ClickUp

Editorial Calendar With ClickUp

How To Build An Editorial Calendar With ClickUp That You Can Actually Stick To

Do you ever wonder how content creators find the time?

Especially businesses with heavy workloads, they somehow still have quality blogs, social media posts, newsletters, and updated web pages that get lots of traction. 

Want to know the secret behind the folks who always have something to post?

It’s all about the editorial calendar. 

But effectively planning out your editorial calendar can make the difference between publishing quality content and letting your greatest ideas fall through the cracks. 

What Is An Editorial Calendar? 

Essentially, an editorial calendar is a multi-functional calendar creators use to manage content creation and publication.

With the right software, you can schedule campaigns with the themes and tasks included. Plus, you can look at your content to-do list at a high level. But you can also take it to a granular level to input inspiration, references, and data for each small task. 

Have you ever thought about your 5 or 10-year plan, and then worked backward to list the work and milestones required to meet your goals? 

That’s pretty much the gist of an editorial calendar but with your short and long-term marketing goals in mind. 

Need someone to take over the reins of your editorial calendar? Contact us today and start sharing quality, high-converting copy.

Why Create An Editorial Calendar On ClickUp?

Personally, ClickUp is the software that we use. It also helps that it’s very effective at storing ideas, planning content, and getting it published efficiently. 

Plus, ClickUp allows users to view tasks in lists, boards, and in a calendar setting. This means that while planning, I can look at our to-do’s at a high level. Meanwhile, my employees can filter through tasks assigned to them with access to the notes and objectives for each piece.

Process To Build An Editorial Blogging Calendar With ClickUp

One of the best things about ClickUp is its versatility. You can customize it to fit your exact needs. However, this also means that coming at it as a blank slate can be overwhelming. There is an abundance of free tutorials available. But if you want to get straight to creating your editorial calendar, I’ve made it easy with a step-by-step guide. 

1. Do The Prep Work

One thing I’ve learned is you can’t count on inspiration to always hit at the right time. With so many different ongoing projects for my own business and my clients, the prep work is non-negotiable. 

Identify Content Pillars

After research comes the strategic part of the prep work: the content pillars. This is where we identify several topics that will tie into each other. For example, we’ve written several FocusCopy blogs about copywriting – because that’s what we do.  Within these blogs, we include backlinks to our other blogs relating to copywriting. 

If you check out our blog page, you’ll find blogs with topics centered around writing copy, including:

While that’s just a teaser because we have loads more blogs about copywriting, the goal is to answer as many readers’ questions as possible. But how do we know what readers are asking? Research.

Not only does grouping similar topics into content pillars provide value in the form of educating readers, this method also helps to increase our Google ranking. 

For example, FocusCopy’s content pillars are Copywriting, Content Writing, and General Marketing, Systems, and Entrepreneurship. If there is something we are considering, we always run it through our pillars. If it doesn’t fit, it’s thrown out or we rework it to give it a different angle. 

Pro Tip: Do not select more than 3-5 content pillars. The key is to focus. 

Identify Calls To Action

This is where the objective comes into play. Ask yourself, what do you want readers to do? It could be…

  • Subscribe to your newsletter
  • Download a lead magnet
  • Follow your business on social media
  • Schedule a time to grab a coffee and discuss your business goals

You may think that a reader will automatically know to contact you if they are interested in your product or service. However, you are giving readers too much credit. Not because they are lazy or unable to find your contact info on your website, but because we all have fish brains when it comes to searching the web. It’s too easy to close out and go on to the next blog or website if we’re not finding immediate answers to our questions. That’s why we need calls to action to tell readers exactly what steps to take next.

We live in a digital world with more data than we can even begin to comprehend and it’s literally all at our fingertips. According to Portent, “Website conversion rates drop by an average of 4.42% with each additional second of load time.”

If the goal of your marketing efforts is to convert readers into paying customers, time is of the essence. You need a quick-loading website and linked calls to action to tell your readers exactly what to do. 

Now that you have your calls to action listed (and understand their importance), it’s on to the next step!

Not sure what calls to action you need to include? FocusCopy can help! Get in touch with us here.

2. Create The List In Your ClickUp

Managing your editorial calendar is simple when it’s all in one place. Create a list and name it “Editorial Calendar”. You’ll be able to track and organize your upcoming blogs at high and granular levels with ease.

