How to plan your blog year | blog planning | blog success | blogging

How to Plan A Successful Blog Year

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Do you ever wonder what successful bloggers are doing that’s different from what you are doing? Do you think they have a magic formula for success?  Probably not.  But they are great planners. Successful bloggers have a plan and they work their plan. Let’s talk about how to plan a successful blog year.

 

How to plan a successful blog year | planning a successful blog year | blog planning | #blogging, #blogplanning

Last year I worked harder on planning my content, tracking great topics and keeping an editorial calendar (even if it’s only a month in advance).  I even planned a blog party in July with other bloggers.  I was more successful with income, traffic and connecting with my audience.  It’s easy to see how carefully planning the content for your blog will bring you success.

How do you plan a successful blog year you ask?

4 Tips for Planning Your Blog Year

Note: this post includes affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no additional cost to you.  Read my full disclosure policy here.

1. Understand your core audience and their pain points

To connect with your audience, you have to understand who they are and what are their pain points.  One of the best ways to find out their pain points is to just ask them.

You can ask your audience several different ways. One of the best ways to ask is through a survey.  You can create free surveys on Survey Monkey and get key insights from your readers.  Here are a few things to ask:

  • What content do they like/enjoy on your blog?
  • What is their biggest struggle?  Or what is their biggest pain point?
  • How can I help you?  (give options or open-ended)
  • Ask what they like?  What are their hobbies?  (get to know them/understand them)
  • Demographics (how many kids do they have/ages of their kids, marital status)
  • Questions related to topics on your blog (do they like it, do they need it?)

If you do a survey, I suggest sending it once a year to your audience to guide your planning for the next year.

You can also ask your subscribers for their responses in emails you send.  Ask questions and invite responses.

Other ways to get feedback from your audience, do short surveys on your Facebook page or in a Facebook group.

To plan your content, it’s very important that you understand your audience, their needs and how they want you to help them.

2. Write for your audience

When we start our blogs, we have an idea and plans of what “we” want to write about, but this content may not be what our audience wants from us. As you review responses from your audience and the content they need, start to match your content with their needs.

Based on the responses from your survey and other feedback, define 3-5 categories of content that fit your audience’s needs.  Start brainstorming content ideas and blog topics within these categories that will help your audience.  As you write out these ideas, look for content and ideas that will speak to your audience.

3. Add products that will help your audience

Based on the amount of time you have available for your blog, define 2-4 product ideas that will also speak to the needs of your audience. These products could be books, ecourses, printable planners and more. Choose products that fit with what your audience has told you they need.

Decide what products you are going to create this year. Clearly set goals to start and complete your projects.  Clear goals will help you focus and complete these products.

4. Use a Planner to develop products and create editorial content

Now, that you have ideas for your weekly or monthly blog posts, you can start planning publication dates.  Will you post once a week, once a month?  When I plan content, I try to write from different categories so I reach different segments of my audience (i.e. I try to only write about time management once every other week or a new parent post every other week).

In addition to your blog posts, you will want to include time to write and create products. Depending on the product, you might need 30-90 days to create it.

It’s also important to include your email plan and affiliate marketing plans in your planner, too. Track when you plan to send emails and topics you will be writing about.

I recommend the Blog Well Planner, it’s a 90-day planner for bloggers to help you plan your content, products, and business.

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One Comment

  1. My goal is to write something every day. Then on the weekend I go back and polish one or two posts and publish Monday morning. I use my tags to ensure I publish a decent variety.

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