by Lexane Sirac
If you’ve ever worked in digital marketing, you probably already have some experience building an editorial calendar. Bloggers, publishers, advertisers: many people have a professional editorial calendar. But how many of us have a personal one?
Do you need a personal branding editorial calendar?
Do you believe that it is useful to create valuable content as part of your personal branding efforts?
If the answer to this question is yes, then you need an editorial calendar.
Any blogger will tell you that publishing blog posts on a whim, when they’re ready, with no preparation and organization, doesn’t work unless you’re already one of the most prominent bloggers there is. Things go the same way for your personal branding. You can’t spout off valuable pieces of knowledge and expect fantastic results on every attempt. Therefore, you need an editorial calendar.
Your editorial calendar should enable you to:
- Keep in mind your key topics of expertise;
- Write down any post idea that comes to mind;
- Create a consistent and low-maintenance publishing schedule;
- Visualize your personal branding strategy in just one glance.
Starting a personal branding editorial calendar
There is no shortage of templates you can use to build your first editorial calendar. The same goes for digital tools. I’m not going to compare them here: to each their own. It’s the methodology that matters, not the tool you choose to apply it.
Once you have chosen your tools, follow these steps to build your editorial calendar outline.
- Write a personal statement. Make sure it’s in a place where you can always see it, so you never lose focus on who you are, or want people to see you as.
- Make a list of topics you want to discuss. Just like you would make a list of blog post categories on your website, you can make “categories” of what matters to you and your audience.
- Make a list of platforms where you are active. I would suggest starting by adding public social media, your blog, networking occasions (from having coffee with a colleague to group events), and events that appeal to you.
Take the time to think about how your platforms and topics of expertise work together. While some may be only suited for one kind of topic, others (social media for example) are much more general and allow you to discuss several topics without distracting your audience or seeming too scattered.
Once you have done all this, let’s fill in your calendar. Make a simple spreadsheet and fill it in. On each row, prepare a publication, speech, or conversation, and fill in the following columns:
- Date (feel free to make it as general or specific as you want)
- Key topic
- Platform
- Details (e.g. specific topic, audience, etc.)
- The desired outcome of this action
These columns are only a general outline of the content you can make. If something comes up that generates new content or, on the other hand, stops you from publishing as usual, don’t fret over it. Keep in mind the fact that this calendar can change at any time.
Voilà, your branding editorial calendar is complete! I’d advise taking 15 to 30 minutes each week for the following week’s detailed calendar, and an hour every quarter to fill in a broad calendar (topic & platform, but no details).
