Content Planning to end blank pages and get your audience engaged.

It seems like we’re always on the countdown – almost Christmas, starting school, Easter, tax time…  And while that’s great, because we can measure our successes, and drive our goals forwards, it is also a challenge, because it passes all too soon when you count it.

So, people keep telling me how fast this year has gone – and here we are with almost 99 days till 2019.

So, in celebration, and to get my act together on content planning, I’m working towards planning 99 days of content.  I’m actually going to plan a bit more than that because I really want to do minimal thinking about day to day content stuff over January.

You’re probably sitting there wondering how on earth you can even plan one or two days ahead right now, let alone 3 months’ worth.

That’s where I step in and hold your hand.

Step 1 – Think of a theme for each of the next three months.

Just a rough theme – it might be something like

• October – Springtime/new season/
• November – Pre-Christmas sales push
• December – Summer/January/School Holidays

For me, I’m working on my customer journey and upgrading my content, so I’m going with

• October – Content Planning
• November – Pinterest
• December – Planning and tools/2019 planning
• January – tools and tips

Step 2 – Think of four topics you could write about for each of those content areas:

So for me:

Content Planning

• Who/what/why – picking your audience
• When to plan and what to plan
• Making it easy – repurposing/scheduling/work with your strengths
• My tips and calendar I use

Pinterest

• Pins and and how to create engaging pins
• Why you need a business account
• Basic Pinterest setup
• How to drive more website traffic using Pinterest (specific examples for different types of shops/services
• Using SEO to increase traffic with Pinterest

2019 Planning

• My Planner and how I use it
• Using Intuitive Planning
• How to plan when you don’t even know where you’re going
• Paper tools – pros and cons and how I use it vs. tech tools and how I use them
• Setting intuitive goals, not smart goals

January

• Three levels of audience and how to write for each
• What your audience wants to know about you
• How to share more of yourself when you’re scared to be visable
• Get your year on track (if the wheels have already fallen off
• Back to school – back to work – motivator.

Each of those topics in step 2 might become a blog piece, a video, a short picture/text movie, a slideshow, a webinar, a podcast, a Facebook post, a LinkedIn post, or just a series of weekly tips.

It doesn’t need to be a 1000 word essay each week with beautiful stock photos, H1 headers, and beginning, middle, conclusion.  If trying to work to that method is keeping you stuck each week – CHANGE IT!  You never know which method you’ll fall in love with, so try them all.  Mix it up and see what your audience loves.

Step 3 – For each of the subtopics brainstormed in Step 2

• Think of two hints/tips/hacks you can share
• Think of a teaching/quote you would tell someone if they asked you about that topic
• Find one article online relevant to the topic
• Write one snippet/except of how you use that thing in your life
• Once you’ve got your content piece – that becomes one post to promote it, plus take out some quotes and snippets to share as well
• Create a throwback schedule to promote older pieces of content too, especially if they link to the current piece.

When you’ve got all those together, it’s time to start batching!

I love to use Canva, but there are heaps of programs out there.  Put aside some time each day for a week or so, and create all your tips at once, then all your quotes etc.

Once you’ve got all your content bits, you can start putting it all together.  I like to use formulas like

• Monday – Motivation/inspiration/behind the scenes
• Tuesday – Tips
• Wednesday – share from other people
• Thursday – From the blog  – new or re-hashed content
• Friday – Funny/light stuff
• Sat/Sunday – longer/consumable content

Think about your audience and when they’re online the most – what type of things they like to do/read and when and then create a schedule for them.

If you’re not sure what content areas might be relevant for your business, or you’d like to spend some time brainstorming your content plan  – why not book in a Content Planning Session?

We’ll go through what you sell, who to and how to best get your message out to the world.  Best of all, you’ll create a 3-month content plan that means you’ll always have ideas for content and can get creating.