When you have clarity on the brand foundation elements, your blog content calendar will be centered around content that creates a strong brand identity, with more ease.
And as an added bonus, you can also pick up the Blog Content Calendar Workbook in the Brand Resource Library by clicking here!
Have you ever sat down to write a blog post, only to find yourself staring at the same blinking cursor 20… 30… or even 60 minutes later?
Yup, me too.
So, I started planning my blog content and haven’t looked back since.
The Case for Having a Blog Content Calendar
I’m nearly year four of writing for my home renovation and lifestyle blog, so believe me when I tell you that I’ve tried a million and one systems for planning content. From a six-month calendar to a 30-day content plan, I’ve tried it all.
My favorite, and the one I’ve implemented here at Witt and Company, is a quarterly blog content calendar.
Three months is the balance between a six month calendar, where so many things have changed by month four that you’re basically flying by the seat of your pants, and a 30-day calendar, where it feels like your in constant plan mode.
Branding and Written Content
You may find yourself asking, “Why plan at all? What’s wrong with writing what I want, when I want?”
In short, nothing.
However, as a business owner, I don’t think I have to remind you how precious your time is.
And, if you’re anything like me, knowing that I ‘need’ to get out a blog post (hello #consistency) completely kills my creativity. Not only are we playing chicken with our self-imposed deadline, but we’re also backing ourselves into a corner – one that usually leads to the creation of half-assed content that does nothing for our brand.
If you’ve read anything else on this blog, you know the importance of putting your stake in the ground and claiming your niche – everything from who you want to work with to picking your brand’s season to solidifying your brand values.
When you have clarity on all the brand foundation elements, you’re able to create content with more ease. Even better, that content is specific to your brand and will work for you in creating a stronger brand identity.
How to Create a Quarterly Blog Content Calendar
Before we dive in, grab the FREE quarterly blog content calendar here – plus gain access to a whole ‘lotta brand-building freebies in the Resource Library!
In true Witt and Company style, the first step is to grab a pen and paper (or use the space in my free planner!) and write out a few things:
- Your ideal client’s pain points, both internal and external (need some help? check out this blog post all about creating your ideal client profile)
- A typical ‘before’ day for your ideal client and the ‘after’ – honing in on the transformation (need some help? check out this blog post on the importance of nailing down the client transformation)
Once you have everything on paper, pick one pain point and create a mind map of all the ways you can help them overcome that problem through written content. Repeat this exercise two more times for a grand total of three separate mind maps.
Then, go through each mind map and pick four topics that you’re pretty excited about, write down a draft title for a blog post. If you’re struggling with a title, no worries. Just try and get as clear as possible on what type of content that topic will turn into. At the end of this exercise, you should have 12 titles.
Lastly, grab your title list and plug one into each week of the quarter.
And there you have it, 12 weeks of blog content all planned out and ready to be written!
All my best,
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