I've gone through countless editorial calendars for this blog, so many that I can't even count them. I've tried montly planners, Google calendars, excel spreadsheets, custom planner pages in my Louis Vuitton PM agenda, and a planner made especially for content creators.

I thought that the last one, The Content Planner, would be the one for me. I pre-ordered it last Fall and patiently awaited for it to arrive. I custom created it with the stickers included and I loved that it was made especially for bloggers, business owners and content creators.

However what started happening was that I was changing my editorial calendar so frequently that writing things down just didn't help. My calendar layout had cross outs, washi tape, and eraser marks all over it and at some point I just threw my hands up. I couldn't take it and for once, a traditional handwritten planner was not for me.

Credit

I change things too much and have too many other smaller, more compact notebooks for me to jot down ideas to use something like The Content Planner... even though I am very in love with it, it just turned out to not be for me.

Since April, I've been using a Google Spreadsheet (my obsession with Google Drive has grown significantly over the past month and that's an entire other post) with a template I found from another blogger, Dana from The Champagne Edit.

The layout is perfect for me, for now -- I say for now because I get bored easily and I know at some point this might run its course. However, right now I'm obsessed.



I customized it a bit to work for me and the thing I love most is that I can see everything in a nice spreadsheet, can move things around quickly but it's also giving me a little more information than a traditional Google calendar (which I used for a while).

It's also very easy to have the keyword column there because it's my least favorite part about writing a post but when I schedule something, I can easily just copy and paste (or if I'm writing something for a content series, I can just copy and paste the keywords and add/remove a few).

I will say that it did get a little confusing at first because there were so many rows that had past posts so I would have to scroll down so far to get to the present. I just ended up hiding those rows instead of deleting them that way I have them to reference.

I also like that I have this on the go; before when I had regular planners, if I wanted to change something I'd have to wait until I got home to make the edit. This way, if I'm at work or on my phone I can make a quick change and won't have to think about it later. Having access to documents anywhere and everywhere is becoming more important to me.

Because of my love for this calendar layout, I started using more Google programs, like creating tabs in this same calendar for posts I want to write or have to be rescheduled indefinitely for a variety of reasons.

I also have a spreadsheet for analytics, which was something I tracked in The Content Planner but never tracked before. (such a bad blogger!)

This calendar has been such a blessing and I'm so grateful Dana shared it!

xoxo
B

I always enjoy reading posts by other bloggers on the topic of blogging because I love learning new things. I'm always trying to improve my blogging skills, whether it's how to gain more traffic, how to plan out posts, or how to start a newsletter.

When I started Royally Pink, the only way I knew how to blog and grow as a blogger was watching other bloggers. At the start of all of this, I read blogs religiously and studied them -- how they were written, what they were written about, the photos that were taken; everything from editorial to design to the About Me Page.

In my opinion, that is the best way to learn -- by watching other people and researching the topic. You should always be original, you should never copy someone else, form your own voice and way of doing things but it's nice to take some tips from the people who have been doing this for a while.

I've always been an organizer, a planner, and I knew that when I started my blog back in May 2012 that I would bring that to the table. I needed too and I have and I think it's paid off.

Planning an editorial calendar has weirdly always been a dream of mine. I always wanted to work for a magazine and I dreamed of having a place to write all the ideas that were swirling around in my head. When I had the chance to create my own editorial calendar, I was stupidly excited.

That's what the post is about, by the way, planning for your blog posts and creating your editorial calendar.



I've tried multiple different ways, pretty much every way you can plan an editorial calendar but I finally found a way that works.

1. Physical calendar: I tried right off the bat when I first started my blog. I kept a separate notebook for my blog and would kind of create my own calendar by writing down ideas and putting a date next to it. It worked for a little while but then I started to get confused and it was difficult to remain organized and keep track.

I also love using my XOXO Heart Arrow Blog Planner

2. Combined agenda: What is a combined agenda you ask? Well, after a physical calendar I decided to use my regular, school planner as a blog planner as well. I had the Lilly Pulitzer large agenda and used the 12 month calendars as a blog planner. That worked really well for my junior and senior year of college. I had everything in one place and it was super easy to keep track of. When I had an idea, I just jotted it down and it was neat and tidy. Honestly, I used this a few months into post grad life as well but started to get bored -- that is really the only reason I stopped doing it.

3. Separate planner: When I graduated, I decided to become more professional with Royally Pink (has that actually happened?) and I wanted to get really serious. I had an extra planner lying around (My Whitney English Day Designer) and I started using that as my blogging planner. I was home more days a week and took my blog planning very seriously but it became too complicated to have two planners.

And now we come to my current routine...




4. Google Calendar: Once I entered the work force, I saw the appeal and amazingness of Google Drive, Docs, Calendar, etc. What I do now is so much easier than anything ever before. I plan out my blog posts anywhere from a week to two months in advance (I'll plan out weeks in advance if I'm inspired or on a roll and have so many ideas). I start off with the title of the blog post, which basically encompasses what the post will be about. If I have/want to input more detail I easily can by typing it all out in the description. Do I want to have two posts in a day? Do I want to move a topic from a Monday to a Friday? That's an easy, neat switch. There is no crossing out or page long outlines. Having an electronic calendar is not usually my cup of tea, but for editorial planning, it's the best way I've found.

Here are some other tips for planning out your calendar:

• Create series on your blog to keep a theme and establish a 'brand feel'. I have Links to Love, Sunday Shopping, Recipe Wednesdays, Beauty To Know, etc. I like to write about a lot of different things so this helps keep things organized
• Find a schedule and stick to it. I'm known for missing a day here and there but try to post 2-4 times a week and at the same days/times so your readers get used to when to expect a post from you. When I started out I posted 7 days a week and stuck to that for almost a year (WTF) but then I brought it down to 5 days a week and I still try to follow that now but if I get 3 posts up during the week, I'm not losing sleep
• Find your voice. I'm a writer, I always have been, so finding my voice wasn't difficult. I blog the way I talk. If you're not a writer, it may be a little more difficult to find a niche but if you just say what you're thinking, a voice will follow.