How Not to Fail at Content Marketing Posted on December 10, 2015 by Michael DeLon “Everything is created twice.” That’s what Stephen Covey said in his book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” There is a mental creation followed by a physical creation. Blueprints come before building. Outlines come before oration. Dreams come before destinations. Your Master Marketing Calendar As you consider what you’d like to accomplish in the coming months, your achievement plan should include regular content creation. You need to deliver quality content to your prospects and potential clients, both online and off. And communicating on a consistent basis requires a plan: your Master Marketing Calendar. Your Master Marketing Calendar for content creation is your editorial calendar. This is a living document that lays out each monthly theme and each weekly focus. The idea is to create this calendar three or four months ahead of time, so that you always know what you should be blogging, posting, and tweeting about. Your Master Marketing Calendar can also plan paid advertisements, events, speaking engagements, and anything else related to your marketing. After all, it is your Master Marketing Calendar for content marketing. Staying current online can be a challenge. Thinking of what to post every week can be burdensome. Staring at a blank screen hoping for inspiration can lull you to sleep. There must be a better way. Creating your own editorial calendar solves all of these issues. You’ll find that it actually gives you motivation and helps you communicate more clearly and consistently. This also helps you tie everything together—so your blog post ties into your social media posts, and they all lead to your special offer that helps you lead capture and build your list. Here’s a sample of an editorial calendar. You can easily create your own using Excel or Numbers. Or if you’d like a copy of this one, send me an email at [email protected]. To create your own spreadsheet, list the months and weeks across the top and the channels you’ll use along the left side. Then, think through what you want to share. Turn those ideas into your monthly Themes. Divide the Theme into four or five sub-Topics, one for each week. Do this for at least the next three months. Now you’re all set to begin creating your content. Keep your blog and social media posts current As important as this is to do, many people still don’t prioritize keeping their blog and social media posts current. With all the to-do items on your list, who has time? After hearing this a few times from our clients, we decided to find a solution. We call it the Audio Blog. In a 1-hour phone call, you’ll answer a few simple questions and we’ll compose your words into blog articles and social media posts. Following an editorial calendar we’ll create with you, you’ll easily create content without spending endless hours thinking, writing and posting. It’s all done for you in your voice. And we’ll even post it for you. Regardless of how you do it, begin with your first creation: Think about what you’d like to communicate. Then move to your second creation: create your editorial calendar. Follow your Master Marketing Calendar and you’ll make steady progress every week, as your mental first creation transforms into the reality of your second creation. Carpe diem.
