Content SOS program & New Opt In

A couple of months ago right when the COVID hit (about mid-Feb or late March), I talked to my best blogger friend Pamela and asked to hire her for VA/Blog help. I felt lost, still struggling, and wanting to be so much better even after my website overhaul in January. I have known Pam for years through blogging and I adore her drive, productivity, and ability to get shit done even with two small boys. She happily agreed to help me get back on track with a plan for my content, guide my social media, and retrain my brain to be productive and brainstorm a smarter way.

Here’s a quick description of the Content SOS program in Pamela’s own words, “Content S.O.S. is a personalized program designed to help you get back on track with your content and systems. Together, we evaluate your current systems and determine ways to improve them. The program includes planning, troubleshooting, and setting up Trello boards that will help you master the roadblocks you’ve met along the way. The program is 100% personalized meaning you get what you need and none of the fluff.”

Well, I commend her immensely, because she’s been working so hard for me and my blog hustle and I have made great strides due to her great planning and homework!

We discussed our path and what I wanted to get accomplished before we even started. Through talking to her, I discovered how aimless and confused I was about my audience and she jumped right into creating a plan for me. With ease, she got me started by brainstorming, writing, and planning content out regularly on a weekly basis. She assigned me a weekly review writing assignment with positives and negatives of the week including all the things I did, bought, cooked, and how I felt. We summarized a lot about my audience, my mission, and how to communicate that in posts and across the website. I also did a huge brainstorm collecting ideas and possible blog posts that I can always change the titles and rearrange my ideas as needed.

As we continued with 6-9 week sessions, we got SO much stuff done and addressed head-on. I rehired her again for more in-depth work, mindset, and further blog categorization and organization overall. During all this, she has set deadlines and broke down steps into smaller steps, so it’s easier to get things done. Granted I did have days when I didn’t work or something came up or I just had an off day and slept in. Overall, I remained focused, stayed on the bandwagon, and kept up with the weekly routine. Things have gotten more streamlined and much easier to stick to with a plan and routine in place.

One of our next steps has been to create a new opt-in about the steps I’ve followed for making a blog post, now that Pam taught me. Yes, it’s very straightforward, but I’m thankful to have it clear now and it’s something to use as a guide to staying on track. And I am thinking this will be beneficial for people who are just starting out blogging OR for people lost along the way like me and need some more direction in even the most basic ways. I’ve found this is one of the best ways to ensure quality over quantity that doesn’t end up mattering (because the content is empty anyway). Here’s exactly what I’ve been doing now for the past 9 or so weeks..

Step One) Brainstorm, no editing or stopping involved – pure brain dump.

Step Two) The outline is a bit more structured and means that you start putting together the pieces that you spilled out in Step One.

Step Three) Write the post, fill in, and expand where needed. Pull the reader in somehow and explain what you’re there to talk about.

Step Four) Design Graphics, create a title and pin image(s) for social media, and anything else you may want to make for the post or to put up on social media.

Step Five) Format post, each and every post needs an intro, middle, and a conclusion. Yes, we are going back to school here people. This was one area I had to improve.

Step Six) Title your post, try to use catchy wording, explain the topic clearly, and find a better way to bring readers to your blog.

Step Seven) Schedule your post for the best time when most eyes will see it or just for an appropriate day or time to stick to your own posting schedule.

Step Eight) Make sure you share with social media to get the most eyes on it and to hopefully be shared across platforms!

That’s pretty much all! It may seem elementary to some, but I know there are others out there in the same place as me and I really figured out that I needed to start back at the beginning. And so that’s what this is about- being consistent, concise, and clear on my mission and checking off and keeping track of every goal and step along the way. I’ve included a link to where you can grab the blog post creation checklist and I’d love for you to continue following my blog in hopes that it’s bringing you something you like!

Thank you! Please leave me a comment down below introducing yourself (or your blog) if you’re new, or tell me one thing that has been difficult for you in blogging.