The more appropriate phrase on which the title is based is "Summertime and the living is easy". This lullaby lyric by Sam Cooke captures what we might all hope for as we enjoy our summertimes. It's a time of relaxation and enjoyment.
That topic came naturally as I got my mind round the task I had accepted in writing this additional post during the summer. I normally take some current topic and write down my reactions to it. However in these lazy summer days, I quickly found there was nothing much to react to. Just check out some of the lazy summer day images you will find in this post and see whether they suggest blog topics to you.
Blogging Ain't Easy In The Summer
Perhaps with a little research, I might have found that others have pointed out that the truth is that it's Summertime And The Blogging Ain't Easy.
Faced with this situation, there are really two choices for any blog writer. These are:
- Keep up the rhythm
- Slow with the Flow
Keep Up The Rhythm
If you decide to keep up your normal blogging pace, what alternatives do you have to lighten the load. I will describe two but perhaps others will add their own solutions in the comments.
- Ask others to blog
- Encore posts
If you decide to ask others to write posts for your blog, then regular contributors can be asked to write more frequently, as was the case for this post. Alternatively you can encourage others to provide guest posts. It's a good time to be more adventurous and seek out writers who perhaps have had less exposure. Since the web traffic is somewhat lighter in the summer, even a poor choice may not unduly affect your blog's reputation.
Encore Posts
This is a notion that came to mind after thinking how radio stations get through the summer. They often replay popular programs from the past. Merely repeating a previous blog post would create duplicate copy. However you could take blog posts which in the past were high traffic generators and write an updated version of the content. You know the topic is of interest and in this way you can get new attractive content with not too much work.
Slow with the Flow
Given that things in general are going slower, this is perhaps a more natural policy to follow. There are different ways you might tackle this. You could for example blog regularly but less often than you do at other times of the year. That may of course mean that you're scratching your head for topics to meet the schedule.
The alternative is to blog only when you have something to say. That is certainly my preference. This will help you stand out from that milling Internet crowd, who seem happy to write the same-old, same-old stuff that everyone else is writing.
Consequences of Slow with the Flow
Although it may be easy to relax to the slower blogging pace implicit in Slow With The Flow, you have to realize that there may be negative consequences.
These are probably minimal for your human audience since in the summer readers are away too.
Where it may be more important is with search engines who may remember you less and spider your website less often. If you figure this is a real concern, you can probably correct the situation within a week or two in the fall by some increased output.
Summary
After these reflections, what is the approach that will work for you. My own recommendation would be to be guilt-free, whatever you decide. My personal preference is for that Slow with the Flow approach. Nevertheless whatever you decide, make sure that you enjoy your summer.