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This is one of those Do-As-I-Say-Not-As-I-Do blog posts.

It’s been 18 days since I’ve published an article on this blog. I’ve spent a great holiday with family, I’ve eaten lots of good food, and I’ve gotten plenty of rest. But I haven’t written any blog posts. That’s probably not such a good thing because consistency and predictability go a long way when you’re building readership for your blog.

So here, in retrospect, is a summary of what I should have done to prepare my blog for the holidays.

Plan Ahead. Just like it’s not good to wait until the last minute to do your Christmas shopping, it’s not good to approach the holidays with no plan for your blog. Just like Christmas, you know it’s coming. So start preparing early. Write several extra posts and set them aside to be published while you’re on vacation.
Keep it Short. You don’t have to write a lot. Chances are your regular readers are on vacation too, and will be spending less time than usual on the Internet. A handful of short, to-the-point articles is all you really need.
Work in the Holidays. You may be writing in advance, but don’t forget that your readers will be reading during Christmas. So write about something that fits the season. You can even be specific by writing a special message to be posted on Christmas Day or a celebration-related story for New Year’s Eve. If your blog usually includes pictures, try to include winter and holiday-themed shots.
Post in Advance. WordPress lets you auto-post your articles. That is, you can write and edit articles today and indicate the date and time in the future you want them to be published. (Don’t forget to check for messages while you’re on vacation and to reply to comments, if necessary.)
Enjoy Your Vacation. Winter is often a relaxed time for real estate professionals anyway. So next year prepare your blog in advance and enjoy your time with family and friends.

Maybe it’s a vacation. Maybe it’s a busy period with clients. Maybe it’s a family obligation. Anything can interrupt your regular schedule and make it tough for you to keep up your blog.

If you know in advance that you’ll need to take a break from blogging, there are several things you can do:

Warn Your Readers. Post an article that tells your readers upfront that you’ll be away and when they can look forward to your return.
Write Ahead of Time. Write several articles in advance so they can be posted during your hiatus. Articles can be published automatically; WordPress lets you set the future date and time your article will appear.
Arrange for Guest Bloggers. Contact other bloggers in advance and invite them to post articles while you’re away. Guest bloggers raise your visibility and improve your SEO, so featuring them is a good strategy even when you’re not on vacation.
Be Brief. Continue to post during your hiatus, but write short articles that are quick to write and easy to read instead of your usual content.

Everyone loves a success story; write about successful people in your community and your readership will grow. People will be encouraged by your stories and at the same time, you will help make your community appealing to prospective buyers.

Write about people in your neighborhood who’ve overcome tremendous odds.
Share stories about local companies that have donated to outstanding causes.
Describe heroes in your community who’ve lent their time and talent to help people in need.
Write about nearby churches or community organizations whose soup kitchens or homeless shelters have bridged the gap for people in these tough times.
Feature a senior citizen who’s gone back to school or who is doing great things in retirement.
Tell about teenagers who are making a difference.
Highlight local teachers, police officers, nurses, or fire fighters whose efforts go above and beyond what’s required of them.

Scour community newspapers and websites for people to write about. Include photos and testimonials on your blog. Encourage people in the community to contact you if they know of others you could feature. Focus on the positive in your area and let it become the centerpiece of your blog.

The more you do this, the more people will see you as an asset to the community. Market yourself without directly marketing yourself.

Because content is king, every blogger has to figure out what he or she will write about that will grow the blog’s readership and keep people coming back for more. In essence, they have to find a niche. That’s especially true for real estate professionals who need to attract a large group of followers to their blogs or Facebook pages.

One Chicago Realtor® has solved that problem nicely by making data her major focus. Fran Bailey’s Chicago Area Metro Real Estate blog regularly features easy-to-understand, visually-appealing graphs that help her readers understand the Chicago real estate market.

Offering data is a great way to pull readers in because so many homeowners want to know what their home is worth now, or how long it might take to sell it in this market, or whether prices have come down enough that they can finally afford a home in XYZ community.

Data can also be an easy blog post if you don’t like to write; charts and graphs often speak for themselves so you don’t need a lot of other copy. In addition, there’s no shortage of material; information about the real estate market is everywhere. You just need to be good at grabbing small bits of it and putting it in an interesting format.

Fran’s posts often feature a particular neighborhood in the city or just one suburb. Sometimes they’re about only one type of property. In a recent post, for example, she presented data on the price distribution of 4-bedroom homes in just one suburb. Fran does post articles about other things, but her frequent use of data gives her blog a predictability that readers can depend on.

So, what’s your niche?

If you use social media to promote yourself or to attract and engage prospective customers, your blog posts and status updates gives friends and prospects a glimpse of what kind of professional you might be if they were to hire you. So every post should be well thought-out and critically evaluated before you press that enter button.

Readers have a limited amount of time and because there’s so much content online, they have to pick and choose. Why should they follow you rather than someone else?

Therefore, before you post, consider the following:

Value. Is this message important? Does it impart value to the reader? Does it answer a question or solve a problem for them? Does it give them information they don’t already have? Better yet, does it give them information they can’t get anywhere else? Does it make them want to comment or answer back? Does it make them want to save your message or share it with someone else? By reading it, will they see you as someone who adds genuine value and is worth doing business with?

Viewpoint. Let’s face it, everything you post is not meant to be a learning experience. Sometimes your status updates will be insightful or personal. So the question is, do you present a unique point of view? Will friends and followers relish your posts for your good humor or your unusual take on the day’s topic? Do you possess an outlook that sets you apart? Are your messages worth reading because each contains a special little bit of you?

Verve. Finally, are you exciting, energetic, entertaining? Do you move people emotionally or spiritually? Do your messages uplift? Do they make people laugh or at least smile? Do they make people think? Does the information on your site or its very design convey something that grabs people? Will this post make people want to read more? Will readers feel like they’re missing out if they don’t subscribe or check back another time? What is it about this post that will make readers want to come back again and again?

Certainly, everything you post is not going to meet all of these criteria every single time. Your aim, however, should be to gradually, through a series of posts, shape the image your readers have of you.

Keep in mind that the words and images you post become you, especially for people who’ve never met you. So craft your online image with care.

Prepare Your Blog for the Holidays

How to Take a Break from Blogging

How to Write a "Successful" Blog

How to Use Data to Create a Blogging Niche

Tech Tools for Real Estate

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