Holidays are Crazy – Yep! I know!
Yep! I know how the holidays are a crazy time of the year—you’re busy cooking, baking cookies, cleaning, getting the ready for in-laws, traveling, shopping and then eventually you celebrate your specific holiday be it Hanukkah, Christmas, etc . So, if you are a blogger, where do you find time for your writing and blogging for your website? For some people, our websites can fall on the back burner when the holidays come around simply because there seems to be very little time left for our blogs. I am facing that right now.
Perhaps you are ready for a break from writing content and working on your blogs? For many of you, that can be a really good idea. You can instead snuggle up with that book you have been hoping to read and even catch up with some friends and family members who only see this time of year. After all, it is vital we take time for those things that are important, such as family life.
But for those of us who are trying to take our websites to the next level and ultimately create an online business to include launching a new e-book or making necessary adjustments and tweaks to our website—taking a solid break from your business is not really an option. This is the case for me. Thus, I sit here to try and give valuable advice to those who are in my shoes.
Here are some tips to help you keep up your website alive and fresh during the crazy holiday season without feeling like you are connected to it 24 hours, 7 days a week.
1. Plan Ahead
This is the most important piece of advice I can offer you. If you know you are going to be busy, then plan ahead. Write out an outline for all of your articles you want to write and when it comes time to write them out, it will be easier. Do your preliminary research ahead of time so you will not wind up spending hours at a time reading through all of the internet research and checking out other reviews, etc. You may even want to use a calendar. There are many digital calendar tools out there for free such as the following:
2. Select Easy Content
Do not try and write content for your website that involves time-intensive video editing and lots of screen shots. Do content that is easy to write while still being engaging and helpful to your readers. That being said, I want to caution you to not compose content that is simply a filler for the day. You need to make your article worthwhile so that you are still connecting through your content – just not so labor intense for you to put together. Here are some ideas of what you can write about which will not required much research or video editing:
- Writing personal stories that relate to your niche. You do not need to do research on yourself, because you are already an expert on that subject.
- No matter what your niche is, you can probably give advice on social media marketing. Write an article about Pinterest sharing some boards that relate to your niche. People are very visual and would no doubt find some popular imagery relevant to your niche very appealing. And you might be able to get additional followers to your social media connections which would mean more traffic to your website.
3. Make the Most of Your Reading
I know reading is a huge part of building our business. You have numerous blogs relating to your niche and community. I understand how important it is to stay up-to-date on everything. Pace yourself when you are reading those blogs and checking out other websites within your niche. Reading and researching is a part of building an online business, but how many times have you sat down at the computer saying you will only spend 10 minutes on reading blogs and than all of a sudden an hour flown by? Yep! I know! I have been there.
4. Use a Timer
If you need to be disciplined about only spending 15 minutes at a time on a specific task, you can use a digital timer such as the online stop watch or a free app called Alarm Clock that you can download to your cell phone. This will help with you know when it is time to stop writing and get back to holiday obligations.
Are you looking for a way to get the support and training you need to take your online business to the next level? Try out my #1 Recommendation! You will not be disappointed!
28 thoughts on “4 Tips on Blogging through The Holidays”
Planning is key. In planning ahead, you get the best bang for your buck. Get it down on paper and then stick with it. Great tips, thanks! 🙂
Hi Theresa:
You are so right, planning is key. By planning ahead, you will make the most of your time and effort when blogging through the holidays. Thank you Theresa for stopping by today and commenting on my blog post.
Sincerely,
Stephanie
This is a really useful post. I have thought to myself what do I do when I go on holiday. I like how you suggested about writing easy posts. In the past I have found some posts that have been a bit of a struggle to write. So I will look at some easy topics that I can cover for this period.
I was thinking to myself reading this that I could write them up beforehand and then post. Is there a program that I could use to do this? I mean set a time when the post will be published.
Hi Ovain:
It is a pleasure to meet you and many thanks for visiting my website today. It is a big pleasure to have you here. I know how crazy the holiday season can be. It can be so hard to keep up with our websites and blogging during that season.
In answer to your question, if you are using WordPress which is the most common software for website publishing, there is a way you can schedule posts to be published in the future. It is easy to do and will save you much time and energy, especially if you know you are going to be out of town. I have a video tutorial on WordPress that you can check out which might help.
