Why Every Blogger Needs an Editorial Calendar // The Biz of Blogging // Part Three

This is part three of a series in which I am sharing my story as an Instagrammer/blogger. Last week I wrote a blog post titled “Working With Brands“. The post shared tips about how I collaborate with brands.

Before I get started let me explain what an Editorial Calendar is. If you google it, it is likely you will see Editorial Calendars for most major magazines. For these publications, they publish an editorial calendar which lists their themes and major articles for their upcoming issues. Believe it or not, many major magazines publish their editorial calendars a year in advance. This allows them to sell ads that are in synch with each issue.

Here is a copy of the Magnolia Journal Editorial Calendar.

If you scale down (in a big way) what they publish in their editorial calendar, then you can see what my Editorial Calendar looks like. So why do I have one?

My Editorial Calendar keeps me organized with my blog and Instagram posts. I pick a blogging theme each month and then I have the dates broken out for each month (Monday – Friday) with columns for blog posts, sponsored posts and my Instagram posts.

Here is what my editorial calendar looks like.

The biggest benefit for having an Editorial Calendar is that you can write your blog posts in advance. Imagine, waking up in the morning to write a blog post that isn’t due for two weeks. It can happen!

In January, I selected my monthly themes for the entire year. And I will be honest with you, I looked up the editorial calendars for some of my favorite magazines and took a close look at what they were doing.

I try to fill in blog topics at least three weeks in advance but I always leave open some blanks because things always come up. Your schedule will change, I promise, thanks to a new collaboration, a new idea or whatever. It’s important to be flexible.

I also try to write the general idea of my Instagram post on my Editorial Calendar too. One post a day always corresponds with my blog topic and the other one can be any topic or a share of another account or whatever!

Now, let me be honest with you. For about ten months I was working ahead on all of my blog posts. Lately? Not so much. But writing this article has inspired me to get ahead because the pressure of staying up way past midnight to get a blog post written is not what I call fun.

Another advantage of having an Editorial Calendar is that you can manage special posts in advance. This could include a Blog Hop, a Christmas themed giveaway or a Series. This weekly series, which I call the Biz of Blogging, is already planned out with topics for the next eight weeks.

I love that I can open up my Editorial Calendar at any time and start writing a post. Sometimes I will skip over ones due sooner because I am waiting on product or photos. But if I can always be writing blog posts, it makes my life so much easier. I try to write a blog post every day which can really help you get you ahead.