Shownotes
If the thought of planning your content for Q1 makes you want to hide under your desk and take a nap, this episode is for you.
Today, we’re throwing out all those complicated content strategies that make you want to curl up in a ball, and instead, we’re creating a simple, sustainable plan that actually works for artists.
No more overthinking, no more content overwhelm, no more feeling like you’re on a hamster wheel of constant posting. I’ll show you how to create content that feels natural, connects with your audience, and doesn’t eat up all your creative energy.
Plus, we’ll talk about how to adapt your content across platforms without losing your mind, build buffers to prevent burnout, and I share my absolute favourite tools and templates that make the whole process SO much smoother.
PS. Want to refine your strategy with fellow creatives? Join us in the Brand Your Passion Collective where we tackle these challenges together and share wins and solutions.
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Email marketing platform - kit.com
Social media scheduler - Metricool.com
Project Management - Notion.com
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Transcripts
If the thought of planning your content for next year makes you want to hide under your desk and take a nap, or you just want some tips for how you can improve your process. This episode is for you because today we're going to throw out all of the super complicated content strategies that make you want to curl up in a ball.
And instead, we're going to create a simple, sustainable plan and that actually works for creatives. So we're going to say goodbye to overthinking. Content overwhelm and feeling like you are on a hamster wheel of constant posting, I'm going to show you how to create content that feels natural, connects with your audience and doesn't eat up all of your creative energy.
Plus we're going to talk about how to adapt your content across platforms and repurpose things. without losing your mind. So if you are ready to make content planning feel less like a chore and more like a natural extension of your creative practice, then let's do it.
The 5 C's Roadmap for Content Planning
So I have a roadmap for you for content planning. They all start with a C so hopefully that will help us remember, but the roadmap is clarity, content, calendar, creation, and consistency. So there are five steps.
Step 1: Clarity - Defining Your Goals
Number one, clarity.
This is all about getting clear on what we want to achieve, how we want to achieve it, and setting realistic goals around that. First step for this is defining what is actually necessary for you when it comes to creating content. Things like, what platforms do you actually need to be on? What other marketing methods will actually help you and what won't?
And what goals do you actually Want or need to achieve. So there are so much noise, there's so much noise. So many people telling you what you do and don't need to do, what platforms you do and don't need to be on, what methods you need to be using, what goals you need to be focused on, sit down and think.
What do I actually need to do? What is actually necessary for me and my creative business? So do I need to be on all of the platforms or can I just focus on these two that are really actually helpful? Can I focus on just one other marketing method or like whatever it might be and what goals do I Actually want to achieve that are gonna help me and my creative business not like Jane over there not Joe over there me So those are your initial questions Then you want to get clarity on your posting schedule.
So how often can you realistically post right now? This can increase over time. So if you want to be like, I want to post multiple times a day, blah, blah, blah, that can be the future goal. But right now, if you are not creating consistently, How often can you actually realistically post right now that is small and achievable enough so that you can start getting consistent.
So it might be once a week on Instagram, one email a month, like that can be as basic as it is, and that could be fine. And then as you get into a rhythm, you get a process, then you can start adding more, you could start adding more times, more frequency, more platforms. Then we want to create a sustainable content habit.
How will it work for you to create content? Maybe that's once a month and do it all in one go for the next month. Maybe it's once a week, every day. Think about when to do it. And how you want to create your content. And then are you going to do it all at once, or are you going to do it in stages? Are you going to plan at one time and then you're going to outline things at another time, and then you're going to actually create the content another time, or are you going to spend like a whole day doing all the things for all of the content?
So how is going to work for you? What is the sustainable content habit or habits that are going to help you to create your content? So that's the clarity we need is about what's necessary. When am I going to do it? And how am I going to do it now?
Step 2: Content - Identifying Your Pillars
Let's talk about content. So this is where we want to figure out like, what is the actual content that I want to be posting?
So we. Initially have like content pillars up the top. These are your core topics. So you want to figure out what are the things that you want to be known for and what three to five key topics could you create around that? So for me, for example. I want to be known as the brand strategist and coach for creatives.
So I talk about brand strategy, brand design, brand growth, and being a creative. Those are like the four main things that I talk about that help people remember and know Holly talks about branding for creatives. And therefore I can be known. As the handy dandy brandy gal for creatives, right? So you want to do the same.
What are the core topics that you can create content around that help you become known for whatever it is that you want to be known for? Then you can create categories underneath that each of those topics. So for example, when it comes to brand strategy, what are the types of content I could create around.
Brand strategy. It could be like behind the scenes stuff of when I'm creating a brand strategy. It could be case studies of brand strategies I've done before. It could be work in progress of a brand strategy that I'm working on right now, for example. It could be memes about brand strategy. It could be informational, helpful content around brand strategy.
Brand strategy. So these are the different types of content or like categories of content that I can create within each of my topics. And you want to do this for each topic because not each topic will be the same. I'm not going to create work in progress or behind the scenes for being a creative, or maybe I will.
