Nauseous-looking snowman
Christmas is always busy around here. Add the hub-bub to the usual workload imposed by being self-employed, and you feel nuts.
It is my favorite time of year, though, just because it is so pretty. I have it in my mind that people are kinder to each other this time of year, so they at least appear to be.
It is a rough time for blogs.
It is hard to find the time to add content if you are pulled in a million directions. You are celebrating- whatever- and the fact of the matter is that orchestrating a celebration requires a lot of attention. Traditions require attention. Cookies and children home from school require attention. One day you look up and see your beloved blog curled up by itself in the corner shivering, and you realize that you haven’t fed the poor thing in a week and a half.
There are two schools of thought. One is that you blog- and do any prospecting, for that matter- on a fairly strict schedule. Write it down right in your Google calendar, and set it up to remind you. “Ping”- sit down and write. I have to work somewhat like this or I would look up and see that two months had gone by with nothing done. Knowing I have two posts to write on Tuesday sets my mind to “Observation” mode so I plan them out prior- and I am not sitting down looking out the window writing something about the weather again.
I asked another (prolific) blogger that I know how he wrote, and he said, “I write when I have something to say.” That would be the second school of thought, and it works if you get your butt over to the computer as soon as you have something to say, which I am unlikely to do. This method certainly works for my friend, though.
Looking for ideas? Run a few Google alerts for news of interest in your area of expertise, and use that as the basis of a blog or two a week, interpreting the news for your readers in a way to make it meaningful to them. Once every couple of weeks, ask someone local to write a guest post for you. Local sports, a restaurant review, a holiday recipe that your family really loves- all are interesting.
I guess any method will work as long as you make a habit out of it, and keep in mind that your blog is a living thing that needs to be fed. Skip a few posts and you will see what I mean.
