10 Tips So You Actually Execute Your Content Calendar

In this episode, I talk about:
✨  Why it's hard to execute your content calendar as a one-man show
✨ How to trick your mind into actually executing your content calendar
✨10 tips to transform the way you execute your content creation process!

If you're reading this and you've been struggling to implement your content calendar, then this episode is for you!

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Transcript

0:00

What's up everyone? Welcome back to the marketing Nomad show. It's your favourite marketer and podcast host. My name is Prit, welcome to episode number 71, where we're going to be giving you 10 tips, guys 10 tips to create a content calendar that you will actually implement. And when I first started, let me tell you, I was always planning, planning, planning, planning, planning my content calendar, and just struggling to execute. And over time, I guess I've come up with certain tactics, it's really tactics to trick myself to implementing and executing my content calendar. And I really thought to share that with you. At this point, I think I can say that 90 to 95% of my content calendar actually does, you know, get implemented. And I'm pretty proud of that. Because when I first started out, I think I was at like 20 or 30%, on my content calendar. And over time, I, you know, like I said, I've found out tactics to trick myself into implementing because it is really hard to implement a content calendar, it is actually really hard, especially if you are the business owner, you know, you're the marketer, you are the administrator, you're everything, you're even the janitor, it gets really hard as a one man show to, you know, create the content calendar, yes, but also to implement it, because there's just so many moving parts to your business that you need to focus on. So here are my tips for you, so that you can achieve the maximum efficiency of implementing your content calendar as possible for you. Okay, because I think 100% is aspirational, especially if you are the business owner. I mean, if you are a social media manager, then yes, 100% is absolutely achievable. When you are a business owner, there are just so many different moving parts that you need to focus on. So I would say even 85 to 90 to 95% efficiency is a pretty good, you know, thing, and you should probably pat yourself on the back when you get there. Okay, so don't be too harsh on yourself. Especially when it comes to implementation. I know that there are a lot of content out there that you see. And they're like, Oh, my God, you have to achieve 100% efficiency and stuff like that. But I don't think that's actionable. Guys, I really don't think so. Because there's just it's a lot, okay. And especially when you're a one man show it? It's not No, I don't think that 100% is achievable. Unless, you know, you focus maybe 80% of your efforts on it, and you have help, you know, you know, you've hired people for other aspects or you've hired people to help you out. But like I said, for me, I'm a one man show at the moment. So I think 90 to 95% at that point is pretty good. And there's something that I'm quite proud of. So here are my tips to help you as well. Okay. Now, the first tip that I do have for you is to have set goals. Now these goals are a little bit different from episode number 60, where I, you know, kind of gave you tips on where to start with your content creation process. That goal meant finding a goal for your content as in what is the end goal, what do you want to achieve with that content? However, this episode is a little different because you're actually figuring out a goal for your content calendar. So just recognise the difference between the two of them. So the goal setting for your content calendar is more so numerical. Okay, how many do you want to achieve this month? You know, how many podcast episodes do you want to release this month? How many podcast episodes? Oh, sorry, I already said podcast. How many YouTube videos do you want to put how many Instagram posts do you want to put, you know, having a definite number really helps. Because like I was just doing this yesterday, okay, I was figuring out my content calendar the last week of December and I put out definite numbers. Like I want to do 12 LinkedIn reels I want to do for YouTube videos. I want to do eight podcast episodes. And just having that definite number really made my content creation process so much more smoother. Like yesterday, I had to shoot LinkedIn reels like I had decided that that was the day I was going to shoot my LinkedIn reels. I put four hours aside just for my LinkedIn reels and just knowing I had to only do 12 for the month, just made my entire day move so smoothly. Like I was not confused about how many meals I had to do. There was no vague number in my mind that I had to just keep doing until I finished four hours. And actually I finished shooting in two hours. And I had you know about an hour and a half to spare after resting and I was able to do some other work as well you know, finish up on my Instagram reels as well. So having set goals per month really helps keeping a numerical value over there really, really makes a difference. Now number two is to segregate all your kinds of content that you have. Now, even on my podcast, I actually have three types of content. One is on marketing, one was on mindset, and one is on business. And it's actually pretty intentional at the back end, even for my YouTube videos, even for my Instagram posts, there is a lot of strategy that goes behind it, there's a lot of thought that goes behind it, it may seem random to someone who's looking like, when you're listening to all of these podcasts episodes, I don't think you're going to remember or