Always have a Standby Blog Post Ready
I know that a lot of bloggers write their posts in advance, and then use the WordPress timestamp feature to their advantage. While I do this from time to time, I prefer to write each post and then make it live within an hour or so. This has never been a problem for me, but I can see how it could be an issue. I definitely think it is a good idea to always have a standby blog post that you can call on. This way, if something ever comes up you can make the post live and never miss a beat.
Here are three things to keep in mind when writing a standby blog post.
1. Make sure that your standby blog post is not time sensitive. After all, you never know when you are going to use the post. If I write about a current event and don’t post it until next month, it is safe to say that nobody is going to care.
2. If you use one standby post, write another one shortly thereafter. You do not have to rush to do this, but it is something that you should add to your to-do list. Even though you may not have to use the post for several months, you will always know where it is at when the time comes.
3. If you use WordPress, you may want to save the article to your dashboard as a draft. This makes it easy for you to sign into your account and make the post live within a matter of minutes. This is much more time efficient than having to dig up the article on your hard drive, and then paste it to the WordPress feature.
At this time, I have a few standby posts that I can call on in the future. I don’t have any plans for using these posts, but you never know when an emergency will force me into doing so.
Do any of you bloggers do the same? If so, what are some tips that you follow when composing these standby posts?
November 7th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
For my beauty blog I do with CW network, I do this. It really helps for those times when I’m feeling out of ideas or for the times I plan to be out for a couple of days or so. I actually do all of these tips you recommend but #1 & #3 are most useful for me.
November 7th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
I was doing this when I first started but a couple of problems were brought to my attention.
First, if you save your post in WP with a timestamp, it will not send out pings to let other networks know you’ve posted a new article.
Second, I found that my WP blog did not send out notices to my email subscribers for posts I had saved with future timestamps.
I like the idea of keeping a post or two in drafts, and then publishing it live at the right time. That makes more sense to me than saving posts w/ advance timestamps but losing traffic.
November 7th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
Right now, I have 20 post titles in a text file. These are all ideas for posts I have thought of but haven’t had chance to write due to other posts getting in the way.
If I ever find myself on a day where there is nothing new to write about, I pick one of the topics in that text file.
Of course, there are always filler posts if you are truly in need. A list of your favourite posts of the week from around the blogosphere is always a good post just to keep your normal schedule going.
November 7th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
I try to keep a standby blog post in my email, so I can pull it up no matter where I am and what I’m doing. Another great idea is to keep a list of topics, just in case you are on the fly and get caught without a blog post. If you have already thought-through the idea, even if you haven’t actually written it out, it tends to flow pretty quickly (at least, that’s how it has worked for me).
gg
November 7th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
Scheduled posts don’t ping? I haven’t heard about this … I’ve been using scheduled posts for 90% of all my posts. If this is true with my version of WordPress then it might be time to write a plugin that makes sure it pings
Chris, these are some good points. I used scheduled posts almost exclusively since I can really only write a post two or three times a week. So scheduling is a must when trying to keep a daily post schedule
November 8th, 2007 at 11:19 am
This is timely advice for folks doing NaBloPoMo, since sometimes the well runs dry and sometimes you just don’t have time to create a whole post out of scratch. That usually takes me about 1/2 an hour, more if I do some research. Having a draft in place ready for a last run-through and then publishing gives you a little breathing room for those hectic or blocked days.
November 8th, 2007 at 12:34 pm
You guys and gals all make great points.
Jamie - That is a great idea to keep 20 or so post ideas on hand. Great tips!
November 8th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
Personally speaking, I always try to have each day’s entry ready the night before and then set the timestamp to post it at 1 a.m. so that it’s fresh the next day. I haven’t noticed any problems with pinging updates or my sitemap not updating.