Become a Better Blogger: Content Planning

2. Welcome and Overview: Hi, I'm Andre Delay. Ford and I'm gonna talk to you today about how you can use an editorial calendar to really make your blogging efforts even better. I've worked in a number of different organizations Fortune 100 companies, government organizations, agencies all across the board. And one of the things that I've noticed is that the companies who spend a little bit of extra time aligning your communication strategies to their business goals really see a lot of payoff in the end. So that's what we're gonna do today. Eventually, we're gonna get to a point where we playing out three months editorial calendar. But to get to this place requires some planet. So we're gonna be talking about goals that you want setting the style of your blob. We're also gonna be talking about how you can build a resource library that you we go back to on a regular basis. We're gonna talk about different types of content and how you can read a lot of variety within your block. So then that way it keeps your audience engaged. And finally, we're gonna talk about some project management skills that you can use to make sure that you're using. This is a tool to keep everybody on your team focused and ready to go. So have a great time and I'll see you in the next video. 3. Strategy and Purpose: the first step in being together. Editorial calendar is really kneeling down the strategy. This is broken into several parts. First, we're gonna describe the purpose, which is why we're even putting together this log in the first place. Next, we're gonna look at our audience and give them some characteristics so that we can really hone in and feel like we're connecting with someone. We're also gonna talk about our blob style. There's a lot of different kinds of blog's out there, and we're gonna look at ways that you can really make sure that your entire teams one cohesive voice And if you're an individual, don't worry. This is gonna help you as well. Just really understand your writing style so that you could go back at it. We're also going to talk about some goals or specific outcome that you want to have happen from your block. And finally we're gonna take all of that. We're gonna put it together into one brand statement. The brand statement is really helpful for editorial calendar because as we put content into the editorial calendar over time, we'll have something that we can true back to. So then that way everybody on the team or anybody who even touches this law. No purpose, the audience and goals that we're looking for. So let's go ahead and die them. So the first thing that we want to do is described the purpose. There's several different reasons that you may be starting this block, and it's helpful to define them. So some business reasons might be that you want to establish yourself as a subject matter expert. When I launched my first walk in 2006 this was exactly what I wanted to do. Next business purpose might be increasing your business contacts. A blood was a great way to peace your exposure Content marketing is another reason this is a huge opportunity for brands. Right now, a lot of people are investing in creating your own content because it's a proven way to attract people to your brand and grow the awareness. Another purpose might be that you're looking to develop content, so a blob can be a really great way to start and really keep writing on a regular basis. And you can repurpose this content for things like articles or presentations and even books . Finally, there is a way to earn money with logs advertising, affiliate marketing, even selling products through your blood. If you, for example, if you have a single product, you want to sell more of it than talking about that product and kind of the environment where it fits in. Industry is a good way to help people understand the value of your product. Results of some different personal reasons that you may want to be logging. The first is he just want to check it off your bucket list may want to become a better writer and just, you know, have something that's published, and that's an absolutely valid reason. Blogging is also really helpful way to express your ideas and thought. I know for me personally, I sometimes feel just urged to create, and if I don't get all of the words out, then they kind of get stuff in my head. Another way is to learn a topic by teaching other people again. This is something that can really help you. If you're trying to establish yourself a subject matter expert, you may want to just simply have an outlet for your creativity. You may wanna show the world what you can produce. And finally, there's a blood is a really nice way to document all of your experiences. And then you can go back and kind of look at what you've learned in here you come. So in this first section, we're just gonna set a timer and look at the different ways that we're using this blob. You know what? Our why're you started, miss? Why are you passionate about it? So Southern timer for five minutes and just list out the reason and keep writing until the time what goes off? 4. Audience, Style & Goals: - next we're going to talk about our audience, - and our audience is a really important thing to consider when writing our block writing. - Sometimes it can be tempting to just getting this isolationist mindset, - but you're not writing in a vacuum. - You wanted me to it when you're writing, - really have a lot of empathy for your reader and think about where they're coming from. - So there's a couple of different ways that we could do this. - So the first thing is to understand what attributes are audience members may have. - Well, - first, - wanna identify demographics? - Demographics are the quantitative traits. - These are things like gender income, - things that you can you can really be specific about, - and you can measure years of experience where people live on their job titles. - So in this sample, - we may be saying, - You know, - I really want to work with executives or you may say, - You know what? - I need to be speaking to twentysomethings, - people who are just getting out of college now. - You could have a block that actually speaks to both of those different audiences, - and