Successful business blogging, part 3: one plan to rule them all
/In this 5-part series, we’ll cover the philosophical and practical steps for successful business blogging, whether you’re a lawyer, marketing manager of a tractor factory or dog walker.
In parts 1 and 2, I covered the useful-or-funny blog principle and how to brainstorm enough ideas to give you a heart attack. Now it’s time to organize those ideas into a solid publishing plan.
You may be tempted to just keep the master list of brainstormed topics and pick an idea whenever you feel like blogging. This temptation is normal because we’re all lazy at heart. But the lazy way seldom leads to success and excellence so I want to show you how to make it easier to get quality blogs written and posted with the blog editorial calendar.
Using a blog editorial calendar makes business blogging easier because it reduces overwhelm, analysis paralysis and procrastination. Unless you’re some sort of superhuman, it’s easy to get derailed by these saboteurs which is why I encourage you to outmaneuver them.
What is a blog editorial calendar?
It’s basically a chart that tells you who’s writing what, when and why. It has a ‘done’ or ‘published’ column that gives you the satisfaction of seeing completed work stack up, week after week, month after month. I like to see 2 versions of the calendar: a one-pager that includes the dates, topics and status and a detailed version that never looks good when you print it but includes useful notes about key words, the main point and your brilliant ideas.
You can use whatever program works best for you. Since I already have Microsoft Office, my blog editorial calendar is in Excel. Which also makes it easy to have the 2 versions I mentioned above.
How to use your blog editorial calendar
Using your new blog editorial calendar is almost as simple as transferring ideas from a crazy brainstorm list into a logical sequence in the new document. But still, I have a few tips to make it easier for you.
Choose a regular schedule
Decide how often and when you’ll publish blogs and stick to it. Monthly won’t be enough but daily will be too much. Decide how often you can publish quality content based on the resources ($, people) you have. But whatever you do, be consistent. [Pot-calling-kettle-black alert!]
Commit to knowing the point for each topic
Simply transferring ideas from one list to another is not sufficient because it won’t help whoever’s going to write the blogs. Now is the time to think about who the article is for and what you want your audience to get by the time they finish it. For example, this article is for people in charge of blog content marketing who want to know how to make it easier to turn ideas into quality content. If you can’t think of who you’re addressing (client, prospects) and what the point is, you cannot put the topic in your blog editorial calendar. Absolutely forbidden.
Fill out the details
This should go without saying but I’m saying it. Your editorial calendar will have spots for keywords, main points, link ideas, writer, editor, publishing date, analytics etc. and you may want to skip a few. Don’t. This is a time for thinking and strategizing so…do the work. Yes, it’s hard to think but it’s harder to suffer the embarrassment of publishing a blog that don’t make no sense.
Take it a few months at a time
If you’re just starting or relaunching your business blog, you’ll want to get a feel for it. Put a couple of months in the calendar and see how it goes. Review the analytics and then work on populating the next few months based on what you’ve learned (though it may be too early to tell).
Delegate the blog editorial calendar to an analytical person
If you’re not the right person for this job, get help from someone who knows your objective and is analytical. Tell your Spock or Lady Spock what you want to achieve, share the tips in this article and let him or her loose. Spock or Lady Spock will populate the blog editorial calendar while you update your gratitude journal with this little miracle.
If you do all this, you’ll be on your way to publishing quality content that your audience will enjoy. But maybe you don’t have time to make a blog editorial calendar. I can help you with that.
A FREE gift for you: your very own blog editorial calendar!
Why keep this beautiful Excel template all to myself when I can share it with you? Download it today and get your business blogging system started!
Get your FREE blog editorial calendar today!
Use this simple tool to get your business blog published on time—and experience less stress, overwhelm and analysis paralysis while doing it.
Stay tuned for part 4 in this business blogging series where we talk about using a blog style guide to make your business blog consistent and reduce editing hassles.
I'm Andrea Bassett, an executive ghostwriter and content marketing writer in Toronto and I’ve spent the last decade serving executives.
I write thought leadership content marketing for executives and/or their content marketing teams. My specializations are corporate wellness, benefits, employee assistance programs, leadership & coaching, encryption & cybersecurity and strength training for seniors.
To talk about a content marketing project, call me at 647-502-3187 or send a note to andrea@redsailwriters.com.
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