PR Blackout= Vacation Time

Posted on 16. Jul, 2009 by Trish in Trisha

There has been a lot of talk lately about a PR Blackout. This idea comes from Trisha from MomDot. Basically she is encouraging people who are burned out to take a break from the giveaways and reviews. She says,

We want to see your blog naked, raw, and back to basics. Talk about your kids, your marriage, your college, your hopes, your dreams, your house and whatever you can come up with for one week.

I was there when she came up with this idea during a live radio show last week. Basically we were talking about bloggy burnout, and why people are getting so stressed. It has to do with women not being able to say “no.” It’s a problem that is talked about all the time, and not just in the bloggy world. Most women feel like they have to please everyone, and if they say no and turn someone down, then they feel like they are disappointing that person, which is something they don’t want to do.

The truth is,we cant’ do everything. We can’t take care of our kids, our house, our husbands, our friends, our family, our blogs, and ourselves. There’s just not enough hours in the day. The more we try to take care of everything, the more burned out we get. Especially when we have some PR reps hounding us everyday about posting a press release. Some people get tons of these a day, or email after email telling us to post this and wondering why it isn’t up yet. I know someone who has even received phone calls from a rep that they have never worked with before wondering why the press release they were sent the day before wasn’t posted yet.

I’m not saying all reps are like this. I have worked with many many wonderful people who want to know how I am doing and understand that this is not my job, it’s my hobby, and I cannot physically post every bit of information given to me. They understand that I have a family and other obligations. These are the people I love to work with.

The truth is after trying to please so many people, it can get stressful. It can become something we dread, because we are physically and mentally tired of trying to please everyone. That is when burnout starts to happen. That is when we need a break, a vacation.

THAT is what this whole PR Blackout is all about. It’s not about cutting off contact forever with PR, it’s not about disclosure policies. It’s about taking a break, a vacation. We wouldn’t have started blogging if we didn’t find it fun. Somewhere along the way, however, for some people, it turned into a chore. All Trisha is encouraging is those of us who feel like it’s becoming a chore to step back, take a break, and remember why blogging was fun for us in the beginning. Maybe then we will realize what we can realistically handle and not be afraid to say no when we know it’s not something we can/want to take on.

So please everyone, remember, you get a vacation from your job, so why can’t we have a vacation from the stress of our blog? We’ll be back, rejuvenated and happier. It’s a win-win for everyone. And remember, it’s only a week.