Many bloggers preach about the benefits of blogging for business, personal fulfillment, networking, social media participation, etc. The list could go on and on and I 100% agree with all of them. The satisfaction and personal/business gain can be incredible. But, one thing you should know once you jump into the world of blogging is that there are times when you should step away from the keyboard. Here are a few:
- You’re tired
- You’re happy hour went a few drinks too long
- Writer’s block has set in
- Experiencing a period of high stress
- No inspiration
- You’re angry, sad, or just plain grumpy
- No topic grabs your interest
- You’re trying to squeeze in too little time to produce quality work
- You’re watching the kids and trying to write a post
- Your passion is taking a day off
Remember, no post is better than a low-quality post. Your readers and community are subscribed to you because they value the message you deliver. When that message is compromised for any reason, it may be time to take a day or two off.
Tags: blogging, Business Blogging, writing a blog post
“You’re watching the kids and trying to write a post”
I beg to differ.
Some of us would never get to blog at all if e followed that rule.
How ’bout editing it to say “You are watching your kids and they’ve breached 125 decibles while you ry to write a post.”
Good list, but I agree with Jennifer.
I often post, or at least start writing a post, while watching the kids. Now if they’re totally out of control I don’t end up finishing and posting!
“Your passion is taking a day off”
Passion is what make bloggers stay online..But to be honest, there are certain times that it seems that passion is not there, for some unexpected reason, and uncontrollable situation..especially when we make ourselves believe that what’s happening everyday seems to be the same..
Jennifer,
Ha! I actually thought about you as I wrote that line. I have no idea how you do it! You must have amazing concentration because you write such good content and I imagine the kids are going nuts in the background.
-Pat
Richard,
I’ve attempted to do it, but never get much done. Plus, I kind of want to go play with them anyway!
-Pat
Richard,
Yes, passion on the topic or medium is absolutely key. The minute that dips so does the quality of what you’re doing.
-Pat
Awesome list Pat! I used to read the blog of someone who regular posted while drunk. And though he thought it was hilarious, I don’t think anyone else did!
[…] M.O. Patrick Schaber of the Lonely Marketer lists this among his list of 10 times that you need to step away from your keyboard and refrain from writing a blog […]
I totally agree! Don’t feel bad about taking time off from blogging people, the internet will still be here.
Guess what? If you don’t post something for a few days a large percentage of your visitors will never notice or care. Its not your responsibility to entertain every night is it?
sometimes you need a little “me time”, especially if you’re supposed to be the lonely marketer.
Ryan
Amen to all of that. I especially like this point about passion. I think it’s a key ingredient to high-quality entertaining posts. I have to stop myself from feeling guilty when I don’t have anything of value to post.
Great List. But, I have to disagree on the angry and sad. Angry and sad are both very inspirational. As long as you write lucidly about whatever you are angry or sad about, it may be of interest to your readership (not to mention very cathartic).
It’s definitely a bad idea to post when you are lacking inspiration. Your readers can easily tell what’s going on when you try to feed them a lackluster post. Hold off posting until the following day or until your time or creativity permits.
Another thing - unless posting a blog will directly generate income for you, be sure you don’t spend time blogging when you have higher priority work to do.
Add one more…Your wife has been grumbling about you neglecting her..
“Remember, no post is better than a low-quality post.”
what if that’s all you write?
In my case is because I S.U.C.K at writing and I hate writing
I think to post regularly to a blog is important for search engine ranking.
Yes, I agreee that we need to post good content. But we need not to produce all the content ourselves. We can mention other good articles or other postings in other related blogs to our blogs.
Tks!
Yetti
I agree with Yetti that we have to post regularly , so we have to always try to looking some idea to write a post.
There is always a reason to blog!
I get an email everytime someone comments on this post, luring me back to Lonely Marketer.
guess what people? Pat has not posted a thing since February, which flat out proves that you don’t have to blog EVERY SINGLE DAY. Its nonsense I tell you!
Guess what else? I just updated this page by leaving a comment, and Pat will read it later and laugh.
Nice work Patrick! Keep up the not posting.
Sometimes you just have to blog, even if you don’t want to. As a poster has said above, blogging may be one of your major income streams and thus effort needs to be put into it to sustain it.
It seems that blogging, like any quasi-creative process, depends on the individual. Some folks are always cranky and tired, yet they write like dynamic positrons…some of my best writing is the result of stressful circumstances.
On the other hand, after a few too many drinks, some writers — like Hemingway, James Joyce, Kerouac, Hunter S. Thompson, Rimbaud, etc. — really get fired up.
At first I hated the idea of blogging and I hated doing it. But I made a blog and forced myself to post on it and try and promote it and it is getting really fun to me now. One thing I found that was important is making sure you are hosting on a reliable server. If you get a lot of hits and plan to make money off your site you could be missing out when your blog is down.