Save Your Sanity with Blog Scheduling

Last month, there were two weeks in a row where I was going to be out of town. First was a long weekend camping with only my phone to check email. Next was a 6 day trip to Orlando for a conference and a little vacation the day before and after. I knew I would have Internet there but no extra time to write blog posts. Besides, who wants to write blog posts when they can sit by the pool at a Disney resort? NOT ME.

Even though it meant doubling up on my regular workload a little bit, I took the time to prewrite and schedule my blog posts for both weeks so I could enjoy my time away. This was great peace of mind. I ended up being a LOT busier in Florida than I had anticipated so had I left it until I was there, it would have been very stressful. Also I tend to say and do dumb things early in the morning or late at night so I got to avoid that, too.

As I noted last week, I use Windows Live Writer for blogging and it DOES have the option to set a post date in advance. You can also schedule posts from right inside Blogger or your WordPress admin panel. In addition to planning for a time away from home, here are some other times that you can prewrite and schedule a post.

1. Storewide sales and events such as store anniversaries, parties, National Scrapbooking Day, etc

2. Product releases that are timed with your store release schedule (e.g. every Friday)

3. Blog trains - these are usually a MUST for scheduling since they typically have a certain time when the post must go live

4. Weekly tips, news, articles, etc that you are writing for your fans, such as Tutorial Tuesdays, Freebie Fridays, etc

5. Flash Sales/short sales such as 2 days only, this weekend only, New Year's Day etc.

If you can get ahead of the curve a little bit by writing posts in advance, you can build a little bit of mental margin and wiggle room into your life. This is SO nice when the REST of life happens. If it's new release day and you need a blog post right.now.thank.you.very.much but you end up at Urgent Care with your child, that's just not fun. Marketing and blogging can be hard work for many people, so why not take the pressure off a bit and build in a few days extra just in case something goes wrong?

Once you get in the habit of thinking ahead a bit, you will reap the rewards of reducing stress and leaving room for things to go wrong. It's a no-lose situation!

Do you schedule ahead already or do you think you're going to integrate this into your business? Let me know in the comments, it's always great to hear from you!