Just finished a new free training video for you: 5 Steps to Create a Monthly Content Plan for Your Business Blog.
It’ll make your blogging easier, help you stay more consistent, and boost your blog’s effectiveness for your business.
Click play!
Do you plan out your content? What works best for you? I’d love to hear YOUR strategies!
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Michelle, thanks so much for sharing how you plan your content. I had a couple of “aha” moments, especially about having a backup plan for blog posts. I had never considered that, so now I am back to the drawing board. Lots of great info, thanks you!!
Awesome! I’m glad that was helpful. I know when I started doing that on my blog it made it feel so much easier to keep up with. :)
Michelle!!
Love this and it helped me so much! I blog often but it isn’t strategic and that is this is exactly what I was looking for.
Now, for the next question: when do you create all this content? One day a week, one day a month?
You rock!
Great suggestion for a follow up video, Maureen. I generally do mine weekly and I can definitely share some more tips around that. :)
Michele – your video inspired me to start blogging again. I’ve been on a sabbatical and am just gearing up again. Thanks so much for these great ideas on how to tie everything together.
Awesome – so glad this was inspiring for you, Linda. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Thank you this is great!
I am just getting organized to start a blog so any tips that come from Michelle are on the mark and will be incorporated into my overall plan. THANK YOU, MICHELLE.
Thanks for this article – It must have been sent to me by divine intervention! I love blogging – but am usually throwing out whatever pops into my head – willy-nilly style. Your post has me thinking it’s time to be more strategic and plan a little better.
Appreciate it!
XO
Hey Michelle
Just commenting from my iPhone. It’s more frustrating than doing this from my laptop. Digg Digg gets in the way a bit.
The video was great and I will visit this post and take notes when I get on my laptop next. It gave me some ideas for blog posts just by watching the video. I wish I was a bit more confident in my ability to shoot good videos. I do have that confidence in my writing, so I think I will stick to that.
Y
Have a brilliant weekend.
Your friend across the pond
David
Hey David, thank you for letting me know. That share bar shouldn’t show up on mobile so I’ll troubleshoot it. :)
Between us (okay, and the rest of the world since this is a public comment ha ha) I am completely out of my comfort zone in video. I much prefer writing. But I finally decided the sooner I get started, the sooner I’ll get comfortable and improve my presentation skills.
Michelle is there a possibility you could add to the post the bullet points you made in the video? I had a hard time seeing what you were writing on the board. Please and thank you.
Sure, here were those five:
1. Holidays & my personal calendar (looking for fun ideas and where I need to pre-schedule content)
2. Marketing calendar (what promotions, projects, etc do I have coming up)
3. Friends (guest posts, interviews, anything my friends have going on that I want to share or feature)
4. What’s left? (look at what’s open still, and plug in content around what I want to write and what’s coming next in my business, fill in any weekly series, etc)
5. Backup Plan (be ready for craziness with content ideas from other sources)
WOW your fast. You ROCK thank you!!!
You’re welcome, Joe. :)
Hi Michelle,
That was a wonderful video and explanation of how to blog successfully and effectively. Had several light bulb ideas while watching Thank you
Awesome! I love helping create “light bulb” moments. :)
This is super! All of my important things should be on the calendar. Why not put the blogging there also? Step 5 was the best idea for me. Thanks.
Good point. We do tend to remember what’s on the calendar (or, at least we’ve got reminders) so it makes sense to get our blogging plans on there, too. :)
Great video Michelle! Comfort zone or not, you did a great job presenting and shared so exceptional hints. You made it seems easy to get your month planned in 15-20 minutes, which is about all I’m sure most people have to spend on planning.
Thanks for making the video. Loved it!
Thanks, Tawnee. :)
It’s surprising how quick you can get a plan done if you just get a system together that works for you. I usually spend probably 20-25 minutes total on mine a month as I do go a bit more detailed than I did in the video and shoot for 4-5 post ideas in each week. But it saves SO much time over the month when we don’t have to sit and come up with new ideas for every post. More than pays off.
I love the “back up” plan idea. I’ve been in the midst of moving and am behind on my blog right now. Thanks to your back up idea, I now know what I’ll post next. I’ll give you a hint….it’s a YouTube video. Can you guess which one?
Thanks my friend. ~Debra
Yeah, moving can really throw off the blogging groove. Hope the unpacking is going well and thanks for sharing this. :)
Excellent video Michelle! Great inspiring content and your presentation was spot on! Makes me want to blog more and start doing videos! Thanks!
Hey Rhonda, thanks. I’m slowly getting the hang of video. It’s nice to have another way to connect and share info since some things just make more sense explained this way.
Michelle, these are all great tips and I use a color coded Excel spreadsheet as my editorial calendar and it works pretty well so I appreciate you confirming that what I’m currently doing is on the money ;-)
~Kesha
Fun idea! I’ve never done color coding on my spreadsheets, I may have to try that. :)
Thank you that was very helpful and timely, it also didn’t feel out of the realm of possibility!
Another big plus for me is that it was less than ten mins of video. I am not a big fan of being tied to my computer especially when there is no indication of video length and a way to pause the video. I just don’t sit through a video like that because I feel manipulated. Didn’t feel that here :o) Thank you!
Drives me a bit bonkers when I don’t know how long a video is and can’t pause. Not a fan of that strategy at all. :)
Glad this was helpful!
Thanks Michelle, I started the other way round by brainstorming my topics and then trying them to allocate for different days. Your way makes much more sense and I like approach things strategically.
Having a backup variant was the highlight for me, never thought about it previously.
I have a question – what is the optimum frequency of posting, I was thinking of 3 times per week?
It really depends on how blogging fits into your plans and what else you’ve got going on in your business. For some blogs, daily (or multiple times a day) is what works. For others, once a week or even just twice a month works. My personal goal is 2 to 3 times per week.
Really great video. I need to get myself together and organized when it comes to planning content for all my web properties and upcoming products.
I loved this video, Michelle – thank you so much for all of the wonderful suggestions! I already use the WP editorial plugin, but I have only been planning week-to-week and I often get caught up with the kids and life and just can’t seem to always fit blogging in. Mapping things out the way you have a month in advance (especially with a back up plan) is awesome. Thanks again!
Thanks so much for sharing these, Michelle! This has always been my Waterloo. I always seem to be so overwhelmed with what to post that just trying to decide which one to write first can leave me feeling so stressful. Worst part of it is that before I know it, the day is done and I haven’t gotten anything up. Can’t wait to get started using your tips right now. Again, many thanks!
This is wonderful. Thank you for these easy to use tips for blog posts.
~Laura
Michelle,
I am working on a new blog for a client that lives in Canada. We started her off with writing her Bio. We then will break that down into several posts. We kill two birds with one stone by having content that relates to our storyboard and people get to know our client. Will be sure to send her over to “Area 51”!
Char
Michelle,
This is a great video lesson, thank you so much! As a newbie to the blog world, (literally just getting started) this is a huge blessing. Your content and presentation are clear, concise and easy to apply even for us beginners. I look forward to learning much more from you!
Kelly
Michelle, great video! Thanks for putting it together! I always learn some helpful pointers from you! Thanks you! Marilyn
And yes always want more!
Thanks, Marilyn, I appreciate that. :)