It’s time to check in on your editorial calendar for September. This means not just checking in on the holidays and events for September but also for October, November, and December.
For those living in the “Western Civilization” and tied to the Christian Calendar, as well as those tied to Jewish and Muslim calendars, we’re heading into the time of year for some of the most popular religious holidays from Christmas to Hanukkah. Don’t forget the modern, made-up American holiday, Kwanzaa. Your site may have no direct ties to any of these, but consider them if you haven’t already. Find a way of connecting into the spirit and energy around these holiday events.
You need to blog about these as they apply to yourself and your blog, and take into consideration that these events tend to get in the way of work, life, and blogging. It’s time to use your editorial calendar not just for holiday topics, but to keep yourself on track.
Begin with September. September is back-to-school and back-to-work for many people who took time off over the summer. It’s time to find and buckle up your overcoat (or take it off if you live down under) as the weather shifts, and people shift gears. from fun, travel, and escapism back to the real working world.
For gardeners, this is the time to slow down and clean up from two seasons full of activity. The last dregs of plants need removal and the ground prepared for next year’s crop.
For crafters, this is the time to speed up as you prepare for holiday gift giving and decorating.
For business professionals, the season of the conference is upon us. Look at the conferences you have scheduled to attend or have a vested interest in. Is it time to get on the promotional and marketing band wagon to help these events get the bodies in the seats they need?
September is a time of change. Write an article about the changes you are feeling about your work and blog focus. What’s next? What’s past? What needs cleaning up and putting away? What needs preparing for the next phase?
Your blog exercise is to check up on your editorial calendar and plan out the rest of the year’s posts.
We’ve done many blog exercises exploring the concept of organizing, managing, and scheduling your blog posts throughout the year. These keep you on track for timely subjects and helps you time the release of your content over the year so you control what and when you have your say. It also helps you plan ahead, keeping your site active with pre-published posts, allowing your site to release these automatically over time so you may turn your attention elsewhere while your site is still working for you.
The editorial calendar posts so far in these Blog Exercises include:
- Blog Exercises: The Editorial Calendar
- Blog Exercises: Blogging with the Seasons
- Blog Exercises: The Content Project Form
- Blog Exercises: Current Events January
- Blog Exercises: Honor the Past with Anniversaries and Birthdays
- Blog Exercises: Current Events for February
- Blog Exercises: Weekly Link Roundups
- Blog Exercises: Weather Reports
- Blog Exercises: Schedule Blogging Time
- Blog Exercises: How Many Posts Can Your Audience Handle?
- Blog Exercises: Blasts from the Past
- Blog Exercises: March Current Events
- Blog Exercises: Post-Op Care Content
- Blog Exercises: Add Industry Events to Your Editorial Calendar
- Blog Exercises: What Are Your Reference Articles
- Blog Exercises: April Current Events
- Blog Exercises: Editorial Calendar Check-in
- Blog Exercises: Current Events for May
- Blog Exercises: Prepare for Summer
- Blog Exercises: Emergency Drafts
- Blog Exercises: Memorial Moments
- Blog Exercises: Blog Work Flows
- Blog Exercises: Current Events for June
- Blog Exercises: July Current Events
- Blog Exercises: Organize Your Content
- Blog Exercises: Organize Your Content – The Sequel
- Blog Exercises: August Current Events
Remember to include a hat tip link back to this post to create a trackback, or leave a properly formed link in the comments so participants can check out your blog exercise task.
You can find more Blog Exercises on Lorelle on WordPress. This is a year-long challenge to help you flex your blogging muscles.
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5 Comments
Lorelle, I created an editorial calendar back when you first suggested it and it has been the BEST thing I’ve ever done for my blog. Gone are the days of fretting over what I would write next. I just look at the editorial calendar and it’s already scheduled. I see the titles of other ones not yet written and I can write them whenever the mood strikes. I’ve got posts that tie into the seasons and holidays. This tool is just GREAT and I am so thankful I found out about it and implemented it. It has made the “job” of blogging so much easier and organized.
You are so welcome. I’m glad it’s working for you. Knowing what’s coming and working ahead is totally life changing for your blogging life, isn’t it.
Lorelle, I haven’t been following your blog very long, but as I do, I am finding a little more order come to mine. I recently consulted one of your “disciples” (http://lauralistardiaries.com) and she was kind enough to lend me a helping hand. I wanted to take the opportunity to say thank you for the great advice and tips of the trade you have imparted. Your exercises and lessons will undoubtedly help my vision be seen (by others) with a little more clarity.
Love, Equanimity, Understanding.
TimurZ
You are welcome. Always glad to help.
I love my evangelists – a better word than disciple. 😀
Lorelle, as always, you have put together some great resources for bloggers. We’ve become gung-ho about editorial calendars, so much so that we ended up building our own tool. If you or your readers are WordPress bloggers, you might want to check out CoSchedule ( http://coschedule.com ). It is a built-in editorial calendar for WordPress that also lets you schedule social media with your posts. We built it because we needed it ourselves, and have found it to be so helpful not only for our blogs, but also for how we plan and schedule our social media content.