Sincerely,
Steph
Thanks for this great holiday article, Steph! Those tips seem pretty good and helpful for organizing your schedule so you won’t be apart from your business for too long. Holiday can be a very busy period sometimes! Especially the planning and to choose easy articles are the best in my opinion. To do the easy stuff is much better than doing nothing. Thanks again and have a great holiday!
Hi Effie:
Thank you for visiting my website today. I am glad you found the tip on choosing easy articles helpful. Happy Holidays! And I wish for 2016 to be your best year yet!
Steph
Hello, I really like your product review board on your homepage. Perhaps I have not had the opportunity to learn that yet here at wealthyaffiliate but I do like the way that you linked all your product lines into one board on your homepage. It allows the reader to see up front what you are endorsing.
Hi:
Pleasure to meet you. I am glad you liked my Pinterest Product Review board. I stay up to date on products that I think my readers would be interested in. Please feel free to follow me on Pinterest. You can use the social media icons on this site to connect with me.
Thank you for visiting and I hope to see you again very soon.
Steph
Hi Stephanie,
These are some great tips. Like anything in life planning is king. Being prepared ahead of time sounds like the best way to make it through this dilemma.
I’ve been thinking about this for the last few weeks and wondering if I would have enough time.
Luckily I had some extra time today and will have some time tomorrow too. After tomorrow I will be all caught up.
I’m glad I found this post to get extra insights into blogging.
Thank you!
Hi Randy:
I am glad you found my tips on blogging through the holidays helpful. It sounds like you will have some extra time for the next couple of days to relax and get caught up on some of your blogging activities. Happy Holidays and please come back again soon.
Steph
Hi Steph,
Thanks for your earlier response to my question about researching easy topics. I actually drew some inspiration from that and have turned out some rapid posts about beer and brewing!
I’m also thinking of doing some extra training on pro-blogging, as I’ve now got the hang of rapid content and have some extra time over the holidays. Any recommendations?
I am delighted that I was able to help with your earlier question. It sounds like you are moving right along with your beer and brewing blog. I will definitely have to check it out someday. In answer to your question about what to do with your extra time over the holidays, I will recommend perhaps reviewing your older content to see if you can make it look fresher or perhaps catch small grammatical errors that may have been overlooked. Just today I found an older article on my website which needs a little face lift and some extra content.
Happy Holidays and I hope 2016 will be a great year for you.
Steph
Man these are some really good tips. I spend all day every day on the computer blogging or promoting or something. If I were to use a timer i could manage my time much more effectively. I don’t think I would pick a buzzer though maybe a chime.
Hi Darren:
Thank you so much for your comment. I agree that using a timer could probably help many of us stay on task. I agree about not having a loud buzzer go, maybe just a soft chime like you said.
Steph
Hi Steph, Great post and great tips for making sure our blogging gets done this Holiday season! I know personally it is hard to keep things going when I am juggling kids, housework, numerous parties and activities and shopping… Endless shopping! Will be using a timer for now on. I truly believe that will help me keep focused and help me get things done!
Happy Holidays!
Eloah
Hi Eloah:
Thank you for reading this article. I am glad you found the use of a timer to be helpful idea when staying on track and balancing between holidays and work. Have a wonderful and happy holiday season.
Steph
Hello Steph, I always have been experiencing this kind of situation every week more of the time 2 times a week when my wife takes her rest day from work. And like you said taking a break from getting your site to the next level is not an option for us who dreams of having a successful online business as soon as possible.
Thank you very much for the advise that you have shared with us. This week I’ll try and do exactly what you said.
-Norz
Hi Norz:
I am really glad you found this article helpful. Thank you for reading. I know I cannot afford to take a break, because like you, it is not an option for those of us who have ambitious plans. I hope to see you again soon.
Steph
Hey Steph,
Great advice, I think using the timer will really help us out. I’m a blogger and I actually find it difficult to find time to blog when you’re away as there are many distractions all around. You’ll feel like going to the beach and chilling instead of actually sitting down and typing. If we use a timer and focus all our attention to for one hour, i believe it would be more productive than trying to get the ‘feel’ of writing when you’re outside which would take the whole day and you still wouldn’t finish your article.
