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The life of a small business owner or an entrepreneur is as exciting as it is extremely busy. You’re wearing so many hats and putting out so many fires that things are bound to slip through the cracks. 

And sometimes, the thing that slips through the cracks is your content, unfortunately. 

If you’re juggling a packed schedule and you’re a one-man/woman team, creating consistent content might feel like another stress point. But you know just how important it is to create great content for your business. 

So, what do you do? 

How do you find a way to make sure you have enough time to create and schedule great content for your business?

The answer is a content calendar. 

But not just any calendar; you’ll learn how to create a content calendar that fits perfectly with your busy schedule and also helps you generate amazing content ideas. 

 So, let’s jump in and get you organized!

Steps on how to build a content calendar that fits your busy schedule 

1. Decide on the type of content your business needs and your platforms 

To decide on the type of content you need to create and, therefore, the channels/platforms you need, you need to consider two things. 

• The first is your business goals. 
• The second is your audience. 

What are you hoping to achieve for your business? More leads, clients, website visits, sales, etc? Get clear on this. Who is your target audience? What type of content do they engage with the most? What platforms are they mostly on? 

Asking yourself these questions would give you a clear picture of the type of content you need to create and the channels you should use.

For example, let’s say you own a local bakery. Your business goal might be to drive more foot traffic and online orders. And your target audience is local food lovers and home bakers. 

Therefore, you need content that highlights your products, promotes special offers, and engages with your community.

You’ll need content such as Instagram posts, blog posts, video tutorials, and email newsletters. Each type of content serves a specific platform and purpose that is aligned with your goals.

Makes sense, right? 

Your business type and audience will determine the content you create. It could be social media posts, blog posts, articles, case studies, white papers, podcasts, short or long-form videos, etc. 

Once you know the type of content and platforms you need, you can move to the next step.

2. Create your content pillars. 

The next step in building a content calendar that fits your busy schedule is to create your content pillars. 

Content pillars are the main topics that act as the foundation for your content strategy. They are broad subjects you can break down into smaller pieces.

Your content pillars represent topics or themes you want your business to be known for. They give you structure. Every piece of content you create has to fall under a pillar. 

Going back to the local bakery example. So far, you know the types of content you need (social posts, blog posts, video tutorials, and email newsletters). But what are you going to talk about? 

This is where your pillars come in. 

Some content pillars you can use for your bakery business could be: 

• Product Highlights: Showcase best-sellers, new items, or unique ingredients.
• Baking 101: Provide educational content for beginners, like “how to” tutorials.
• Health-Conscious Options: Feature gluten-free, vegan, or low-sugar items for specific dietary needs.
• Events and Celebrations, Seasonal Bakes: Promote custom cakes or catering for weddings, birthdays, and holidays.
• Behind-the-scenes: Show the baking process, ingredient sourcing, or team moments.

So, every blog post, social post, video, or newsletter you create must fall under one of these pillars. You should aim to have 3-5 content pillars for your business.  

3. Set posting frequency

Okay, you know the types of content you need and what you want to post about. Now is the time to get real and decide on your posting frequency. 

You’re already a very busy business owner. This content calendar is supposed to simplify things, not give you more work. 

 Don’t overwhelm yourself. Set realistic expectations for how much content you can create. Ask yourself:

• How often can I truly post without burning out?
• What platforms are my priorities?
• What content will drive the most engagement?

If your schedule only allows 1-2 posts a week, that’s perfectly fine! If you can’t handle creating social posts, blog posts, and video tutorials simultaneously, that is understandable ( even I can’t do all that). 

Focus on the most important, maybe social media posts, and start from there. When you have more time, you can scale or outsource if you have the resources. 

The goal is consistency. Only do what you can maintain for the long run. Start small and build from there.

4. Create your calendar template and mark down important dates.

Now, it’s time to create your content calendar. Creating one is not as difficult as it might seem. You don’t need complicated tools or software; you can create one using Google Sheets, Excel, or Canva. You can even use a Google calendar. 

Whatever you use, make sure it has a calendar with all dates in the year. Once you have that, start marking down important dates in your calendar. 

Markdown holidays, seasonal events, international dates, etc. If you have any product launch dates or promos you know are happening, add them to your calendar now.

Use holiday and seasonal dates to plan out specific content. This is a huge time-saver.

Here’s a quick tip: Pinterest and Google Trends are great resources to see when people start searching for specific seasonal content. For example, if you want to post about Halloween, people start looking for costume ideas as early as September!

