With a new year comes a new chance to start fresh in all aspects, including my blog. This year, I plan on being more proactive when it comes to blogging. Just how I build out content for my clients a few months prior, I'd like to start doing the same on the blog - it makes planning and writing a million times easier. It's also the fun and creative side that attracts me most to blogging.
Image via Kikki-K
When I say "build out content" what I really mean is brainstorm themes and ideas that make for great content.
Doing this ahead of time will help prevent staring at a blank screen as you rack your brain on things to write about - also known as writer's block. A few tools that make this process easier for me is a calendar (the google calendar works great) and somewhere to jot down ideas (a small notebook that can fit anywhere).
We all have great ideas, the hard part is capturing them. Think of your little notebook as an idea bank where some of your greatest thoughts can no longer be forgotten. If little notepads aren't your thing, don't worry - anything that's easily accessible can be used instead. As long as your creative ideas or thoughts are somewhere you can easily reference, you're in the clear. I tend to have mine handy on long subway rides for those spur of the moment "Eurekas". This idea bank will help build out your content for the following month, week, or what have you. Looking for a cute notepad to spur inspiration, try this.
For clients, I tend to build out content a month in advance. We can do that for our blogs too, but if a month is too much - try for a week. When prepping for the month ahead brainstorm ideas, themes, or DIYs that would be great for certain holidays or events. For instance, next month (February) I'll make sure to include a post related to NYFW. Here's a great marketing + holiday calendar
I use it on the daily. Another great tool is using google.com/trends. For instance, want to write about turtlenecks? Search that in google.com/trends to see what's currently trending on turtlenecks and incorporate that into your blog to help boost seo.
Next is scheduling out the content. This is where your calendar comes into play, which we'll refer to as your content calendar. Start filling in those blank spots with themes or ideas you plan on writing about for that particular day or holiday. Having a hard time coming up with a theme for one of those days? Refer to your idea bank for a source of inspiration. For me in particular, I'll block out an hour and fill in my content calendar with a theme and maybe a few sentences to outline what the post's motive will be. For those of you that want a calendar more geared towards content creation, try using CoSchedule.
Still need help creating content, read this awesome infographic from CopyBlogger to help create compelling content. Now get out there and bring your ideas to life :).
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Got a question or another topic you'd like me to cover next month? Shoot me an email, I'd be more than happy to help. Want to read what I covered last month? You can find that right here.