Hi Riaz:
You are so right about there being so many distractions around us. We live is a noisy world for sure. I am glad you found my advice of using a timer to be helpful. Have a wonderful day!
Steph
I love this website Steph ! I will be marking it and going back to read more! You hit the nail on the head with your blog from yesterday… Im still trying to work out how to juggle things over Christmas. I can’t afford to take time off, too many pages to write and if I don’t keep going I will never start earning. Your writing is very engaging, I wanted to read more ! and I will be going back to do so !
Hi Helen:
Thank you so much for the kind words. I know what you mean about not being able to take a break during the holidays. I am in the same boat. Hence, why I am writing so many articles.
I am glad you find my writing engaging. It is my goal to try and connect to my readers through my content. I hope to see you again soon.
Steph
Hi Steph, your tips are excellent!! I know Jan & Feb are going to cause some problems for me, especially because I am consistent with my twice a week publishing schedule. In addition to your tips which have already been part of my game plan (good to know I was on the right track!!), I’ve been writing what I can now, and scheduling posts ahead of time, which I do anyway. So far I have posts scheduled until mid January. I’ve also been looking for guest authors which I hope will help.
Hi Hindy:
Thank you for leaving a comment and it sounds like you are miles ahead of everyone else when it comes to blogging through the holidays. You sound like you are really organized with having posts scheduled all the way through mid-January. I do not even have that. I have some scheduled through the end of the year.
I like your idea of guest authors, but I have to admit, I am on the fence with that, because I like my content to have “my own voice” to it. I want my readers to know it is me writing to them. I feel that my website might lose some of its authenticity if I were to do guest authors. There is certainly debate on that.
As always, I love hearing from you and enjoy receiving your comments. Have a wonderful day!
Steph
This is really useful info for me – while I research and write, my fiancee is getting bored and frustrated with me spending December at the computer. Part of the problem is that I’m spending a lot of my time ‘surfing,’ and getting distracted while researching for topics to write about.
I really liked your advice about choosing easy content, and I think that will help a lot. Do you have any recommendations for how I can research easy content without surfing google results?
Hi Jesshop:
I am really glad this information was helpful. Your girlfriend wanting you to spend more time with her is what many families struggle with during the holiday season. There is so much pressure for folks who are working through the holidays and trying to capitalize on the holiday sales through their affiliate marketing efforts, that loved ones get frustrated with us. I know, I have similar problems with that as well.
I do understand how doing internet research for what starts out to be for only ten minutes ends up being an hour later with you being in a dark corner of the Internet that you did not even knew existed nor how you got there. One distraction leads to another leads to another and before long you are asking yourself, “How did I get there?” and “I could have been doing xyz…. right about now!”
In answer to your question about researching easy content without surfing the net, that is one of the reasons why I suggest telling personal stories that relate to your niche. People love to hear stories. They love to be inspired, especially around the holiday season. I will give you an example. Let’s say your niche is on raising cats and your own cat cleaned into the Christmas Tree and starting batting at the ornaments making a huge mess with broken ornament pieces all over the place. You could write as a humorous story about a cat being the curious creature it is and then provide some tips on what to put on the Christmas tree and what to NOT put on the Christmas tree when you have cats in your home. That way you are providing a personal story and giving some lighthearted humor to it and providing some valuable tips to your readers about what you learned through your personal experience and passing it along to them. That is not stuff you can research through the Internet, because it is all about you and your recent experiences. I hope that helps give you some ideas.
Thank you again for visiting and reading my article. I look forward to seeing you again soon.
Steph
Hi Steph
Those are very great tips for blogging during the holidays. I am having this issue right now as I have so many work events! My holidays will be quieter but the weeks leading up to them are crazy! So I really need to find time this weekend to post an article. I actually like writing posts about personal experience. They are easier research wise as sometimes I certainly get lost in the reading part! It is not uncommon to spend 3 hours including research and finding pictures. So using a timer might be essential!
Hi Emily:
I enjoy writing posts about personal experiences as well, because like you said, they involve little to nothing when it comes to research and they are fun. Not to mention around this time of year people love hearing stories, because stories inspire us and make us smile which is what holidays are all about. And yes, using a stop watch can help make sure you to stick to only a certain amount of time.
Thank you for visiting and I hope you come back again real soon.
Steph