21 IDEAS BLUEPRINT

HOW TO PLAN &

Your content calendar can literally be your roadmap to attracting more people into your tribe.
While it may be fun to post cat videos or rant about your political beliefs online, do these types
of posts serve your target audience? Do they portray your business in the best light possible?
Most likely not. If you’re choosing to use online outlets for personal use, post all the cat videos
you want. But if you want a more professional image, stick to the content your audience wants
and needs.

How do you get to that point of KNOWING what they want and need? It takes a deep
understanding of WHO is in your audience and what problems they need help solving. Once you
do some research and actually speak to those in your audience, you’ll instinctively know where
to find inspiration for your content.

These 21 ideas will help you create your content calendar, give suggestions of where to find
inspiration, as well as help you find the time to stick to your creation schedule. If you’re not
creating content, your audience WILL forget about you. So, let’s get started!

1. Try Using the Pomodoro Time Management Technique

This technique is based on the idea that multi-tasking does not work, and you’ll be more
productive when your mind is focused on a singular activity or task. Set a timer for 25
minutes of focused work, then take a 5-minute break when the timer rings. Get up to
stretch, get a glass of water, or close your eyes. At the end of 5-minutes, reset the timer
and repeat the process.

By focusing on your task, you’ll be surprised at how few Pomodoro sessions it takes to
complete the work. This technique can be applied to any task in your business but
working on your content calendar may be a great way to get started. If you don’t have a
plain kitchen timer to use, try using this Chrome extension.

2. Set Up Google Alerts

Google is a little like Big Brother, so if you want to stay up to date on the latest industry
news, ask Google. Simply type in the keyword phrases you want to track, and Google
will send daily or weekly alerts to your inbox whenever that phrase pops up in a news
story online.

Once you receive the Google Alerts, create content around that news topic. If it’s a
time-sensitive topic, then publish your content right away. If it’s more evergreen,
schedule this content on your calendar for a later date.
21 IDEAS BLUEPRINT: How to Plan & Create Your Attention-Grabbing Content Calendar

3. Poll Your Audience

If you’re at a loss about what to talk about, simply ask your audience what’s on their
mind. Facebook has the option of setting up a poll within your post or use Survey
Monkey to create a survey, then send the link to your email list.

With this method of data gathering, you may discover a pattern of answers that
indicates a new pain point or struggle. Or you may discover a way to create a new
product or class that covers the exact problem your survey uncovers. When in doubt,
don’t guess; ask your audience. The easiest way to gather information is to simply ask a
question.

4. Scan Google Trends for Inspiration

Google Trends is a quick way to see what topics are hot in any region of the world.
While you can enter your own search word, Google Trends also has lists of Recently
Trending topics that are easy to peruse for ideas.

When you come up with these content ideas, also think of a way to spin the topic
around to add your unique perspective. Your tribe follows you for a reason so think of
your people when creating this content. Instead of regurgitating the same information,
find ways to make your content compelling and uniquely your own.

5. Remove All Distractions from Your Office

No matter which time management technique you choose to adopt, it will only work if
you eliminate as many distractions from your workspace as possible. Life will go on if
you turn off your computer notifications. Sign out of your social platforms and close
down any extra browser windows you don’t need.

Focus your energy on creating superior content, one blog post or video at a time. Even
those who work in a home office with all the family and home distractions can manage
to find some quiet time to think and create.

6. Create Your Optimal Work Environment

You’ll focus better and find your creative spirit when you’re working in a space that
nurtures that creativity. If you need music as a background noise, load up your Spotify
account with your favorite tunes. Improve your lighting; decorate your walls with
inspiring artwork and colors that awaken your creativity.
21 IDEAS BLUEPRINT: How to Plan & Create Your Attention-Grabbing Content Calendar

For those who need other people around, take up a comfy chair at your local library,
coffee shop, or co-working space. Think about your own personality and what brings
your spirit to life so you can find your ideal work environment.

7. Keep a Content Ideas Journal

Content ideas may appear at any given moment, no matter how inopportune. If you
carry a content ideas journal with you – or at least have one close at hand in your office
– you can write down these ideas as they come. Don’t fall for the trick of thinking, “It’s
such a great idea I’ll NEVER forget it.” You’re practically jinxing yourself to forget the
idea as quickly as you thought of it.

This idea journal can be the landing spot for your brain dumps. Just write down
absolutely anything related to your business, without editing any of the ideas or
thoughts. Not only will you feel lighter from unloading all those ideas, but you’ll
recognize some ideas that will benefit your audience. Put them on your content
calendar right away so you can move onto the content creation phase.