you're gonna even feel like, oh, this was marketing, oh, she's doing mindset, oh, she's been doing business. No. But for me, on my end, those are three topics that I want to touch upon. Those are three different ways I segregate my content, and it's actually a strategy on my end, so segregate your content types, okay? Not just that, figure out your channel. Now, for example, on YouTube, okay, for example, you're on YouTube, there are YouTube shorts, there are YouTube long form videos. And even in long form videos, I'm pretty sure they're not all going to be the same, you probably have different strategies for that. So mapping that out also helps, okay, and I actually have all of these as segregations on air table. And for those of you who don't know, I use air table to map out my content, my entire content calendar is on air table, it just makes things so much smoother. So I have each of these segregations, so that I'm not confused. After every marketing. After every two marketing episodes, there's always a mindset episode, after one mindset episode, there's a business episode. And it just goes clockwork, I don't have to think too much about what my next podcast episode is going to be what topic I have to choose, because I am actually making everything automated. Okay? Even if it's not physically automated, in my mind, it's just, it's just a cycle that keeps going to marketing episodes, one mindset, one business, and it just keeps repeating like that. So when you segregate your content, you are that much more clear on what you should do next, how you should go about it. And not just that, when you are clear about these things, it becomes that much more easier for you to get into a process, get into a routine. And that is how you trick your mind into actually implementing your content calendar. Because when it becomes a routine, it doesn't become an active effort that you're making. It just becomes something that you do. It's not something that you are thinking way too much about. It's not something that you're overthinking as I always do. But it's something that just becomes part of your day part of your routine. And that's where we want to achieve like that's where we want to get that's where we have to get to basically Okay, so that is number two. Number three is be as specific as possible. Like when I am creating my content calendar. Believe me, guys, I have 52 videos planned out for 52 weeks of 2022. And each one of my YouTube videos has already been given a name. I am not kidding, there is already a title to each of those videos. And this was a huge mistake that I had actually made last year, because even though I was sure I wanted to do YouTube videos, I thought that I would just decide during the week of doing it or during the month of doing it or whatnot. And that was really, really difficult because when the time came, I was at loss for words. However, with my podcast, I had each and every podcast episode named labels, and even given short description, at least six months in advance. So all of my episodes were planned. And for the most part, like I said, I was able to achieve a 90 to 95% efficiency when it came to implementing my podcast. Whereas for my YouTube videos, it was a little haywire over there. So that's when I started implementing the tip that I took for my podcasts to my YouTube videos. So now my YouTube videos are all labelled there is a title to it. And when once there is a title to your content, when once there is a bit of description. It really eases your mind. There's a complete mindset shift over there. I can't even begin to tell you that just knowing that it's not some vague content I'm putting out and there's an actual title to it. It's it's fully formed and on paper or in my case on air table, and that makes it easier to implement because it's already there. It's already planned out. I just have to do it. I don't have to sit with the planning ever Again, you know, maybe yes, I have to make minor notes or something like that, but the idea is already fully formed. And that's how you trick your mind basically, because when the idea is fully formed, it becomes that much more simpler to implement it when the idea is vague, you are hesitant to implement it, at least in my case, I have always felt that whenever the idea is vague in my head, I never implemented but when the idea is fully formed, I'm already feeling confident enough to implement it, I'm like, Hey, all there is to do is just record and I can do that. That's pretty simple. And I move forward with that I move forward with the content creation process. So be as specific as possible. Wow, messed up over there. But you know, apologise for that. But be as specific as possible, you know, include the name include details, if you want to add a few descriptions here and there, include that in as well. Number four is probably the biggest tip that I do have for you. And that is to add in your dates. It's a very simple move, but it has transformed the way I approach my content creation process by leaps and bounds, leaps and bounds guys, I can't even begin to tell you. And so now for each content piece that I do have, I have a create date, I have an edit date. And I also have a published date. So there are three dates that I put in for each piece of content. I always mentioned when I'm going to create it. And for example, YouTube needs editing. So I put in the Edit date for podcast, for example, I don't have an edit date. So I don't put anything for that. For Instagram, I have a create date, I don't have an edit date, because whenever I am editing, that's the day I publish it, okay. So like, for example, like all of these things, there are specific dates, all I have to do is check out what I'm going to do on that date. And that's it. I have my day