Editorial calendars not only help you stay organized. They can also help
reduce your stress levels — a winning combination!
Editorial calendars (despite the name) are NOT just for editors. They come in handy no matter what type of writing you do — whether business or personal.
Like any other calendar, they help you not only MAP OUT YOUR FUTURE SCHEDULE, they also help you KEEP TRACK of that schedule.
Where to Use Them
Whether the content you produce is digital (including videos) or print, an editorial calendar can become your “best friend.” Before I sent out my first issue of Get Creative! in April 2023, I had created an editorial calendar that spanned not just one but TWO years.
Then, thanks to a presentation I saw from Jennifer Cohen later that year (whom I’d met in Belinda Sandor’s VA School), I realized that I could use a calendar to schedule my social media posts, too!
It didn’t take me long to come up with 4 main topics. Over the next year, I wrote 13 posts for each of those topics (aka “categories”) — enough to fill up most days of the week for 52 weeks. I also threw in a couple of extra categories: Inspirational Quotes and Creativity Tips, to take care of the extra days each month. (All were posted on LinkedIn.)
The Writing Tips didn’t take long to list, but I liked that the calendar forced me to think of other ways to share helpful info with my readers. Most of my Editing Tips turned into Proofreading Tips … which always generated a lot of responses from followers on LinkedIn.
The tips I’ve shared under the category of Website Optimization were very basic, but I’ve been surprised by how many people weren’t aware of some of them!
But the category I never would’ve thought of if it hadn’t been for the posts I’d seen from others who’d attended Belinda’s school was this one: Did You Know a Virtual Assistant Can …?
Why They’re Important
STAYING ORGANIZED (whether you’re planning or keeping track of your schedule) is one of the best stress reducers there is. So stress relief is (in my opinion) the most important reason to have an editorial calendar.
Closely tied to this benefit, though, is boosting your reputation … which is especially important if your writing is done in a professional capacity.
When customers and clients see that the information you publish online or in print — or that you send via email — is consistent with your company’s mission (which most likely shows up somewhere on your website), their opinion of your company is likely to be even more favorable.
Not Written in Stone!
One of the best things about an editorial calendar you create for your own content is this: YOU’RE FREE TO CHANGE IT AS OFTEN AS YOU LIKE.
An exception to this might be if you have a calendar that is published somewhere, but since most entrepreneurs and small business owners are the only ones who see their calendars, it’s OK to revise them.
For example, the issue I sent out in June (“How Reliable Are Your Sources?”) was originally going to be about “fact-checking.” But the more I thought about it, I realized not all “facts” that we find online — or even in books! — are accurate.
Creating Categories Can Help
At the beginning of this year, I decided to dedicate the next 12 issues to different aspects of writing. In previous years, my main focus was on helping people become more creative in their businesses and personal lives — which sometimes focused on writing, but not always.
The topic I chose for the November 2024 issue was one that I think relates closely to this month’s topic, so I’m including a link to that here: Categories – Why Bother with Them?
