2020: Content Calendar, Social Media, and More!
Happy New Years’ Eve Eve, creatives!
I am excited to share with you that I have spent the last few weeks conceptualizing the future of the blog and considering what content to cover in 2020.
So, for now, I will continue to write a new blog post every other week. If I have extra time on my hands in a month, I may do additional content on the off-weeks. Blog post topics will rotate, starting with Read. then Write. then Play.
So for example, the first few blog posts of the year will cover
Traditional vs Self vs Hybrid Publishing (Read.)
The Differences and Relationships within Marketing, PR, Advertising & Journalism (Write.)
An Overview of the Podcast, Music & Film Industries (Play.)
As time goes on, each topic and subtopic will be explored, including the technology that has been driving change in each industry and thus, shaping culture.
Now for some exciting announcements!
Announcement 1
Part of expanding the reach of Read. Write. Play. is building an online presence. The idea of “if you build it, they will come” doesn’t apply in the digital information age we live in. So, I’ve decided to create a Pinterest account for the blog.
Why Pinterest and not Instagram?
That's a great question. I considered Instagram. Like, really considered it to the point where I began strategizing content for it, but in the end, the deciding factor was audience access and search engine optimization.
Instagram is tinkering with a new algorithm that, as of yet, has unknown side effects on influencers, which includes bloggers who manage an Instagram page. While I by no means would classify myself an influencer just for starting this blog, I would run the Instagram page as though I am one, if I were to start one for Read.Write.Play. And, honestly, if I were to run the Instagram page as if I were already an influencer, it would require more attention than I can adequately give it at the moment.
Once I’m done with this next semester of grad school, it’ll probably be different. The time spent studying would then become time spent managing the blog’s social media.
Meanwhile, Pinterest, like Instagram, is visual, so a lot of the visual content that I had planned for Instagram would translate well to a Pinterest strategy. But what makes Pinterest different is that Pinterest users are actively looking for things that inspire them to action. The website and app are designed for easy searching through keywords. Pinterest is designed to gather and share knowledge and creative things. This makes it perfect for blogs, especially for a blog about creative careers.
Another big plus is that this blog is built through Squarespace, so once I publish a post, Squarespace automatically pulls the graphics from the post and creates a pin with them because I linked the blog with the Pinterest account. Pretty cool, yeah?
There are other ideas I have for the Pinterest account that includes infographics, videos and collecting resources to help you all navigate your creative careers.
Announcement 2
In line with the idea of expanding the reach of the blog, I am working on setting up an Apple News Publisher page for Read. Write. Play. so that you can stay updated with the latest posts through the Apple News app on your iPhone!
Right now, it’s under review so I will keep you updated on when the channel is officially up and running. Once it is, if you have an iPhone, you’ll be able to check out the Read.Write.Play. channel, subscribe to it and receive a notification whenever a new post is published.
2020 Tentative Content Calendar
As I have prepared for and visualized what I am hoping the future of the blog will be, I have created a tentative content calendar. As mentioned above, each topic will rotate on a bi-weekly schedule.
Without further ado, here is an infographic that breaks down the tentative content calendar by month.
As you can see, some months will only have two posts whereas others will have three because of the way the weeks are laid out.
This is tentative, so if something comes up in culture or the news that I find relevant to explore and provide commentary on or in the case I receive a lot of feedback to do a special topic, this will change.
So, with all of this said, I’m excited for what 2020 will bring. I hope you are too!
Until next time,
Rochele