planned. However, if you were to keep it vague, you're like, Okay, I'm going to do it sometime next week, that's sometimes never going to come. But when you have a date set, you're going to do it on that date. Okay, and on air table. I mean, I really love air table. Okay, so I'm not even kidding. It's one of my favourite apps. To for as a business owner, it has, like, I'm not even kidding. I do have an affiliate link for air table in the description box. I think there's a free version of it. And then if you like, you can come on to the paid version, I definitely do recommend the paid version, just because there are a lot more features that get unlocked. But when I first started out on air table, I used the free version for good, I think six, seven months. So yeah, anyway, that's my rant on air tables is not sponsored. But I just really think that it's so good for a business owner. Now. Where was I? Yes. Okay. So on air table, there's this feature where you can actually group your items according to date. And that's what I do. So I put in the Create date. And then all I have to do is segregate all my content, according to create dates. So each create date, I know exactly what I'm going to create because everything's just written there. Everything's grouped for me, everything's done for me. That's why I absolutely love air table so much. So yeah, segregating your content into date, like putting a definite date on it really, really helps. Because I feel like as a business owner, and you know, a one man show, there's a lot of moving parts, as I've said before, and every day is very unexpected for me, like, there's always something that comes up that's brand new that I have to focus on. And when I have set dates for my content creation process, I'm actually telling myself that regardless of what's happening in my day, regardless of the brand new things that are surprising me, regardless of whatever's whamming me in my face, on that particular day, I will have to complete this task because this task is assigned to that date. So again, that's kind of tricking my mind in a lot of ways. Like, I don't know, guys, for me, I really am laughing as I'm creating this podcast episode, because for me, creating like creating content calendar was super easy, but implementing it was a huge task for me, and it involves me tricking my mind at every step, like each tip that I do have for you, is actually me tricking my mind into executing it. And for me, it's really funny because like, you can imagine the thought process that went behind tricking my mind like I was like no, my mind's a little abdomen. My mind is a bit stubborn at this point. So let's trick it. Let's find a way to work around it. And I feel like the entrepreneurial journey It is more so about you understanding your strengths and your weaknesses. And for me, yes, you know, implementing, executing my content calendar was my weakness. And sometimes you can't overcome things, you know, sometimes it's part of life, sometimes you can't overcome it, because maybe, you know, there are just so many moving parts that you can't actually achieve that. So working around, it works, you know, sometimes you can't overcome a problem. So you find a way to work around it. And this is my way of working around my mindset block over, you know, me unable to execute my content calendar. And it's worked really, really well. For me, it's really worked, especially the tricking the mind part, I'm completely tricked. Because as much as I am, like stubborn and adamant, I'm also quite gullible. So figuring these out, really has helped me. So that was a little bit of side note over there. Okay. Now, the fifth one that I do have for you, is to map out a checklist for the content creation process and your uploading process. Now, why I think this is so important is that each time I used to create a podcast episode, there were just so many things in that process that I would miss out. Okay, like, for example, not many of you know this, but the process to create, my podcast episode is actually quite intense. And let me tell you, first I have to come up with a topic, then I have to script it, at least the basic points because most of what I speak is not scripted, but the main points are scripted at least one sentence. Okay. After I do that, I have to do some minor edits, if necessary. Most of the times there aren't any edits. But sometimes there are. After that, I have to upload it to Buzzsprout. Buzzsprout is the podcast platform that I use to put my podcast, that's step number four. After that, I kind of create an email to send out to all my people when it goes live, I pre do it, and then I schedule it out. Then after that I posted on social media platforms, all the different platforms, LinkedIn, Instagram, where else, Twitter, and then after that, I actually put it up on my website. So I create a separate page for each podcast episode, after creating a page for each podcast episode, I also have a main podcast page where I have to update it and add in the new podcast. So that's a lot of work that I actually do. And sometimes I forget, right? And when I forget, I kind of get overwhelmed with the entire process. And it's just, yeah, I kind of feel like, okay, why am I doing that there's just a lot of work. I don't know what I have to do next, and all of those things. So just having a checklist on my side, something that you know, you can just put it on your phone in the notes, and just have a checklist of what exactly is your content creation process and your upload, you will have different processes for each social media channel or anything, even for your blog posts, like posting it and sharing it and writing it in a different way or updating it all of those are each steps that you need to take right so that it can