it's helpful to just write down the different lists of attributes that different - audiences may have next, - we're gonna look a psycho grabs psychographic. - So the things that we can't measure the things like attitude and belief system values, - interests. - So this example, - Let's take our executive again. - So executives who are struggling and who are wanting to take their business to the next - level but can't really find a way, - you know, - they they believe in hard work, - and they believe in doing the right thing. - Perhaps maybe being an environmentalist or, - you know, - believing in family, - those air, - all different things that you can't really measure. - How is one person's lied about family more important than somebody else? - Belief now getting back to the world. - It's not like you can weigh these, - but they are so important to think about. - So our psychographic sar again, - all of the different things that we can't measure, - and they're still important to look at. - The first step in building our audience is to look at and find the bulleted lists of both - demographics and psychographic. - Next step is to find a picture. - I like using stock photography sites because then that way they've got a wide variety of - different people in different contexts. - So you can look at. - You know what that person mean look like. - And that will really help you form a connection. - Finally, - we're going to take both the picture and then also the list of bullets, - and we're gonna write a story in paragraph format that really describes the environment and - the feeling that are persona lives in. - I find it helpful to go ahead and give this person and me, - John, - you know, - whatever works for you. - So once you've done that, - then you'll have a pretty good handle on who? - Your audience. - Okay, - now it's time to talk about style. - You can think of this kind of like a fashion designer, - so each fashion designer has their own unique mark. - But each piece in their line they look a little bit different. - But overall it has kind of a cohesive looking everyone. - Every author has their own personal writing style, - and that's great. - We want that variety. - What we want to do is just take a moment to define what the overall style of our blob is - going to be. - This way, - if we take on best authors or if we get people to hope us, - you'll be able to understand what kind of voice were looking to which corporations in large - organizations typically put a lot of effort into what's called a style guide, - and this could be pretty comprehensive. - But it doesn't have to be really comprehensive in order to be useful to US bloggers. - Instead, - what we want to do is just get a couple of words that really accurately define the type of - style that we're going. - But this is the way that I recommend doing it. - First, - take out a piece of paper and write down the first five things that come to mind about your - blob, - how you want it to be. - So it is maybe things like conservative bunny lively, - whatever it comes to you next. - After you written those five, - think about what you don't want it to be. - So let's say conservative. - You know, - I wanted to be conservative, - but not stuffy. - So next you're gonna write down all of the different things that you don't want. - Finally, - we're gonna put this into a form of an equation so it can say something like conservative - minus stuffy equals. - And then think of a word that really, - precisely describes that style something like straightforward might be a good option. - The last I don't that we meet create our brand state is writing out our goals. - Goals are a little bit different than purpose, - which we talked about. - First Section Goal is a desired outcome that we want to achieve from our block the types of - full that I find most helpful or whether called Smart Boat. - And this is an acronym to help you remember the different types of characteristics that - your goal should have. - There are a lot of different versions of smart, - but this is the one that I like best that stands for specific, - and this means that it's not general or vague. - If you can really understand, - you know clearly what you're trying to describe. - M stands for measurable. - So again, - we want to make sure that we have a number or something in there. - A stands for appropriate and this is basically doesn't matter back to our purpose that we - had already R is for realistic it. - We try to create a goal that isn't realistic. - We're going to be set up for failure, - so it's a good idea to make sure that you think about whether or not you can actually - achieve your gold for you. - Write it down. - And finally t is for time bound. - Probably heard the expression of goal is just a dream with a deadline, - and that's pretty much what we're doing here. - We're assigning a deadline to our goals. - So the way that this looks when we write it out is kind of like this. - So here's an example of a statement that really doesn't follow the smart guidelines. - I want to use my blawg to become a subject matter expert. - That's really more of a purpose. - It describes the why we're doing it doesn't describe a very specific outcome that we want - her so using the smartphone a better way to make that statement would be. - I want to adapt Post from my blob and published them in at least one U X magazine article - by the end of the year. - It's very, - very specific. - It's time bound. - We know when we've knocked it off our lips, - and if we keep it by our desks all the time, - then we'll know exactly what we're trying to achieve. 