Before I begin, I just need to tell you that I am so stinkin’ excited about this post! I was that kid who was so excited to go back to school for one simple reason: school supplies! I can’t even begin to describe my love for new calendars, sticky notes and mechanical pencils. If it were cool for adults to still carry around Lisa Frank Trapper Keepers - I’d be all up in that nonsense. I keep telling myself though, that Erin Condren and her amazing planners are the Lisa Frank Trapper Keepers of today. And that makes my heart happy.
I’m pretty biased but today’s Celebrate Southern Podcast is terrific. J and I teamed up to chat all about our editorial calendars: How we use them, why we use them, and how to stick with them. We both agree that having blogging editorial calendars makes our blogs so much more successful and easier to manage. In the podcast I share a bit about how I use mine, and J talks to me about how I need to stick with all of the plans and posts that I schedule in my blogging editorial calendar.
As you listen along you will hear me reference what I do to stay organized and on track with my editorial calendars. I mention in the podcast that this WAS NOT originally my idea. Nina from Flowers In My Hair did a post about her editorial calendar back in the fall and I fell in love with her amazing calendar methodology. It was one of those moments in my life when, I swear to God, a lightbulb went on. Her idea to use color-coded sticky notes is beyond brilliant. And I owe her so much for the sanity and organization that this post gave me.
I am a huge fan of anything that is colorful… which was part of my attraction to Nina’s idea. And it just makes sense. I use a different color sticky note for each topic so that I never have two of the same colors next to each other. Throughout the podcast I reference what my calendars look like. My descriptions may have become a little wordy so J specifically asked for pictures of my life calendar, editorial calendar and my digital gCal version. You can see below in the pictures, how this works for me, with both my digital gCal version and my paper calendar version.
Here are the notes from the show, so you know what you are getting yourself into:
0:00 Intros // 1:41 Chit Chat (weather, head-colds and Switzerland for $52) // 5:13 Broad Topic Overview (Editorial Calendars: how we use them, how to make them, how to stick with them) // 6:31 How we use Editorial Calendars - Life Calendar vs. Editorial Calendar (they need to line up!) // 8:31 Keeping it organized with to-do lists my Erin Condren Planner <-if you buy through there, I will get a $10 credit towards a new calendar!) and ical // 10:55 Writing it down helps with idea // 11:50 How far in advance to you form your calendar? Planning ahead helps! // 13:20 Thinking about your posts, making notes, where do you get inspiration? // 15:15 Begin using a calendar asap (J started with a calendar from the beginning) // 16:45 Schedule your post-creation during your day // 17:20 Google Calendar and Paper Calendar // 18:00 Nina from Flowers in Her Hair - Her post on editorial calendar is BRILLIANT - use label sized post it notes and color code // 20:19 gCal synced with iCal - sync both with your paper calendar and colors - how to set up gCal as your editorial calendar // 23:25 gCal task bar for planning and master to-do list // 25:30 How to stick with your calendar // 27: 35 Stay consistent and structured // 30:00 Be realistic when scheduling // 34:20 Evergreene posts and Recaps // 37:02 Necessary for all niches, even those blogging for their business // 38:56 Use your calendar for Linkups and Blog Events // 40:45 What’s next? (Episode 004 = Media Kits! Bless Her Heart Y’all = collaboration with Spanx Denim and braid tutorials. 2 cats & chloe = Paleo Valentines and What Women Really Want.)
43:49 Ways to get in touch: Join the Celebrate Southern Facebook Group, Instagram, Twitter, the weekly #CelebrateSouthern link up, and email us at [email protected]. You can find Suz at www.2catsandchloe.com and J at BlessHerHeartYall.com .
Resources:
Nina’s post at Flowers in My Hair
So tell me, what does your editorial calendar look like? Do you color-code your topics? How far in advance do you prepare? We discuss all of these questions, and more in our podcast! Give it a listen and let us know what you think!
Now join the fun and link up an awesome southern-inspired blog post! Fashion, Food, Craft, Decor, DIY, Pets, Vacation, Whatever! Let’s do this! Happy Monday y’all!
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