I was going to talk to you today about goals. After all, we’re now in the second half of the year (can you believe it?!) and it’s a good time to see if you’re on track and consider any adjustments that need to be made.
But, I decided that no one wants to talk about goals when we’re headed into a long weekend. I know I don’t.
So, instead we’re going to talk about something far more fun – VACATION!
Vacation is fun, but it’s important to think about how you handle your blog, your social media presence and even your business while you’re on vacation.
Check out the video to see how a couple of my friends handled their blogs while they were on vacation. And, after watching the video, I’d love to know what YOU think. How should business owners handle their blogs and social media sites when they’re on vacation?
(If you’re viewing this via RSS or Email, you can find the video right here.
P.S. To see the examples I mentioned in the video, here are links to how Mark Schaefer and Adam Toporek handled their blogs when going on vacation.
Image credit: racoles
9 replies on “How Do You Handle Social Media While on Vacation?”
Laura, now you, Mark and Adam have inspired a vacation blogging plan for me! I’ll write it up today and link to you all!
Best,
Erica
PS…I stink at vacation time! Truly, I do.
I check emails, I tweet, I worry about work!
However, this week I’m heading off for a impromptu get away with my kids and have tried to figure out how to keep biz going and spend quality time with the kids.
Here’s my plan:
I’m going to really try to only be available when it’s absolutely necessary (i.e. conference call) and schedule everything else out in advance.
I have a guest post queued up for my blog and a video that I’ve already shot, so that will be taken care of.
My guest poster, ahem
@soulati:twitter
, will field most of the comments and I’ll find time that night to also respond.
I’ve already set the tone for the summer anyway with my “balance” post…so, I’m a bit less available anyway.
Vacation likely won’t seem that much different.
Heh. I will try not to be AWOL that day Madam!
Heh. I will try not to be AWOL that day Madam!
Thanks for linking to my post and for sharing your approach, Erica. It’s a good one! In fact, I thought about asking you to write a guest post for my blog when I take my break, but I didn’t get you asked in time. Oops! Instead, I’ve got another idea up my sleeve for what to do when I’m off for a few days later this week. We’ll see how people like that.
Glad to see that
@soulati:disqus
will be manning your blog – I know she’ll do great!
Great topic Laura! When I’m on vacation (just got back a day ago) I only check email and Twitter if I feel like it. I don’t get into respond mode, in fact I rarely respond on vacation but I do like keeping track of whats coming in and keeping my inbox down so that it’s not overwhelming when I get back. The only time I really enjoy working on a vacation is the plane ride to and from my destination. I’m motivated to a get things done and it’s usually distraction free!
That’s a great way of putting it, Joel. I’m away right now and I’m online doing a few things because I WANT to, not because I feel I have to. I think a lot of us like to hop on Twitter or read and comment on blogs because we enjoy it. And you’re right – plane rides are THE BEST for getting things done. I also love reading books on planes. So fun! Hope you enjoyed your vacation!
Laura, thanks for the shout out! It’s been an interesting
experiment so far. Shutting down has worked, but I do like the guest post idea
better. It helps another blogger, and helps your blog. It just has to be planned
for in advance.
Social media is tougher. I changed my Twitter bio (inspired by
Mark Schaefer), as Erica showed on her post. But how many people will check your
profile page? Emails are easy because of autoresponders, but Twitter has no
such mechanism. I think Facebook fan pages could probably be handled with a
wall post. But I am not that active on that platform yet, so I am not sure if
that would work for a busy page.
Thanks again for the link and mention! Enjoy your sister’s
wedding.
You’re welcome, Adam! And you’re right – I think a lot of folks are grappling with how to handle all of this. I know I am. I thought about changing my Twitter profile as you and
@markwschaefer:twitter
did, but decided against it. I did put Triberr on autopilot and scheduled a couple of posts to go out while I am away, which has been okay. I think the guest post idea is even better though. You just need to do plenty of planning in advance. I didn’t do that this time, but I’ll definitely give that a go the next time around.