5. Writing Your Brand Statement: - great. - So we've talked about our purpose. - We talked about the audience that we're talking Teoh. - We've learned about what our personal style is going to be, - and we've also set some goals. - Now it's time to put it all together into a brain statement that we can use to true back to - whenever we're writing our editorial so that our block will be consistent for years to come - , - no matter who works on it, - so ready to get started. - So the first thing is to fill in a blank on, - and I've created a template for you where basically, - you create the title of your blawg and then add some descriptive words. - And then talk about your main topic area also your audiences and purpose and then the goals - . - So I'm gonna go over kind of what this looks like. - So let's pretend that there's a block call, - not your plain vanilla. - So the example here would be not. - Your Plain Vanilla is a friendly, - genial educational blawg focused on providing content about handmade frozen desserts to D. - I y junkies, - urban sweet tooth ice cream parlor owners so that we can increase awareness and - conversation about the advantages of creating inventive, - unexpected ice cream flavors. - Then we're gonna answer a couple of questions. - Why are we doing this? - These were going to be the remainder of our purposes in the paragraph. - Want to make sure that we talk about Army? - We're also going to talk about our goals by putting in the effort to develop quality - content regular basis. - We plan to and list off the goals. - Gold number one, - Goldmember two. - Great. - So now that you've got your brand statement, - you can print it out and put it right next to your desk. - So then that way you can really have something. - But you can look back to and know why you're doing this. - Think about all the energy that you have right now and all of the positivity. - And just remember how wonderful it is to have all of that. - And when times get a little frustrating, - you can go ahead and four back to it. - So great job. - Thanks so much. - And I'll see you in the next section. 6. Overview & Content Pillars: great job Taking extra time to talk about your strategy and write down your goals is really going to pay off in the long run. Now we're gonna talk about building a place where you can source inspiration on a regular basis, kind of a mitt that writers spend all of this time and kind of this isolationists and, you know, alone mindset. Instead, the best lovers go out and find inspiration. They actually actively do this. So we're gonna learn how we can build different tools that we can leverage so that we can go out and actively look for inspiration and have an endless supply of content for our blawg. We're gonna talk about content pillars or creating different topic areas for your blood. We're also going to talk about how the best bloggers are really more like journalists and not as much like marketers. We're gonna talk about how to create a source library, that you can refer to it any time. And finally we're going to go over the best practices for two of the most common types of outsourced content, which are interviews and guest posts. I think you're gonna learn a lot during this time, and I really hope that you enjoy it. Let's get started. So the first thing we're going to talk about in terms of inspiration is creating different types of content pillars. You can think of these kind of like pillars that would hold up a building or a porch or something. They that's exactly what they do. They hold up your content. So think of Pillars as a particular topic that you would be writing about on a regular basis, something that you can think about maybe doing 10 block posts about or that it's something that maybe would be an e book that, um, you could publish one day. Um, however, you want to think about it, these air different topics that you can continuously refer back to now. There are several different ways to do this, but you can do it topically. So let's say, for example, that you have a finance log. If you had a finance blawg and you know you defined your audience and you know exactly who you're talking Teoh, then you can think of different things that they might want to hear about. So, for example, you may find that if you're working with people who are new to financial planning, that tips are going to be really, really helpful. And you happen to know about a lot of different tips and tricks. You spend a lot of time and you could probably come up with one a week, and that would be something that you could do on an ongoing basis. Another thing might be stories about interesting people. So either summarizing a biography that you read or talking to people individually and doing interviews were having different guest posts on your blog's stories or something that really, really is rich a contact for a block. And then you may also just be interested in kind of industry news. Perhaps you're reading it anyway. You've got you know, your you're reading blog's on your own, and so you can put your own spin on kind of different changes that are happening in the industry. All of these different topics are things that if you're writing a finance block, you could maybe see doing on a regular basis. And the beauty of this is that you introduce variety into your blogged that the same content isn't over and over and over again. but it does relate back to the same team. So another way to look at content pillars are really the purpose of the topic. So let me talk to you a little bit about what I mean by that. There are really three different types of content that you can do on your block, and I call these the three Ease. The first E is engagement. So these air blawg topics that really meant to start a conversation, you know it may be, you know, your personal belief on company. You know, the tips and tricks might fall into that. It's really about kind of getting a conversation started. The next type of content is evergreen content. Evergreen content is really powerful. It's something that you can refer back to on a regular basis for years to come. It's something that you can curate and maintain, and it doesn't matter what time of year you publish it. It's always going to be relevant. Finally, there are events and events are topics that are really tied to a specific occurence. So if there's specific legislation that's come out, you know you can comment on these different things that are happening and that would be really relevant. Event driven content. So how would you get this? Well, we're gonna take the brand statement that we just created in our last section, and we're going to develop at least three types of contact pillars. You can use whichever style you like. If you prefer more topical than go for that or if you want to stand, follow the standard three e Orilla, then that's great, too. But just spend some time thinking about at least three different areas that you would want to talk about regularly on your block. 