One action to take to guarantee blog continuity

I used to blog a couple of times a week, sometimes more. Then, after six years, I reduced my blogging to once per week, with the occasional second post in the same week. My aim is to be consistent, and I always want to have at least one blog post each week, no matter what.

Consistency is key to keeping your blog viable. If you take off for months on end, people forget about your blog. And if you don’t blog regularly, it is hard to promote your blog.

So what are you going to do when you can’t or won’t post on a regular, consistent schedule?

Some share old posts. In many cases, that’s not sustainable. After all, a blog is generally about timeliness and being topical. Although some blog posts have value long after you post them, you can’t be wholly dependent on a few old posts.

Some hire a ghostblogger. Paying a third party to produce blog posts on a continual basis can be an excellent solution if you can afford it and you can provide good instruction to the blogger for hire. You will also have to supervise the blog posts, and make sure they are meeting your audience’s needs and your organization’s voice.

Some solicit guest writers. This is a great option if you can find the right person to guest post on your blog.

The one action you should do to prevent this situation from happening in the first place? Write an evergreen post once a month or so. (Evergreen means that it can be used at any time.) File it away. This way, when you are in the situation where you can’t or won’t blog, you have fresh material to post. If you are like me, there are times when you are feeling more creative or more focused, and writing seems easier. Take advantage and write up a blog post. Another plus of doing this is that you can work on your post to perfect it before posting. More editing time, more time to find images, and more time to work on the headline.

If writing an extra post each month seems daunting, perhaps start with having a regular brainstorming session (say once a month or once a quarter) where you challenge yourself to come up with five to ten blog post ideas. Keep that list on file and when you are feeling blocked, you will have something to work on.

We all get derailed but that doesn’t mean we can’t get back on track. Having a back up plan is a smart blogging policy.

What do you do when you can’t blog?