Monday, February 04, 2013

Let's Get Organized for 2013!

January was a busy a month. First preparing for Alt Summit SLC, attending Alt, and then beginning to follow up with everyone from Alt. One project that I began before Alt in anticipation of collaborating with other bloggers is now complete: the 2013 editorial calendar for this blog.
 
The Plan for 2013
 
First let me say, developing an editorial calendar is hard. When you work for a company, it's easier. Why? With the exception of a couple of months in the summer, there are monthly webinars. The webinar topic becomes a main theme for the blog (as well as the newsletter). Product launches and posts about specific events you're exhibiting at then get added. Voila! You're pretty much done. If you only have bandwidth to post regularly once a week, the day you regularly post is dedicated to educational materials and you chose another day of the week to feature current events (product launches, events, news stories, and so on).
 
Okay, back to the subject at hand -- the editorial calendar for this blog. I've had a variation of a calendar, for over a year. This was initially what’s happening with me or what's on my mind on Mondays (Reflection and In the Moment features), Tuesday Shoesday (round up of products around a pair of shoes I wanted), Thursday Purseday (round up of products around a purse I wanted), Font Friday (a selection of a font or fonts based on a project I was working on), Sunday Sayings (a motto that is inspiring/encouraging me), and so on. I also had a few other features that I did once a month to allow for having more content than I had days in the week. While I knew what the content for an upcoming week would look like, I hadn't extended it for the month or for the year. Until now! Much thanks to Chris Gardner of Man Made DIY for his editorial calendar exercise.
 
After working on the calendar for the past few days, I'm pretty excited about it. I hope you will be too. I've also changed up the type of posts you can expect daily a little. Without further ado, here's the theme for February:
 
February is Indoor Adventures Month.
 
In the Bay Area, February can be either stormy or clear. Just because the weather is a little inclement doesn't mean you can't enjoy yourself. On the blog, we'll cover indoor activities, such as bowling (in case you haven't heard it's making a comeback), arcades, board games, movie nights, and more.
 
The Road to The Good Life focuses on Home, Family, Food, and Fashion. Here's when you can expect me to talk about those various areas.
  • Sunday, as well as Friday, could cover any of the four areas. Sunday Sayings features quotes or mottos that are motivating or inspiring me and that appear for the week on the DIY Magnetic Message Boards in Gates' nursery. Font Fridays offer peeks into the fonts I'm using for various projects that I'm working on.
  • Monday is dedicated to Family and Life, specifically what my family and I have been up to or what's happening with me.
  • Tuesday is devoted to Fashion, either what's in my closet and how to get a similar look or looks inspired by films and/or TV shows from the 1950s and 1960s.
  • Wednesday focuses on Home, offering glimpses into The Station, views from our neighborhood, and tips for effortless and memorable entertaining that doesn't cost an arm and a leg or leave you tearing out your hair.
  • Thursday features Food, from meals we've cooked to restaurants we've tried as well as ways to creatively stretch your grocery dollars.
Regular features will go live at 4:00AM Pacific, Sunday through Friday. Themed content, will go live once a week at 8:30AM Pacific, appropriate to focus, for example, themed content focusing on Home will appear at 8:30AM Pacific on Mondays, on Fashion at 8:30AM Pacific on Tuesdays, on Family at 8:30AM Pacific on Wednesdays, and on Food at 8:30AM Pacific on Thursdays.
 
What are your thoughts on the new editorial calendar?
Weigh In: Love it | Hate it | Meh
 
Ciao Bella!
Eden
 
Credits: All layouts designed by and images taken by Eden Hensley Silverstein for The Road to the Good Life.