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Organization

The Best Content Creation Calendar Strategy…PERIOD

November 4, 2017 by Marc Guberti 2 Comments

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Consistent bloggers often decide between writing all of their content at once, shortly before their due dates, or writing several blog posts in advance.

The problem with writing all of your content just before their due dates is rushing or missing the mark. The problem with writing all of your content in advance is missing out on new trends.

I admit that for the first time in my blogging journey, these problems caused me to be inconsistent.

And not because I was slacking off – I was in the middle of organizing my first virtual summit. In fact, since I’m quite good at planning ahead, I had scheduled the summit’s launch one month before final exams (basically preparing for the summit while studying for my finals).

And now that I am back to blogging — and getting more contributors at the same time — my publishing schedule has become more complicated (when do I post? when do my contributors post?)

Mark Asquith to the rescue!

Mark was one of more than 50 speakers at my Content Marketing Success Summit. And he spoke about consistently creating epic content.

One of the questions I asked Mark was what he considers the best approach to creating a content calendar, addressing the two problems I mentioned above—cramming versus planning ahead.

His response blew my mind. In October of 2016, Mark had identified all of the blog posts he would write for 2017. And by the end of the year, he had written all of them.

Mark began 2017 with all 24 blog posts he’s publishing this year. He publishes one every other week.

But let’s say I pre-wrote all of my content for 2018, and then something significant happens in the industry: SnapChat comes out with another revolutionary feature. Facebook advertising comes out with even more targeting.

How can I write about these major updates if I have all of 2018’s content waiting in the queue? Here’s the answer…

If, like Mark, you schedule all of your new blog posts for every other week, you can simply write new blog posts in between.

For instance, if you’ve scheduled blog posts for October 1st and October 15th many months in advance, you can publish a new blog post about a recent trend on October 8th.

This way, you can incorporate new content while having the bulk of your content scheduled in advance. And if all of the blog posts you write in advance are evergreen, then it doesn’t matter whether you publish them in 2017 or 2027.

For example, a blog post about productivity will be relevant every year because productivity tips do not rely on trends.

So, why is this such a great strategy? Let’s capture the scope of its impact:

#1: You Can Write About Trends Without Content Calendar Conflicts

As mentioned before, you can publish trend related articles in between the content you schedule in advance. You don’t have to tinker around with rescheduling content; you schedule in advance intentionally leaving room for gaps.

#2: You Can Warm Up Your Audience To Launches

I promote several products in any given year. Yet my 2018 calendar remains fairly open apart from a February launch that I’m participating in. I can prepare for that launch now by writing relevant content.

But let’ say Chandler Bolt asks me to promote Self-Publishing School in April, and my pre-written blog posts have NOTHING to do with writing a book (or even writing content)?

I can still write relevant content ahead of time and insert it into my content creation calendar. In fact, writing about content creation, and how to become a successful author, will warm up my audience up to this promotion.

#3: You Can Enjoy More Freedom

I wrote this entire blog post off the cuff without an outline. Of course, I still sent it to my editor, but the post remains a case of “just cuz.”

Not only will you have your content scheduled far in advance, but you will also have the freedom to write and publish additional content anytime you feel like it. Win-win!

I believe too many people miss out on this part of blogging. They are so focused on planning and writing their next blog post that they don’t truly feel free when writing.

This feeling of freedom is based on the fact that you can write about a topic that interests you while not feeling pressured to schedule the post you’re working on.

It’s more of a choice and less of “I need to publish this piece of content so my blog gets new content.”

In Conclusion

Mark’s concept got me thinking about my 2018 publishing schedule …even though we were in May of 2017 when we pre-recorded the interview.

The ability to have all of my content scheduled in advance removes most of the stress associated with being a blogger. And it’s easier to write from the heart because I’ll have so much more time.

Another concept that came up during our interview was batching. This is something also used by John Lee Dumas (discussed in Episode 38 of the Breakthrough Success Podcast).

All Mark needed to do was write all of the blog posts he’d planned for 2017 from October 2016 to December 2016 (with the exception of additional content).

Similarly, John Lee Dumas chooses two days a month to interview the 28-31 guests he has on his podcast every month.

You can choose one week to write blog posts for two months. And if you follow Mark’s posting strategy, you only have to publish one blog post every other week (or two blog posts per month). Then you’re covered for two months!

You can take this concept even further and write 12 blog posts in one week — it’s very possible if you believe in yourself — and that would give you a total of six month’s worth of content!

You can fill in the gaps by writing content about trends, inviting contributors, or by not filling them at all. Only fill in the gaps when it’s relevant to do so.

What are your thoughts on Mark’s strategy? Have any advice on carrying this strategy even further? Sound off in the comments section below.

Filed Under: Blogging, content, growth hacking, Mindset, Organization Tagged With: blogging, content calendar, content creation, productivity, productivity hacks

How To Stay Organized On Your Computer

September 7, 2017 by Marc Guberti Leave a Comment

organized computer

Computers have transformed the way we work and have allowed us to reach new levels of productivity.

However, extreme usage (and in some cases reliance) on computers can actually HURT our productivity.

