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When Do Bloggers Get a Break?
Bloggers continually produce posts to maintain a consistent, regular publishing pattern to keep readers happy. And if they’re going to take some time off, they should let people know that they’ll be disappearing-…
Wait. Say what? Disappearing? Not posting? Unheard of. How dare we. Bloggers taking leave of absences? Without permission? Without leaving something for people to read??
I recently asked the Twitterati what they thought about bloggers taking posting vacations. I wasn’t doing it to find out whether Harry and I should take a vacation – we already know we’re way overdue.
We’ve had one week of vacation in the past three years, and we work 7 days a week. Sure, we take a few hours here and there, but there isn’t one day where we don’t touch the keyboard. Many of you out there are living the very same situation, too.
But vacations for bloggers are a general no-no, and that bothers me. Modernevil said, “When & WHY did blogging become so constant that anyone would notice a few days without a post?”
Indeed.
Popularity? Loving the information? Habit? A drug fix people can’t live without? A sense of something owed, as if the bloggers had an obligation? Just plain missing the blogger?
Who knows. But people and bloggers certainly have unspoken rules about the etiquette of blogging, and those rules are firmly rooted in everyone’s expectations. A break in blogging isn’t acceptable unless:
- The blogger goes away for a day or two at the most, or
- The blogger writes and timestamps posts to publish in his or her absence or,
- The blogger replace his or her posts with those of guest posters.
sandielaw agreed, with a caveat: “I don’t know if they should or not [take vacations], but I do. Granted, I wouldn’t leave the blog unattended for an extended period of time, but a weekend? Owlbert was kind enough to chime in with, “Certainly! Everyone deserves time for themselves. Mind you, I’d prepopulate my blog with posts so nobody would know… 
jonathanfields also agreed, saying that lining up guest posters was the way to go to populate a blog. And so did SHurleyHall, who mentioned that she would “go for future posting or guest posts. If it’s only a couple of days it might not matter, but longer needs some input IMO”.
But what if you don’t want to accept guest posters? What if you don’t have the time to collect and edit or aren’t ready for guest posters? What of those bloggers (like us) who have simply chosen not to go the guest posting route? Some blogs are accepting so many guest posts these days that the original blogger seems almost forgotten.
A dilemma.
spiritualtramp said, “Sure as long as it was communicated. Heck if it’s a blog I’m loyal to a not overlong unannounced break is ok” Note the words “not overlong”. Patience only goes so far in the virtual world.
Bloggers can leave their post, but not empty. They can take a short break, perhaps a weekend or maybe a few days more, if they work twice as hard before they leave to make sure people have something to read.
Readers expect to have their dose of blog reading. Period. And bloggers are worried about the effects of leaving a blog empty for a short while.
Chrisgarrett offered something interesting: My photography blog had weeks without posts, twice chrisg.com has had a week without posts, both came back fine.
Some blogs don’t post regularly: Dosh Dosh, Copyblogger and Rock your Day, to name a few. Their populations don’t leave… then again, the first two blogs are huge and famous. Rock your Day is still working on balancing day job and night blogging. (Are you subscribed? Check his blog out. It’s worth a look.)
Indeed, davenavarro said, “Bloggers should do whatever the hell they want with their posting frequency.”
But to counter his helpful advice, DebNg asked, “A month off? What is that? I’m looking forward to full days of camp so I can work more.”
It appears bloggers want time off but have so much work and worries that obligations come first and rest second.
Kellye_Crane noted the issue in a nutshell. “Bloggers need to take it easy. Far too many of my favs burn out and cease to blog- better they post less often but stick around.” And why do we burn out? Because we’re busy feeding the machine, working to earn income and to stay on top of business.
What for?
“What the?! You want me to actually READ your posts?! All 140 characters, even the spaces? What am I made of milliseconds? 
”
Those were the words of jonathanfields, spoken in jest but with a grain of truth. There’s so much content out there that readers constantly skim and scan. It’s disheartening for bloggers to know that vacation time is far out of reach but no one really reads what they work so hard to produce.
SCartierLiebel had a great little trick up her sleeve. Take a vacation, write when you feel like it and bank up a little for when you return to extend the break a little bit.
My favorite comments were the following:
LaptopForHire: Heck with that. I take weekends off, and will vacations, too. No blog I can’t be without a couple of weeks; same for mine.
slpowell: Absolutely! Everyone is entitled to time off and bloggers are no exception.
berrybrewer: “Of course bloggers should get vacations. Why wouldn’t they?”
