I have been writing, at least a little bit, pretty much every single day since I started this blog in September 2009. When I started the blog, I had pages and pages of topic ideas written down and I couldn’t wait to start writing about them. As opportunities to partner with brands increased, my blog calendar filled up, and I have been operating at what feels like warp speed for at least the past 3 years.

But I have been posting like a mad woman without any sort of a clear plan about what I’m doing. My blog calendar has been completely at the mercy of sponsors, and not only is that not very fun for me as the blog writer, it also doesn’t make good business sense! I have all these fun ideas for blog posts that never see the light of day, and as a result, my readers don’t get to know me quite as well. I’m also often missing the boat, seeing things go viral on Pinterest or StumbleUpon that I had already thought of and planned to write about “one day.”

Since I have been using The Blogging Planner, I have been able to step back and actually think more long-term about the type of posts I want to write and figure out how to work them in. Believe it or not, I’ve already got a full editorial calendar for OCTOBER. Don’t believe me? Just take a look!

 

I decided that I’m going to participate in the “31 Days” series this year and  offer great recipe round-ups every day of the month. While I don’t yet have everything written, the topics are already planned. That increases the odds that I’ll actually go through with the idea tremendously. I can also work on the posts between now and then little by little, and not be overwhelmed come October. And don’t worry, there will still be plenty of reviews and giveaways that month! 🙂

Thanks to having this planner, and thanks to advice I have received from other successful bloggers to plan my calendar out a year in advance, I’m now starting to make room for all those post ideas that are swirling around in my head, but that I haven’t been able to write in the past because I’ve given away all of my time and post slots to sponsors.

Stuff Parents Need, at its heart, is a review and giveaway blog. I have no intentions of changing that. I LOVE to tell readers about cool new products on the market. And I LOVE LOVE LOVE to give away prizes! But I have other interesting things to share, too, and I am absolutely thrilled that I’m starting to give those post ideas room in my calendar.

I’m still writing like a mad woman these days. But I’ve got a much clearer vision of where I’m headed, and I feel SO good about being able to offer my readers a really good mix of product-focused posts and other interesting content. I have learned so much about “blogging for stuff” over the past 3 1/2 years, and The Blogging Planner has helped me to finally take the reigns of my blog instead of handing them over to everyone else. What a game-changer it has been for me!

If you are a blogger, how do you plan out what you are going to write about? Do you keep an editorial calendar? Do you struggle to find opportunities to write about the topics YOU want to write about? 

I received a complimentary planner for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions expressed here are strictly my own. This post contains affiliate links.