Editorial Calendar With ClickUp

It should look something like this when you’ve created it. 

Editorial Calendar With ClickUp

3. Create Fields

Let’s get into the details! This step is all about getting the nitty gritty specific subtasks, data, and labels down. 

Rather than going through this process for each blog topic, create one blog task with all the fields below. You’ll be able to use this as a template to easily duplicate.

We suggest creating the following fields in this order: 

  • Content Pillar using the Dropdown field
  • Call To Action using the Dropdown field
  • Type of Blog using the Dropdown field
  • In Progress using the Website field
  • Published Link using the Website field

If you want to go all out, you can include the following fields: 

  • Author
  • Target Keywords
  • SOP

This is what it looks like inside a given task. 

Editorial Calendar With ClickUp

4. Brain Dump All Your Topics As Tasks

Input all of your topics as separate blog tasks. Over time, you will learn what parts to tweak. But for now, this will be a functional home for your editorial calendar to-do list.

Now that you have your template blog task with the appropriate fields, right-click and select “duplicate”. ClickUp will prompt you to adjust the name and what elements to copy over. If you’re using an open blog template (not a completed task), then I suggest simply changing the name and including all fields. 

You can also create a template inside of ClickUp so there’s no need for duplicating. 

5. Fill Out As Much Information In The Fields

After you input blog topics as tasks, it’s time to fill out those fields. This is much easier with the dropdown fields mentioned above.

The great thing about ClickUp is you don’t have to cover all the details. So if there’s something you’re unsure about – like the due date or which employee to assign to said task, just leave it blank for now. 

However, it’s best to fill out as much information as possible at this point. Go through the bullet points above under “Create Fields” and watch your editorial calendar come to life!

But remember, if you’re unsure about something, don’t let it create a bottleneck in your workflow. Simply move on and fill out what you can. Make sure to schedule time in your calendar to go back to complete these fields. Sometimes making appointments with yourself is necessary to make sure everything gets done!

6. Schedule Your Blogs

While it would be great to complete all tasks as they are created, that may be edging on wishful thinking. To ensure that nothing falls through the cracks, it’s time to schedule the blogs with due dates.

But it’s not just the final due date. Instead, schedule dates to start and complete each subtask. For instance, say you want to publish a Halloween-themed blog on October 31st. To ensure that you or your employees have enough time to make the deadline, schedule the outlining portion of the blog for 3 weeks ahead of time. Then, schedule the drafting to take place over a couple of days, 2 weeks ahead of time. Next, you’ll want to make sure to schedule the process of checking SEO, editing, addressing edits, finalizing, and finally…publishing!

With enough lead time, and a little cushion (can’t forget about clients!), you’ll be able to post your spooky Halloween post with timely relevance to the holiday season. 

Bonus Tips

As I said before, ClickUp has a ton of features! So many, in fact, I can’t imagine one business needing to utilize every single one. But that also makes ClickUp a versatile tool that can be used throughout many industries. Here are some additional tips to help expand your ClickUp experience.

Use “Whiteboard” To Generate Content Ideas

More of a visual brainstormer? Me, too!

What’s cool here is you can create tasks directly out of Whiteboard. This means that you can arrange your pillar content and branch off into more niche topics from a high level. Being able to create tasks this way takes collaboration and creating your editorial calendar to a whole new level!

Editorial Calendar With ClickUp

Look Via “Schedule” To View It On Calendar View

Need to get a view of your overall calendar?

Again, ClickUp’s versatility comes in clutch. Select the calendar view to see how all your tasks appear over the course of a week, month, or year. You can filter down the dates for your exact needs.

Want To Skip The How-To & Publish Quality Blogs For Your Business?

You can always skip the tutorials and go straight to the experts. At FocusCopy, we work with small female-owned businesses to produce high-converting copy.

And the best part? While we do what we do best (writing copy), you can focus on running your business. You can confidently get through your to-do list knowing that quality copy is on its way to boost your brand’s reputation, SEO, and overall growth.

Want to learn more about how FocusCopy can position your business for success? Reach out and let’s start the conversation.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words
How We Use ClickUp to Manage Our Content Production Calendar

How We Use ClickUp To Manage Our Content Production Calendar

If there is one thing we do better than other copywriting firms, it is managing our content production calendars. It’s critical for our business to succeed and would normally require a lot of preparation and planning. But our professional copywriting business uses a management application called ClickUp, packed with features to keep our calendars in line and on the move.