Why wouldn’t they indeed?
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When I took a long vacation from work, I put the following message in my autoresponder (and a similar message on voicemail):
—-
Dear friend,
I will be out of the office from X to Y. I will not be accessible… at all. Do not even try. The purpose of a vacation is to recharge after all.
As this is a ridiculously long period of time to be away, I shall delete all emails and voicemails upon my return and start fresh.
If you have something of burning importance, please hang onto that though until I return. Upon my return, if it is still burning, use a pair of tongs to grip the idea firmly and speed it to my attention.
Thank you for your understanding. You may count on my reciprocation when you decide to take your vacation.
—-
I cannot tell you the number of laughing messages that waited for me in voicemail. Not one person complained.
Take your vacations and enjoy, guys!
P.S. Why not put up a Gone Fishing sign and then let people sign up for an email that will let them know when you are back?
Jamie Grove – How Not To Write’s last blog post..How to Write a Book and Why I Write About Writing
I love Jamie’s comment, although I’d personally never have the guts to use a message like that. . .
The bottom line here: It’s your blog, your life, and your rules . . .
Do what is best for you and your family.
Laura Spencer’s last blog post..Of Note: How Not To Write
@ Laura – And how many bloggers actually put that wise advice into practice?
@ Jamie – Sounds like the one I’d cooked up for an old autoresponder “…currently working on the world’s greatest miracle, so please yadda yadda…”
I’m 100% with Dave Navarro on this one.
In fact, like Dave, I recently did not blog for a whole week (unplanned) and like Dave, my subscriber count went up. Go figure.
However, if I had a blog that was directly tied to my business and the readers were my (paying) customers, I would probably be a little more strict about scheduling and posting notices when I’m going to be away for awhile.
I also noticed that when I stopped adhering to a strict posting schedule, both my subscriptions and my comments increased significantly. I stopped worrying about the rules and tried to just relax and have fun with it. Best blogging decision I ever made!
Melissa Donovan’s last blog post..The Watson-Guptill Fickle Writer
I never did reply to the original tweet (not sure if it came in while I was at work or I just missed it), so my thoughts.
I’m sort of with Dave Navarro on this, and Melissa, and Jesse Hines – and Tim Ferriss / Tyler Durden
Now, I’m not an expert by any means as I’m pretty new, but I figure if people like what you do, and you’re honest with them, they’ll be pretty reasonable if you take a break or something.
As it’s your blog, you could say, “hey guys, I’m working on ‘project X’ and I need to spend more time on it” – the kind of people you want to attract will understand. The ones who get all pissy, well, maybe you don’t want them anyway.
(Now don’t everyone get all pissy and unsubscribe from my blog!!! I just broke 100 subscribers this week, and I hope to keep climbing – but if not, well, it isn’t the end of the world. My end goal isn’t to have 40,000 subscribers – I have bigger plans than that.)
I think what Melissa said was pretty close to where I personally need to go. Just have fun with it, write good stuff, and let the blog go where it goes. I’ve got some pretty cool people reading it and hanging out. That’s more than I could have asked for when I started out.
Brett Legree’s last blog post..best laid plans.
Absolutely, everybody deserves a vacation. I think it’s only fair to leave a “Gone Fishing” kind of notice so that people won’t worry–especially if you blog frequently enough that an absence of more than a day is going to be noticeable. I mean, I miss my favorite bloggers when they disappear for a week or two, but as long as I know in advance so that I’m not worrying about car wrecks and family emergencies, I think it’s more than reasonable. EVERYBODY gets vacations! If a blogger opts to pre-schedule posts to ease the time away, or lines up guest-bloggers, that’s fine, but I can’t think of a single blog that I would be offended enough to stop reading if the author(s) took a week off!
I mean, really, is ANYBODY really that self-involved? “What, they’re not there writing the blog posts I rely on with my morning coffee? Well! I’ll never darken their website again!”
–Deb’s last blog post..MM: Period
To be honest here James,
I have so many emails arriving each day from blogs I have subscribed to, that I cannot keep up with them all when they post every day.
Okay, that’s my own fault, but there are quite a few good blogs out there, so it’s hard to say no, and I actually like reading the full posts – not scimming – so it makes life even harder. I bet there are many others like me also.
You post every day, sometimes more than that. Sometimes, like today, I don’t get around to reading your post until everyone else has. I have work to do online myself.
