Blog | Fae Gems & Baubles

UPDATE 10/31/14: Recently I experienced a lapse of writing inspiration, causing my editorial calendar to lag behind a week of scheduled content. I found it exceedingly easy to readjust my posting schedule by doubling up on content for the following week- ensuring to espouse each post together, so that I could link back to them later (in an attempt to recapture my audience). It so happens that my lapse included Samhain [Halloween], consequently, all of my seasonal posts would be wanting if published after the holiday. To rectify this, I have planned to tweak my concepts a bit: 1) creating content that is useful post season (i.e., 5 Samhain Spells to Rekindle Ansectral Ties after the Feast of the Dead) & 2) planning content for next year’s holiday (you can write it at the time of your lapse and use the scheduler to publish your content the following year).

An editorial calendar can do the job of three editorial assistants; it facilitates productivity, tracks content creation by subject, allocates content to your website timely and consistently, encourages you to work ahead, and gives bloggers (and writers) foreseeable goals, and establishes commitment.

Editorial Calendars come in all shapes and sizes, some are suited for the technically inclined, others provide stagnant visibility- some are completely inflexible (giving those who need unwavering direction the means of it). Recently I found myself in need of editorial planning, when I inducted myself into the Blogosphere.

I had no idea how easily overwhelmed I would be mentally preparing a posting schedule. Grasping at the continual barrage of blogging ideas sprouting in my mind’s eye was a necessary complication; it revealed that capturing blogging topics on crumpled papers and blank notebooks addled simple immersion, and prevented me from visualizing how my thoughts would manifest online cohesively. Thus, my quest for creating the perfect editorial calender ensued.

I wanted something visual to please the eye, yet seamlessly functional to suit the needs of the bustling college life. I found Jelli’s guide to making a sticky note editorial calendar, which allowed for creative flexibility, editorial planning, and asthetic superiority (I love colors & Washi tape!). However, where it excels it also falls, almost abysmally, short.

The stationary editorial calendar enslaves you to the fetters of a desk.

The freedom of blogging is to touch inspiration in the lively world around us; to write eagerly ahead when we have unexpected moments of creative productivity, and freedom- yet those literary bursts may be abnegated without the tool of direction at hand to guide our pends (or keys).

The planner as an editorial calendar gives writers the mobility to create unencumbered by walls, yet it fails to address the writer who cannot obtain a relevant planner late in the year. Additionally, the traditional planner’s limited space restricts the possibility of expanding the editorial calendar’s innate functionality.

The mobile editorial calendar exceeds the limits of the planner by transforming it into a content generator that inspires itself (contextually & visually), serves as an unlimited note taker, and accessible reference guide-because our blogs grow from our edification, often exceeding our initial expectations of it.

Creating the Mobile Editorial Calendar

Melding the flexibility, functionality, and sustainability from the previous two models of an editorial calendar governs the Mobile Calendar. The mobile calendar is an expansion. The components of this project can be purchased at the dollar store for under $8!

You Will Need:

1 1″ Binder (you may use any size, but the more compact, the more tote/purse friendly it becomes)
1 Pack of Colorful Dividers
X Small Colored Sticky Notes (choose a different color for every blog category you have)
1 Pencil Pouch (for three ring binders)
Printed Calendar (which you can obtain here)
(optional) 1 Decorative Large(r) Sticky Notepad (for extra notes that stand out)

The beauty of this calendar is its forgiveness! You don’t have to scramble to find a planner that will accommodate your awkward month-of-the-year needs (all I could find were planners for 2015!). Print out the months you want to schedule for, I chose to do three month increments at a time so that I could plan future posts thematically (seasonally).

Tip: Feel free to doodle in the margins, personalize your writing tool so that it is inviting and friendly, so that you are excited to see it and work with it.

Designate specific colors to each of your blog categories (features, news, interviews, crafty tips) using your sticky notes and start writing your blogging titles! Stick each title to the date you want to publish it on, and voila. The color coded aesthetic will help you keep track (visually) of how much of one category you are writing about, and can help you identify any deficiencies.

Tip: Designate a color of guest posts too, so that you remember to make connections with your favorite bloggers!

Store your sticky notes in the pencil pouch so you can make changes, and add new ideas, on the go! Don’t forget to throw a pen in there (you can always write a post on the go too). Wanting to economize on all of binder’s potential, I turned theinside cover flap into a note board (not just for blog posts, but concepts, things I want to research, and blogs I need to check out).

You may not need to add dividers to your binder, however, you have the capability to create your own blogging textbook; a product of the aggregation of your blogging research. The more proactive you can make your editorial calendar (by goal setting, for example) the more valuable it becomes as an asset to keep your website on track for success.

Divider Label Ideas:

Blog Notes:
– List all blogging categories
– Series posts
– Seasonal posts
-Monthly themes

Goals:
– Target audience personas
– Blog traffic
– Overall blog goals (such as driving traffic to your Etsy site)
– Strategies to drive traffic (contests, giveaways)

Related Blog List:
– Future guest posts

Pro Blogging:
– Ideal posting times
– Social Media for promotion
– Reaching your audience
-Making money with blogging

Tip: The goal of these tabs is to culminate useful information at your finger tips. Blogging is exceedingly time consuming, and if you don’t take notes on the great information you read on the web, you may easily forget it, or forget to implement it onto your website. You can even plan to focus on an aspect of your research (such as social media integration) on your editorial calendar.

What do you think of the mobile editorial calendar?