8. Learn to Say NO

Saying NO is really a lesson in setting boundaries. For instance, if you have Tuesday
mornings blocked off to create content, no way no how should you agree to take on a
client call or a JV partnership meeting during that time frame. Yes, you have clients to
serve; but you don’t have to forsake your own business work in order to help them.

If you have difficulty saying NO to people, then hire a VA who can handle your schedule
and say NO for you. Many times, it’s easier to have a third party handling those inquiries
but learning how to say NO yourself is still beneficial.

9. “Eat that Frog”

Even though this time management theory has a funny name, there’s nothing funny
about its results. “Eat that frog” simply means do the most difficult thing on your list
first. That’s it.

If eating the frog equates to creating your content, then allow some time at the very
beginning of your day to tackle that challenge. Write that single blog post. Record that
video. Write that email with a paid offer. These are content ideas that many people put
off until later in the day; except “later” often doesn’t come. Take charge of those frogs!
21 IDEAS BLUEPRINT: How to Plan & Create Your Attention-Grabbing Content Calendar

10. Find Inspiration from Other Entrepreneurs

When you want to throw in the towel and live the simple status quo, look at other
entrepreneurs you admire for inspiration. John Lee Dumas of EOFire.com is a content
creating powerhouse. His popular 7+ year podcast publishes DAILY interviews with
successful entrepreneurs. If JDL doesn’t inspire you, no doubt one of his 2000+ guests
will! He found the content format he truly enjoyed and now delivers content to his
audience every single day.

Marie Forleo is another successful entrepreneur who found her favorite content format
with her MarieTV channel on YouTube. She has a very easy-to-approach presence on
camera and she has created multiple playlists chock full of evergreen business topics as
well as inspiring interviews. Granted, both of these content powerhouses have teams
helping them stay on track behind the scenes but look at both of these examples as
“what’s possible” when you find your tribe and give them the content they need.

11. Track Your Time Wasting

We’ve all been down those elusive “rabbit holes,” such as going on Facebook for 10-
minutes to post something on your page but then you get sucked into scrolling your
newsfeed. Before you know it, that 10-minute limit has morphed into 60 minutes.
Instead of wondering where all your time went, start tracking where you spend your
time online. Of course, there’s an app for that!

Rescue Time is just one of many apps that will monitor your computer usage. You’ll
receive reports of how your time was spent each day and you’ll see in black and white if
you went down any rabbit holes. Fill in those holes and you’ll magically have more time
for content creation.

12. Impose the 5-Minute Rule for Easy Tasks

Why put off until tomorrow what you can do today? If you read an email that’s asking
for something you can do in less than 5 minutes, stop everything and complete that
task. Then you can delete that email from your inbox and take pride in accomplishing
something easy.

What happens if you don’t take care of that 5-minute task right away? Usually, it gets
buried at the bottom of your inbox and you forget about it. Or it gets deleted by mistake
until that same person emails or calls you again. Instead of causing stress, just take care
of the task and move on with your day.
21 IDEAS BLUEPRINT: How to Plan & Create Your Attention-Grabbing Content Calendar

13. Repurpose Your Old Content into a New Format

When you’re stuck for content ideas, try a new format instead. Go Live talking about a
topic you covered last year on your blog. Gather some popular blog posts and turn them
into an eBook or list magnet. Expound upon a comment from social media in a blog post
or video. Convert your video files into mp3 audio files and bundle them into a class for
sale or for a lead magnet.

Updating older blog posts to add new data or case studies is also repurposing content.
Make your life easier by asking your VA to keep a running tally of content that can be
transformed into a new format. Add that task to your content creation calendar and you
won’t struggle thinking of something new to say.

14. Explain How the Current News Affects Your Industry

While it may be risky to bring news and politics into your content creation, some news
stories may truly affect your industry or niche, so it’s worthwhile to tell your audience
about it. Talk about the good and the bad and remember to look at your local,
hometown news for inspiration instead of focusing solely on national news.

Test out this format with a single piece of content and track its engagement. You’ll
either hear crickets or blow up the internet with comments, which will tell you straight
away if this is a good or bad idea to pursue. If you’re passionate about including news in
your content, consider using it on a monthly basis.

15. Conduct Keyword Research

Make the most of your content by optimizing every piece with keyword phrases.
Keywords are what your target audience uses to find you and/or your specialty in the
search engines. Utilizing smart keyword strategies also helps raise your search rankings
so you’re not stuck on page 7 of the search results.

