If one of your 2019 resolutions revolved around giving your company’s blog some much needed TLC, terrific! Having a strong content marketing plan in place is an essential part of finding success as a business owner. One of the first places to start is developing an editorial calendar for your blog. I know, it sounds overwhelming, but here are some tips for breaking down the process and making it feel manageable!

Know your target audience

Before you begin putting fingers to keyboard and getting to work, you need to learn everything there is to know about the people who will be reading these fascinating blog posts you’re about to craft. You should consider:

• Their gender
• Where they live
• How old they are
• The websites they look at every day
• What they’re looking for when they visit your site
• The problem you can solve for them
• The kind of language they’d like to read. Is it short and snappy? Elegant and professional?

Some people find it helpful to create a character, and each time they write a blog post they envision that they’re writing it specifically for this one person. It makes the process feel more personable and easier to understand.

Come up with a long list of topics you might like to write about

The ideal time to brainstorm blog topics isn’t when you find yourself with 15 minutes of free time. When that time arises, you should be able to pull up a list of topics you’ve created before, select one, and get to work. Block out an hour so and think about all of the topics it might make sense to cover. Think about:

• Your bestselling products. You could do a product highlight!
• The questions you’re asked the most. Everyone loves a FAQ post.
• Your staff members. Why not do a team member highlight?
• Industry news. Share your unique perspective on a topic that’s relevant to your business

Remember, blogs don’t need to be pages and pages long to be impactful.

Identify key holidays or dates in your business

If you’re a photographer and you love doing senior portraits, then you should absolutely have a blog post ready to go when back to school season hits. If you’re a restaurant and you know Valentine’s Day is coming up, you need to have a blog post ready to remind everyone that you’re accepting reservations for a wonderful, romantic dinner. Plan out these important dates ahead of time so you’re not scrambling to put something together day-of.

Lastly, you need to know who, exactly, will be in charge of writing your blog. If you think Jim is your designated blog writer and Jim thinks Susan is doing it, don’t be surprised when your blog sits untouched for years. If no one in the company is a good fit for this job, don’t be afraid to outsource the task to a professional writer.

Need some more help with the idea of developing an editorial calendar? I’m full of ideas! Email Keith@BuckleUpStudios.com!