Tips for Creating a Content Calendar For Your Art Blog
Let’s bring some strategy to your content calendar!
Chances are, even before you get serious about building a creative business, you will have started blogging. Blogging can be a wonderful way to grow an inspired community, express yourself and share your artistic passions.
It is a great hobby to have but it can also be a great marketing tool. Running your own art blog can be a way to attract and nurture relationships with potential customers. It can be a way to share your creative ideals and open doors to possible collaborations and other opportunities. It can be a way to test out ideas and figure out what works in the eyes of your market.
But, and this is a big but, if you want to start seeing some of those results, you need to switch up the way you do things. You can’t keep ticking along, just posting random things whenever you fancy it. If you want to achieve your blogging goals, you need to get a little more strategic. It is not always easy for me as I do like to “wing it” from time to time, especially with I have a art related tutorial I want to share.
The biggest, most effective tip I can give you is to create a blogging calendar. This is exactly what it sounds like - a calendar or a plan that maps out the different posts you will publish over a set period of time.
Step 1: Pick a simple tool or template.
It’s easy to over complicate your blogging calendar, particularly if the concept is new to you. There are many apps out there promising the perfect system and there are just as many pretty paper planners.
My tip for you is to try a “no frills” calendar to start off with. As you figure out what works for you and what doesn’t, you’ll be able to test new methods and see if they stick. If you don’t like the system, you will likely not use it.
I use a tool called Trello to keep track of all my ideas. I can create “buckets” for each of my main topics, with lists of post ideas beneath each one.
I have a template that lists all the steps I go through when creating a blog post. I simply duplicate it and use it for each blog post. Using the template ensures that I don’t miss any of the steps in the process of creating and publishing a blog post.
Step 2: Figure out your timeline.
You want the topics you talk about on your art blog to fall in line with whatever else you’re doing in your creative business, as well as what’s going on in your world.
Let’s start by looking at the next 90 days.
What events are taking place in your world?
Will you be exhibiting your work?
Will you be publishing an article in a craft magazine?
Will you be releasing an online workshop?
Will you be attending a big art conference or retreat?
What’s going on outside of your immediate creative world?
Is there a big holiday coming up?
Are the seasons changing?
Are all the kids going back to school?
Use each of these points to help shape the topics you focus on in your art blog posts.
Step 3: Use the Soap Opera effect.
Do you know why soap operas are so popular? It’s not just because of the drama… they are dependable. They’re consistent. Viewers know exactly when to show up for the next episode. They get hooked and want to come back.
Set a regular day and time to publish your blog posts. It doesn’t matter how frequently you choose to publish posts on your art blog, as long as you do it consistently. However, I don’t recommend disappearing for months at a time.
The other reason people get so addicted to soaps is because of the cliffhangers. You’re always very aware that you need to watch the next show in order to find out the next part of the story, right!?
To a certain extent, your art blog should feel like that. Try to have a common thread running through some of your posts. This could be through a series on a particular topic, or regular updates from a year-long creative project, or a creative challenge you host. Think about how you can make sure your readers are desperate to come back for more.
Step 4: Start slow.
A lot of newbie bloggers get really excited when they first start their art blogs, and begin by posting every day - sometimes even more than once a day! That is not sustainable. What happens if you run out of steam? Or what happens if life stuff gets in the way? Would you just stop blogging for a few weeks?
Start by publishing blog content once a week. This will give you the space to plan ahead and to make sure that you’re sharing something that is genuinely valuable to your readers. That’s the most important lesson here - don’t churn out post after post just for the sake of it.
Like I said at the start, blogging can be great source of fun as well as a great source of online marketing. If you’d like to see your art blog grow, I encourage you to bring in that little bit of strategy and put together a blogging calendar.
Not sure what to post? Here are some ideas to get you started:
1. Share your wins: published art, sold art, interviews, etc.
2. Review new products/supplies.
3. How do you overcome creative blocks?
4. What inspires you and the art you create?
5. What are the most important things you have learned as an artist?
6. Interview and spotlight another artist you admire.
7. Share your favorite art blogs and why you love them.
8. Share your favorite podcasts or playlists.
9. Share peeks of your craft/studio space.
10. Make short video snippets of you creating.
11. Write about your process and how you get started on a project.
12. Write about where you find your inspiration.
13. How has your art/style evolved over time?
14. If you could do anything other than create, what would it be, and why?
15. Talk about the products you use to create your art and why you use them.
16. Invite your readers to ask you questions and answer them.
17. Write out FAQ's regarding topics you are asked about a lot.
18. What do you love best about being a creative?
19. Share collections of your art.
20. Write about your story and how you got started.
Have a blessed day!
