One of the hardest things for many business owners to do is create content consistently. The number one reason for this is simple: they have no plan for what they are going to write. The result: a blog that hasn’t been updated in months.

I recommend to all of the business owners that I consult with that they write at least once a week. But how can you do that when you’re stuck and can’t write? Simple – create a content calendar (editorial calendar).

But HOW can you create a content calendar that doesn’t suck the life out of you and your readers? 

Before you get started, grab a calendar or print out a calendar for the next 30 days. You can make your own over at Calendar Labs. If you use Google calendar, print out the next four weeks, all on one page, with all of your important days on it.

Begin at the end of the 30 days and write down what you want to have achieved. I’m going to use my own recommendation and write down a “4” for four posts by the end of the month. And we’ll use September as the month.

I review my business calendar and I look for any dates that are important to my business. These could be events that I’m hosting or events that I want to attend. It doesn’t matter if the event is online or offline. I include any anniversaries of when I started my business, any national holidays, or anything else that matters to my customers and people in my industry. I put those on the calendar with the full name of the holiday and number them 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on, based on earliest to latest.

Theme your month
Writing four articles is my goal, so I first think of any theme that can center around the holiday. Labor Day is the September holiday, but that doesn’t really inspire me much, so I need to look a little harder.

Find bizarre holidays
I search and find the bizarre and unique holidays. No overall theme for the month, but there are many fun holidays that I can write about and around. I chose four “holidays”:

  • September 6th is Fight Procrastination Day. I add that to my calendar. I’m thinking that I’ll write an article about a time when I didn’t procrastinate and how it turned out to help my business – a positive lesson and one that will help my readers too.
  • September 10th is Swap Ideas Day. I can write about this one. Better yet – maybe I can find someone to write a guest post for, and find someone who can write a guest post for me.
  • September 16th is National Play Doh Day. It’s another fun day I can write about and tie into my business – a lesson that I learned about my business in childhood.
  • And September 28th is Ask a Stupid Question day. Awesome! I know LOTS of stupid questions that I’ve asked over the years. Do you know any stupid questions?

And those are just four of the days that will inspire me to write my four articles in September.

Other articles for the month
If I hadn’t found four days that inspired me, I’d add other things to my calendar. It might be an event that I’m hosting that I want to promote, any events that I’m attending, and anything else of interest to me.

Now my calendar is full and I’ve got some funky inspiration. I know what I want to write for the month and I’m still weeks away from the month beginning. As things get added and subtracted from my business calendar, I’ll adjust my editorial calendar accordingly, but I have my four article ideas and I’m ready to get started.

Begin at the end of the month and work towards today to create an editorial calendar that you can work with and you’ll never be stuck on what to write about again.

Do you struggle with getting your writing unstuck? How do you keep or manage your editorial calendar? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.