When you hear the term “content creation process,” does it make you cringe a little? As an entrepreneur, you know how challenging it can be to create engaging content while building a business and maintaining a balanced life.
This is why in my latest episode of Shop Talk, “How To Create A 90-Day Content Calendar Step-by-Step,” I’m sharing the revolutionary way to effortlessly create an entire 90-day content calendar in just a few hours! In this episode, I am handing you the same method I use that has completely transformed my business and saved me valuable time!
With this game-changing method, you will gain a clear focus, stay organized, and maximize your marketing efforts—all achieved through a streamlined content calendar.
Are you ready to unlock the secrets of efficient content creation? Check out this episode, and let’s get started!
Snapshot of this episode:
- 2:58 – What is a content calendar?
- 5:21 – What I include in my content calendar
- 15:39 – Obstacles Holding You Back From Creating Content
- 23:42 – How to Generate a Year’s Worth of Content Ideas in Just a Few Hours
- 27:28 – Your Content Creation Strategy Made Easy
Links mentioned:
Extraordinary Entrepreneur Facebook Community
When you hear “content creation process,” how does it make you feel? If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you probably just cringed a little. But what if there was a way to create an entire 90-day content calendar in just a few hours?
You might be thinking, “A few hours, Misty? I don’t believe it.” But it is true! I consistently use a foolproof method for creating my content calendar that has completely transformed my business. Now, I’m thrilled to pass on this game-changing method to you.
You see, I’ve been in your shoes, struggling to keep up with the demands of creating engaging content while trying to build a business and maintain a balanced life. All the while, it made me feel feeling like I was drowning!
I know what it feels like to have the pressure to consistently produce high-quality content, the struggle to stay organized, and the feeling of being overwhelmed by the never-ending demands of marketing. But I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to be that way.
My name is Misty Kortes, and I am the founder of “Your Marketing Coach.” Over the past decade, my team and I have had the privilege of working with nearly 4,000 entrepreneurs, helping them package their knowledge, build their brands, and serve their audience in a meaningful way.
Through this experience, I’ve learned the ins and outs of content creation, and I’ve developed a simple system that has transformed my approach that takes the stress out of planning and creating the content.
Today I can create a 90-day content calendar in just a few hours. This process has not only saved me time but has also helped me get organized and maximize my marketing efforts.
And that’s what I want for you as well!
Ok, enough about me! Let’s first start with the basics…
What is a content calendar?
A content calendar, also referred to as a marketing calendar or editorial calendar, is a tool used to plan and organize your marketing activities over a specific period of time. You can plan your calendar monthly or yearly, but I personally like to plan my content in (what I call) 90-day sprints.
The reason I like to plan in 90-day sprints is because:
- It gives me a clear focus on what I want to accomplish during that 90 days. I’ve found that if I plan monthly, I can easily get distracted and off track.
- I’ve discovered that 90 days is the sweet spot for actually moving the needle in my business.
- Planning 90 days at a time gives me some breathing room so that I can (sort of) “set it and forget it.” I say “sort of” because I still like to create posts organically (on the fly) as I feel inspired to. But it’s really nice knowing that I don’t have to if I don’t have time.
- For me, planning a year ahead of time seems very overwhelming. I lose the flexibility of responding to trends in the industry, and I like to adjust my content based on the feedback I’m receiving.
What I include in my content calendar
To create a content calendar, you have to know what it will consist of. Here is an overview of what I include in mine:
- Sales Promotions
- Weekly Core Content
- Ungated Micro-Content
- Gated Content
- Promotional Content
I know that undertaking the content creation process on your own can feel intimidating at first. But don’t worry! I’ve got your back. I’ve created a Content Creation Calendar Template you can download for FREE, making it super easy to implement the next 90 days of content for your business!
Now, to get a clear understanding of each section of the calendar, let’s break down each of these individually.
Sales Promotions
The first thing I add to my 90-day calendar is my sales promotions. Your sales promotions are the key drivers of your business growth and revenue generation.
Whether it’s a product launch, a limited-time offer, or an upcoming event, promotions are the strategic initiatives that create buzz and excitement around your brand. By first incorporating promotions into your 90-day content calendar, you ensure they are thoughtfully planned and integrated with your overall content strategy.
Weekly Core Content
The next content I add to my calendar is my weekly core content. This is content that you create each week that forms the backbone of your brand’s online presence. It typically consists of in-depth blog posts, podcast episodes, or videos that provide valuable information and your unique point of view on specific topics to your audience. Weekly core content establishes your expertise, builds trust, and keeps your audience engaged and coming back for more.
Wanna know my shortcut to creating most of my content?
I create my core content by hosting a live Facebook call each week. Then, here’s where the magic happens:
- Once I host the live call, my team downloads the video.
- Our video editor edits the video and extracts the audio.
- The video gets posted to YouTube.
- The audio gets uploaded to my podcast.
- My copywriter writes an SEO blog article that gets posted to our website.
- And then, my content specialist and designer create ungated micro-content from those three core content pieces (video, audio, and blog article.)
You might be wondering, “What is this ungated micro-content?” that I’m referring to.
Ungated Micro-Content
Your ungated micro-content is the bite-sized content you share on social media to grab your audience’s attention and drive engagement. It includes short videos, infographics, inspirational quotes, or quick tips that are easily consumable and shareable. Ungated micro-content acts as teasers (or hooks), directing your audience to your core content, offers, or gated content.
