Post submitted by Jen Vondenbrink - Life Simplified
Your alarm clock goes off. You sit up, rub your eyes and stumble to the kitchen for your morning coffee. You pour a cup and read up on the headlines of the day.
There's nothing unusual about this routine. Did you ever stop to think how those articles magically appeared?
Time To Get Organized
Long before your coffee was brewed, editors gathered and mapped out content (online, offline, and even the morning news). It's been going on for centuries.
Today, however, you as the author of a blog, online articles, etc. need to learn what keeps these editors organized.
Newspapers, radio, television, magazines use an editorial calendar. It helps them focus their content, make it relevant to their audience and meet their deadlines.
If you are publishing your own content, an editorial calendar is key to your success.
What Does An Editorial Calendar Do For You?
Basically...it saves you time. We all can use that right?
When you have a central place to put your ideas, track your progress and know what needs to get done in a day, you know where to start. If you don't, you can waste hours procrastinating or even worse, writing content no one reads.
Think about the last couple blogs or articles you wrote.
How long did it take you from start to finish to come up with the idea and write the article? How much time did you spend between steps (or staring at a blank screen)? How consistently do you publish your articles? Do you know what your next article is about?
If you're not happy with your answers to the questions above, an editorial calendar will help.
Keep It Simple
The best way for an editorial calendar to save you time is to keep it simple. The simplest editorial calendar can have your ideas and publication dates.
Some additions to the calendar could be:
- Working titles
- Notes or bullet points to cover in the article
- Draft due date
- Publication location (blog, newsletter, online e-zine)
- Author (if several are contributing to a blog or if your having guest bloggers)
I've even adding some tracking to my editorial calendar. I note the dates I publish the article to different sites and track responses. This feedback has helped me refine my content and distribution strategies.
Resources I've Found Helpful
Here are some resources and articles I've found helpful as I put my calendar together
- Editorial Calendar - plug-in for Wordpress blogs (I use this)
- Video on Benefits of Blog Post
- Great Blog Post on How To Create An Editorial Calendar (has good resources and templates)
That's A Lot Of Work
Initially it may seem a lot of work to set up your calendar. That's why I advocate starting simple and adding features as you grow.
Anything that's worth it takes some work. That coffee you've been sipping while reading this article...can take weeks to months to process, not to mention the 5 years it takes a coffee bush to mature before it can be harvested.
See, nothing comes without a little sweat equity.
If you're using an editorial calendar, I would love to hear about what has worked for you and what hasn't.
Feel free to comment below or share on Facebook.
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Whatcha doing this summer? Does Social Media Summer Camp sound interesting? (Notice I didn't say school because we'll be having much more fun). Email me if you want to hear more.
Jen
Jen Vondenbrink
Life Simplified
Life Enrichment and Leadership Training
781-864-1782
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