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content calendar

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 Create A Content Calendar

November 4, 2016 by Marc Guberti 4 Comments

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A content calendar is a necessary part of a solid content marketing strategy. From idea generation and promotion to follow through and analysis, an editorial calendar is the engine that drives a strong and successful blog.

Planning what kind content to create, when it should be published and how to promote it eliminates the guesswork and lets you to perform at a higher level.

Let’s say you publish a blog post. Your content may be live, but how will you promote it? If you don’t know the answer to that question, you’re missing an important piece of strategy. Be sure to plan out your promotional efforts before you publish or you will not likely see a return on your time and efforts.

Editorial calendars help you focus on topics that resonate with your audience, pinpoint ongoing themes and anticipate how to market each piece of content.

 

Include Content Type and Promotion in Your Calendar 

For your blog to really benefit from an editorial calendar, be sure to include content type/idea and marketing. Using a simple template like Trello lets you assign specific topics to particular days of the week throughout the month. You can also plan time for drafts and revisions.

Not only will a calendar decrease the chance of writer’s block and save you time on idea generation. It also provides a specific date for each post, video or any other form of content, which helps keep your content fresh and consistent.

Once you’ve decided on the type and timing of each piece of content, you should turn your focus to promotion. While some of those efforts will overlap, each piece of content is unique and your approach to marketing may change accordingly. Tools like Trello and others allow you to choose where each piece of content will be promoted and with whom, for example, on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, your blog, etc.

Let’s say that next Wednesday, you’re publishing a blog post about Twitter. You may want to promote it only with the Twitter segment of your email list and/or to share it on Twitter 2-3 times that day or week. You may also choose to share a piece of content on Facebook only, or use paid promotion for something else. Being as specific as possible keeps you organized and makes it easier to take action in a timely manner.

 

Plan REALLY Far Ahead

Once your blog has become an important part of your brand and business, you should take it as seriously as Elon Musk takes Tesla and SpaceX.

When creating your calendar, try to plan at least three months ahead. Identify what type content you’ll produce over the next three months. Then decide when to publish and how you will promote each piece. Planning at least three months in advance makes it easier to align your content with your overall objectives.

In the past, I promoted training courses but my own blog content did not align with those efforts. For example, the week I promoted a copywriting training course I’d also written a blog post about traffic generation. Another time I tried to sell a course on self-publishing but had published a blog post about social media.

This was not intentional, but it was still a mistake. I should have planned my content according to those promotional efforts. Once I became aware of this error, I began planning my own content according to the training courses I promote on a regular basis.

 

Align Content with Your Overall Objectives

Rather than publish random blog posts, I started writing posts to supplement and reinforce my promotional efforts. I published two such posts, finding time to create a training course and making training course creation a breeze, during the same week I was promoting a course about how to create successful training courses.

The result? Increased audience awareness and retention. By offering content on the ease of creating a training course, and finding the time to do so, my audience was more receptive to the promotion.

While people often resist paid content precisely because of the price tag, most training courses are worth every penny. If you follow the instructor’s advice from start to finish you’ll end up crushing it. These courses teach you how to achieve a certain goal using every possible method. But I digress.

My new content strategy offered both free and paid content and reinforced the topic in readers’ minds. Supplementing paid content with free content increases interest in the subject, provides a teaser and increases expectations and the rate of purchase.

 

Be Consistent

My content calendar includes a vlog idea on Tuesdays and Thursdays, a blog post every Friday, and a Q&A video every Saturday. Every week, every month. Consistency helps you build and maintain an audience of people who regularly consume your content. An editorial calendar lets you work with weekly and monthly themes and keeps you on point.

 

Create Content In Advance

I have a policy to have at least one month’s worth of content scheduled in advance. Having that month long buffer gives me peace of mind and lets me focus on crafting valuable content without feeling pressed for ideas or rushing through the creative process at the last second.

Once the process in is place and works naturally, double down on your efforts with extra content. For example, record two videos rather than just the one you’ve scheduled. If your weekly blog posts have been written well in advance, see if you have time to write an extra one. The more content you have in reserves, the more you can begin experimenting with publishing content at an accelerated rate.

 

In Conclusion

An editorial calendar gives you a clear picture of what content you should produce, when it needs to be published and how to promote it.

Planning well in advance allows you to align your content with your product launches or any affiliate content you promote.

If you are a serious blogger, you absolutely need a content calendar. The cool thing about calendars is that there are many tools available online, and some are free. You can also Google “December 2016 calendar” and simply print out a template.

Whether you use a digital or paper calendar, always print it out and keep it on your desk. This will ensure that your calendar is always visible and accessible, and will strengthen your commitment to following through.

Have you created a content calendar? Are you thinking about creating one? Sound off in the comments section below.

Filed Under: content marketing Tagged With: content calendar, content marketing, editorial calendar, Trello

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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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