7. Brand Journalism & Source Libraries: All right, You've got your topic areas ready to go. You're content. Pillars are set in place and you're ready to create a really strong block. Now we're gonna take our writing, so we're gonna think about exactly how we're going to execute this. Now there are two different ways to write a log. One is like a marketer, and you probably see these logs. They tend to be really sales driven. And the content is really more about the company and less about a conversation. These blobs aren't really blog's there more of, like a news section or kind of, ah, pr outlet for their respected companies. And they tend to not get a lot of engagement. So if you want to have a blawg that really, really resonates gets more traffic and has a conversation with your audience, then you need to think more like a journalist and less like a marketer. Let me tell you exactly what I mean by that. When I worked in an agency that service Fortune 100 clients for social Media, I arranged our editorial staff like a news desk. And the reason for this was in that way, the writers could focus on writing, and I had one person who acted as editor and ensured a regular, consistent style. This is how they do that really respected news organization like The New York Times. There are several layers of editors and the ideas air coming from the ground up all the time and different people that now this is a really good way to set up your blog's as well , because you're going to have ideas coming all the time, rather than necessarily from the top down, where everything can be about business, you get a nice variety of ideas. But journalist thinking goes well beyond the organizational chart to one of the purposes of your blawg is too related to sales than you might be tempted to write in that really kind of marketing sales language like kind of like you do on your website. You want to drive people into action. But the role of a block is really to kind of get that conversation going and journalists to a really good job with us because they implement storytelling and they look at interviews. They also do their research. Lots of the best blog's have nice foot minutes at the end. I always enjoy those. They also focus on thought leadership. So rather than just necessarily putting out something that is going to be short lived, your establishing themselves with long term journalists also use critical thinking skills. And they think about how something that is happening in one place will affect another. And they describe kind of that relationship. Finally, journalists rely on observation on there, constantly thinking and probing for the who, what, when, where, why and how so Those are some ways that we can really generate quality content for our blawg. Now, what I want you to do next might take a little bit of time, but it's gonna be worth it. So first, I want you to think about a topic for your block. So using your content pillars, let's go back to the finance example that we just have to think of, you know, if in that example, one of our content players may have been tips and tricks, so we would think of one tips and tricks topic, uh, that we would present for our block. Now we're going to take that and we're gonna write it in kind of a traditional sales marketing approach. You know, right in a way where it best serves us. And it sounds like, you know, we're trying to convince somebody else of our ideas, something that you might see on like a direct mail letter. So after you've written your content and more of a hard sales approach, we're going to rewrite it. We're going to use those different storytelling techniques and interviews, research, thought, leadership, critical thinking and observation. And we're going to look at how our traditional sales style kind of blacks those things. We're going to rewrite our content so that it uses thes different journalism techniques. Once you have that done, then I want you to kind of look at the difference between que What type of content is valuable for a particular purpose? Does one sound like it should be on a website versus one? Sounds like it would be a book or a newspaper, so you can start to see where your style fits in on this spectrum so totally this new technique of being a brand journalist will help you think about how you can observe the world around you and how all of your different experiences can be something that you can share and promote your business and yourself. Next, we're going to talk about creating a source library. Now one of these things you can think about this is a library that lives on your computer. There are so many different tools out there that will help us automate streams of information that are coming through. One of the things when I worked in social Media that I hurt all the time is that all. Getting all of this information is kind of like drinking from a firehose. That's absolutely how it feels. Sometimes There are different tools out there we can use so that it doesn't sound like a fire hose anymore. Instead, it's a regular water fountain, so there are some different tools or sourcing, and then also for storing. Now, some of the, uh, some of the tools that I use personally for things like Egli Google Reader is no longer available, and I found that Feed Lee is a really great alternative. It's also a book that I started using when I managed that content desk, and it's called Chase's Calendar of events. Now this is great because you can look a year ahead of time. It typically comes out in October for the next year so you can plan ahead. And this is what journalists use, um, again, going back to that journalist thinking So. One thing is, if you start hearing if you start using this, you're probably going to be able to predict which stories you're gonna be able to hear about on the radio or TV. Twitter is also a very powerful sourcing tool. Look into using hashtags or just even the search queries, and you'll be able to find a variety of information. But sweet is another that form that you can use to help you. With Twitter, you can set up social listening so you can include