Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Youtube

 

Ready to learn how to plan an entire month of content in just one hour? In this episode of the Every Successful Rancher Podcast, I teach you the strategy I use for creating content across all my platforms including this podcast. You will learn my planning and prepping strategies for content creation, personal habits and motivational methods, and about specific tools that help you along the way.

 

Your Goals and Big Picture Idea

 

I am a fresh start person. Meaning, I love Mondays, new years, and new months. And at this current moment in time I am planning for the arrival of our second baby, so that means I have taken this first quarter of the year to a new level. My content planning and creation have been set to hyper mode. One of the first things I like to do when I am planning ahead (specifically each month) is to look at the big picture. What goals do I have for that month? What is going to be my main focus and driving force? In my own content planning strategy this strategy of breaking down the year into quarters and then into months to facilitate content creation seems to work best.

One of my favorite things to do when I am brainstorming a new month is to have a daydream session. This is where I step out of my usual office space and go sit somewhere that allows for more inspiration. Maybe sitting outside, or going for a drive somewhere, or even just sitting on my couch. I turn on music and just bullet style – write down all my ideas that come to my brain.

The key for doing this is to not scroll or look at what other people are doing. If you take a few minute to just sit with your own thoughts, you will be surprised how much you learn about yourself and what you actually want in your own business. After you jot down all your ideas and thoughts, it’s time to start building out your action plan. Write down what needs to get done to accomplish those goals and what meeting those dreams might look like. How much money do you want to make this month? In order to get there, how many of “X” would you need to sell? Is there something you have planned that you just want to be ahead on to feel less overwhelm? What steps do you need to take to get there?

 

Have or Create Systems

 

It is so important to create an action plan when setting achievable goals to stay organized and feel less overwhelm. In order to smooth out this process, I highly recommend using templates to streamline your workflow, and ensure consistency in content creation. Seriously, don’t sleep on templates! You can make them for everything in your business! Whether it’s for social media graphics or blog posts. You can create Canva templates for social media posts and graphics you make. Or have templates for writing blog posts, outlining podcast episodes, Youtube videos, etc.

I’d also recommend using a CRM platform to build templates for your client workflows and processes. My personal favorite is HoneyBook. The platform that allows me to keep my client projects organized and efficient. Or if you don’t really need a CRM but you are looking for something to map out content, and just all the other tasks in your life/business, I recommend using Notion. You can even grab my Notion content calendar template here!

 

Execute in a way that makes sense for you

 

You have likely heard of the term batch working. Which basically just means to work on certain tasks in chunks instead of breaking them up. For example, if you are writing 4 blog posts in a month, don’t try to outline and write them out all in one sitting. One day, do all 4 outlines. Then the next day, write out the full 4 posts. And the day after that, create all the graphics, etc. I do really love the concept of batch working, but I also want to emphasize that it should be adjusted to suit your individual preferences and needs. Batch working is not a one size fits all. Personally, I find it challenging to simultaneously come up with multiple outlines and descriptions for podcast episodes in one sitting, but I’m comfortable with creating graphics for all episodes in a single session. Break up tasks into manageable chunks to avoid burnout and identify the time of day when you feels most focused to tackle more demanding tasks.

For me, my best and most brain using tasks need to be done during nap time when it’s quiet in my house and I can cram out harder tasks. But when it comes to things like creating graphics, I can do that in the evenings while watching Tv.

 

My Content Membership

 

If you are REALLY struggling with content and just want the pressure to be taken off you entirely, then my friend, I think you need to join my content membership. The Social Herd, my content resource membership is designed to help individuals and personal brands with their content creation processes. There are so many benefits for joining. Including streamlining the content creation process, providing ideas and resources, and access to training classes. Not to mention… it’s a write off for your business!

I created Social Herd to remove the stress off your plate for content creation and give you your time back. For just $25 per month, (and no commitment! Cancel anytime!) you will get:

• • Hundreds of caption templates for a variety of topics including:
    • About you
    • Behind the scenes
    • Your product and services (showcasing them) + captions that sell
    • Encouragement posts
    • Holidays and special occasion posts
    • Industry specific posts
    • Rural lifestyle posts
    • Affiliate marketing posts
  • Western & rural inspired stock images to use on all your platforms
  • Graphic templates to use and customize
  • Trainings & classes to further your content creation education
  • Links to get discounts on my favorite resources and platforms to make your content creation process smoother
  • Exclusive offers for members
  • Monthly action plans with a full month worth of content laid out and sent to you so you never need to question what to post or to inspire you for how to approach an upcoming month

PLUS, you can join the Social Herd affiliate program that has a super competitive payout! If you refer just one person, and they sign up using your link, your membership for that month is paid for. And any refferals after that is just free money in your pocket. Pretty awesome right? You can join the Social Herd here, and see what it’s all about!

 

In Conclusion

 

I hope after listening to this episode you are feeling much more confident and at ease when it comes to planning an entire month’s worth of content. It will be so much less of a burden if you go into it with a goal in mind, and a big picture idea laid out first, and then build supporting content around that.

 

Resources

 

• Join The Social Herd Content Membership
• Click here to try Notion
• Get my Notion Content Planner Template Here!
• Click here to get started with HoneyBook

 

EVERY SUCCESSFUL RANCHER INSTAGRAM

JOIN THE FREE FACEBOOK GROUP

WATCH ON YOUTUBE

SPONSOR/ADVERTISE WITH EVERY RANCHER

BECOME A PATRON + GET AD FREE EPISODES

BE A GUEST ON THE SHOW

GET IN TOUCH: Podcast@SarahElrod.com