Freelance Writer’s Content Creation Schedule
When you first start freelance writing, it can be easy to come up with ideas and hold yourself accountable for finishing your projects on deadline. As you start scoring more clients, though, it can be difficult to juggle all your projects and clients and produce fresh, original content ideas.
One of the best ways to manage all your clients and work is by creating a content creation schedule. This schedule will help you organize, plan, and execute your work in a more consistent and time-efficient manner.
In this article, we cover all things content creation schedules: what they are, why you need one, how to create a schedule, and how to keep up with it. To find out more, read on.
Content Creation Schedule: What Is It And Why Do You Need It?
A content creation schedule is a planner or list of when, where, and what you will publish in the upcoming days, weeks, or months. The point of a content creation schedule is to see a snapshot of exactly what work is coming up. This allows you to have a plan for all your projects and clients.
Most content creation schedules include a variety of items related to writing. This includes upcoming pieces, idea proposals, social media posts, promotional activities, and more. In other words, all work associated with your freelancing should be included in your content creation schedule.
Benefits of Making A Content Creation Schedule
Making a content creation schedule is beneficial for many reasons. Here are just a few:
- Helps you plan in advance
- Helps you stay organized
- Lets you see all your work at a glance
- Lets you write and publish consistently
- Prevents procrastination
- Enhances marketing strategy
- Helps you manage life to work ratio
- Prevents creating duplicate content
How To Create A Content Creation Schedule
Creating a content creation schedule can be difficult at first, but it is worth the effort. Here is an easy 3 step guide to creating a useable content creation schedule:
Choose A Schedule Medium
To begin, you need to decide what medium you want to use for your content creation schedule. The medium will determine how to set up and use your schedule. The most popular options include Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, or a physical planner or agenda.
Most people find Microsoft Excel to be the most useful medium because it is easier to organize, plan, and edit than the other two mediums. Of course, you can use Word or a physical planner if you are not comfortable with Excel. Nevertheless, we recommend using Excel for creating a content creation schedule.
Set Up Content Creation Schedule
Once you have the medium selected, you should start setting up the content creation schedule. You will set up the schedule by adding the base structure or sections. Here are a few sections you should consider adding to your schedule:
- Article type
- Client
- Client notes
- Article name
- Category
- Suggested headline
- Keywords
- Potential subheadings
- Links with anchor phrases
- Images
- Revision ideas
- Promotional information
- Deadline
Fill In Your Content Creation Schedule
Finally, the last step for creating your content creation schedule is filling in the information. Whatever sections you decided to add to your schedule, add the information for each project you’re working on or assigned.
Most people recommend staying a month in advance for your work. Although having your work planned out a month in advance may sound excessive, it is a great way to stay on top of your projects, manage your time, and balance your work to life ratio.
Of course, some freelancing work is more short-term than a month. If this is the case, simply work with what you have. It’s better to have something than nothing, even if that something is a plan for two days in advance.
Final Thoughts
Content creation schedules are a great way to stay up-to-date on your work, allowing you to have more free time and make more money. To make a content creation schedule, simply choose a schedule medium, set up the schedule, and fill in your information.
Hold Yourself Accountable
Of course, a content creation schedule will only be useful if you keep up with it and hold yourself accountable. Try your best to stick to the schedule. If plans change, don’t fret. Simply revise your schedule accordingly and follow through with the revised version.
If you do these things, you are sure to create a useable content creation schedule for your freelancing work.
This article was originally posted at Freelancing buzz.
