Awesome content comes from knowing two things: your goals and your audience.

We’ve covered knowing your audience, and I trust you have completed the exercises in the first 4 parts of our series.

If you would like to catch up with us, you can pick which article meets your content calendar needs. Not sure what those “needs” are? Then just head on over to Part 1!

Part 1: Before Your Start
Part 2: Benefits For Your Business
Part 3: Benefits For Your Audience + Building Ideal Client Avatars
Part 4: Converting Readers Into LeadsSince part 3 and 4 were a study and guide to helping you better understand and serve your ideal audience, we can now move on to using your editorial content calendar to reach business goals. By this, I mean goals which are a direct affect from the articles planned and scheduled in your content calendar. To better understand exactly how this works, let’s begin with your dreams and goals!

Dreaming and Planning For a Productive Future
Step-By-Step Mind Mapping

Note: You will need to take a little bit of time to do this, and it’s best to sit and do it all at once because it’s also like an awesome, uninhibited brain dump! We estimate you’ll need at least 30 minutes to do this. Remember, go wild, and have fun!

You’ll Need: A pen, a few pieces of paper, and a timer (your phone, oven, watch, anything works)

Step 1: First, you’re going to make a list of everything you’d want in your ideal life starting from a few months from now to 1 year from now. So, take one sheet of paper and give your wishlist a name, plus write in today’s date. Then, make four circles in each corner of the paper, one for “Six Months”, one for “One Year”, one for “Three Years”, and the last for “Lifetime.”

Step 2: Set your timer to five minutes and write down everything your ideal life would have or be able to do (be specific) near the appropriate bubble. Forget logic, money and other restraints. Have fun!

Step 3: Once time is up, take a minute to look at everything you’ve written (but don’t erase or change anything!).

Step 4: Now set your timer to one more minute. Go back to each section and pick ONE goal which you want to reach that will impact your life for the better.

Step 5: For each section, you will set your timer to two minutes. Take one of your priorities and make it the center bubble on a new piece of paper. In your two minutes, write down everything that needs to happen, all the steps that need completing, in order for that goal to happen. What steps do you need to take? What resources do you require? Do you need someone’s help? If so, whose? Again, the more specific, the better!

Step 6: Do Step 5 for each priority your picked from Step 4.

Step 7: Now that you have smaller steps for each goal you want to reach or accomplish, you can give them specific deadlines and write it in your calendar or planner. a.k.a. MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Congratulations! You have just done some intense mind-mapping, and life-changing goal-setting! I’m excited for you! The best way to make sure you get it done is to be accountable to someone. If you’re not one to be super public about your dreams and goals, tell a close friend who knows when tough-love is appropriate (which means she can give you a kick in the butt when you need one). Or share with a family member you’re close with, and definitely your partner if you have one!

Being accountable means you’ve dreamed beyond yourself. You’ve shared it with someone else and it’s out in the Universe now. No more excuses, let’s do this!

Applying Your Micro-Steps To Your Calendar To Reach Those Macro-Goals

For each small ‘step’ you wrote out in Step 5, you gave a deadline to in Step 7. You’re now going to fit those accordingly in your calendar.

For example, a business goal directly related to your content calendar is that you want to launch a really awesome e-course. Let’s say you listed that under the ‘Three Months’ bubble of your brain dump.

If you want to get an E-Course out in a short amount of time, the best way to do it is to re-use, re-purpose, and elaborate on content you’ve already created. And launching an e-course is not something you would do if you JUST started writing content, because right now, not many people know who you are, or what you and your business/brand are all about.

Make sure you’ve established your expertise before tackling an e-course UNLESS the e-course will be your lead magnet/opt-in!

With that said, let’s imagine this is an opt-in for people who have just wandered upon your site. You’re an artist with a shop on your website (I strongly suggest SquareSpace!), and you write about oil painting techniques, tips, and tricks, and art as a form of self-care.

Objective: Launch An E-Course As Website Opt-In
Topic: Art as a form of self-care
Time Frame: Launch by the end of three months from October 29, 2019

Steps To Completion (In Order)

1. Sign up for an e-mail automation tool (I use and suggest Mailchimp for beginners, read more here).
2. Create a template which will remain mostly the same throughout the automated email series.
3. Choose how long the e-course will be (every day for a week, every day for three weeks, once a week for a month, etc.).
4. Gather all current content posted to see if anything can be re-used, re-purposed, or elaborated on.
5. Outline content for entire e-course.
6. Determine how many opportunities to upsell to my live art lessons and online self-care group there within course (Do NOT offer every email; you’re first goal is helping the people, not selling to the people).
7. Decide on a title.
8. Write out the entire e-course (no need to do this all at once, but make sure the deadline for this step still gives you plenty of time before launch).
9. Make graphics, screenshots, etc. necessary (if any).
10. Plug text and graphics into template on platform.
11. Look at each email in Preview Mode. Ensure it is to your liking, all links work, etc.
12. Add opt-in box or bar on website.
13. Test opt-in with your own email.
14. Prepare for launch by creating informative, compelling, captivating landing page.
15. Spread the word!

*Note: This is purely an example and in no way means this is exactly how you should build an e-course opt-in. However, it’s a good start 🙂

Each of the 15 steps above needs a deadline, otherwise it might never happen. So let’s look at it realistically. You want this launched in three months. You could easily divide this into 3 months since it’s 15 steps – 5 per month!

Nov 01 to Dec 01: Steps 1-7 (because none of these are labor intense)
Dec 02 to Jan 01: Steps 7-9 (very labor intensive and requires focus)
Jan 02 to Feb 01: Steps 10-15 (some labor, but more promotion, sharing, inviting, and collaborating with other to expand your audience)

I will leave it up to you to give each step a very precise deadline, the above breakdown is to help you visualise and stay realistic in your goals!

How Content And Goals Mix

I will give you one example directly related to the e-course sample above. BEFORE you launch but while you’re preparing, you write a few articles about art as a form of self-care for mums (or whoever your ideal audience is). Build up anticipation by mentioning your upcoming free e-course, and tell your readers to keep their eyes open!

Share on social media that you’ll be launching a free, refreshing e-course on __________ [insert launch date]. Get your ideal audience excited!

Good content planning and goals go together to create a better strategy for you and your business, especially if you’re seeking growth, wider reach, and more exposure! Those articles above that you’d post BEFORE the launch of your e-course must be planned beforehand, and you’ll see it once you write/type it into your content calendar. You’ll stay organised, focused, and know exactly what needs to go out when.

TAKE ACTION: Do the Mind-Mapping exercise above. If you’re serious (which I’m sure you are!) then this could potentially change your life!

In the very last part of this series, I’ll talk about what else you might need for your content calendar, and how you can be realistic about the content you push out weekly and monthly (which is really what makes it work long-term)!

Have fun!