You’ve been made aware of the importance of having a content calendar, but maybe you’re confused on the technology that supports it! Perhaps you’re saying to yourself, “What do I need to make sure my content is not only getting visible, but also having the systems in place to support everything I am doing for my content?” This post if for you then! Today, you’re going to get a behind the scenes look at what it takes to have systems to support your content with ease and with simplicity. I will be sharing with you how I keep up with my content organized and the tools I use on a weekly basis to promote and share my content.
But first, you may want to read how a content calendar changed my business because this drops truth bombs on how your content is seriously the foundation of your business and how it affected my business! If you need to read why you need a content calendar, then read this post.
Content Calendar
What a surprise! First and foremost, I make sure I have a content calendar to let me know what I am creating; this is the organizational piece to my content. If I know what I am promoting, then I usually know what I am writing. Yes, even this blog right here is a piece of a promotion I am running and gearing up for. But when you have a place to organize, this is your first system. You can download the free 30 Day Content Calendar now and begin organizing your content for the next 30 days!
If you’re looking for online options on how to organize your content, you can always use Google Spreadsheet or Google Doc. You can even use other systems like CoSchedule (my power partner Laura loves CoSchedule!) to help you visually see how your content is going to impact your business and your marketing efforts.
Graphic Design Software
Images are another important piece to supporting your content because it appeals to those who love visuals to help them understand what they are reading better. I enjoy the visual element to any blog piece and it feels weird when there aren’t any visuals to a blog or even to a social media post! I want to mention two online photo-graphic design software that I love! The first, which you have heard, is Canva. Canva is the tool that I use for EVERY visual I use for my business! Whether its a blog post, social media post, worksheets or banners, I use Canva because once you create an account for Canva, it saves all of your work so if you like a piece of work you did, you can copy it and use it for something else! That is what I do with my worksheets to make them stay on brand.
Canva has both a free and paid version, but I currently use the free version. Canva also has templates and are always creating more templates for you to use. Some are paid templates, which only costs $1.
The other online graphic design software I use from time to time is PicMonkey. PicMonkey is paid only, but I enjoy using their font and transparent background features. The fee for a year is about $50, and they have updated their system to be more like Canva, so they have templates, a saved area of work you have done, and much more.
Images
Images are important and you need to claim your images from free royalty free sites such as Pixabay, Pexels, Pic Jumbo, or other sites that comply with the Creative Commons License (CCL), meaning that you won’t get sued for using a picture you found off their website. Always make sure your pictures are complying to the CC Licenses because it could be bad for you and your business if you were to get sued over a photo that doesn’t have a CCL on it.
Scheduling Tools
One of the ways I have saved so much time inside of content creation is by using social media scheduling tools to help promote my blogs, promotions and more on a variety of social media platforms. There are a variety of scheduling tools out there such as CoSchedule, Hootsuite (the one I use), PostPlanner and more. I would try out several different versions by setting up free accounts and seeing which one works better for you and your business.
Email Marketing
You know that email marketing is important, right? Gaining people emails is the number one way to gain their trust in your business and for them to get to know you more. This is part of my content calendar strategy as I write up at least one email per week to send out to my list. It usually features my blog, promotions, and anything else I am wanting to mention. There is a variety of paid and free tools to help you gather emails, set up landing pages, and send out a weekly email to your list like Convertkit, MailChimp, MailerLite, and more.
All of these different tools and techniques I use are all part of my content creation process. I map it all out and then set myself into motion by planning and implementing. If you’re ready to begin delivering content to your list and audience to build know, like and trust, then I would highly recommend to plan it out using a content calendar system that will get you seeing your work visually so you know what you’re doing online (no more guesswork!). So go ahead and download the Ultimate Content Calendar today to make an impact on your business and your audience now!