Keyword tools such as Wordtracker give insights into how frequently a phrase is
searched, which indicates if it’s a high-demand keyword or one that’s seldom used. You
can also find new keyword phrase ideas that you might not have thought of targeting.
Your initial keyword search will be lengthier than the follow up searches, but you can
also assign this task to a VA or hire an SEO strategist.

16. Think “Sideways” When Creating Your Content Buckets

Content buckets are a great way to visualize the topics you want to talk about but if
you’re questioning how many times you can talk about your main specialty, it’s time to
21 IDEAS BLUEPRINT: How to Plan & Create Your Attention-Grabbing Content Calendar

think “sideways.” In other words, think about related topics that will still draw in your
main audience.

For instance, a local seasonal party rental company only rents party tents, tables, and
chairs. There’s only so much you can talk about needing a party tent, so they also
publish party planning ideas (which also mentions the importance of needing a party
tent, tables, and chairs). So, even though this particular company isn’t a party planner,
they offer party planning info to lead their audience to rent their tents. Thinking
sideways can breathe new life into your content planning, simply by mixing up new
ideas with the older topics.

17. Lock Your Browser Tabs to Discourage Time Wasting

If you’re prone to getting distracted with “just one more peek” on social media, try
using an app such as Focus, which literally locks your browser so you cannot log on to
those time-wasting sites. Focus is only for Mac and it also has a timer to use for your
Pomodoro technique (see Idea #1).

For those with Windows, Rescue Time allows you to block certain sites or you can try
StayFocusd, which is a Chrome extension that blocks your list of time-wasting sites after
your pre-appointed time limit expires. If you can’t log on to your sites, you have no
choice but to focus on work, right?

18. Build Content Based on Promotional Offers

Affiliate marketing is one way to build an alternate income stream to supplement your
client work, especially since YOU don’t have to do the creating or customer service.
Scoping out products and courses that will benefit your audience is also another way to
create content.

Write a review of the product. Video a demonstration of the product. Create a webinar
about a similar topic or bullet point and poise the affiliate product as the ending offer.
Expand upon the product by offering your different perspective or go into more depth
about one of the topics mentioned in the product. Your excitement about the product
will be contagious so let that energy drive your creativity.

19. Create Content from Live Events

You don’t need to be a keynote speaker to attend live events or create content based on
those events. Take selfies with the speakers. Meet up with some online acquaintances
and take more photos. Images count as content, especially if you then write a blog post
adding more details about the event.
 21 IDEAS BLUEPRINT: How to Plan & Create Your Attention-Grabbing Content Calendar

Go Live during a break. Record an interview with your favorite speaker. Document your
fangirl moment meeting an iconic legend. Share lessons learned from the breakout
groups. You’ll naturally attract more people to your circle of influence because YOU are
at the event, learning and expanding your current knowledgebase.

20. Make Your Content Calendar Portable

If you travel a lot – or even if you find yourself working from different local locations –
make a portable version of your content calendar so you can call an audible while out
and about. Since we never know when inspiration will strike, having your calendar with
you always allows you to reschedule posts or change topics quickly. If your calendar is
the whiteboard in your office, what are the chances you’ll remember these ideas by the
time you get back home.

Planning on paper or whiteboards is great but then import those ideas into a digital
content calendar (or have your VA do it). Even if you stick with a simple Excel
spreadsheet, you can access that on your smartphone from anywhere to make changes
or add notes. Don’t risk losing your brilliant ideas because you depended on old school
methods.

21. Let’s Not Forget Your Promotional Content

Publishing content is wonderful but if no one sees it, what good is it? Promotional
content includes making sales offers but it also includes your online advertising copy
and cross promotional posts.

Instead of just sharing one promo piece across all your platforms, add more
personalized copy for each audience along with the shared link. If you’re connected with
members on multiple platforms, they WILL notice if you’re copying/pasting the same
link everywhere. They will also notice if you take the time to make each post a bit
different. Maybe include different tips related to the topic of your promo. Include a
teaser in the copy to encourage them to click the link. Your promo content is equally
important as the content in your product, course, or blog post.

Content has been and always will be king in the online world. If you don’t create content for
your audience, you have no online presence. If you have no online presence, you have no sales.
It may sound like a vicious cycle but it’s a necessary one to cull out the spammers and those
who aren’t serious about helping their customers.
 21 IDEAS BLUEPRINT: How to Plan & Create Your Attention-Grabbing Content Calendar

Take a few of these ideas and implement them. But first, commit to yourself that you’ll start
planning your content. Even if it’s just one week at a time, you’ll notice the freedom you have,
knowing you have a plan and knowing exactly what you must create on any given day.