Blog for a Rainy Day (Trust Me)

Back in my days working in television news, I was taught the importance of having “evergreen” material ready to air in case of an emergency.  Basically, this was generic content without any dates, names or specifics attached to it.  Yes, like the plant, it has leaves all year round.

If you’re serious about your blogging, and pride yourself on regular updates, I would recommend creating a contingency plan in case life gets in the way.

PHASE 1: Create several evergreen posts.  Choose an area within your niche that is broad and has a long (or infinite) shelf life.  Make a pact with yourself that you’ll put the articles behind glass and only break in case of emergency.

You also might want to draft a quick paragraph stating that unforeseen circumstances are keeping you from updating the blog.

‘Hey reader. If you’re seeing this post, that means something out of the ordinary is going on in my world.  Rest assured, we are still your source for <BLANK> and will resume posting as soon as humanly possible.’

So many blogs fade away. So many more are late on a scoop.  You don’t want either, so let your readers know that something is up.

PHASE 2: Make a plan to get your evergreen content posted.  Armed with so much technology, it seems unlikely that we’d find ourselves in a position where we are unable to post.  But there’s always a chance.

Upload your emergency posts to a shared space and give a friend or family member credentials to access.  In the same location, save a document with basic instructions on posting the item.  Depending on the tech ability of the person, you might want to have it sitting in your blog platform.  Either way, sketch out detailed instructions on what they need to do should you call and say, ‘post!’

This might sound extreme for the casual blogger. But for those who have made a mark in a respective space, the last thing you want to do is let it slip away.

Go evergreen.  I promise it’ll come in handy one day.

No related posts.

Related Articles

WordPress database error: [Table 'blogtut_tutordb.wp_yarpp_related_cache' doesn't exist]
select min(ID) as min_id from wp_yarpp_related_cache where reference_ID = 518

WordPress database error: [Table 'blogtut_tutordb.wp_yarpp_related_cache' doesn't exist]
select distinct ID from wp_yarpp_related_cache where reference_ID = 518 and ID != 0

WordPress database error: [Table 'blogtut_tutordb.wp_yarpp_related_cache' doesn't exist]
delete from wp_yarpp_related_cache where reference_ID = 518

WordPress database error: [Table 'blogtut_tutordb.wp_yarpp_keyword_cache' doesn't exist]
delete from wp_yarpp_keyword_cache where ID = 518

WordPress database error: [Table 'blogtut_tutordb.wp_yarpp_keyword_cache' doesn't exist]
select body, title from wp_yarpp_keyword_cache where ID = 518

WordPress database error: [Table 'blogtut_tutordb.wp_yarpp_keyword_cache' doesn't exist]
insert into wp_yarpp_keyword_cache (ID,body,title) values (518,'the in to your you that and on of it are is so want evergreen this with or emergency for ','trust me day rainy for blog ') on duplicate key update date = now(), body = 'the in to your you that and on of it are is so want evergreen this with or emergency for ', title = 'trust me day rainy for blog '

WordPress database error: [Table 'blogtut_tutordb.wp_yarpp_related_cache' doesn't exist]
insert into wp_yarpp_related_cache (reference_ID,ID,score) (SELECT 518 as reference_ID, ID, ROUND(0 + (MATCH (post_content) AGAINST ('the in to your you that and on of it are is so want evergreen this with or emergency for')) * 1 + (MATCH (post_title) AGAINST ('trust me day rainy for blog')) * 1 + count(distinct if( termtax.taxonomy = 'category', refterms.term_taxonomy_id, null )) + count(distinct if( termtax.taxonomy = 'post_tag', refterms.term_taxonomy_id, null )),1) as score from wp_posts left join wp_term_relationships as terms on ( terms.object_id = wp_posts.ID ) left join wp_term_taxonomy as termtax on ( terms.term_taxonomy_id = termtax.term_taxonomy_id ) left join wp_term_relationships as refterms on ( terms.term_taxonomy_id = refterms.term_taxonomy_id and refterms.object_id = 518 ) where post_status in ( 'publish', 'static' ) and ID != '518' and post_date <= '2008-02-19 20:01:40' and post_password ='' and post_type = 'post' group by ID having score >= 5.00 and bit_or(termtax.term_id in (0)) = 0 order by score desc limit 5) union (SELECT 518 as reference_ID, ID, ROUND(0 + (MATCH (post_content) AGAINST ('the in to your you that and on of it are is so want evergreen this with or emergency for')) * 1 + (MATCH (post_title) AGAINST ('trust me day rainy for blog')) * 1 + count(distinct if( termtax.taxonomy = 'category', refterms.term_taxonomy_id, null )) + count(distinct if( termtax.taxonomy = 'post_tag', refterms.term_taxonomy_id, null )),1) as score from wp_posts left join wp_term_relationships as terms on ( terms.object_id = wp_posts.ID ) left join wp_term_taxonomy as termtax on ( terms.term_taxonomy_id = termtax.term_taxonomy_id ) left join wp_term_relationships as refterms on ( terms.term_taxonomy_id = refterms.term_taxonomy_id and refterms.object_id = 518 ) where post_status in ( 'publish', 'static' ) and ID != '518' and post_date <= '2008-02-19 20:01:40' and post_password ='' and post_type = 'page' group by ID having score >= 5.00 and bit_or(termtax.term_id in (0)) = 0 order by score desc limit 5) on duplicate key update date = now()

WordPress database error: [Table 'blogtut_tutordb.wp_yarpp_related_cache' doesn't exist]
insert into wp_yarpp_related_cache (reference_ID,ID,score) values (518,0,0) on duplicate key update date = now()

No related posts.