We quickly realized that talking about how we manage our workload can help a ton of other small businesses out there manage theirs. Using a management system like ClickUp can operate seamlessly within your budget – or without paying a single dime.

When every hour is accounted for in your day, you should have the tools to navigate your time to the best of your ability. Time management isn’t always an easy skill to master. From professional copywriters to other small business owners out there, here’s how we use ClickUp to manage our content production calendar.

Looking for additional strategies to improve productivity? Download our free guide, Easy-to-Implement Scalable SOP Framework.

What Is ClickUp? 

ClickUp is an all-in-one online project management tool that tracks your workload, follows the chain of work, and acts as a filing system. Furthermore, it has a ton of features that assist your daily responsibilities, like meeting notes, collaboration add-ons, organization tabs and folders, and so much more.

I know! It sounds like a lot, but we’ll break it down to show you how it’s helped us stay organized and efficient. 

What Is A Content Production Calendar?

Your business’s content production calendar should be a broad view of the ongoing and upcoming projects you have. You can also have a different calendar for different avenues of your business. For example, you may have one for client projects and another for marketing efforts.

It helps to divide your projects into labels like:

  • Active or open
  • Call made
  • Closing out
  • Closed
  • Onboarding
  • Complete
  • Due date

This way, everything you need to keep an eye on is on the calendar, and you know where it stands in the line of production. 

You can think of your content production calendar in ClickUp like a desktop calendar you might have in front of you. Instead of tearing off a new page at the beginning of the month, everything you need is digital. Another big benefit of using ClickUp’s online calendar is that you can view it as a list or in a digital planner, which is a huge plus for those who are more visual thinkers.

How We Manage Our Content Production Calendar With ClickUp

As you may guess, your content production calendar is your lifeline as it allows you to keep up with everything that’s going on around you. We use ClickUp’s content production calendar by using the Spaces section to divide our workload into work we do for clients and then for our own scalable growth.

Managing Client Work

Assigned work breaks down into individual labels for each one of our clients. Then it’s divided into various phases, depending on where we are on our timeline. From each phase, tasks are arranged based on due dates and named according to the correct project. All of this allows us to maintain a digital filing cabinet with everything we need, including meeting notes, calls, and anything else to help us as we write.

Tracking Brand Growth

Client work is its own category, which means the work we do to support our business is also its own section. Our marketing efforts divide up into particular sections like Email Marketing and Social Media. Each subsection is a virtual file that opens up to ongoing, upcoming, or completed tasks. Again, you can set due dates for each item so they appear on your visual calendar.  

Brain Dump Topic Ideas In One Place

Choose where you want to keep track of your ideas, notes, and meetings with anyone. So, instead of using 100,000 randomly placed post-it notes, you have everything stored where you will easily find it. Instead of a visual calendar, think of this feature as a digital notebook organized for you through ClickUp.

We keep a document in the same place as our topic reviews for each client to throw in new ideas and “dump” them into one place. These files are internal, so you won’t have anyone outside your organization see them…or your super scribbled notes. Feel free to throw in half-baked thoughts, tidbits of information, and random topic ideas whenever you need to. Using an online system prevents the information from being lost, while enhanced security keeps your notes between only you and whomever else you decide to share them with. 

When it’s time to review new or refreshed ideas, you can refer to your topic document and select from everything you’ve added over time. It will all still be as you left it, so you’re actively preparing for meetings beforehand and not scrambling to develop new ones on the spot.

Use Your Content Production Calendar To Balance Content Pillars & CTAs

You can also divide your tasks based on which type of content they cover, known as content pillars. Because scaling your business isn’t just about creating new content, it’s crucial for you to make varied, quality content.

As an example, if all you’re focusing on is producing 10 new blogs a month for a year, you’re limiting your potential. Other avenues of your marketing efforts are being ignored by not diversifying your content. Think of a few broad topics to create pillar pages on and use those to splinter into other channels like social media posts, blogs, lead magnets, and other material.

You want to focus on generating content that hits the following keys consistently:

  • Promote
  • Education or inform
  • Engage
  • Motivate or inspire

The idea of each piece? To get your audience to take action…any action! Whether you want them to buy, download, shop, or book an appointment, here is where you weave that action in.

