Can you believe how quickly time has flown? We’re already 5 days in to December and very soon 2013 will be upon us. Time, where did you go?!
2012 has been a great year for me and the blog. If you’ve been following Beautyholics Anonymous for the past year, you’d have noticed that I’ve been posting on an almost daily basis for the last 365 days. Except for a number of Sundays, that’s at least 300 posts a year. It’s not a lot for folks who blog more than once a day, but it sure is a lot for me.
Being organised is one of the most difficult things about blogging. Sure it’s easy when inspiration hits me and I manage to produce content, one post after another, just like that *snap*. But when I’m running very low on blogging juice, that’s when the alarm starts to ring.
Thank heavens for something called an editorial calendar.
Magazines and online publications run on editorial calendars. It’s a must to keep the editors, their teams and advertisers to keep track on the content the publications produce throughout the year. All of the content that you see in magazines are produced months in advance before print and distribution. It could be the heart of winter and the editors would already be shooting swimsuit editions to prepare for summer.
Of course, that’s pushing it a bit far for my wee blog. I don’t prepare that far in advance but I do have an editorial calendar that I use to put in the important dates and seasons for the year. It’s like a year plan; at one glance I’ll be able to know when dates like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Melbourne Cup Day, etc are. I’d be able to prepare holiday gift guides, tributes and so on to suit the occasions.
Product reviews become easier to manage too. For example, I make a note on my editorial calendar 4-6 weeks from the date I begin trialling a new skincare product and 1-2 weeks for makeup. When 4-6 weeks are over, I have to review that item. See, if I don’t write it down, chances are I’d forget and I’d probably only review when I remember I’ve used it many months down the road. By then I’d have forgotten how the product had worked for me!
Keeping track of giveaways is simple with an editorial calendar. I don’t run more than one giveaway a month. The calendar helps me to keep track of start and end dates for the giveaway before I begin the next.
If you’re not sure what goes into an editorial calendar, here’s how mine works. I have two editorial calendars for the blog.
1. Monthly View
I use a WordPress plugin for this (Editorial Calendar). I’m able to see all of my posts, drafts and pending reviews in a monthly view. This plugin has been an absolute godsend in helping me see what my month is like for the blog. I like that I’m able to move posts around to fit the dates by just dragging and dropping. Easy peasy. If you’re not on self-hosted WordPress, any spreadsheet or regular calendar would suffice.
2. Yearly view
I use a spreadsheet for this. It’s a brief year plan that highlights important dates, change of seasons (e.g. when I should be blogging about winter care, summer care, etc), anniversaries, potential holidays (therefore preparing content well in advance), major giveaways and so on. The yearly view allows me to see the “bigger picture” for the blog. I review the calendar on a weekly basis to make sure I’m going on the right track.
Example of Beautyholics Anonymous’ 2013 Editorial Calendar. Subject to change, naturally 😉
It seems like a lot of work to maintain your blog but it really isn’t. In fact, an editorial calendar will save you a lot of time in the long run and keep you organised. I’ve learned my lesson with too many “oh crap it’s XXX day already? I don’t have anything prepared!” moments not to utilise editorial calendars well. Editorial calendars need not be fancy. Any simple calendar templates would suffice. Or you could rock it up old school and use a diary instead. It’s entirely up to you.
Examples of 2012/2013 editorial calendars:
Here are some templates for you to get started:
- Blog Trends
- Joanne Faith
- Microsoft Office
- Hannon Hill
- OpenSpace
- Google Docs
- The Mom Writes:
- One Woman Marketing
The new year is near, so it’s a great time to start being more organised with your blog. Plus it’s great motivation for you to keep blogging when you’re able to see the bigger picture.
Have fun creating your editorial calendar for 2013! 😀
You’re so organised I want to punch myself. Dear gawd you will make the perfect project manager cos you can then crack the whip on us!
LeGeeque recently posted..Indefinite hiatus
Hahahaha I was quite the ball-buster when it comes to organising the workplace. If I’m your project manager, I don’t think you’ll want to punch yourself. You’ll want to punch me 😛
This is absolutely brilliant! I think I need to get more organized….
Beauty Box recently posted..November 2012 Favourites ♥ ♥ ♥
Haha thanks! The organised nutjob that I am needs this 😛
i really respect your heart and mind to the blog! the concept of editorial calender is really good but i am really not sure if i can keep to it :S there were so many times when i have planned the topics, but i just couldn’t get to writing it due to the lack of inspirations in words to use ><
xin recently posted..Money Saving Tips: Recycle your perfume boxes to greeting cards
Aww thanks Xin. I don’t know whether to thank or blame blogging blogs for the idea. On one hand, when I didn’t have one, it didn’t matter if I blogged or not. Now that I have one, I’m like a woman obssessed with grids, lines and dates!
Many times I lack inspiration too, hence the “holes” in the editorial calendar. Leave them be and move on to the next day 🙂
Great tip Tine! I have to have a look at the Editorial Calendar. Thanks for sharing
Lily (@ChloeAsh) recently posted..A Mini Review of Lunasol Party Coffret 2012
My pleasure, Lily. Hope it helps 🙂
I used the editorial calendar plugin after you recommended it but so far its only useful for me to see how sporadically I’ve been posting this year! Wanna get back on the blogging bandwagon but sadly a lack of inspiration and good skin are foiling me… 🙁
rinnah recently posted..What I bought from Macau
Showcase your nails! No need to show good skin for that 😛
Wow, though I’m organized, I never thought of making one! 🙂 The farthest I probably could go is just a week but further than that..I’m all in blanks! hehehe thanks for sharing this, such a great inspiration!
