Before I started creating and using my content calendar to batch content, I felt a lot like a headless chicken.
I was constantly behind my schedule, my to-do list had more task on it I could count and I had to create the content in a rush or write about anything…
I often delayed it or forgot about it because I was overwhelmed by what felt like a hundred tasks to complete NOW.
I couldn’t concentrate on the really important things like finding, working and following up with clients because my mind was constantly thinking about a hundred other things.
Especially when I’m traveling there are days I don’t have time to work on anything.
The to-do list was getting longer and longer.
As soon as I started creating a content calendar and batching content it was like a rock was lifted off my shoulders.
“There’s a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t, and the secret is this: It’s not the writing part that’s hard.
What’s hard is sitting down to write.
What keeps us from sitting down is Resistance.”
– Steven Pressfield
Creating a content calendar and batching content helps a lot to overcome resistance and helps to actually sit down to write.
The Benefits of CREATING AND Batching Content
Batching content saves a lot of time.
When you batch create content you focus on a particular task and you don’t jump between different tasks.
Multi tasking means you lose a lot of focus and time.
You gain more freedom.
You don’t have to work every single day of a month on your content creation because you focus on it for a couple of days and then you’re done for a month (or two, or three months).
You get a lot more done in less time.
By using the content creation method I’ll show you later in this post you get a lot more done in less time because you know exactly what to do and write about and when.
It takes out the guess work.
You don’t have to think about what to create next and you can concentrate on other important tasks and projects (e.g. working with clients, working on a book, creating an online course,…)
Instead of being behind you are ahead of time and you don’t have to stress about creating content on the go.
Creating and Batching Content Made Easy with these 5 Steps: Click To Tweet
Content Batching And Creation Made Easy
Here’s how I go from a general idea to creating and batching content for at least a month (sometimes two to three months) in advance.
1. CREATING A SIMPLE CONTENT CALENDAR
Before you even start creating and batching content, you need to know how often you want to publish a post.
It doesn’t matter if you want to publish once a month, once a week or daily (which I think is insane, but some can handle it somehow).
You have to do it consistently.
In my example I publish a post once a week. This means each month I have to create four blog posts.
In the end I need about 48 – 52 blog posts per year, which sounds like a lot and feels overwhelming already. Right?
To get super clear and reduce overwhelm I think about the big picture. = I think about the whole year and what I want to achieve.
I get super clear what the outcome will be.
2. PICK YOUR TOPIC(S)
Before you start writing down your ideas about blog posts I want you to think about what your theme’s are.
In my example: I love everything about productivity, smart goal setting and planning, organizing your business, strategies and mindset.
These are my main topics:
Productivity & Strategies
Mindset & Inspiration
Growing A Business
A lot of different topics fall under these categories but I know that these two themes are the most important ones for The Female Travelpreneur.
Every month I have to create posts around these topics.
At least one post falls under the category mindset and inspiration and the rest is about productivity & strategies or growing a business.
Now that you are clear about your main topics it should give you a clearer direction where to focus your content creation on.
It takes out all the guess work and helps you to create content in advance and which is aligned to your brand and business.
3. PICK A THEME FOR THE MONTH(S)
I like to pick a theme for a month (often for the next three months in advance).
It’s easier to split a big topic into several posts and it helps a lot with the actual content creation.
It’s especially helpful when you’re about to launch something, because you can create a series that leads up to the launch.
4. WRITE YOUR IDEAS DOWN
When you know what you want to focus on the next month(s) you can write down possible ideas (headlines) for blog posts.
In my example I try to write down at least 12 ideas (= the next three months). Sometimes I combine the ideas into one post or sometimes create two blog posts out of one topic.
You can do the same.
Write down all your ideas on a piece of paper or a document.
I write the ideas for the blog posts on sticky notes and stick them into my content calendar.
As I mentioned earlier I concentrate on the next three months (= Season to Success).
I can move the sticky notes with the blog post headlines around until I’m happy and until it makes sense, if I want to publish a sequence.
This way you know you have everything covered for the next month (or coming months) and you don’t have to think about what to write and when.
You can also batch your content for month one and when you’re done you already know what is going on in the next month.
5. BATCHING CONTENT: CREATING YOUR CONTENT OUTLINE
Now that you wrote down your ideas and structured them inside your content calendar you can start creating the content for the whole month in advance.
Take a piece of paper or open a new document and write down the headline for the first blog post.
You can also use my free content batching checklist.
Write down what you want to talk about.
Write down at least 5 to 7 talking points.
These talking points are your sub headlines.
Below each talking point write down at least 5 bullet points.
These are your ideas you want to talk/write about.
Repeat this step for every talking point.
When you’re done with the first blog post outline, repeat the same process for blog post 2 to 4.
That’s it.
You can start now with writing the first blog post.
What I do is writing the outline for at least 4 blog post and then stop.
I put the outlines away and if I have an extra idea I write it down but I don’t start writing the actual blog posts.
The next day I start with the first blog post.
Maybe I have some additional ideas and I note them in the post outline.
Then I start writing the actual content which should take me at maximum 1 1/2 hours.
I follow the outline I already created.
When I’m done I create a featured image, 3 pins and I include a tweet.
I upload it to WordPress and schedule the post.
Sometimes I create all the pins and featured images for the whole month in one session.
After I’m done I concentrate on other aspects of my business.
The next day I do the same with post number two.
This ways it takes me only 4 days (about 2-3 hours) per day to create the content for one month.
If you are faster you can create and batch content for a month in two days.
Not too bad!
Related Post:
This outline was so helpful! I did not see the free download 🙂 but still very helpful! Thanks for the content!