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Inside the Fox Den

Designing My Den, One DIY at a Time!

How I Planned All of my Blog Posts for the ENTIRE Year

how-to-plan-blog-posts

Hi friends,

Yep, you read that right. I have ALL of my blog posts planned out for the year of 2016! My friends think I’m a bit crazy, and maybe I am, but I feel a million times better knowing the direction I want to take and the content I want to create this year. And it was surprisingly easy to do!

I know, as bloggers, we sometimes get in a rut trying to think of content we want to produce. That’s totally normal and is even something I ran into when planning out my year. But you can easily overcome that!

So, you know that I planned out the year, now you’re wondering how I did it! Good, I’m glad you’re intrigued. I put together 5 tips and tricks that I did while planning, and how you can do the same!

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Know your Schedule & Niche

Part one of this step is to evaluate (on average) how many times you post a month / week. What does your schedule look like? I post new content twice a week (not including my link party on Sundays), so that’s about 8 – 9 new posts a month. Now, what content to create for those 8 – 9 slots?

The 2nd part of this step is to understand what niche you’re in. This is crucial in planning out posts. Whether you want to just plan the week, the month, or the year like I did, knowing your niche and what type of content you’re going to create is soooo important.

For me, I really want to focus this year on more DIY tutorials, so I know I want to include 3 – 4 of those types of posts a month, dependent on the month. I share my monthly favorites every last Thursday of the month, so I know I’ll have that post every month. I like to experiment in the kitchen, so I like to have at least 1 recipe post a month.

Being an interior designer, I really want to include more design related posts this year, so I’m going to try to have 1 of those posts every other month or so. I love beauty and fashion and want to do more posts like that this year, so I want to have 1 post like that a month. I enjoy dabbling in graphic design and giving my readers free printables, so I plan on doing a post like that every other month or so. Finally, I want to share my progress as a homeowner and the projects I complete, so those posts will fill in any blank spots.

So I know what type of content I want to create, now I need to focus in on what the exact posts will be.

What’s Happenin’?

For step 2, look at the upcoming year in your calendar and see what’s going on. What holidays are happening when? Do you have any family or community events to go to? Are you participating in any blog events? These are the things that I planned my posts around and really made it easy to lay everything out.

Gather Inspiration

Step 3 may be a bit obvious, but it is soooo important. I have numerous folders in my phone, iPAD, computer, etc. filled with ideas. Anytime inspiration struck, I wrote it down. Anytime I saw a picture of something that inspired me, I saved it. If you’re mind is completely blank, there are TONS of blog prompts out there to give you loads of ideas.

 

Appreciate your Audience

You may know what content you want to create, but step 4 is about discovering what type of content your readers want to see. A couple weeks ago I created a reader survey to realize just that. It’s a great tool that will help you get a ton of feedback. Another way to gain feedback is social interaction. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the blogging community is AWESOME! Make friends with other bloggers in your niche and ask their advice. I know my circle of blogging buddies have helped me out more than once!

Try New Things

Step 5 might not be for everyone, but it really helped me when I was planning the year. I mentioned in step 1 what type of content I want to create, and some of those aren’t in my normal repertoire; like beauty and fashion posts. While those types of posts aren’t typical for this blog, it’s a category that I love and am truly interested in and want to explore further.

Say you are strictly a food blogger, but love interior design. Throw in a couple posts about decorating your kitchen or how to style a tablescape. It’s still somewhat in your specific niche, but will allow you to begin exploring other categories and reaching an entirely different audience. Start slow and go from there. :)

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So, there you have it. My 5 steps for planning blog posts. Now, I have to be completely honest (because we’re besties), while I have the entire year planned, nothing is set in stone. Posts may get switched around due to life happenings or they may change entirely due to something else I want to share with you. While these 5 steps helped me immensely, and while they will hopefully help you, please don’t feel that you have to stick with what you plan out. Go with the flow and you’ll be just fine.

<3 Chelc

Comments

  2. Wow! That is amazing that you planned your whole year! I don’t think I’ll be able to do that! But, I really like how you broke down all the things you want to write about. If you start like that, it does seem more manageable. Great idea! Thank you!
    gigi recently posted…Hello Monday – 1-25-16My Profile

  4. Wow, I really want to work toward getting all my posts planned for the entire year like you. Or just a few months in advance. Shoot, a few week in advance would just be nice! lol. Thanks so much for these tips!

  6. Great post, Chelc! I’ve been working on a plan for the year, too, and you’ve really broken things down into manageable bite size bits. I need to get my blogs (I have two) lassoed in so I have more time to devote to my book writing. And then there’s all that marketing stuff. Sheesh!

    Great tips to be going on with here!
    Joy!
    Kathy

  9. I try to have a month or two planned but have never thought to sit down and do the entire year. You have inspired me to get a least some holiday related posts planned out. :) (visiting from Welcome Home Wednesday)

  10. Some days I feel like I am spinning my wheels trying to stay organized. I work full time and have 2 kids and a hubby who need me as well as blog so maybe taking the time to sit down and plan out that far will really help. Thank you so much for the information!

  11. A whole year?! Hot dang!
    Up until recently, I was flying by the seat of my pants for content, and while it was *okay* I wasn’t getting much done. I’ve managed to get a few ideas together, though, and am adding to it, though I’ve only scheduled for two weeks out (which for me, is huge, ha). I have been meaning to get more serious about it, but I dunno if I could commit to doing a whole year’s of plans! Congrats!
    Jessica [Havok] recently posted…The Happy Planner from MAMBIMy Profile

  13. Wow! That is so impressive that you have the whole year done already! I really need to work on even getting posts planned a little before they need to get up… That’s where I am right now and it adds a lot of stress. I really like these tips, especially the idea of taking a poll to see what readers are liking or wanting more of. Thanks : )
    Meredith @ The Wicket Gate recently posted…3 Reasons We Don’t Live MissionallyMy Profile

  14. Such a great article! Thank you for posting. I cannot imagine planning a whole year, but I think I will plan two or three posts a week, and leave the other to for spontaneous events. This post is so inspiring.

  20. Having a whole year planned out in advance is awesome! Only planning one or two months at a time works better for me. But you shared some tips I will be able to use nonetheless. Thanks!

  21. Perfect tips, Chelc! I plan my posts out one month ahead of time, but I may have to try doing it more after reading your posts. I tend to have the same process (I have folders of inspiration across several devices too), so coming up with posts are (most of the time), non-problematic.

    Congratulations on having the whole year planned out! This is such a great start to, what I can tell is, a productive year. Thanks for sharing this on #SHINEbloghop! I will be sharing this across my social media outlets next week :)

  26. Girl I get giddy when I plan out my entire week let alone a year! I can’t imagine what kind of weight would be lifted off by doing this. Your so right life will get in the way but having it all down ahead of time at least makes it easier. I found your post through a blog hop actually and the picture made me click on it. I love planners and seeing the title of your post I was all on top of it! Great information for any niche I think! I could really use some help organizing my blog post as well. Thanks for this info! I’d be happy to share!

  28. ChelC what a fabulous post! I’ll be featuring it at Five Star Frou-Frou this week. Thanks for sharing! Love, Mimi xxx

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