keywords. You can monitor about conversations that are happening around your brand, and that's a very powerful tool as well. Site and look bored are too good applications. Now. The challenge is that they're not available on the desktop. Do you need a tablet or mobile phone to be able to use thes, but it's really neat. So what these do is they are applications that allow you to type in a different industry. So again, let's go back to finance. You can list out all of the different topics within finance. You may type in managerial accounting or, you know, budgeting, and you'll be able to once you type in your topics, a site or footboard will send content to you about that topic. It's a great time saver than that way. You don't have to go out and look it. Look for all of these blog's. Another example is stumble upon. You can think of this kind of like the remote control of social meat. So with stumble upon, you press a button and you get a random new page about his particular topic. I found that this is I've been using this since it came out in 2006 and it's always fun to kind of see what new pages air out there. There is also traditional social media channels like Facebook, Pinterest and linked in. Finally, you're looking to manage all of these different things. Take a look at a site called I F T T T Maxence, work it. This then backed, and it's a site that allows you to automate different interactions between all of these different organizations. So, for example, one of the things that I have is that every time I favorite something on Twitter that it automatically gets sent to an application that stores it as a bookmark for me, and I can look at it later and then. That way I don't have to spend all this time kind of sourcing different material. Another important piece of our library is building the shelves that all of these different topics are going to sit on. So these air are storing applications the ones that I use and like our ever knew Pocket and Dropbox. So that's a lot of information. But what I want you to do now is go through and just look at these different sites, take some time and set up a system where you're getting information in from sourcing, and you're also having a place to store them if you'd like to get a little bit more in depth with this, there is a presentation that I have put together called How to source, organized and publish content without losing sleep. I've linked to that in the resource is section, so if you'd like to check it out, go ahead 8. Guest Posts & Interviews: - Now I'm going to talk to you about two different journalism techniques that translate - beautifully in the blog's world. - Next guest posts and interviews. - When you're reaching out to other people to help you with content or your blawg, - you need to approach it with a lot of respect. - It's if you are new to the block world, - please learn from my mistakes. - When I first got started into blogging, - I would write these really long pitches and describe why things needed to work. - And over time, - I found out that that was a sure fire way to not have anyone contact me. - Here are some of the best tips and tricks that I discovered for helping you get the most - out of your interviews and your pitches so we'll focus on guest post first. - If you're accepting guest posts, - it's really hopeful to have a portion of your blawg that lists how you like to receive - guest posts. - For example, - Sonia Simone, - a copy blogger, - did a really great job putting together their site. - They use a lot of guest posts. - They talk about how difficult their processes to get accepted, - and sometimes they'll even say our editorial calendar is full. - At the moment. - We do not have a need for blockers, - but keep out. - Keep looking out because we'll put out a call for entries soon. - There are also tools that you can use, - such as my blog's guest or blogger link up. - And this is a way that you can put information out there and either request a guest post or - let people know that you're available to post a guest. - One thing you want to do before blindly accepting somebody as a guest poster is that you - want asked them to send samples of writing ahead of time. - This is something that then you can match to your style guide and your brand statement and - see what the likelihood is that it's going to be a good fit. - If the tone is just completely different, - then you know that may not want to have that person is a guest post because the amount of - editing that would be required would take up a lot of time. - And finally, - if you are asking another block for writing opportunity, - keep your request concise, - finally, - and include a link to your own writing samples. - If you're writing, - sounds like a template. - Take it for me. - Your request is likely to just be completely ignored. - Worth the time and effort, - personalized your request and let the author of the block know that you really are somebody - who read their site on a regular basis and that you're not just putting out a bunch of - enquiries. - Now let's look at interviews. - Some keys to interviews are to research your interviewee ahead of time. - First of all, - start off by just googling their name. - LinkedIn is another great place. - You can see kind of where they worked in the past. - You can start reading different articles that they have written or have been published - about them. - Send questions over head of Time to give your interviewee time air. - You can also just incorporate the responses directly into a blood post without interviewing - them over the phone or in person. - Keep in mind that this typically isn't the most engaging type of interview, - but it is very helpful if you are have someone who is really pressed for time. - Let your interview We know that you are happy to let them review your article before it's - published. - This goes a really long way in helping people build trust because they know that you are - going to represent them in the best light. - If you're planning on recording the conversation, - let your interview we know recording the conversation is a really good way to make sure - that you can listen. - But word to the wise make sure that you always take notes even if you're recording