Plan Your Best Dream Blog During the – COVID-19 Pandemic
Updated from Nov 19, 2019
If there is one good thing for business
owners with this COVID-19 virus, it’s
that there is more TIME. Take a step back
and focus on learning and setting yourself
and your business up for the future.
This is only temporary.
I have 5 steps to do now that will be of
great help for you and your business for
the future.
Being confined to our homes all day every
day is a challenge. Routines are completely
broken. It’s important to think about what
we are gaining instead of missing out on.
This situation is far from ideal but try
to make the most by seeing the postives
rather than the negative.
This is the time to focus on
strengthening relationships with your
significant other, and your kids. You
now have extra time to do all kinds
of things.
One of which is up-grading or
or starting a blog /website.
I have learned the hard way about setting
up a website and blog. Trial and error over
many years.
Tools – Google has so many tools you can
use. With the use of these tools, you can
plan your blog’s entire year with a calendar
– quarter by quarter.
One thing I’m doing this year is scheduling, as much as I possibly can. Having a clear path of action helps you develop your strategy for reaching your long-term goals. What is the difference between a dream and a goal? It’s the reality of planning that turns your wishes into a reality.
“You must have long term goals to keep from being frustrated by short-term failures.”
~ Charles C Noble
Step #1- Prioritize your time
What is most important to you? -I am a morning person and work best before noon.
How will you use your time scheduling your blog? – Make it a priority, block time for this.
Planning out your posts for the week, the month, the year? – Use a editorial calendar, (plug-in)
We all have the same 24 hrs. It’s what you do with your time that counts. You need to be clear even if it’s just for yourself. With this Convid virus we have family at home so this is very important to manage your time right now.
how will you use your time? -Scheduling – a day to day plan to follow
what is most important to you? -Planning out your blog posts on a consistent basis
who are your readers?-Subjects that would be of interest to them right now
Holidays etc. Brainstorm, post ideas, slot into certain dates in the calendar for your readers – Ex Christmas gift contest or Easter gift giveaway. (Hopefully holidays will mean family times together again – after this Easter)
Step #2 – Google InformationTools
Google Business Listing
Use the Search window “Google accounts” and sign up for an email account. – “create your Google Account ” -Google’s tools
My Drive /Docs /Sheets – Spreadsheets see 3 dots /rename or open in a new tab /Slides /More /Photos
-Google has it’s own Blog system – Blogger. I have a site there. I do prefer to use WordPress.
Spread Sheets on Google
Use a spreadsheet to evaluate your progress. I never liked spreadsheets. The ones in Microsoft Excel I found difficult to use. However, I have discovered spreadsheets in Google and they are much easier to use. In your email Go to Google /Drive /My Drive / Google Sheets. I use a spreadsheet for blog posts and one for affiliate products that I promote.
Take an inventory of your business
Create systems and funnels.
Use this time to do things you were
always to busy to do before
COVID-19 happened. Afterward,
you will be organized and ready.
Step #3 – Keep a Journal
Over time you can see how your blog changes. Note any successes and also what have been the most difficult for you. What goals have you reached? What promotions have you done? Social Media tools that you have used. “Facebook is the largest social network, with 1.79 billion active monthly users in 2016, as reported” by Statista. In the US, 79% of all adults who use the internet use Facebook. Use the platform that your audience uses. You can note this on the spreadsheet or in a daily planner.
I do both, as well as use a weekly system Organization with post-its on a board
Step#4 –Your Calendar
Schedule your own time on your calendar. Google Calendars. Block off all of the major holidays and your vacation days for the entire year in advance. You can tell your staff or your family that you have this time blocked off on your calendar for holidays. If you worked in an office you would ask your employer for two weeks off, so don’t forget to do this for yourself. Then you are more committed to it. Then as a mompreneur/or solopreneur, the summer won’t disappear into endless work.
You can make sure of all your content and your promotions are ready in advance! This type of planning forces you to look at your blog a little differently. If you want time off, then you schedule your work on your calendar accordingly. Line up guest posts for the time you are away or have your team do work that does not require your input. Print out your calendar and use a highlighter, marking your time off. Long weekends, a week here or even an entire month. Finally take that vacation! After managing your business and your family for a long time in isolation you deserve it.
Step#5 -Create your best blog using an Editorial Calendar
The Editorial Calendar, a WordPress plugin seemed to do the trick It grabs all of your scheduled posts and drafts, and it placed them on a neatly organized calendar so we could see at-a-glance what content was coming up.
I’ve installed the Editorial Calendar plugin on this site and I encourage you to add it to your site. This article was pre-scheduled. This is a really helpful item as I write on multiple sites regularly. This plugin has definitely made my life easier. I have also added a note in my regular calendar to add content going out on other platforms. My calendar ties into my spreadsheet and my weekly post it schedule. (that I mentioned you can see on my site.)
Perhaps my favorite feature of the plugin is the cool way you can drag and drop different articles around the calendar. It d updates not only the calendar but the post itself. It is a huge help for keeping all my content organized.
An editorial calendar is just a fancy term for a publishing schedule.
Did you remember to write a post for next Tuesday?
What about the Tuesday after that? WordPress doesn’t make it easy to see when your posts are scheduled. The editorial calendar gives you an overview of your blog articles, and when each post will be published. You can drag and drop to move posts, edit posts right in the calendar, and manage your entire blog!
See a month’s worth of posts at a glance.
Juggle your calendar by simply dragging and dropping posts from day to day.
Quickly edit your posts’ titles, contents, and publishing times
Publish posts or manage drafts
Instantly see the status of your posts
More easily manage posts from multiple authors.
And you can do all of that right from the calendar interface itself.
An Editorial calendar is simply a plan for your blog. It is thinking ahead of time about what you are going to write.
So there are the 5 – important steps to running your blog during the CONVID -19 Pandemic.
Organization will help with seeing what you have and when you can use your content. It also helps with showing what is of interest to your audience of readers.
Some of the tools mentioned are FREE and some are PAID. I only recommend products I have tried and tested and love using. If you have any questions, please click on our terms and conditions.
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When I first began working from home over 5 years ago, I did struggle with the isolation but now I can spend a day or two, like a weekend without my husband and kids and I enjoy it.
Make the most of your scheduling and using helpful tools to plan your own dream best blog during this time of COVID-19 Pandemic. We will get through it together …apart.
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About Kathryn Maclean-Racicot http://www.facebook.com/marketingofflineonline
A Social Media Campaign specialist using Facebook, Twitter Pinterest & Affiliate Marketing
