How to Maintain Your Business's Social Media Presence While You're on Vacation

I just spent the last ten days in Florida.

Except I wasn't on vacation. Not really, anyway. 

Even though I was in another country, lying on the beach most of the time, I still feel obligated to fit in my 8-hour workday responsibilities, which was extremely difficult given the allure of the sun and the on-average 29° temperatures and my parents' constant reminders of how pale I am.

I had a hard time staying on track with my typical daily routine, and I'd have to have been delusional to think I could follow my strict schedule to a "T" in vacation mode. So how do some people do it? How do they go away for weeks at a time and manage to maintain some kind of social media/business presence? I've compiled a list of ways (and subsequently a short rhyme, because things are better when they rhyme) to help you stay on track with your work responsibilities when you go on vacation.

Schedule

Properly scheduling your posts isn't just about knowing what you plan to post on which days, but about having those pictures, blog posts, and hashtags ready to go so you can get them over with in less than a minute. Sure, some people are actually organized and plan these things ahead of time already, but some of you must be like me: waiting until the last minute then all of a sudden you're like, "Oh yeah, I need to post something today!"

While I do schedule photoshoot days where I get a bunch of flat lay shots, a few selfies, and a few other content pictures out of the way, I don't actually plan which photos will be posted on which days. It's the same with blog posts and Tweets; I don't plan specific days to post, I just post as soon as I get to it. 

With a regular structured schedule, it's not a huge deal if you're planning your content day-by-day, but by planning ahead, you can go on vacation and actually enjoy your vacation without creating unnecessary stress everyday that you're away. (After all, you're supposed to be forgetting about work.)

Create

Sometimes I'll have a few days-worth of posts ready and just as I'm about to post, I'll look at a picture and decide I hate it and have to find something new. Tastes change and sometimes what you had planned doesn't feel right in the moment. Try to have some extra content ready to post in case you decide at the last minute you really don't want to post that workspace picture, or you've suddenly decided you hate that selfie you were going to post.

Despite having my entire social media scheduled while I was away, I think I changed every single post I had planned anyway. I don't write blog posts very frequently, but it would be the same idea for someone who likes to post on their blog once a week: have more finished posts than you need, so you have options when the time comes to post.

(How many times do you think I can say post?) 

Incorporate

To me this is kind of the lazy man's way of staying on top of things (so naturally, the way I do it). It's like "I ran out of ideas for what to post, so I'm just going to wait until I'm on vacation to post pictures from my trip"--and that's totally valid! I find it's actually very effective and that travel pictures garner more engagement than other pictures do when they're posted periodically. Unless you're a travel blogger/writer, littering your social media accounts with travel pictures is very misleading of your brand (I also thing the whole travel-fashion-lifestyle Instagrammer thing is so overdone and completely unoriginal), but a few here and there is a nice and aesthetically appealing change for your audience. 

Or, do what I did and write something based on your trip, like How to Do Such-and-Such While You're on Vacation, or 5 Non-Touristy Things to Do in X-Country. 

When you're scheduling your posts for the next X-amount of days, for organization's sake, just allot specific days to travel post like you would any other post. I knew I wanted a workspace picture while I was in Florida, but obviously couldn't get one until I was in Florida, so I said, "On this day, I'm going to find a coffee shop to work in, and I'm going to take a picture of my workspace setup." It also motivated me to actually get off the beach for a bit to go to a coffee shop and do work.

Yes, we live in a very work-obsessed time where people work 60-hours a week and only get two weeks of paid vacation a year, but if you're lucky enough to work from home or be your own boss, I think it's important to make the most of that freedom and get out into the world once in awhile. Hopefully these tips can help you plan ahead so you can make the most of your holidays. 

The Copywriter's Foolproof Guide to Creating Effective Copy

Copywriting is different from content writing in that it's about selling something, whether it's a product or service, or selling a company through their website. Effective copywriting will target a specific audience by getting inside their minds and using the language and tone that most appeal to them. A copywriter must keep both their client and their client's customer in mind, while also reining in his or her own voice. I go through a specific process when I write copy for a company's website to make sure the language feels right. This guide will help you to create the most effective copy for your brand.

Step 1: Who?

Naturally, the first thing you need to consider before you begin writing is who you're writing for? Who is your client is and who is their target customer? Does your client cater to millennials? Stay-at-home moms? Successful copy depends on reaching the right audience, and if you use high school slang or make millennial pop culture references on a website intended for the 35+ crowd, chances are they won't stick around to keep reading because they won't identify with your content. 

Step 2: How?

How does your client want their customer to feel? Once you know the target audience, you can branch off into a tone that would best appeal to the audience. A high-end restaurant, for example, would probably want you to use a more formal language and fancy-pants wording to portray a luxurious, exclusive tone. A fast-food chain, on the other hand, might prefer to keep things casual and use simple, fewer-syllable words to portray a chill, laid back vibe. 

Step 3: Make a list

Based on my established target customer, I will then make a list of words that would resonate with or be used by that audience. For example, one of my clients was in a music-related field and they wanted to project an image of luxury. So, before even beginning to write the copy for their website, I made a list of musical-sounding words and that I thought would appeal best to their target customer.

You won't use half the words you come up with, but creating a list of related words puts you in the mindset of that customer and will help generate some kind of flow of ideas.

My actual rough copy for a company's website content.

Step 4: Write out the Facts

I don't know if I'm just a weird person or if other writers would agree with me, but I feel words before I understand them. When I write, I first write total garbage in the way that I want my writing to feel before plugging in the right words to actually convey my message.

Write down the necessary information before tailoring the content to your client, then just write out anything that comes into your mind. Many writers have trouble getting words out because they over-think what they're writing out, but the best way to figure out what you want to say is to "word-vomit" all over the page.   

Step 5: Plug-in

Once I've gotten all my ideas on the page, I mould the text to the client. I'll throw in words from my list, read the text aloud, and see how it flows and makes me feel. Of course, there are infinite ways to write the simplest of ideas, so you will probably want to re-write the whole thing in a completely new way.

I don't think most writers are ever fully happy with their writing; I still re-read old posts and wish I'd written something differently, but by following these steps you can at least ensure that the copy you've written will effectively resonate with your intended audience.