Businesses run in quarters, which is roughly 90 days. You have probably heard of 90-day launches, 90 day years, and break your marketing calendars into quarters, but perhaps you’ve never understood why you need to do this for your business.
Regardless if you’re planning for your content or marketing calendar (or both), it is best to work in 90-day increments. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t plan 6 months out or even roughly plan your entire year now. I have my 2018 planned out, but I have broken down my year into 90-day increments and there are a few reasons why.
It’s Manageable.
When I look at my entire year, I easily get overwhelmed! It seems like too much and the thought, “Can I do this?” creeps in. But when I can plan my year out and then break it into 90-day increments, things seem manageable. I feel like I can take a breath and say, “I can do this.”
Goal setting.
When I break my year up into four quarters, I can give myself a goal within the quarter or even several goals within the quarter. When I know what I’m doing for that quarter, I can easily plan out my content and marketing activities for that time period.
For example, I’m focusing my attention on quarter 1 for 2018 on workshops. I have several workshops I’m planning in March and early April (I know April is the second quarter, but I have to begin marketing it in February), so that means I can set goals to help me meet my main goal for my workshops. Then I can plan out my content accordingly.
Big Picture.
I have my entire year planned out, which gives me the big picture of what I’m focusing on and when I’ll be promoting certain programs and services. When I break it down, I get to see how each quarter will lead up to another goal or how I am going to make my income and lets me know when I need to begin promoting my next launch.
Crystal Clear Focus.
Working in quarters allows you to have focus on your main target, whether that’s a webinar, free challenge, workshop, or an online course, you can plan and execute clearly.
It truly gives you a sense of purpose, where each and every piece of content is your driving force to bring you closer to your goal, whether its list or income building. Giving yourself clear focus allows you to make purposeful content that builds trust with your audience.
Get into the Nitty Gritty.
I LOVE details! I am a details sort of person and when I can plan for my quarter, I can get into the nitty-gritty of my content and marketing strategies. Here’s how I do that:
I’m going to give you a sneak peek: I am prepping for a webinar right now so I am writing content for that webinar on my blogs (you guessed it, this blog is one of them!). Because I have broken my year into four quarters, I can focus on the lead up to the webinar so I can plan my content accordingly.
I planned my content from January – March purposely to lead up to the webinar I am hosting in April. Just because something is in your second quarter doesn’t mean you can’t start promoting it now (because you seriously need to be doing that)! I’ve begun creating content for my content calendar in January, but you’re now seeing it in March. I could only do this if I had adequate time to plan and write my content so I can be focusing on my other goals: workshop and webinar planning.
It’s okay to work on several goals at once! That’s the power of the quarter! You get to work on it in bite-size chunks and remain organized and on target.
If you are finding yourself spinning your wheels and are unsure on how to make this quarter (or next) work for you, then why don’t you start with planning out your next 30 days for practice? If 90 days seems overwhelming to you, then begin with planning your next 30 days to see how it feels and then move up to 60, then 90. Soon, you’ll be a pro at working inside quarters.
If you need a jump start to planning your 30 days out, then download the new and improved 30-Day Content Calendar Guide!
When you download the 30 Day Content Calendar Guide, you’ll learn how to:
- Set a easy goal for the next 30 days
- Schedule your income producing goals on a workable calendar
- Set deadlines for when things need to be completed
- Write and schedule your content so there’s no more guesswork
- Become purposeful with each post as you lead people into your next launch (no matter how big or small)
- Begin to get organized with your message so you can see the big picture inside your content and marketing activities
It’s time to stop spinning your wheels and become organized and purposeful with each and every word you write. Download your free 30-Day Content Calendar Guide now!
