How to Create an Content Calendar for Your Blog

It’s all about the organisation and balance…

One question I get asked the most by friends, family and colleagues is how I balance working full-time and blogging. While there are many blog posts in my careers section on this subject, the main how-to of balancing it all is organisation. And part of my organisation is my editorial content calendar.

Content calendars are not a new thing. They are have existed for a while. But like many things, many people don’t know where to start. If you do a quick search on Pinterest, you’ll see hundreds of different templates and how-tos. The real deal is to find the content calendar that works for you.

The reason why I love method is that it allows me to glance at month ahead with such ease. It also helps me to stick to regular posting schedule, where I can write the posts and what works with the events that I have coming up. It allows me to balance all of my subjects that I cover, ensuring theres no imbalance in the month.

HELLO, GOOGLE CALENDAR.

Very surprising to me, I don’t actually use a spreadsheet to plan out my content (I can hear my friends gasping at the thought!) It’s free and so easy to use! It’s more practical than putting pen to paper. Plus, you can colour-code your items so it’s easy to see.

Here’s how I use Google Calendar to plan out my editorial content…

01. ADD THE REGULAR FIXTURES IN.

The first thing I do with my content calendar is add the regular features. For me, this is my bi-weekly newsletter The Weekend Edit, that is every other Sunday. This is then followed by my Monthly Goals post which always goes out on the first day of the month of when I post (either Monday, Wednesday or Friday).

02. PAID POSTS & COLLABORATIONS.

I’m very lucky that brands want to work with me. I always like to plan out my branded content ahead to give it as much attention as possible, whilst also working within the brand’s guidelines. I add these posts in first so then I know what subject is being talked about so my organic posts can be planned around this. This also includes Instagram posts, so that they flow with  all my other editorial content.

03. SEASONAL CONTENT.

I love doing seasonal content, so I always put this in as and when it is relevant. December is already filled with Christmas content and I’m already thinking about my Autumn/ Halloween content. This is mainly organic content, unless branded collaborations came to me with similar ideas.

04. EVENTS, LAST MIN CONTENT & PERSONAL THINGS.

Finally, I add content that comes in throughout the month on an ad-hoc basis. This includes events, small collaborations and post ideas that comes to me and are time sensitive. I also add in personal events. Anything that might mean I can’t do blog work that evening or weekend, which is when I do most of my blog work.

And that’s my content calendar. Everything is colour coded so I know what the thing is. Things can be moved easily with a drag and drop so it can move with my schedule. I always like to keep a week ahead so that I can be organised, but that’s not always the case. Life happens you know!

I hope my content calendar makes sense and if you need any help or extra advice on it, feel free to drop me a message by email or on Instagram.