Use this to your advantage. 

If you’re still unsure how to start, don’t worry—I’ve got you covered. To give you a head start, I created a Google Sheets content calendar template for 2024-2025 to help you visualize and plan your content. 

This template also has important dates and holidays you can plan your content around, and it’s completely free! 

5. Brainstorm content ideas 

Let’s recap what you’ve done so far. You’ve decided on the type of content your business needs and created your content pillars. Then, you decided on a posting frequency you could handle. Using either the free template I provided or another you created, you set up your content calendar with all important dates and holiday dates. 

Now, you need to develop the actual content for your content calendar. Take some time and brainstorm content ideas for your business. Remember the content pillars you created and use that as a guide to brainstorm content ideas. 

There are so many ways to brainstorm and get inspiration. You can look at your competitors, browse online forums to discover your audience’s pain points, and create content around them.   

Use social media to find trends and hot topics you can apply to your business; you can even ask your audience what they want to see more of from you.

After brainstorming all the content ideas you need, add them to your calendar on days that make sense for you. 

The beauty of having a content calendar is that it allows you to see and plan way ahead of time, taking seasons and other important dates into consideration. 

For example, you know that Halloween is coming up soon. You can start brainstorming content ideas now and add them to your content calendar so you know what you have to create. 

If you want a comprehensive content calendar that includes a content ideas bank, a brainstorm sheet, a content pillar sheet, and many more, check out my comprehensive content planner and calendar in my templates shop! 

6. Batch your Content Creation

Hopefully, you have a full sheet of content ideas, so it’s time to create. 

A time-saving tip I recommend every busy business owner follow is batching your content creation. 

Instead of creating a new piece of content from scratch daily, dedicate a block of time each week (or month) to creating multiple posts simultaneously. Whether blog posts, social media updates,  graphics, or video content, batching helps you get into a creative flow and saves you from scrambling later.

For example, pick one or two days to create all your social media posts for a couple of weeks or all your video content for the next month. Then, pick another day to do all the edits and reviews only and another day to schedule all the content. 

This is a very simplified example, but the point is to have your content creation process in batches. 

Because you’ve added all your content ideas to your calendar earlier, you know exactly what you need to create weeks ahead of time. 

Quick tip: When creating content, it’s super helpful to build yourself a content bank. A content bank is a collection of pre-prepared content ideas, drafts, or visuals you can pull from whenever you’re short on time or inspiration. 

7. Create Reusable Content

Not every post has to be brand new. Repurposing and reusing content can save you tons of time. Here’s how:

• Turn a blog post into a social media series.
• Use customer testimonials or reviews in a variety of formats.
• Share older content with a fresh perspective or updated graphics.
• Create templates for regularly used content types, like product announcements or quotes, to save time in the future.

Repurposing helps you get more mileage out of the content you already have, freeing up time for other activities.

8. Use a Scheduling Tool

Now that you’ve created all the content you need, it’s time to schedule it. One of the best ways to stay on top of your calendar without manually posting every day is by using a scheduling tool. 

Tools like Tailwind (affiliate), Hootsuite, Buffer, or Later allow you to schedule your social media posts ahead of time so you can “set it and forget it.” This means you can schedule all the content you created for the entire week or month in one sitting without worrying about missing a post.

Scheduling tools also help you visualize your content calendar, making it easier to spot any gaps or overloaded days.

9. Track Your Performance

Just because all your posts have been scheduled doesn’t mean your work is done. 

To ensure your calendar works for you, you need to check in regularly to see how your content is performing. Use analytics tools to track which posts are getting the most engagement, views, or clicks. 

This will help you fine-tune your calendar by focusing on the content that resonates most with your audience.

If certain posts aren’t performing well, don’t be afraid to tweak your approach or experiment with new formats. A content calendar isn’t set in stone—it’s meant to be flexible!

10. Keep It Flexible

Speaking of flexibility, remember that life happens. Your content calendar should be a guide, not a strict set of rules.

If you miss a post or need to shift things around, that’s totally okay! The key is to stay consistent overall and adjust when necessary.

Wrapping It Up

Building a content calendar that fits into your busy schedule doesn’t have to be hard. Start small, batch your work, and use the right tools to keep things manageable. Whether you’re posting once a day or once a week, consistency is key. 

With these tips, you’ll not only save time but also never have to worry about missing a post again!

What tips have worked for you when managing a content calendar? Share them in the comments below—I’d love to hear from you!