This was the first year since I started blogging to make a plan and consistently post on the schedule I created at the beginning of the year. Y’all. I’m so proud of myself. Was it hard? Hells yeah! But it was worth it because I wanted to prove to myself that I could do this. When I started blogging, I didn’t plan my posts. All I did was take pictures and then write posts based on the outfit that I took pictures of. I would constantly see information about creating a content calendar or planning blog posts. Me, being the stubborn person I am, thought I didn’t have to do any of that. Needless to say, this didn’t work out too well for me.
When I decided to take my blog seriously, I also decided that I would try something new re: planning out blog posts. Let me tell y’all, it’s been a GAME. CHANGER. I have a clear plan every month and am not struggling to figure out what to shoot or write for the month. Because it’s been working so well for me, I’ve decided to share what I focus on when planning blog posts for the year.
MONTHLY HOLIDAYS
I quickly run through each month to see what the major holidays are, if any, and plan a post, or two, for that holiday. Typically, I try to schedule it for the week before or the days before the holiday occurs based on what day it falls. For example, in February, Valentine’s Day is the 14th, so that week, I plan posts (i.e., Galentine’s day or date night looks) surrounding this holiday.
Focusing on holidays makes planning blog posts for each month so easy because it can take up a week of posts leaving me with only 3 weeks left to schedule. Using the Valentine’s Day example, if it falls on a Saturday, I’ll schedule a Valentine’s Day style post on Monday and a lifestyle post on Friday before so that my audience has a couple of ideas on how to prepare or celebrate.
SEASONAL POSTS
Similar to the holidays, I also look at the types of posts I want during different seasons. For example, January is all about fitness, setting goals, or starting fresh. I try to brainstorm posts that fit those themes every year. For natural hair posts, I try to do more protective style looks during the winter months because that’s how I typically wear my hair during those months. Focusing on seasonal posts knocks out another week of posts, leaving me with only 2 weeks- 4 posts based on my posting schedule- to schedule for that month.
BRAINSTORMING EVERGREEN POSTS
If there are no holiday or seasonal posts that I want to focus on during that month, this is where I tap into my reserves of posts that I have been brainstorming over the entire last year. Inspiration comes in random spurts, so I also have a reserve bank of posts that I thought about writing but just haven’t had the chance to post during that month or even year.
I have also found that it’s easy to create a blog schedule for the year based on the brainstorming sessions that I complete at least once a week. Currently, in my drafts, I have over 350 drafts for upcoming posts that I want to do. This makes it so easy to schedule everything because I’m constantly brainstorming ideas for the blog.
I also keep a record in my notes on my iPhone when the inspiration hits, and I write down random thoughts that will eventually turn into blog posts.
Every month, I reevaluate the posts based on what’s happening in the world, brand sponsorships, and how relevant the posts are. Even though the posts don’t always stay the same, it’s still a good idea to plan it out because it makes shooting content a lot easier.
Do you have to plan your posts out for the entire year? No, but I recommend that you set aside time to plan posts each month. This alleviates confusion and provides a clear goal every month and how you will create content.
HOW DO YOU PLAN YOUR UPCOMING BLOG POSTS?
