Magazines publish editorial calendars that tell what topics they will cover in each issue. The purpose is not only for their planning, but so publicists can pitch appropriate products, writers can pitch stories to fit the theme of each issue, and sales can match advertisers to the issue.
Your editorial calendar does not have to be publicly published (although it may be). You can simply decide that you are going to write certain types of posts at certain times. For example, if your goal is to publish a new post five days a week, Monday through Friday, you might set up an editorial calendar that looks like this:
Monday – How-to tutorial
Tuesday – Book or product review
Wednesday – Video
Thursday – Essay/opinion piece
Friday – Weekly link roundup
Your categories do not have to be the same ones in the example. For example, instead of creating a video post, you could find a YouTube video that can be embedded in your blog and comment on it. A lot of Mommy bloggers and others do “Wordless Wednesday” posts, where they simply post a photo. You could create a round-up of tips or advice from readers about a question or problem. (Hint: Post a request for sources here in BLU and ask people to respond with their best tips. Link to them when you use their tips.) Or answer a question you got from a reader. There are lots of types of blog posts, so choose the ones that are the best fit for your blog.
Instead of rotating types of posts, you can use an editorial calendar for subject matter. I find it easy to write several posts on a topic at once, but I may not want to publish them one after the other. I sometimes offer grammar and writing tips on my mystery shopper blog. The information is important to mystery shoppers, but if they see eight posts in a row about grammar and punctuation, they will think they are in the wrong place. So when I write a batch of posts such as these I publish one a week (e.g., every Thursday).
Your editorial calendar does not have to be weekly. You can plan 12 types of posts over the course of a month or whatever works for you.
And your editorial calendar is not meant to be limiting. I find that structure makes it easier for me to create. However, if I have a good idea that doesn’t fit the editorial calendar, the idea wins. The editorial calendar is there to guide me, not restrict me.
I find that having an editorial calendar can help me stick to a publishing schedule, come up with new content ideas and vary the topics on my blog. Try it and see how it works for you.
Nicely written post Cathy. I always emphasis the importance of scheduling and editorial calendars because it determines the consistency of a blog as well as establishing a regular outreach of the Blogger. Editorial calendar don’t have to be complex or overwhelming which is the cool part plus they can always adapt to your everyday life schedule too.