Last week, I decided I’d had enough.
As the days until summer tick down, so has my patience for getting my preschooler dressed and ready for school.
I’m not sure if you’ve ever had to dress a four year old little girl that insists on wearing the one single Barbie shirt in her closet EVERY DAY, but I’ll just let you know that it’s not for the faint of heart.
Since spring break, I’ve admittedly been more lax in the rigidity of our morning routine which means things have been straight up chaotic—-forgetting water bottles, meltdowns over not being able to find the right shoes, you get the picture.
Because we’re prepping for big girl school in the fall (I know I cannot believe it either), I decided that it would be a good time to give her some support to solve the chaotic mornings, while also teaching her how to do things on her own.
So I did what any former teacher, type A, enneagram 3 mom would do—-
I printed a sticker chart.
I know you’re probably thinking—-okay what does a sticker chart have anything to do with marketing?
Friend, it’s not about the sticker chart—-it’s about the system.
Now, there is no question about what my daughter needs to do before school.
She understands that the goal is to get herself ready for the day.
She has exact clarity on the action steps that we need to take to do that: make her bed, potty, get dressed, brush her teeth, eat breakfast, and go to school.
There is no longer an emotional response to everything she must do—because it’s right there on the paper.
Our mornings, while far from perfect, are smoother now than ever before.
Here’s the thing: if a single, laminated piece of cardstock and dollar store stickers can bring clarity to a four year old…
…imagine what a solid content strategy & system could do for your business.
James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, states, “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
And that’s definitely the case with content.
By definition, a system is a set of principles or procedures according to which something is done; an organized framework or method.
So when it comes to a content planning system, you need a set of principles or procedures, or an organized framework or method to use when planning your content.
If you apply this definition to content planning—-it just means the steps that you take to plan, produce, and publish your content.
I’ll be honest in that I did not want to create my own system for content planning. I wanted it to be given to me (work smarter, not harder right?), but as I researched and tried to find a planning template to use as my content planning system, I had trouble finding something that did everything I wanted it to do.
These were my non-negotiables:
- Something formatted like a spreadsheet that also had a calendar & gallery view
- A place to be able to upload assets like video and photo, bonus points if it allows drag and drop photos into cells
- Ability to format like word document with bold, italics, bullets etc.
- An easy way to share with my team and clients
Most templates on the market are built in Google Sheets, which I love, don’t get me wrong, but the functionality, when it comes to planning video content and writing conversion-driven copy, was lacking.
So, after wasting a ton of money on printable planning sheets that didn’t cut it, and dragging my feet the entire time, I created my own.
Now let me tell you a little something about me—-I don’t gate keep.
If I find something that works and that I love and use enough to put my name behind, I, quite frankly, will not shut up about it.
And, well, that’s the case with this template.
In this Airtable template, you’ll find a content planning spreadsheet that completely simplifies content planning.
Here’s why:
- Forces you to create content (for social media specifically) outside of the app, so you won’t be distracted, get lost in the scroll, or succumb to the comparison game before you have a chance to hit ‘post.’
- The Social Media Content Planner has the capability to house both photo and video content, which means you can upload your assets directly into the template rest assured that your reels won’t get lost in drafts, and you can preview your content before scheduling or posting if you have a VA or social media manager on your team.
- It gives you a runway to plan and strategize ahead for the month in advance. When you use this Social Media Content Planner Template, you are planning for a month at a time. This means you’ll be stretched to plan ahead (rather than posting at the last minute), BUT this also means that you’ll be more likely to align your content to your launches, strategy, and business goals.
So, if you’ve struggled with any of these things in the past—-getting lost in the scroll or talking yourself out of posting because you’re stuck in your head in the moment; you’re wasting precious time trying to find a photo in your camera roll, or you’re always last minute and know you could do better by planning your content ahead of time (and then bonus points: scheduling it to post automatically), then this template is for you.
Oh, you’d like to give her a test drive? I thought you’d never ask. Watch this YouTube video where I demo the functionality. P.S., subscribe while you’re there, kay?
Now you may be thinking, “Kellie, the template gets an A+ AND I still don’t know what to write inside of it. And, these systems you speak of? Never heard of her.” Lucky for you, I can help you with that inside of my Strategy & Systems Intensive. People have been telling me they’re most excited about the real time content feedback that comes with it – but I know from past experience that the 90 days of Voxer Access for questions and support to be the most helpful part.
Or you may be thinking, “Kellie, the template is beautiful, but you know what would be even more beautiful-er? Having it done for me.” If that’s you, and you want your content delivered to you on a silver platter (okay, in this template) every month, check out my done-for-you marketing retainer services.
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