Gated Content
Gated content is anything of value you offer your target audience in exchange for their contact information. This content is referred to as lead magnets and serves as a way to grow your email list and nurture leads. Gated content can be in the form of e-books, whitepapers, webinars, training videos, mini-courses, audio playlists, or even tools that provide value to your audience.
Promotional Content
Promotional content is the content you create to promote your core content, gated content, and offers/sales promotions.
This type of content includes email broadcasts, social media messages, and LinkedIn articles.
You might be thinking, “This all makes sense, but I don’t know what to talk about. I don’t know what my audience wants to hear. Or, I have too much to talk about; I don’t know where to start.”
Well, you’re in for a treat because I have some tips to help you create a year’s worth of content ideas in a couple of hours.
But before I dive into my tips. I want to share the most common things I see holding our clients back from creating content.
Obstacles Holding You Back From Creating Content
I’ve heard many people say things like, “I can’t create content,” without realizing they just need to identify what is getting in their way. Figuring out what’s holding you back in their content creation process is critical. When you recognize those obstacles, you’re in control and can tackle them head-on!
Overthinking your content
Clients ask me all the time, “Do you think this will work?” Referring to the content they’ve spent hours agonizing over – not creating it, but deciding what to talk about!!! My answer is almost always the same. “I don’t know, let’s see.”
Create it. Share it. And see how your audience engages with it. Let the data show you want they want.
Don’t overthink it. Just create.
Perfectionism.
Couple of things here…
First, perfectionism is self-doubt and fear in disguise. You need to recognize that to be set free. Perfectionism often stems from the fear of not being good enough or the fear of judgment. This could be a training by itself, but if you know – you know.
Second, stop comparing your start with someone else middle or end. Comparison can be a creativity killer. When you compare your beginning to someone else’s advanced stage, it can lead to self-doubt, discouragement, and a feeling of inadequacy. Remember that everyone’s journey is unique, and we all start somewhere. Focus on your growth, progress, and the value you can offer your audience.
Just show up. You’ll get better (I promise).
Time constraints
If this all seems really overwhelming to you, I have a solution. Let my team help you. I’m serious!
You have three choices here…
- You can do everything on your own.
- You can hire a bunch of freelancers that you’ll have to manage.
- Or you can work with one of our Content Creation Specialists and have my team handle everything.
Here’s how it works:
- You host one Facebook Live call each week. We suggest that the call be 15 – 30 minutes long, sharing valuable information on a topic your audience will find helpful.
- You send your video off to our team, and we turn that video into multiple pieces of core and micro-content.
- We edit the video.
- We extract the audio.
- We write the SEO blog article.
- We create quote images.
- We create audiograms.
- We create video snippets.
- We write social media posts.
- And then, we send the content back to you to post to your social media profiles.
- We even train you on how to do that in less than 1 hour – for the entire 90 days!!
Creating content is the key to your online marketing success; however, doing it consistently can be a struggle. But with our Content Creation Machine, we’ve taken the hassle and headache off of your shoulders. So, if you’re ready for a knock-out marketing strategy that will take your business to the next level, let our services do the heavy lifting for you.
Ok, now let’s wrap up with generating content ideas!
How to Generate a Year’s Worth of Content Ideas in Just a Few Hours
The only reason people think content creation is difficult is because they assume they have to know what to talk about at all times – but that’s unrealistic. The most effective way to consistently produce quality content is to plan ahead.
Here’s what I do:
- As I work with clients and even my own coaches, I am constantly reminded of questions and topics I can discuss. I created a Google Doc to document these ideas as I go about my days.
- As I see other people’s content on social media, I often get inspired to share my own unique point of view on a particular subject. I will forward the post to myself and have an email filter that puts these ideas in a folder I can turn to when I create my own content.
- I am also a member of a handful of key groups where my ideal customer hangs out. I can spend a few minutes scrolling through the threads of conversations and find tons of topics that I can talk about.
- Another thing that I’ll do is ask our community. I will drop a social media post or send an email asking what I can do to help them out.
- And the last tool that I’ve started using over the last several months is Chat GPT. (We refer to them as “G.”) “G” is an excellent tool for generating a list of trending topics, challenges, or common questions your ideal customer struggles with. You can literally ask “G” to give you years worth of topics, and in minutes they will produce a list of ideas!
Your Content Creation Strategy Made Easy
Content creation is critical if you want to leverage the online environment to grow your business. One of the most effective ways to do that is to spend a few hours implementing the 90-day content calendar.
If you host a 15 – 30 minute Facebook Live call each week, you’ll have captured enough content that can be repurposed into multiple pieces of content you can share to get your business more exposure, capture leads, and drive your ideal audience to your offers and promotions. If you want to know the tools and processes we use to repurpose your videos so that you can do it on your own, check out our Content Creation Lab to access my free training. This training shows you step-by-step how to create all the content you need for your marketing.
And if you prefer to have our team handle all your content creation, take advantage of our Content Machine, and we’ll give you the details on our done-for-you services.
To get exclusive access to more marketing tips and tricks, make sure you join the Extraordinary Entrepreneur Facebook Community. Here, you can join me each week on Wednesday at 12 noon EST as I host a live call, sharing marketing strategies that work.
And lastly, if you enjoyed what I’ve shared today, help me spread the word by sharing this with your friends, family, and colleagues. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in this business, it’s that if you want to people to follow you, to share your stuff, to become part of your community – you have to do it first.
I appreciate you, and I will see you again next week!