We’re just going to leave this free download about Easy-to-Implement Scalable SOP Framework right here.

How Implementing Content Pillars Works

Own a bakery? You may have an entire web page generally covering wedding cakes. Then, you can splinter that content into so much more, answering questions like…How much does a wedding cake cost per serving? Or Why are wedding cakes so expensive? 

As the industry expert, you can answer these questions any way you like and prompt readers to take action like:

  • Book a wedding cake consultation
  • Download a free wedding cake flavor profile booklet
  • Reach out to our wedding bakery team for a custom order

The options are limitless, and it all starts with one solid idea.

Schedule Your Team Based On Availability

Finally, a visual content production calendar with clear-cut due dates and tracking for your employees. Through ClickUp, we use this feature to keep an eye on our schedules and view the workload of others. As a business owner, you can view the same information and adjust workloads accordingly.

Have an employee on vacation? What about extra time left on the schedule? 

Quickly shift assignments from one person to another, so nothing slips through the cracks. You can also make adjustments within each task to alter due dates and responsibilities and add notes just in case. Use helpful automation tools and content production calendar management software to keep projects going without missing deadlines. 

Keep Your Content Production Calendar On Track With FocusCopy

On top of using software like ClickUp, we also have other processes in place to streamline our writing process. Our goal is to deliver quality content to your inbox on time or before you expect it! Having so many organizational processes in place allows us to offer full-service copywriting to small businesses across the U.S. whenever you need it. So, wipe the sweat off your brow and leave your writing responsibilities to our team of professional writers

Before you go, explore more Easy-to-Implement Scalable SOP Framework tips and tricks right here!

Implement Our Scalable SOP Framework & Scale Your Business Processes With Ease

become more process-oriented, productive, & focus on what moves the needle the furthest with this framework
content marketing tools

7 Content Marketing Tools To Reach Your Ideal Audience

You’ve spent hours of your life coming up with business and content ideas to get your brand out into the world. But how do you go about marketing your content so your target audience will actually see it?

This is where content marketing comes into play. Since content marketing has such a huge role in the success of your business, you better believe companies have created tools to get the job done. 

To help you establish your brand and get your message to the masses, I’m sharing the tools we use to manage our own content marketing. After all, how did you hear about FocusCopy in the first place?

Tools We Use To Manage Our Content Marketing

The best content creation in the world is mute without successful content marketing tools and strategies. So let the world see and hear about your business. 

PandaDoc Makes Tracking Proposals & Contracts A Breeze

When you’re creating content for a client, it’s typical to send for approval before hitting publish. PandaDoc simplifies that entire process. 

Whether you’re sending proposals, quotes, or contracts, PandaDoc helps to track documents and makes e-signing a breeze. Being able to save templates, and edit them as needed, means we can sign on new clients and make new deals seamlessly. 

With its certified signature page, you can rest assured that your contracts are official and binding. Plus, it makes e-signing a simple process, no matter where in the world you may be. 

Wondering how to use your own voice to get your brand out into the world? FocusCopy can help. Reach out today to learn how we can write copy in your voice and take the task off your plate.

HubSpot Keeps Client Management In One Place

The great thing about my favorite content marketing tools is how they work together!

For instance, HubSpot integrates with both PandaDoc and Google Workspace. It’s a one-stop-shop software for client management. 

Not only does it pull in the documents I create in PandaDoc, but it also tracks my Gmail communications with the clients. So rather than searching my email every time I need to reference notes, I can just log in to HubSpot!

In addition to having all client communication in one place, I can easily review all documentation and contracts in the same place, too. It’s a win-win for tracking client progress and having everything I need in one spot.

Moreover, clients and potential clients can schedule meetings through my HubSpot link. Because it connects to my Google Calendar, it acknowledges times when I’m busy and recognizes availability in my schedule. Another thing that I love, it ensures I have a 30-minute buffer between meetings. If you’ve ever found yourself with 9 hours of back-to-back meetings, you understand that those breaks are necessary!

ClickUp Helps Keep Tasks On Track

As your business grows, it will get more difficult to keep track of the to-do list in your mind. That’s why using a task management tool, like ClickUp, is so helpful. 

ClickUp allows you to customize the tracking phases of each task. Additionally, you can assign team members to different tasks and include all of a project’s documents in one easy-to-navigate location. With features such as time tracking, we know exactly how long it takes to complete each task. This allows me to analyze my team members’ strengths and know where they may need help in other areas. 

