With social media and smart phones, technology marketers can be online and connected all the time. This is a two-edged sword. It’s easy to feel like should always be online and available, even when you’re home or on vacation. It’s hard to disconnect, but important to get time off.
On the other hand, technology can help us seem to be present even when we’re out fishing or chilling on the beach with a good book. For the self-employed or consultants like myself, this can be a blessing.
When I left for two weeks recently, I scheduled two blog postings in WordPress to be published while I was away. (Here’s how to schedule a WordPress post.) Had I been so inclined and more involved in Twitter, I could have scheduled Tweets in advance. (See Business Insider’s 8 Twitter scheduling tools to change your life.) While I did track and answer a few emails while I was gone, I was mostly offline for two weeks.
And you know what? Social networks kept networking without me. My Klout score took a dive but I think I can survive that. And I spent two weeks not following all of the latest tech news and developments. It was lovely.
Do you have other strategies for disconnecting but staying visible? I’d love to hear them. Maybe I’ll even take another vacation, just to try them out.
Anne Janzer 