So that's what you want to think about. Then you want to think about what content types, like what actual medium are you going to use for your content? Is it video? Is it photos? Is it carousels? Is it text? Is it stories? Is it audio? What type of content do you like making? What content are you good at making?
What suits the type of content you want to create? The categories of content. That will help you decide what type of content you can create generally, and then for each piece of content, right? When it comes to your content, you want to identify the core topics, aka your content pillars, and then the categories of content within that, and then the different types or mediums of content that you are going to create.
Step 3: Calendar - Scheduling Your Content
Now let's talk about your calendar. So when it comes to your calendar, we want to figure out when you're going to create and share your content for your actual content calendar. You could do this any way you want. It could be a notion, a sauna, air table, a Google doc, or even on paper. I have done this with a big calendar.
That I printed out and wrote down what I wanted to post when because sometimes it's easier to do it in front of you on a piece of paper. You could do it with post its on the wall. You could do it however you want to do it. But the basic things that you need to know are. What are you posting, where are you posting it, and when are you posting it?
So is this a video about brand strategy and what's included in a brand strategy that I'm going to post on TikTok and I'm going to post it on the 1st of January, right? That's all the information you need in your content calendar. You can add a lot more information, you can get a lot more complicated, but those are the basics.
Then we want to figure out whether and if and how you're going to batch do all of this content. So for these podcast episodes, for example, I plan ideas on one day for a batch amount of podcast episodes, and then I outline and plan the episodes another day. And then I record a batch of them in one day.
That's what I'm doing right now. I'm recording. Three episodes for this podcast and a few for my private podcast within the collective. So I batch, plan, outline, and record these episodes. So you can set time in your calendar for each step or all together if you want to do it and make sure that no one can book over that time.
So say you've decided I'm going to be planning my content every Monday morning, then don't let anybody change that. Make sure you set that time and you stick to it. That will help you to get into this habit and to set up this process. And also you want to keep a running list of ideas that you can pull from when it is time to plan that.
So every time I go to record a podcast or plan and outline a podcast, I'm not starting from scratch. I have a whole bank of ideas of things I want to talk about that I can talk about that then when I go to plan, I can go, okay, I'm going to grab this one and this one, and we're going to work on this. And I already had notes about what I wanted to talk about.
So As you are going about your day, about your life, start writing down a list of ideas that you can pull from. With your content calendar as well, you want to build in some flexibility. So you want to leave room for ad hoc ideas, timely content, or any changes that you might want to make. So say for example Something in pop culture happens, you might want to post a meme about that relates to what you do.
And so you want to leave kind of room and flexibility for those things to happen. And not be super rigid on when and how you post things, unless it's for a launch or something like that. You also want to make sure you give yourself time and flexibility around your planning so that you have space in case you can't do it that day.
Try not to plan to create your content like the day before you need it, because if you don't. Plan that day, or you don't have time to do that, or something comes up, then the next day you're not going to have the content that you needed. So give yourself time, maybe like plan on a Friday so that you have everything for the next Monday.
And if you can't do it on Friday, you can do it on Monday. And then you still have time to post it that day, for example. So you want to make sure you're leaving room for flexibility and you're giving yourself time. Some tools when it comes to your calendar that might be helpful that I use. So when it comes to planning my content, I use Notion, and I have a calendar within Notion that I can plan things on.
It's all connected to a database so that I can view it in a list of ideas as well, and then I can view it on the calendar. So there are, again, a ton of tools that you could do that in though, like Asana, Airtable, Google Docs, ClickUp Trello. All of these kind of project management tools could be helpful with this planning, or again, pen and paper, or the notes app on your phone, you can keep it super simple.
Then we have something to actually schedule these pieces of content. So I use a tool called Metricool. I have used many in the past though. Right now I use this one because it allows me to post to threads and do a bunch of other things that I couldn't do on some other tools. But you could use. Buffer later, the meter planning and scheduling tool.
There are so many out there that you can use to plan and schedule your content. And then if you're using email, you will want like an email marketing tool as well so that you can schedule posts and schedule emails. So I use kit formerly known as convert kit. And I will leave a link in the description so that you can check that out.
If you want. And you can use kit to plan and schedule your emails so that they are sent out automatically, but you could use any other tool for email marketing like flow desk or MailChimp or anything like that.
Step 4: Creation - Streamlining Your Process
Okay, we've sussed your calendar, now we want to talk about creation. So I want to give you some shortcuts that will help you when it comes to creating your content.
Number one is to repurpose content. As I mentioned, I have all of my content in like the database that I created in, and also have folders of all the graphics that I've created, or like videos and things like that. So you want to store all of your content in something like that so that you can easily find and access it again to reuse it.
You can also keep folders on your phone so that you can easily repurpose photos, videos, graphics, so that if okay, I want to create a post that's a work in progress post that talks about that. You can go to a folder that has all of your work in progress photos or videos and you can grab those and repurpose them.
