Let’s get real: You’ve been dreading those hours slaving over a single piece of content, right? Shooting, writing captions, finding hashtags, editing – all for just one measly post. I’ve been there and it’s the worst.  

When I first started marketing my business while juggling clients, I quickly felt turned off by social media. Creating just one post was eating up so much precious time I couldn’t afford to lose. Ain’t nobody got time for that!

So I knew I had to create a process to plan content ahead of time. One that gave me back control of my schedule while still generating real results. Planning future posts is what finally brought the fun back into marketing for me.

Because when my clients tell me “Jourdan, I’m able to go on an 8-day vacation without worrying about content!” – that’s the dream, sis. To be able to step away and have your posts doing the heavy lifting, driving sales and booking calls even while you’re unplugged? Chef’s kiss.

I don’t know about you, but I’m not trying to be “always on” – that’s exhausting. 

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So here are the 5 essential steps I now follow every single month to plan a killer content schedule:

Step 1: Reflect on What Worked
Step 2: Raid Your Drafts Folder
Step 3: Add New Content Ideas to a Calendar
Step 4: Schedule Dedicated “Shoot Days”
Step 5: Actually Post Your Content (aka Execute!)

Step 1: Reflect on What Worked 

The first thing I do is look back at my “high performance” content – the posts that got the most engagement, felt authentic to me, and most importantly, led to real sales. No need to constantly start from scratch!

I’ll pick a few pieces that crushed it, put them on the calendar to republish (maybe with a slightly updated caption), and expand on their success. For example, if a Reel about going live got tons of comments asking about sales calls, I’d plan a whole IG Live dedicated to that topic.

Recreating your top performing content is the easiest way to save time while staying consistent. Look at your analytics – what posts generated DMs or discovery calls? Rinse and repeat that magic!

Step 2: Tapping Into Your Drafts Folder

We all have a graveyard of drafted posts, Reels, or ideas lying around, right? Put a finger down if your drafts folder is overflowing! Why are we just letting all that banked content gather dust? 

I religiously go through and publish as much as I can from those drafts. If a draft isn’t quite ready, I’ll quickly note what tweaks are needed – new audio, updated captions, etc. The goal is getting that dead content out of drafts purgatory and onto your feed! 

Step 3: Add New Content Ideas to a Calendar

This one is crucial: Get all your fresh content ideas out of your head and actually mapped out on a real calendar. If you don’t write that inspiration down, it’s never going to see the light of day.

When I first started, I’d painstakingly hand-write every single content idea I had onto a physical desk calendar each month. As my business grew, I switched to scheduling in Google Calendar. Now with a team, we use ClickUp to stay streamlined.

However you prefer to map out your content calendar, the key is making sure every single post or idea gets properly scheduled and accounted for. Use the free Profitable Content Roadmap if you need a simple template to start filling out!

Step 4: Schedule Dedicated “Shoot Days”

Having dates fully blocked off for content creation has been a game changer. Once a month (or every other week), I’ll lock in a full “shoot day” dedicated to batching all my new content.

That could mean filming Reels, recording podcast episodes or lives, writing bomb captions, capturing behind-the-scenes teaser clips – whatever allows me to batch produce all at once. Then the rest of my month is freed up to just execute the plan.

I try not to overdo it on these shoot days though. Once I’ve hit my groove, I’ll wrap up and avoid overdoing it to the point where it feels forced or inauthentic. Capping it at 2-3 hours keeps my creative energy fresh!

Step 5: Actually Post Your Content (aka Execute!)  

This step seems obvious, but we’re all guilty of prepping great content…then never hitting publish, am I right? All that hard work is wasted if you don’t follow through!

I don’t rely too heavily on scheduling posts ahead of time, since I prefer posting in real-time to engage with my audience. But for platforms like LinkedIn where I’m less active, I do use scheduling tools.

Whether you schedule or not, make sure you have a simple process to actually execute on all the awesome content you’ve banked. Maybe carve out 30 minutes every morning to put something up. Whatever it takes to stop ending up with a drafts folder full of digital cobwebs!

Bonus Tip: “Be the Content”

Okay, one bonus major key for you: Be the content, sis! Allow yourself to capture content from everyday moments without feeling like you have to wildly produce or perform.

Set up your phone on some books if you don’t have a tripod, and film yourself journaling, planning your week, making sales calls – anything that’s an authentic glimpse into your real life as a CEO. You can get tons of mini, bite-sized clips this way that feel way less staged.

Then you can layer on motivating audio, text animations, voiceovers, and stitch the raw footage together into Reels, carousels, or whatever format you need. The goal is showing up as your true self and giving your audience a behind-the-scenes look at your journey.

Conclusion:

That’s a wrap on my 5 must-follow steps! If you put this system into place at the start of each month, I promise it’ll simplify content creation while keeping your audience engaged and sales rolling in.

No more wasting hours upon hours only to feel burned out and uninspired by your posts. Instead, you’ll be pumping out a consistent stream of valuable, authentic content that keeps your current clients obsessed and new dreamy leads sliding into your DMs.

Follow this game plan and you’ll be the CEO who “does it all” without sacrificing your life balance or mental health. I’m keeping you unapologetically booked and blessed!

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