Like I mentioned above, I love how these tools work together. ClickUp connects to Google Workspace, which allows me to send emails via ClickUp.

Furthermore, we can create entire processes to meet our exact needs. For example, our clients who are on a retainer basis can upload documents directly to ClickUp. It keeps everything in one place and our productivity thriving. 

Not every business owner has the time to dedicate to writing copy. That’s where we can help. Contact FocusCopy today so you can get back to focusing on what’s most important. 

Google Workspace Elevates Collaboration

Google has come a long way from just being a search engine. Formerly named G Suite, Google Workspace makes creating, collaborating, communicating, and tracking documents simple.

Users can access the same documents in real-time, offer suggestions, leave comments, and even tag others in for review or questions. Additionally, Google Workspace can link to HubSpot and ClickUp.

Moreover, through Google Workspace, we can manage permissions allowing only who we want to have access to certain documents.

While Google Workspace offers so many services, it’s a safe bet that you can work with the basic package. It’s filled with familiar layouts that are easy to learn and use. So start small, and adjust as your needs grow.

Google Drive 

The days of saving everything directly to the computer are over. Google Drive is a cloud storage service that allows users to save and organize files and documents. It’s simple, secure, and accessible from anywhere with an internet connection. 

Google Calendar

The calendar that keeps my world in order! With its ability to link up to both HubSpot and ClickUp, I never miss a beat. Plus, team members can view each other’s availability making in-house meetings easy to schedule.

Google Meet

Everyone has been on Zoom at some point by now. But did you know if you already have Google Workspace, you don’t need to pay for Zoom or Slack for that matter? It has all the functions of Zoom, but it’s easier to use, and you likely already have access.

Google Chat

Very similar to Slack, but without the cost, Google Chat keeps the FocusCopy team in constant communication. We set up our Google Chat to be like Slack. Our favorite functions include private messaging, group threads for each client, and the ability to set up Google Meets immediately within the chat. 

Google Docs

There’s a good chance you are familiar with Microsoft Office, and if you are, you’ll realize quickly that Google Docs works just like Word. From the layout to the functionality, it’s a seamless transition. However, there is an added benefit of being able to send documents to clients for review. We typically set client permissions to comment only to make sure we get their feedback on deliverables without worrying about permanent changes being made accidentally.

WordPress

WordPress is by far the easiest content management system (CMS) on the market. While many startups like to use Wik and Squarespace, there is a huge benefit of using WordPress instead. For starters, you actually own your website and have the ability to switch hosts. With the competitors mentioned above, you risk losing your site if you miss a payment. 

Additionally, WordPress is known for its great blog posting function, which we obviously love. And there are millions of themes to allow users to customize their sites exactly how they want. 

Did I mention how user-friendly WordPress is? I’m no website developer, but I can navigate website development on WordPress with no issues. If Lauren the Copywriter can handle website devo on WordPress without calling the IT guy, so can you!

Elementor 

There are a ton of page buildings out there, including Divi, Beaver, Oxygen, and so many more. But Elementor is by far my favorite – plus, it works with WordPress! 

With Elementor, your website will look both custom and professional. Plus, you can make changes at the drop of a hat. After all, you need to update your website copy frequently to keep it relevant and effective. 

Another great part of Elementor is the community support. We’re considered experts in this community and field questions of other users pretty often. Sometimes, that human-to-human help and advice can make a world of difference. 

Yoast SEO

WordPress has made using plugins so easy that they work seamlessly together. The FocusCopy team uses the Yoast SEO plugin to ensure our content always meets the highest technical SEO standards. 

The world of SEO is constantly changing, and we want to make sure we’re keeping up with the latest updates. This is just one way we ensure our clients’ content is steadily climbing the Google ranking ladder. 

Let FocusCopy Manage Your Content Marketing For Real Results

Does running your business take up all of your time? We understand, and we can help.

For busy business owners like yourself, running the business and getting your message to your target audience are two separate jobs. We help people just like you by creating copy in your voice to help establish and grow your brand. Ready to see growth while reaching your ideal customers? Contact FocusCopy today to get started.

Focus Your Copy On Conversation & Conversion

Let’s Grab A Virtual Coffee With Us To Discover How To Boost Your Words