I would like to say that I followed my own advice and had this post ready to go weeks ago. Alas, I let myself slip and now I’m scrambling to pull a readable article together in time for my regular Monday posting….a week late. It would have been on time, except things came up that I needed to attend to, and then I felt ill, and…well, you know. These things happen. Now I’m behind on my schedule.

That makes me one of the countless people who don’t keep up with a regular content schedule. It’s one of the chief contributing factors to failed blogs and social media campaigns. Once your routine falls out of rhythm, or worse, if you don’t have one at all, things can quickly pile up and become overwhelming.

So you have to create awesome, eye catching, engaging content. You have to do it without eating up all of your time. You have to put it out there on a consistent basis.

How do you stay on top of this?

Brainstorm

If you have ideas ready to go, it’s a lot easier to create things when the time comes.

Set aside time to brainstorm a set of ideas that would make great content. You don’t have to use all of them. This is a time for generating ideas, not judging them. Your inner editor can be unleashed once there is enough fodder on the page to satiate it. Right now it is quantity you’re looking for, not quality. There will be time to pare down your ideas later on.

You might find you have a lot of good ideas lurking in the corners of your mind. You may also find them to be elusive and quite good at hiding unnoticed in those corners. Worse, you may discover you can’t come up with any ideas.

Fear not! If you find yourself staring at a blank page (or screen), there is no shame in reaching out for help. Using a system or tool developed by someone else can give you the starting point and structure you need to generate  You can use a system like this one from HubSpot for generating content ideas. You can try using a new technique, such as word association, mind mapping, or word banks. Use tools like Quora and the predictive search function of Google to learn what questions your audience wants answered. If all else fails, look at what others have created and build your own ideas from there.

Create an editorial calendar

Planning ahead means knowing when things will happen. Creating an editorial calendar will help you to see into the future, and keep your content tied together and on topic. Your campaigns can be tracked, and you will have a written reminder for what needs to be done and when.

Editorial calendars help keep you consistent. There are many different options available online, both free and paid. WordPress users can install an editorial calendar plugin.

Consider the benefits of a pen-and-paper calendar when you’re looking. According to a 2014 study conducted by Pam Mueller of Princeton University and Daniel Oppenheimer of UCLA, writing by hand helps you remember things better than typing them up.

The other benefit of creating an editorial calendar is having a visual representation of how much of a buffer zone you have, just in case something does come up that throws your schedule off. By setting up your work ahead of time and knowing where you are going, you avoid the headache of trying to catch up and fit things as things continue. I recommend having no less than a two week buffer period, although I strongly recommend having more if you can.

Adoptables

I use the term “adoptable” as a label for content that I’ve created that can be slipped in whenever and wherever I need it. It is “adopted” into my current project. When I worked for a marketing agency, I saved posts and pages from projects that did not make the cut for the final result for one client’s campaign. These weren’t poor quality pieces, mind you. Sometimes the contract would be terminated early, or the direction of the project would change, or some other strange thing would happen that would render the content moot. Rather than scrap them entirely, I saved the pieces for a rainy day.

When a new client came along with a similar project, I had a set of content I could quickly update and adapt to fit into their campaigns. I saved time and effort and extended my buffer period for these projects.

For your own projects, adoptables can be content that you hold in waiting for when the time is right. Didn’t have time to write a blog post this week? Bam, adoptable post, all ready to go.

 

Repurpose content across channels

You post to multiple online sources. You’ve got emails, newsletters, blog updates, Instagram photos, Facebook posts, Tweets, pins, and so much more. Each of those outlets has different strengths and drawbacks, and each one draws a different audience.

Repurposing content can help you reach a broader audience without having to start from scratch for each project. Blog posts can become podcasts or videos, or be used to create an ebook. Photos can be inserted almost anywhere, saving you from having to find the right stock image or create new graphics. Frequently answered questions from support channels or answers you have supplied on Quora or other sites can become the basis for blog posts.

The possibilities for repurposing content are almost endless. Be creative, and use what you have to create something new and engaging.

Use management tools

If you are spending a lot of time on social media, there are a host of management tools available to make life easier. Facebook has a built-in scheduling ability allowing page managers to determine when content should be shown to their audience. Twitter has a built-in analytics tool, which can help you determine which content is performing well so you know what to make more of.

A more comprehensive approach might be to use a full social media management platform, such as Buffer or Hootsuite. Both of these tools are powerful allies in the battle to stay on top of things. You can create posts across multiple channels, schedule them, review feeds, comment and interact with audiences, and create analytics reports, all from one place. Each one offers a free plan as well as several paid packages, so it is worth playing with both options to decide which one works best for you.

You can also cross-post your content. Tools like If This, Then That (IFTTT) allow you to send things out across multiple channels without spending a lot of time or effort. For example, you can set up a recipe so that if a post is sent to Instagram, it should be shared across all other social media platforms you are using.

Realize mistakes happen

Nobody is perfect. There is going to come a time when you make a mistake, lose track of time, or simply need to push a project to the side to make room for a bigger priority. It happens.

When it does, don’t worry. This is not the end of the world and it can be fixed. Take a deep breath, apologize if you need to, and get back on track. If you’re not already using some of the suggestions I made here for planning ahead, now is the time to choose at least one and make a point of implementing it.

I’m still not feeling my best, but at least I’m back on track with my posting. In between resting with a giant mug of tea on hand and my other obligations, I’m going to sit myself down, follow my own advice, and create a calendar so I know what I’m posting and when. I may even create a buffer post and hide it in my adoptables file.

Do you have suggestions for planning ahead and staying on track with your content schedule? I’d love to hear it. Share your ideas with me and everyone else by leaving a comment below.