Today I learned three things about blogging.
One: Tumblr is super simple!
A client I’m writing some web copy for has decided that she might like to dip her toe into the world of blogging. A good choice given the amount of experience and expertise she has to share, but her web designer, rather than give her a blog on her website, suggested that she set up her blog on Tumblr, and he’d link to it from her website. I wasn’t sure about this idea, so I decided to try it out. It took me precisely three minutes to set up an account, and within another five I’d found some interesting people to follow and posted my first post. It really is super-simple to set up and use! Who knew! So if you haven’t started a blog, or if you want a space to blog about something different, get yourself over to Tumblr and get blogging!
Two: Astronauts share the coolest content!
Today I discovered two astronauts on social media, and the stuff they share is incredible. Tim Peake and Scott Kelly are sharing the most extraordinary stuff on Twitter and Tumblr. You get to find out all about what it’s like to live on the International Space Station, and what they do while they’re there. It’s really brought home to me how lucky we are to have such unfettered access to so much content, and that there really is something for everyone.
Three: People often try to make simple things more complicated!
Okay, I already knew this. But today I came across another person making out that content, or editorial calendars are difficult and complicated. They’re not. The only bit you might find complicated, is deciding what content’s going to go in the calendar in the first place. The truth of the matter is that you don’t need anything fancy, or separate from the calendar you use already.
To create your own content calendar, take a moment to go through each month and recognise the times of year that are significant to you, your industry, and your customers. Then add an entry in your normal calendar at the beginning of that week, or month if you write all your blog posts in a block, with your blog post idea. Congratulations! You’ve just created a content calendar. If you use a digital calendar, you can even use a different colour for your blog, and/or, social media ideas. Now every time you launch a product or service, or do something significant, you can add in the relevant blog post ideas to your calendar. And because it’s part of your normal calendar, you won’t have to remember to check somewhere else. Keep it simple: life’s complicated enough.