When people ask me what I do, I say “run a content marketing agency.”
When I get blank looks, I say “I write blog posts and articles all day.”
This, they understand. But I take it for granted that others — not content marketers, but still people who need to write content for their businesses — know the best way to set up their time to be effective at writing, and maybe that’s not the case. So I wanted to share how I structure a typical day in the hopes that I can help you be more productive in producing your own content!
My Calendar
Your eyes would cross if you saw my Google Calendar. It’s filled with colored block after colored block of tasks and reminders. I do this so that I get a digital ping to remind me to switch my focus to the next task when the time comes, and so I never forget to do anything.
My big tip when it comes to using a calendar for your time is to block off a chunk of time to write several blog posts at once. Because you’re already in the zone and thinking about your blog, it’s worth it to spend several hours writing many posts, rather than writing one every few days. This also helps you stay ahead with your content, but we’ll talk about that in a minute.
Getting Ready to Write
Topics for blog posts come to me at the oddest times. While cooking dinner. Walking the dog. Sleeping. I do my best to put the ideas down in a spreadsheet when they come to me so later I don’t have to struggle to remember my genius thought.
Then when I’m ready to write, I can almost go on autopilot, since the idea is there waiting for me.
When I sit down to write, coffee steaming on my desk, I start by prepping with research. I like including statistics and data for much of my content, so I Google whatever I’m looking for and leave those tabs open (free tip: try to keep your research and links within the last year).
Then I go back and skim the content I found to glean the juicy tidbits I want to quote and link to in my article (another tip: always, always link to your source).
Once It’s Done
After I complete an article, I get up and walk around. Taking a break from what I’ve been working on lets my brain set the refresh button. Then when I come back to my desk, I can see the article with fresh eyes and catch errors more easily.
Then I read the article aloud. Doing so forces me to slow down and listen to whether or not the article flows off the tongue. Wherever I trip up, I edit to sound better. I also look out for grammatical errors.
Storing Nuts for Winter
Because I spend a block of time writing more than one post, I’m usually covered in terms of content for several days, if not weeks. And for my clients, I like to complete all their assignments for the following month before the end of the current month.
If I have an upcoming vacation or end up getting sick, I don’t have to stress about getting content put up on my blog. It’s already there, scheduled and ready to go. Advanced planning saves me from being stressed over the process!
I hope a glimpse into how I manage my content production helps you with your own!
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