If magazine editors waited for inspiration or for free time, no magazine would ever get published. So how do they churn out high quality content, month after month?
By using an editorial calendar. And top bloggers have learned this secret
too.
An editorial calendar is a plan for
producing regular written or media content, at regular intervals (e.g. monthly)
at a perfect pace. It leaves you with
deadlines you can use as a roadmap. You won’t have gaps in your postings and
there’s no chance for people to forget who you are or give up on your blog.
1.
Use the Method that Works Best With Your Learning Style
An editorial calendar is only useful
if you use it. And if you set up a
physical calendar that doesn’t work with your natural learning style, you’re
more likely to forget to use it… or even, ultimately, abandon it.
If you are a kinesthetic learner who likes the
hands-on approach, a paper calendar may be your best option. (Tip:
You will most likely to be able to find plain desktop calendars with
large enough slots to be useful in your local Dollar Store.)
Just be sure to put it in a place
where you are likely to see it, rather than hiding it away in a desk.
If you are an aural learner, make an audio recording
of your upcoming schedule.
If you are a visual learner, paper or digital will
work – it’s just a matter of preference
If you are a read/write learner, a dated,
chronological list format will probably work better for you than a graphic
calendar format.
2.
Create and Coordinate Monthly and Annual Calendars
- Many people find that two versions of their editorial schedule work best:
- A monthly calendar (e.g. WordPress Editorial Plugin)
- An annual calendar (manual or digital)
The reason for this? On your Annual Editorial Calendar, you can
enter important posts to tie in with events scheduled far down the road; or
with seasonal events.
Then, every month when you sit down to
fill out your monthly Calendar, a quick visual check with the Annual Calendar
will allow you to transpose these events onto your monthly Calendar before you
input new posts for the current month, making sure nothing gets double-booked –
or missed.
If you use WordPress, then the free WordPress
Editorial Calendar plugin can be your
best post-scheduling friend. So do install
it.
While you’re writing your posts or
maintaining your blog, you have access to the Editorial Calendar at a click of
the button. And you can log in and
glance at your Calendar to see what you have to do today before writing a word.
4.
Use MS Excel to Create Your Editorial Calendar
If you are more comfortable using
Microsoft Excel or you are a text-based learner, you may find Excel the best
tool for creating your Editorial Calendar.
Another reason for using MS
Excel: If your business is highly fluid,
and you know you are going to be tweaking and adjusting your Editorial Calendar
perhaps more than the average blogger.
In fact, there are
many MS Excel templates for doing precisely that. (You can download – without signing up; just
right-click and save – a very nice template courtesy of Vertical
Measures
5.
Use Color Coding
If you are a visual or kinesthetic
learner, try color coding the different cycles – then highlighting scheduled
posts according to each cycle color.
This is also a fabulous trick if you
have learning disabilities or any other form of cognitive impairment, as the
visual stimulus and cueing helps you mentally “sort” and remember better.
You could also designate cycles by
creating a Category field in your Calendar, along with corresponding two- or
three-letter Category codes… or combine both categories and color coding. (Tip:
Include a Legend at the top of your chart-style annual Calendar or
beginning of your multi-page or monthly Calendar.)
6.
Include Your Calls to Action in Your Editorial Calendar
Write down the call to action (CTA)
for each item on your editorial calendar.
Not only will this ensure you remember to include it in your blog post,
but you will be able to more objectively judge the level of engagement your
post is likely to create.
And
yes: You could designate a color and
highlight your CTAs too, if you wish.
7.
Learn to Think in Cycles
No matter what your learning style,
one of the biggest mistakes you can make is to think in a linear fashion – I.
E. A B C D E F G.
Your blog will feel fuller, richer,
more organized and more enjoyable to your readers if you learn to schedule your
blog in multiple cycles.
Take your Annual Editorial Calendar
and go through using the following “cycles” (and any others unique to your
business), one after the other:
·
Seasonal
cycle (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter)
·
Holiday
cycle (Christmas, St. Valentine’s Day, St.
Patrick’s Day, etc.)
·
Events
cycle (e.g.
Annual Cycling Workshop, Victoria Day Race, etc.)
·
Contest
cycle (e.g.
Summer Photo Challenge, Christmas Giveaway, etc.)
·
iscal
Cycle (e.g.
. Your annual business quarter-years,
from beginning to end)
·
Product
Cycle (All your scheduled, upcoming product
launches)
·
Sales
Cycles (High and low buying trends – base
these on previous sales metrics)
Learning to plan your editorial
calendar in this fashion will really help ingrain your business’ “big picture”
in mind – and make much better business (and editorial) decisions.
8.
Formalize Your Editorial Calendar Management Protocol
It
really doesn’t matter whether you alone update the calendar and distribute
information, or your authors or staff are allowed to cross things
off and add them – the important thing is a clear understanding of the ground
rules – and a clear chain of communication.
So
decide on…
a)
Who will update the Editorial Calendar(s)
b)
How the Editorial Calendar(s) will be updated
c)
Who will notify the rest of the team of
necessary changes or completions
d)
How they will do this
Making
sure everyone understands the system is the best way to avoid scheduling
conflicts or omissions.
9.
Create Other Types of Editorial Calendar too
Consider adding social media coding –
or a separate Social Media Editorial Calendar. If you don’t coordinate your social media
campaigns with your posts, you could be missing opportunities to allow each
platform – blog and social media – to enhance the other.
Plan on the keywords you are going to
use in your social media posts, as well as in your blog posts. Align these with
ad campaigns, if you are planning any.
(Yes. Have an Advertising Editorial Calendar too.)
And if handling multiple versions of
Editorial Calendar seems too overwhelming – start off with just one, for your
blog.
10.
Consider Publishing
Your Upcoming Editorial Calendar
Not only will it inspire you to meet
your own deadline (since there is nothing more lame than not following through
to your readers) but you may attract quality submissions – leaving you with
great content to use for your blog and the time to plan next month’s editorial
calendar in comfort.
You don’t have to
publish it in full Editorial Calendar format:
You can simply make sure you create a section of upcoming stories (with
Submission Guidelines) on your website or blog.
But when all is said and done,
remember that Editorial Calendars are simply tools: Only you can decide what type works best for
you.
And, of course, they’ll be no use
unless you use them!
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