huereca says...
LaurenMarie,
I think the snippet posts are a good idea. When I go on vacation, that’s what I’ll probably do since I have a lot of content buried in the archives.
Ronald Huereca says...
inspirationbit,
I wanted the reader to say to themselves, “Not another one…” — And then I rip into what I’m trying to get at.
inspirationbit says...
Lauren, thanks for reminding me about John’s snippet posts. I think that’s what I’ll do next time when I have absolutely no time for more than a few bits of inspiration
Ronald, you achieved the desired effect with your 1st paragraph really well
Andrew says...
I think it depends on the expectations you have set. With some blogs you do feel like there is a reader-writer community and in that situation it is a good idea to explain absence, in others they feel more like a professional publication, again those absences are good to explain.
There are some however, and I think I would class mine that way, where writing a post just to explain why you haven’t written one seems a little self-absorbed. I don’t think my readers hang on my every word, or expect a post every day. I hope I have set an expectation that when I do write I will write something interesting, but that I won’t force it if I have nothing to say.