Also, a top tip that I have is that when you do schedule something, like an Instagram post or a thread or an email, for example, you could also set it as a draft for Six months or a year in the future, for example, obviously make sure it's something that is isn't timely and that can be posted at any time.
So don't post like a Christmas thing in the middle of the year or something about a launch that you are not going to post again, but if it's something general, or that can be posted again. Definitely schedule it as a draft so that next time you come to plan your content in six months in the future, you will already have a bunch of stuff scheduled and planned that you don't have to do again.
So those are some repurposing tips. You can also use templates to make things easier. So for example, you can have email templates so that you can fill in the blanks every time you create a similar email. So say you have like a launch email that you always use every time you're launching a new collection.
For example, you could have a template for that. So that each time you launch something, you're filling in the new details about what you're launching images, links, all of that stuff, but you're not starting from scratch. Same goes with the social media graphics. So if you are creating any type of graphic, like about again, about a launch or about a giveaway or about Patreon details or how to work with you or anything like that, you can create templates so that you don't have to create those every time you want to share that content, you can just grab it.
Use it again, put in the new information and post it. So it's not making it difficult for yourself. You can also create templates around particular formats that work really well and can be reused. So say you created like a post that was like a wrap up for your year, maybe you could do that every quarter or every year, and you can repurpose that template and that format and reuse it every time you could do the same for like threads or tweets or blue sky posts that.
Fit into a certain format and you found have worked really well and people find interesting and then you can reuse that and repurpose it for different content. So those are some examples of templates you can use to make things easier. You can also use what you already have. So I've just mentioned photos, videos, etc.
on your phone that you maybe created for something else, but you can use that. That because you already have it and it will make it so much easier for you to create content with that. You can use content you shared before again, repurpose that stuff and re share it again. And then you can use assets that you've created for other purposes or other platforms.
On new platforms or for new purposes. So say you created a flyer for an event. Maybe you could post that on Instagram and reshape it, resize it to fit on Instagram. Maybe you created a podcast for your Patreon. Maybe you could cut a clip of that and put it on Instagram. So think about what assets you're already creating and how you can use those and break them down and shuffle them around and put them together in different jigsaw pieces to put them all together.
Step 5: Consistency - Maintaining Your Momentum
Okay, last but not least, we have consistency. So this is all about staying consistent with your content without burning out or getting over it. So number one with this is to create content buffers. So you want to schedule stuff in advance where you can so that you are not reacting every time you need to post and have time to share.
Instead of every day being like, Oh my God, I need to find something and figure out something to post. If you schedule stuff like a week in advance, that gives you time to post, to figure out what you're going to share and to have time to do that. You also want to manage your energy levels and pay attention to what this is feeling like this whole process.
Keep an eye on how much it's taking for you to do this, how much time, how much energy, how much capacity. If you're feeling overwhelmed or like it's taking too much time or anything like that, you can reduce the frequency of how often you post. You can reduce how many methods you use or like platforms you're posting on.
So you could, if right now you're doing video and photos and carousels, maybe it's just going to focus on. Photos on Instagram. I'm just going to focus on TikTok videos and that's it. And focus yourself in one place, or you can reduce the complexity of the content. So again, if you're trying to do like full carousels every time, maybe it's okay, what if I just did one post, one static graphic or image, that was a lot easier.
Make sure you are managing, evaluating your energy levels. And overall, we want to just make sure that we are adjusting your plans and your strategy. Overall, we want to make sure that we are adjusting plans and strategies where needed. So outside of when you feel like things are going well or not going well, you can also check in regularly.
That could be weekly, monthly, quarterly, to review how this process is working. So how has your content planning and scheduling and creation gone this month? Are there anything that you could change? Anything you could remove? Anything you could improve? That sort of thing. And then you can make changes to your plans, to your processes, to your content going forward.
Conclusion and Invitation to Join the Collective
So that is the plan for scheduling your content in Q1. As I mentioned, you want to think about clarity, content, calendar, creation, and consistency. Get that clarity on what you want to do and how you want to do it. Figure out the content pillars and categories that you want to create. Set up a calendar that helps you to plan and schedule all of this content.
Then use some of the tips that I mentioned to make creation easier and faster and less stressful. And then put in some plans in place for keeping things consistent. Hopefully this roadmap has made things feel a Simple, straightforward, a little bit less complex than some of the other strategies. If you want to come and talk about this and figure out some plans and schedules and content pillars for yourself, come and join us in the brand, your passion collective, we are all going to be planning and creating our content together using these exact strategies and you'll get feedback and support from me and your fellow creatives.
So if that sounds good to you, come and join us. You can head to brandyourpassion.co or you can head to the link in the show notes to come and join us. We would love to have you in there. Okay, I hope this has been really helpful. As always, keep creating and I will talk to you in the next one. Bye.