just in - case you accidentally forget to hit recorder, - there's a technical glitch. - Finally, - use open ended questions instead of closed ended questions. - These are a great way to get a conversation going. - Closed ended questions are answered with a yes or no, - whereas open ended questions can grow much deeper and allow the interviewee to just talk as - long as they need to. - On interview. - Post is about them, - not about you. - You want to do way more listening than you ever do, - talking so way to look at practicing some of our interview and guest post techniques to - again. - Think of a topic that you think would be a good idea for you or a guest post draft, - a pitch you can use the example that I've linked to in the project guy. - Make sure that It's short, - specific and simple. - Next research the best way to contact the person that you want to work with. - You can do this on Twitter. - There Really active. - You can look through lengthen or you consent a traditional email. - There are a variety of ways to get in touch with people finally established contact. - You're gonna ask by using a personalized version of your pitch that lets your interviewee - or guest poster know that you read their content on a regular basis and that you are aware - of what they're producing. - So I hope that this clears up a little bit about how you can get content and inspired on a - regular basis. 9. Publication Channels & Frequencies: - Welcome back. - Here's a haiku for you. - You wrote a block and no one came to read it. - Did you write a walk? - That entertaining post is from a organization called Out Brain, - and I think it's a really good way to think about the importance of additional channels - that we're going to use to publish our block. - Now. - This area of blogging can be dizzying because there are a lot of different options. - So I would encourage you to go out and do some additional research to maximize how your - block is getting eyeballs. - I'm gonna go over some of the tools that I'm most familiar with. - Now, - keep in mind there are a lot more out there, - and this is just scratching the surface of different publication. - Also, - consider the publications are going to change over time. - What's really popular today may not be as effective in two years, - so you'll want to keep on top of industry trends and new ways that you can consistently - publisher content block. - Now, - publication services can be split into kind of two general categories. - The first are free services such as Twitter, - Facebook, - Lincoln or a Pinterest, - and also a service called Buffer? - No. - Just because these services are free or have a free option doesn't mean that they're going - to necessarily be most effectively used. - If you don't money into good example of this is Facebook, - you have a brand, - and you put your Facebook host out. - The chances of it being steamed if you haven't put money behind it are very slim. - But just as little as $5.1 really increase visibility. - Let me take a minute and talk a little bit about Bucker. - Father is a fantastic tool. - I'm a huge fan of the service. - Bucker links to all of the other social media channels, - such as Facebook, - Twitter Late and Google. - Plus, - uh, - you can set up automatic schedule on individual channels so that you can hockey late buffer - and then you were social media will go out over time. - This is incredibly hopeful for someone who's busy in a really good way to capitalize and - keep your contact. - How wonderful. - Let's look at some paid services as well. - Now, - generally, - these aren't going to be the best option if you're just starting out. - If you'd invested some a lot of time and effort into your blog's and you're ready to take - it to the next level. - These might be for you. - Some of the problem was popular are sites like out brain only wire and hub spot. - Additionally, - if you follow their blawg, - they are great content marketers. - They really practice what they preach. - So by subscribing to blog's from content marketers, - you can learn some tips of the trade. - So I want you to look list above and finding at least one alternative channel that you're - going to attach to your block. - It could be one that you're using currently, - or you can try something new, - but you should shoot for at least one. - Here's to you getting a whole lot of eyes on your block. - Next, - we're gonna talk about how often you should publish your block. - Now, - when you're first starting out, - it can deal at the gym. - This happens to me almost every January. - I say. - You know what? - I'm finally going to go to the gym. - I go out and I start going with him five days a week, - totally committed, - then probably around that you were your march. - It dwindled down to three days a week. - Life gets in the way. - And you know what? - Pretty much every year. - By summer, - I'm not even going anymore. - This is a common pattern for blogging as well. - And one of the things that I've noticed is that when I give myself a really rigorous - schedule such as five days a week, - I'm gonna burn out, - and a better strategy is to think very realistically about how often I could really go and - continue on a regular basis. - This past year, - I decided I was going to go gym one day a week and you know what? - I'm still going. - And while it may not be as often, - I think it's better over time because in that way I'm always thinking about exercise, - and I'll do little things like walk toe lunch instead of taking a car just because I'm - considering all with different ways that I could get exercise into my life. - The way to think about this in your blogging efforts is quality over quantity. - There's no written rule. - It says You have to post every day that I think it's more important, - published on a consistent basis, - rather than trying to really ramp up and then completely slow down give your readers - something that they can expect and deliver on time. - Another thing to consider is that if you're just starting out, - you're not going to be as efficient at writing as you will be down the line. - So you're going to need to plants and extra time to for a learning curve. - Do you main? - Look at getting once a month for three months, - then twice a month for the next three months. - And then once a week going going, - that's absolutely perfect to ramp up your blogging schedule. - If you've got a team and you're ready to go, - you may be ready to publish once a week. - Already again, - this comes down to you. - Your commitment and the resource is that you have available. 