Personally, I probably wouldn’t notice if you didn’t post for a day or two – and that’s being honest.
Take your break. Don’t bother with a guest writer unless you really think it’s necessary. People come here to read you, not someone else.
Those who enjoy your writing, as I do, will still be here when you come back.
As long as it’s not too long…
zania’s last blog post..Keep a Suspicious Mind When You Make Money Online
Blogging is closely related to journalism, and traditional journalism operates on a reliable schedule. Daily newspapers are published, daily. Broadcast newscasts are on the hour (except for breaking news). Weekly and monthly publications also have reliable schedules — though they are obviously at the other end of the universe than, say, Twitter.
So consistency is important, and if we see ourselves in the totality, while we certainlly can take vacations, if our blog is to be seen as reliable, meaningful, and follow the conventions, then, it must be published on schedule. Quality is important, of course, and this can be handled by guest posts or preplanning — and readers will certainly accept some vacation downtime if you give them advance notice.
Bloggers are free to do their thing when and how they wish, but we should not downgrade the importance of consistency in the practice.
Mark Buckshon’s last blog post..CSMPS and PSMA for Canadians
Due to my own need to recharge between online forays, I’m often late to the party which is why I don’t always comment. Daily posting is so common, there’s too often a newer post up thus a new conversation underway. It’s that standard I believe to be the problem as I certainly can’t keep up nor am I willing to try. My brain would explode, especially since I too actually read the posts & its comments.
Aside from sites w/timely content, particularly news, I not only can’t see the need for 7 posts (or more!) a week but feel posts can get lost in the shuffle. W/high readership, each post still gets widely disseminated but could have an even larger percentage of the audience if it wasn’t always out of the limelight the very next day.
Grandad & Tei tend to post daily but neither are necessarily bowing to perceived pressure; Grandad’s “Rambles” are part of his morning routine & Tei’s “Ink” seems to be a nightly catharsis. They’re both offering value each & every day, just as you two offer value w/each post (or you wouldn’t be posting). The result tho’ is many loyal readers being forced to pick & choose which posts we read.
Vacations aren’t always practical & shouldn’t be the only way we recharge. If we think of ourselves as rechargeable batteries, the only question is how often we need to be recharged. The intervals will vary for everyone but need to be honored. Find your pattern, be transparent & post accordingly. Given how long many bloggers have now been at it, we’ll hopefully see this more sane & healthful approach start spreading.
(|_|*cheers*|_|)
“If you are losing your leisure, look out; you may be losing your soul.†~ Logan P. Smith
Dorian aka coffeesister |_|)’s last blog post..Found Fridays; links loved, finding Fridays
Due to my own need to recharge between online forays, I’m often late to the party which is why I don’t always comment. Daily posting is so common, there’s too often a newer post up thus a new conversation underway. It’s that standard I believe to be the problem as I certainly can’t keep up nor am I willing to try. My brain would explode, especially since I too actually read the posts & their comments.
Aside from sites w/timely content, particularly news, I not only can’t see the need for 7 posts (or more!) a week but feel posts can get lost in the shuffle. W/high readership, each post still gets widely disseminated but could have an even larger percentage of the audience if it wasn’t always out of the limelight the very next day.
Two of my fave bloggers do post daily but aren’t necessarily bowing to perceived pressure; Grandad’s “Head Rambles†are part of his morning routine & Tei’s “Rogue Ink†seems to be a nightly catharsis. They’re both offering value each & every day, just as you two offer value w/each post (or you wouldn’t be posting). The result tho’ is many loyal readers being forced to pick & choose which posts we read.
Vacations aren’t always practical & shouldn’t be the only way we recharge. If we think of ourselves as rechargeable batteries, the only question is how often we need recharging. The intervals will vary for everyone but need to be honored. Find your pattern, be transparent & post accordingly. Given how long many bloggers have now been at it, we’ll hopefully see this more sane & healthful approach start spreading.
(|_|*cheers*|_|)
“If you are losing your leisure, look out; you may be losing your soul.†~ Logan P. Smith
Dorian aka coffeesister |_|)’s last blog post..Found Fridays; links loved, finding Fridays
Funny you bring this up… I am just about to go on a 2 month break travelling around Europe and I managed to get 12 GREAT guest articles for my time away and on each article I let the readers know that I won’t be on the blog so I guess yes, I guess some bloggers get a break
Jacob Cass’s last blog post..If I Could Only Read 10 Blogs…
James I kinda like the guest posting route a lot of bloggers are taking (including me in the future). It exposes you to others who find their blog worthwhile — and whom you may in return find worthwhile.
