Why You Should Schedule Your Blog Posts in Advance

Running a blog can be time consuming.  You need to create your post, allow time to proofread and revise it, create a Pinterest worthy photo, share it on social media. . .One blog post could take three to 10 hours depending on the length of the post and how much you publicize it on social media.  Right now, you may feel like all you can do is keep up with a regular publishing routine.  However, there are important reasons why you should schedule your blog posts in advance.\

Why You Should Publish Your Blog Posts in Advance

Just as there are compelling reasons why you should start an emergency fund, especially if money is tight, there are important reasons why you should start a blog post bank (or blog emergency fund, so to speak) if you have little time.

Sickness

You never know when sickness, either your own or a family member’s, will make it difficult to write and publish your blog posts on time. 

For example, my mom came to visit near Christmas. Usually, when she stays with us, I get more work done and get ahead in my schedule because she watches and plays with the kids. However, during her five-week visit, the last four weeks, she got and suffered from a shingles infection.  There were several weeks I couldn’t keep up my regular blogging schedule because I was taking care of her and running her to many different doctors' appointments.  I learned my lesson on why keeping an emergency stash of blog posts is so important.

Natural Disasters

Likewise, you never know when a natural disaster will force you from your home.  If you live in an area prone to hurricanes, flooding, or other natural disasters, you know how important it is to have an emergency stash of food and water. 

If you’re forced from your home, the last thing you want to worry about is your blog posts.  How wonderful would it be to simply go to your drafts folder and publish a post that you had written months ago for just this reason?

Vacation

When you work for yourself, there is no paid vacation.  Nothing can put a damper on your vacation faster than working double-time to create posts for your blog for the time when you will be on vacation, and then playing catch up when you get back home.

If you, instead, spend time months ahead of time creating a reserve of blog posts, you can easily pull from those.

Final Thoughts

You’ve worked hard to build up your blog and your reader base.  However, for your blog to continue to be successful, regardless of what’s going on in your life personally, you need to produce new content. 

While blog readers may care about you and your situation, most likely, if you are absent for too long, they will stop coming.  Instead, take the time now to build up a reserve of blog posts so that when the unexpected happens, you’ll be ready and can continue business as usual.

Do you have a blog post emergency fund?  If so, how many posts have you built up?  How were you able to build them up?