10. People and Processes: - Speaking of resource is, - let's talk about the different people who are going to be helping you out with your block. - Now your team can be large or you could just be a one person show. - Either way, - you're likely going to have other people who are helping contribute to the quality of your - block. - Let's look at a few of those. - The first would be a content strategist. - Now this is the type of world that I typically take on with my clients. - A roll of content strategist is to make sure that the content that you're producing aligns - to your business goals and also to set up systems in place to ensure that the contact is - continually being produced and aligning to those goals. - This would be a really good person to help you maintain your editorial calendar. - Another person that you may be working with is a copywriter. - When working with a copywriter, - having a really good style guide is going to be an important tool to help them understand - very clearly what you're communicating Now. - A blob isn't just about words. - You'll also want to have someone who really get the visual aesthetic as band with rose - visuals, - videos. - Infographics becomes so much more important, - finding someone who is a good designer and can help consult you and execute on visual ways - to your impact. - Your blawg is going to pay off dividends and longer. - Now, - if you have no one else that you work with, - I suggest you at least have a proof reader. - This could be Scouse. - In my case, - when I first started out, - it was Mom and the gold. - The proof reader is someone who hasn't eagle eye and can look at the post before they go - live to make sure that they're accurate. - I don't have any grammatical or spelling mistakes. - Finally, - if you're working within an organization, - you may need to get approval from someone, - perhaps your boss or the business or the product suite. - Now you will want to include time for them to read in your process, - So identify the different people around you and see who you will be able to assemble or - your if you're working within an organization, - they don't have to live in the marketing of communications a lot of times. - Their subject matter experts who are very eager to write but may not want to proof, - read or schedule. - This is where having a team effort really help. - Make sure that applause stays on track. - If you're a one person show, - try to find someone who will least proof. - Read your work. - Now we're going to talk a little bit about the project. - Workflow. - Now you can imagine your team. - They're all working together and they're like gears in a machine. - Everyone's kind of got their own role, - and if something happens with one person, - then it can trip up the entire process. - It's a good idea to map everything out ahead of time. - And then that way, - if someone needs to go out, - you can find someone else. - Teoh easily fit their place and let them know exactly what you I find. - The easiest way to do this is to start with your publication date and then work backwards - from there. - So the some things to consider our when you want just advertising. - You want to do that one or two days after a post has been published, - or do you want to make sure that it happens exactly at the same time? - You'll also want to look at when your content is approved by were Hoover Fruit Bread - revised by your proof leader. - When you have to have a draft to the proof reader, - you also want to think about when you need to have design assets. - Tweeted. - If you have an infographic that can take a while to develop, - so plan that into your process. - You'll also want to think about getting everyone in the same room for a kick off meeting so - everyone understands purpose and the goal of a specific post. - Finally, - you wanna have your content under approved. - I found that usually three months out is a good uh, - is a good way to make sure that you've got plenty of lead time to develop. - Another thing to consider is that you want to have a compressed workflow so that you can - respond to critical events and opportunities in your industry. - So go ahead and take some time and sketch out the project workflow that would work best for - your organization. - What I've developed here is just a template, - and it may not work for your organization 11. Using Google Spreadsheets: - Okay, - I'm now. - You're probably thinking, - Andrea, - when the heck are you going to start talking about calendars? - We've been planning. - We've been strategizing. - We talk about goals, - they work flows. - But I have yet to get my hands on a calendar. - Isn't that the name of the class? - Well, - weights over. - We're gonna go ahead and get that now. - What is a content under? - Typically, - it's a spreadsheet. - Now a spreadsheet can live in a number of different places in application. - My personal favorite is Google Spreadsheet, - and this is available through Google Drive. - What I found is that this is easy to share. - And as the editorial owner, - I can also lock very specific cells so that only people people can only view them and not - edit them. - Now, - you may think, - but what about if I'm not online or what if I need to download this for someone who doesn't - have access to people drive. - I had This happened when I was working at a social media agency. - One of our clients was a Fortune 100 company, - and I was managing your editorial calendar. - Unfortunately, - our client had such a strong firewall that I couldn't share the doctor with them. - So for my client, - it was a real pain because it had to open the other personal computer and log in, - and it just it just wasn't going to work for approvals. - So what I ended up doing was just every morning I would export my Google doc as Excel File - or is a PdF, - and I would send it on over to her and asked