To be honest, I seldom go past a week. On Sunday evenings, I plan for the week ahead. The yearly plan is just for me to plan giveaways (the ones I sponsor), holidays, etc. Helps me to see the bigger picture 🙂
Shucks, you put us all to shame Tine! >.< Taking a leaf from Xin's comment, the best laid plans also cannot jalan if no inspiration…eeks! But those are some awesome links, it's gonna be my reading material for the Christmas holidays. 😀
beetrice recently posted..Montigo Resorts, Batam – you know you want to!…
Didn’t know your cousin is an organised nutjob, eh? 😉 Nah, it’s just for the blog. Other things in life is a chaos!
That’s very true, what Xin said. Plan so much, no inspiration also won’t work. Sigh. Imma start chanting “gimme oil in my lamp, keep me burning!” 😛
Haha you are so organized, its lovely! I tried and it worked for about a week or two and then it all went to pieces mainly because I found that I wasn’t as interested in blogging a certain thing I’d planned for. So these days, I sort of plan out my posts over the weekend for the coming week, which is about right for me – shoot some photos and prep some text. I’m only really prepared for Day 1 and 2 and the rest of the week thus far has been on the fly. I sorta enjoy it 😀
Paris B recently posted..Shiseido Camellia Compact : The only blush I’ve ever contemplated getting a back up of
It’s borderline OCD, I tell ya. Before this thing called editorial calendars entered my life, I couldn’t be arsed. I think it was when I started to change the direction of the blog and blogged frequently that it became a godsend. Now my week is of grids and dates 😛
Thanks for sharing Tine!!! Love reading this articles:) I agreed with you it’s good to have the editorial calendar to keep us on track of wat we do:)
Aww thanks Michelle. I live my life by calendars. Scary 😛
Awwww! Thanks Tine! Never thought about these planning ideas!
Tram recently posted..Drugstore Cosmetics Launches for Australia — December 2012
My pleasure, lovely. Hope it helps 🙂
This is something I started doing recently. I just sit down on the weekend and plan the posts for the week ahead. I find I can get more work done this way. I use a notebook, but that plugin sounds interesting. Maybe I should give it a try..
gio recently posted..Product Review: The Body Shop Shower Gels in Ginger Sparkle And Vanilla Bliss
That’s great Gio. That’s exactly what I do as well on Sundays. With the week all planned out, it’s easier to write and schedule, thus leaving time for me to do other things 🙂
That is a very good idea that I should implement. Being organized is something I’d like to improve on all the time, and especially so for blogging, since I have so many things to juggle now.
giddy tigress recently posted..My First Visit to Boston, MA
An editorial calendar would definitely help. With everything planned out, don’t have to feel guilty if you didn’t blog on certain days 🙂
I really need to do this. I have always just had a rough list of things I need to write… I think an editorial calendar will DEFINITELY help me. x
Chelsea recently posted..Get To Know Me: Drag Racing
Oh most definitely! Good luck and let me know how you go with one 🙂
This is exactly what I’ve been doing since the beginning of the year! It’s helped me keep on track with ideas and holidays (OMG, especially Japanese holidays, some which can vary from city to city). I still find myself overwhelmed with two jobs and daily life, so I don’t always stick to it, but I still try to post once a week or leave a vacation notice. Since there’s some form of holiday or etiquette post every other day, I’d have to start blogging daily to talk about the kimono I love and random things like Dir en grey or a new book I’m reading.
Really, I don’t know how you keep up! Blogging really is a job in itself! But when I get the energy and time, I write a bunch of posts at once and schedule them to post later. It helps when I can’t keep up!
BebeTaian recently posted..1950s Erotica: Geisha Girls
Hahaha I do this almost full time which is why I need this form of organisation! I have to, or else everything will go haywire 😛
i am too lazy to try for a calender but i did have a mental calender this year and it really worked and i did produce a decent amount of posts as well 🙂 but, yes, you are right that when low on productivity, it really helps!!!
Swati recently posted..Skin Care during Pregnancy {Pregnancy}
A mental calendar? I tip my hat off to you, Swati! I’m so forgetful; I often forget what today’s date is, let alone an actual calendar for the month! 😛
I love the editorial calendar, I find it great for those times when I’m away on long trips for work I can have some content ready to post whilst I’m away although have been rather behind on a lot of my posting lately. You’ve inspired me to be more organised for next year and try to be less sporadic with my posting schedule.
Megan recently posted..How to pack light – Makeup
Haha glad to help Megs. Let’s make 2013 a more organised year for both our blogs, yeah? 🙂
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have found over the past 6 months in particular I have been straying from what my blog was initially about. Getting a proper structure/calendar in place will help me a lot to ensure I stay on track and that the content is balanced.
Have a nice Christmas and New Year period! 🙂
Sarah recently posted..Crazy for Coconuts? (Courtesy of Schwarzkopf & Vivelle!)
Haha glad you found it useful, Sarah. You’re hit the nail on the head when you mentioned keeping the content balanced. I find that an editorial calendar really helps keep mine balanced too. Before the blog got more serious, I was writing about nail polish day after day, or cleansers on consecutive days, which doesn’t help.
Have a wonderful holiday, dearie! xx