be reached to maximum audience that it can be reached. So having that checklist really just eases because all you have to do is look at the chess checklist, do the next step and it becomes you know, you're kind of putting yourself on autopilot over there. Because you don't have to think you just have to follow your checklist like follow the checklist, wow, kind of slurring on my words over here. But this is the second podcast I'm recording in a row. So maybe I should have taken a break in between the two of them. But I'll keep that in mind for the next time. Okay, so mapping out a checklist really puts you on autopilot, again, you're tricking your mind to implementing your content calendar because everything's just on autopilot. Okay, now, number six is a huge mistake that I see every single person making. I'm not even kidding. So when you are deciding on your content types, what people feel is that oh my god, I'm going to do 12 I'm going to do 15 I'm going to do 50 whatnot, and all of those things. And while that's super, super awesome. What I think people forget, is that you have time constraints, right? Especially if you're a one man show like me I have sort of your time constraints is not even funny anymore. So there are only a certain number of podcast episodes that I can create per week. There are only a certain number of YouTube videos I can create per month or a certain amount of views that I can generate per month for Instagram. All of these are based on my time constraints and that is point number six for you work according to your time constraints and not the other way around. Don't decide your content and Then decide your time, decide your time, and then decide your content. So for me, I only dedicate four hours a week for my podcasts. So how many ever I can achieve in those four hours. That's it, I'm not going to over schedule myself or, or work myself or burn myself out, because that can happen. I was doing three podcast episodes a week last year. And I could achieve that to an extent. But I found it really hard to achieve that consistency, once I started introducing YouTube videos. And then I also started on Project potato, which is something that I will reveal, I think, sometime in March. But project potato was a huge project for me. And it's something that I'm working back at Nan. So for me to be able to balance all of these things, it meant I had time constraints. And it also meant that I had to work according to my time constraints. So that's why I only do two podcast episodes per week. That's how much I can fit in two hours. And that also includes my promotions, you know, me sending out an email me putting it up as a blog post all of those things, you know. So, two, four hours is how I can dedicate so I always start with my time constraints, how many hours can I dedicate, per week or per month to this content creation. And based on that, I come up with the frequency and all of the adjacent factors that come about, okay. So always work according to your time constraints, huge, huge protip, especially for busy, busy, busy business owners, okay, now, number seven is choose a format that works for you, kid, just because your favourite YouTubers doing a certain way doesn't mean you have to do it too. And just because, you know, it's the most in thing currently doesn't mean you have to do it to work, a format that works for you. And this was definitely a huge lesson that I learned in 2021 Towards the end, of course. So I was doing vlog style YouTube videos. And this is like a confession on my end. So I was doing vlog style videos. And while it was easy for me to create like to vlog editing was such a huge task, like I honestly was spending 10 hours a week, kind of editing that video, and I did not have that kind of time to edit those kinds of videos. So for 2022, I've decided to switch it up a little, I've decided to only make 10 minute videos, and they're not going to be vlogs anymore. It's a completely different style. It's conversations with me, it satisfies me creatively, it's a format that works for me, because I don't need more than one and a half hours to edit it. And at the moment, I can't afford to hire an editor maybe in the future. You know, when I can afford a video editor, maybe I will resort to vlog style videos back again. But for the time being, knowing my constraints, knowing my time constraints, knowing my physical constraints as well, this format works for me. And that's also why I started on podcasts as well. Because for me, you know, I used to actually do these podcasts episodes with the YouTube videos. And that was just such a huge task. Because, again, editing was such a huge pain. For me, it was not something that I was good at or fast at. And yes, I became a little faster over time. But as a CEO, as a business owner, I didn't think that that was using my time efficiently because I am not an editor. Alright, if I was an editor and a business owner, then yes, it would make sense. But fundamentally, that was not where my strengths were. Okay. So that's why I decided to change the format. So yeah, that's a little story for you a lesson that I learned in towards the end of 2021. So it's pretty raw, it's pretty new, it still hurts. But it's a lesson that I learned and I really want to share with you. So choose a format that works for you that satisfied you creatively that works with the physical resources that you do have works with your time constraints, all of those things. Number eight, is tracking, add a status column, okay. And it's not just after you've uploaded that you track you also track your progress while doing it. So I have actually a column that says Done, and it's just a checkbox that I have on air table. I also for another section of my content, I do have to do in progress