if there were any. - So that's another advantage. - Google Drive is that there are ways around having to share directly on that. - In general, - I found it easier to work with an existing calendar when I developed my own calendars. - I have looked at a number of different varieties, - and I developed a editorial calendar template specifically for this class that goes over - and implements all the different things that we've already addressed. - Feel free to use this. - One thing I will say is, - please make a copy first before you start entering data into it. - So then that way, - other students could have a nice, - fresh mean template to download on their own. - If this template doesn't work for you, - go ahead and type the words editorial calendar template into your favorite search engine. - There are a wide variety of different templates out there. - You can find the one that works best for you and your team. - So we've gotten to the place where we're ready to go. - We have a fresh editorial calendar that's just waiting to have all of its contact filled in - in the next video. - We're gonna talk about the detail. - We're gonna get nitty gritty. - We're gonna start feeling out our contact calendar. - By the end of the next section, - you're gonna have a three month editorial calendar ready to go so that your bluff can - really make it See you in the next video. 12. Adding Details & Wrap Up: - Oh, - right, - Our calendar is ready to go. - Let's start filling in the details before we start filling in the details is one teensy bit - of planning that we need to do. - And that's the order that we're going to add our contact. - We skipped this stuff. - I've found that you end up playing musical content and you have to move stuff all around - all the time, - so we'll go through. - The order that I found works best on my end. - But if this doesn't work for you again, - he will try to change it. - The first thing that I'd suggest adding, - is your business Critical posts now is he is critical posts have to do with your business. - So, - for example, - if you have a product and there is a new watch, - that's going to get precedent. - But anything else that you have remember in other videos, - we've talked about how you don't want us to overtake your tone. - You don't want it to sound overly sales e whoever if it's very informational and that's - going to be relevant to your audience. - A attention to how important the topic is, - and the more important is higher priority. - It gets on your calendar. - Next, - we're going to focus on content that relates to a specific event in specific let's say that - you have a fashion blogger. - It would be really important to know when the Academy Awards are going to happen or what's - a New York fashion week? - Because those air times when the general interest about your industry is heightened and in - order to get the most impact for your blob, - you're gonna wanna write content about that because people are going to be searching about - it more. - Plan ahead. - Used the different sources from your source library toe. - Learn about events that are important to your industry. - Next, - focus on posts that require a little bit of planning. - These would be things like guest posts and interviews if you have to shoot videos and edit - it. - Compilation posts that are really long infographics are another thing that takes a little - bit of time, - so you know you'll need to add that time into your process schedule. - Also, - case studies will need to do the research and interview people and find out how things went - . - But it's worth the time Long run. - Next, - we're going to talk about Evergreen content as you'll remember from a previous video, - Evergreen content is content that you can use at any time of the year. - It last flew really long time. - You may be updating or that content may be relevant for years to come. - A great example of this is Chris Fielder, - and he started a blogger where he was showcasing his creative writing stories. - There weren't a lot of people who were coming to the block even though he was publishing it - throughout channels. - But when he started doing research around competitions for his story writing, - he found that there wasn't a good source for a one stop shop for plate people who wanted to - enter short stories into competition. - So he decided to create a block post that would source all of the different research that - he had done. - He's written a really good post about the effectiveness of this evergreen content. - I'm going to it as a resource here, - so I'd suggest so to recap order that you add content to the calendar matters. - Start with your most important content. - First, - things like business, - critical posts and post. - They're tied to a specific event, - then focus on posts that require additional resource is to complete so that you got plenty - of time to make sure that they go out on time. - Finally, - focus on evergreen content that can be used at any time throughout the year. - Now take the contact that we just created in the last video, - and let's go ahead and start filling in those details. - Think about all the different types of content that you need and try to plan out at least - three months. - Well, - here we are at the end of our project. - Good needed, - though it was actually just getting started, - editorial calendar could be thought of It's kind of like going on a long hike. - There's a lot that you need to do to prepare, - but the preparation doesn't necessarily mean that that's the work. - It's worth it because then you get the experience of a lifetime. - Law is very much the same way, - taking the time to hair and get all of your details in order. - Using an editorial calendar can mean the difference between really successful blawg, - one that flounders. - I hope you've enjoyed this class. - You'd like to reach out to me. - I'm active on Twitter, - and you can follow me. - My handle is at under your Google A. - Please go ahead and write this last. - Let me know your feedback. - And I am looking forward to eating all of the wonderful things that you're posting. - Enjoy the wonderful adventure that awaits you. - And congratulations on completing your editorial calendar.