Change your life and your website posting frequency by using a content calendar. A reminder and tool for ideas, you’ll find that setting time aside to plan makes a world of difference to your website content.
Transcript:
Hello and welcome to another episode of Be Seen Blogging! I’m Jen Miller and today on episode #9 of Be Seen Blogging we will discuss Post Strategizing – Do You Need a Content Calendar?
Everyday I reference my calendar online so I can remember appointments and activities made previously. From conferences to client calls and family activities, my calendar keeps me on track. It is my daily reference tool for my overall schedule and although is subject to change at any given moment, provides structure and an outline of what I should expect every day.
The same is true for a content calendar! It is a tool that outlines the basics – the must posts, the scheduled topic posts and the fun opportunities. Some people keep their content calendar pretty simple, writing a topic based outline, filling in words on a paper calendar, while others create headlines and determine keywords to be used in a digital spreadsheet format. Many use a combination of these.
Really quickly let’s talk about 8 ways a content calendar helps.
It solidifies idea as a place to record your brainstorming.
It assists you in matching articles to specific dates such as holidays and product releases.
A content calendar allows you the time to create, commission or research connected material for your post, making your content even more valuable with coordinated artwork, statistics or specific quotes. Having a date gives you a deadline – a key in the creative world.
It helps you gauge audience response – when you review your website and social media analytics alongside past calendars you’ll see content trends.
A content calendar manages guest and team posting efforts and keeps everyone accountable and on board.
It eases the stress of needing to publish posts TODAy!
And, a content calendar provides an overview so you can coordinate your overall website and social media marketing efforts.
The underlying goal of a content calendar is to get you organized!
I like using an online blogging calendar for this purpose, but I know plenty of people who find that “seeing” post topics on a paper calendar is very helpful. Post-it type notes in several colors can be an effective way of seeing topic rotation at a glance.
If you are a beginning blogger I strongly suggest limiting your blogging calendar to four to five categories so you can rotate through those as you start. Assign a color for each topic and place the colors on the days you want to blog. That way you can easily see at a glance on your desk if you’re using a paper calendar or on your online blogging calendar what your post should be on. One of the reasons I use an online calendar is because it allows me to set alarms and reminders of when posts are due,
Use the scheduling feature on your blogging calendar and make your first goal to write two weeks worth of general safe blog posts based on the topics you’ve outlines. I set notifications on my calendar so I am reminded via text message and email as posts are due. You can do this too! You’ll find that once you have done this, you will be able to stay ahead of the game when your weekly schedule begins.
So let’s get back to the question posed at the beginning of today’s podcast, Do you need a content calendar? For me the answer is yes… and it must be digital. I’ve used plenty of project management apps and reminder services to ensure that my posts get written. And they work well for me, most of the time. For you, something else may keep you on track.
I’d love to know what it is! Please drop me a line at jenmiller@needsomeonetoblog.com or tweet me at jenblogs4u and share what works for you. Thank you for tuning in to Be Seen Blogging, the podcast which gives you tips you can use in everyday posts, all in under 10 minutes! See you next week!
Jen Miller has been writing since she was a child and spent her early career years soaking up all the information she could discover as a journalist of newspapers and magazines. Getting out the message and spreading truth has always been a high priority for Jen. Jen began writing website content for clients in 1996 and started blogging in 2008 for Today.com. That experience created a love for the blog and she has been an avid blogger ever since. Today she writes for her clients on a variety of topics as a ghostwriter/ghostblogger and connects their messages with personality through social media to deliver the most impact possible.