In fact, we cause most of the technical headaches. Saving numerous documents and photos eventually slows down a computer, a problem that can only be solved with a massive clean up or a new computer.

Another problem is the actual creation of documents, making it a struggle to find information in a timely manner.

Part of the reason we buy a computer in the first place is to create documents and save photos. So if we try to care for our computers by not creating documents or saving pictures, its primary purpose is essentially lost.

But we must also consider the ways in which many of us organize our work and documents — all stuffed into one folder.  When, if fact, organization has been proven to boost productivity.

It’s easy to think that organization is limited to your desk space and the room you work in. But it goes much further than that, beginning with your computer.

Here’s how you keep all of your emails and other important stuff organized on your computer.

#1: Reduce Clutter

The more cluttered your computer, the more difficult it is to find the document you are looking for, which shouldn’t take more than a few seconds.

Our attention spans resemble that of a goldfish, and when the internet (and Facebook) is just a click away, a day meant for work can quickly turn into meaningless hours of surfing the web.

I use the size of the icons on my computer’s dashboard to determine if I have too much clutter. If I must squint or move closer to see what certain documents are, I have too much clutter.

If my desktop is filled with too many pictures, documents, etc., I have too much clutter. Reducing the clutter reduces distractions.

A picture is worth 1,000 words, and a thousand more distractions.

#2: Use Folders To Group Documents

This is probably the best tip. I can’t emphasize this one enough.

When you save things to your desktop, you will see them each time you log onto your computer. This is when it’s easy to get distracted by screenshots and similar items saved to your desktop.

To avoid this, I group all of my screenshots into folders.

If I didn’t use these folders, my entire desktop screen would be filled with screenshots galore.

This isn’t just a way to keep your desktop clean, you can also group together important documents according to theme, client, work type, etc., to stay organized.

One of my folders, for example, is titled “Podcast.” Within that folder are the seven documents I use to keep my podcast organized.

Instead of keeping all of them on my dock (and having super tiny app sizes), I put them all in one folder on my desktop.

That not only saves me space, it also makes it easier to find all of the other documents I need.

And when I need those podcast documents, they are all in one place and super easy to find.

#3: Flag Important Emails

When you get emails that you can’t respond to immediately, or need to refer to again later, flag them. That way, you can find them more easily later on.

The only problem with flagging emails is that if it becomes too much of a habit, you’ll have an inbox overload. Try to relegate them to emails you need to respond to, and be sure you do it within a reasonable amount of time.

I recommend spending 30-60 minutes in your inbox at the time of day when you usually feel least productive.

For example, I never go through my inbox in the morning because that’s when I am at my peak level of productivity. When I do happen to see an important email in the morning, I flag it.

I always make a point of checking my email in the afternoon, just before I take a break. I respond to all of the flagged messages before checking my inbox for new messages.

#4: Make Each Flag Mean Something

When I decided to start a podcast, I needed guests.

Barely knowing what I was doing, I sent a bunch of emails to people who would be a great fit for my podcast. Naturally as more people agreed to participate, I became more excited about podcasting.

But I quickly lost control of my inbox.

Which guests were awaiting confirmation of time and dates? Which guests needed the initial questionnaire? Who did I need to follow-up with?

My mind was dreaming of the possibilities but running in circles trying to keep everything organized. Then I figured out what to do:

I started assigning a meaning to each flag.

  • When I receive a guest confirmation, I assign that email an orange flag.
  • Once time and date are determined, I change the flag to blue.
  • After the questions are submitted, I make the flag purple.

Once the podcast episode ends, I remove the flag and add the guest’s email address to a custom spreadsheet.

I also share a link to the episode with the guest and make a mental note to stay in touch (the relationship doesn’t end when the episode is over or even weeks after it’s published. It never ends).

#5: Put Everything Else In A Miscellaneous Document

You may have noticed the Misc folder on my desktop screenshot.

If there’s a screenshot, document or download that doesn’t belong anywhere else, that’s the folder it goes into.

That folder has hundreds of screenshots and pictures that would otherwise take up my computer’s entire dashboard, leaving it an unorganized mess!

In Conclusion

The traditional definition of getting organized involves having a neat workspace and working in a clean room.

But if your computer is unorganized, you might as well be working in a room filled with clutter with piles of paperwork covering your entire desk.

The worst part about an unorganized computer is that it’s extremely easy to get distracted – our computers provide us with virtually infinite options.

Any website is a click away. Pictures on our dashboards can distract us at a moment’s notice. And important emails can easily get lost in the shuffle.

But all of that is more likely to happen if your computer remains unorganized.

How do you organize your computer? Have any tips or stories for us? Sound off in the comments section below.

Filed Under: growth hacking, Organization, productivity, Time Management, Tips and Tricks, Uncategorized Tagged With: computers, email, organization, productivity, tips and tricks

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I am a business freelance writer who writes for individuals, small businesses, and corporations. My content will help drive engagement and sales to your business. I have produced content for several companies, including…

  • Upwork
  • MoneyLion
  • Freight Waves
  • Westchester Business Journal
  • Property Onion

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