I don’t think it should be for an extended time though, but that’s just my personal opinion. Each person has to define “extended” for themselves.
I kind of think of my blog as my home — I don’t mind visitors for short periods of time, BUT, there is no extended stay here buster; only immediate family please. And, even those, you want to kick out sometimes.
Interesting insight from everyone on this subject though. Blogging is growing up.
Yuwanda
The Freelance Writer’s Blog’s last blog post..How to Increase Your Blog’s Traffic with Link Bait Articles
I have to say this is an issue I’ve thought about a lot since I started blogging. Blogging can be quite demanding, with the need to write every day, respond to comments, and generally be available all the time. It’s almost like a steady job. I’ve managed to go on pretty well so far only posting three times a week, but I’m quite aware that I could probably do better with it if I were posting every day. Still, I decided a while ago that I didn’t want to do crappy posts, that I probably would do some crappy posts if I forced myself to do it every day, and that if it became too demanding it wasn’t for me. I think I’m going to write a longer post about this tomorrow or possibly next week. Thanks for the inspiration!
Jennifer’s last blog post..Developing a Sales and Marketing Mindset
Let’s talk about business blogging – blogging from a CEO or other high-ranking authority of a company.
In this case post frequency does not matter. The issue is focus and post quality. And nobody will even notice your absence for couple weeks.
The problem is that nobody noticed the diverging of blogs to diary blogs, corporate blogs and business blogs. And business blogs have different rules.
I even wrote an entire e-book on this topic – “The New Rules of Business Blogs”. You are welcome to check it out in my blog at www.positioningstrategy.com. Please feel free to post it on your blog or pass the e-book to whomever you believe might benefit from reading it.
Linas Simonis, PositioningStrategy’s last blog post..Can You Have an Editor of Your Business Blog?
@ Linas – I find your comment interesting. Why do you feel that there are different rules for blogging depending on the type of blog you have?
Agreed – there are blogs that only want PR and SEO visibility. There are blogs that are gateways to business (ours is a gateway blog). There are hobby blogs.
But why do you feel that our blog is different from a CEO blog or corporate blog? Why do you feel post frequency doesn’t matter? Why do you feel that any blog doesn’t need to focus on quality?
I really would like to hear your views, because I think you have brought up an important point about perception that would be valuable to the audience.
James,
My entire e-book “The New Rules of Business Blogs” is dedicated to answer all these questions. Check them out in my blog at www.positioningstrategy.com.
Sure, quality is important in all blogs. But there is such a big pressure to post frequently that often the quality suffers. And when I must choose, I always choose quality over quantity.
CEO’s job is so time-pressured that he must post infrequently or not have business blog at all. In my opinion it is better to post once a week or even once a month than not to have a business blog at all.
Your blog? Your blog is a typical business blog. And exceptionally good, by the way. I found it a couple days ago and still enjoy reading all posts you wrote. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
Linas Simonis, PositioningStrategy’s last blog post..Can You Have an Editor of Your Business Blog?
Vacation is blogger’s (and everybody’s) right. Stop thinking about it, go away and have fun, rest and recreation.
Vacation is your obligation to yourself. You need to recharge, to see something except monitor and excercise something with fingers that is not typing.
But bloggers are special breed in this respect. “Not a day without a post” became an imperative. But, we often forget that imperative is dictated by searchbots not the readers or craft. It’s googlebot that will “punish” you and your blog if you don’t spit something new everyday. But, do you care about readers or the software? Let’s be honest, good blogging takes both. But if you have to leave a bot hungry to go to vacation, would you even think what to do? I hope you won’t.
And then, there are readers, of course. Do they really have to have a daily post from you? Bloggers are not bakers, and you’ll agree that daily bread is much more a necessity than daily post. Breaking news: bakers take vacations too. So, going honest once again, it’s not the readers that will die without the daily dose of your blog, it’s the blogger that hates to think they are reading something else.
For what it’s worth, a bit of stats-talk…. last month I went lazy, saturated and left my almost two years old blog a bit neglected. And starting another blog helped too, so I end up this October with four posts total. Guess what, I have a bit more unique visitors and about the same amount of hits than the month before. As I wa also lazy with other blogs and screaming my name around, most of my traffic comes from search engines, but that is the only difference.
Forget about not taking the vacation.
dandellions last blog post..Fighting A Worldwide Monster Over A Peanut