and done. I don't put too many, I guess I would say, I don't know how to call it like status definitions, I guess. Because before I had like next week, this week, what else next month all of those things and I figured that there was just too many things and it was just overwhelming me. So now I just have to do in progress. Press and done. Okay, so find out what works for you. I mean, if you are someone who needs more definitions to your status, feel free to go ahead with that, for me, I personally was overwhelmed with it. So now I just have three simple ones. And at the end of the day, I guess what I want to say is keep this as simple as possible, guys, keep it as simple as possible, as specific as possible. And in a way, you're just going to be tricking your mind to implementing it. So track your progress along the way. It just tells you where you are at. And if it's done, it's so satisfying to just put a checkmark because, well, at the end of the day, I mean, we do want some sort of validation for our efforts. And for me, that is validation in itself, you know, yes. If the podcast gets a certain number of downloads, that makes me happy, but at the same time, it's so satisfying for me to just put a tick, okay, so find out little ways that your mind responds or perceives as success. And for me, that check mark is success. And it kind of gives me a dopamine boost that guests I would say, so find little ways to reward yourself after you've completed the task. And that also really helps a lot. Okay, now, number nine, and we're almost to the end, guys. This is going to be quite long, I didn't expect this to be quite long. Okay. Anyway, number nine, schedule it out. And not just that, you know, schedule a time to revisit your content calendar. Now for me personally, when I open up while oppo, when I open Google Chrome, automatically, it opens up to my content calendar, it's a setting that you can do on Google Chrome, and it's a small tip that I do have for you, I have it there. And I keep revisiting it multiple times a day. And you know, it's just there, it's a small tip that I do have for you. If you feel like you're not visiting your content calendar enough, you can also put an alarm, you can also schedule it out on your Google Calendar. Just make a note, say, okay, every two days, I have to check my content calendar and see what's up. For me personally, I check it multiple times a day, just because I need to be aware of what I'm doing that day, what I'm doing the next day, every single day, there's at least one piece of content that I am creating. And that's just how I've mapped things for myself, for you. Like when I first started out, and I wasn't on so many different platforms. I had one day a week where it was just creating content. But now I'm on a lot more different platforms, just because I do have the capacity. And that's the direction that I want to add my business. So that's completely my personal preference, guys. It's not something that you feel you should feel compelled to incorporate. But yeah, so given that I have so many platforms that I'm on right now, like even creating content for Etsy and creating content for courses. It's also content creation, it comes part of it. So every single day, I'm creating something or the other. I'm working towards creating content. So for me, it's important to check in multiple times a day where it for you figure out a frequency that works for you and schedule it out, actually schedule out time to keep revisiting it. That's super, super important. Because once you create the content calendar, it's not enough you have to keep revisiting it, you have to keep looking at it, because that's the only way you're going to implement it. Because if you just do it and leave it, it's probably going to just gathered dust. Well, metaphorically, I guess. Because if you do it online like me, then well, I'm not sure how the dust comes about. Okay, moving on, guys moving on. Number 10 is highlight the ones that you can repurpose. And this is probably the biggest, biggest biggest tip that I can give you make sure that when you are doing those content pieces, like when you're mapping it out, mapping out the details, just put a small highlight over there saying, Oh, hey, I can repurpose this. And believe me guys, you you will not like comprehend how easy that makes your life because I feel that as a content creator, I'm constantly looking for ideas and just having those highlighted. Every time I have a mind block or every time I have a writer's block, content creation block, whatever you call it, all I have to do is look at look at those highlight segments, like highlighted segments. And it just makes my process a lot more smoother. I can just put that in until I get back my mojo. So I usually keep those as like Hail Mary kind of moments where I don't see an end I'm just blocked completely. And I just have those just in case and those have saved me a lot. Those have saved me multiple times. I'm not even kidding. So yeah, that wraps up this entire podcast episode. I'm trying to keep it under 32 minutes. So let me wrap up the ending. If you guys need any more help, definitely do check out my consultation strategy calls there in the description box below. I do have a few, you know, freebies that you can download as well once you download one, you get access to every single freebie that I do have like plans and worksheets and checklists, you have access to all of them and any of the future new ones that I plan as well. So that's pretty awesome. So if you download one, you get access to all of them. Alrighty, guys, thank you so much for listening all the way up until here. You know, I'll catch you in my next podcast episode. Hope you are staying safe. Hope you're staying healthy. Goodbye, guys.