If you are writing content for your business, you don’t need a complex content plan. It’s not just you; we have all tried an elaborate version with a color-coded calendar and a post for every day. Most of us abandoned it by the second Tuesday.
A good content plan is one you will still follow when the week gets busy. Building that kind of plan is easier than you probably can imagine.
Why Most Content Plans Fall Apart
The reason many content plans fail is that they are built around what you THINK you should post and not around how you actually work.
A plan based on what you think you should post asks for a pace you can not sustain during a real week in your business. You start strong, spending several hours writing your content, then you slip behind a few days, and quietly the guilt of being behind convinces you to abandon your plan completely.
The solution is to build your content plan around your real life.
Start Your Plan With One Reader In Mind
Before you start thinking about topics, picture the one person you most want to help. This is the client who lights up when you finally help them find the solution to the problem they have been wrestling with. Writing to one specific person instead of a faceless crowd makes the writing easier.
Create an avatar of your ideal client: a picture of their pain points, goals, personality type, and emotional drivers.
Begin a running list of the questions your clients and prospects actually ask you, since every real question is a post already half-written, in the words your reader uses.
Choose A Schedule You Can Keep
Consistency has more to do with a rhythm your reader can count on than the volume you post.
Pick a cadence that truly fits your calendar, whether it is one thoughtful post a week or two longer blogs per month. Treat the number as a promise to your business, not a stretch goal.
An overly ambitious schedule will most likely be unsustainable over the long term as you build your business. Posting less content, but posting it consistently, will keep you visible.
Give Your Content Plan A Few Repeatable Formats
Now that you know who you are writing to and how often you can reasonably write your content, plan a small set of formats you can rotate through.
You won’t need to reinvent the wheel every time you sit down to write. You may want to rotate through:
- a short teaching post
- a personal story
- a quick tip.
The format does half the thinking for you because the blank page stops feeling overwhelming when you already know what kind of post you are writing.
Build In Room For Real Life
The last piece is the one most content plans are missing. This is the one piece that will truly save your sanity. Decide ahead of time what happens when you miss your target. Can you repurpose an older post or simply pick back up without punishing yourself for the gap? Build a plan that expects real life, not a flawless week.
Now you have created a content system you can keep for years, not one more plan that fizzles out quickly.
When You Would Rather Not Do It Alone
I have built a place for entrepreneurs who still find keeping their content plan feels like a lot. The Writing Room is a small, no-pressure membership where we meet each week on Zoom, have a short lesson, and then write together in two 20-25-minute sessions with accountability.
Current members have said they are surprised by how much they accomplish in one focused hour.
I would love for you to join us and give yourself the structure, accountability, and good company that will make showing up much easier. Join The Writing Room here.