Special Thanks to River Island for partnering up on this post!

Scheduling Content Creation

Today’s post is going to be an installment for my Industry Talk series. If you’re new here it’s a series that covers all things industry related – blogging tips, tell alls, modeling advice etc. I also couldn’t help but share this amazing River Island fit with you guys. River Island looks always come out super chic and effortless, which I love. I especially adore these jeans!  They are literally my new favorite pair and super affordable too! Be sure to shop the look below! 🙂

Anyways, as I’ve shared with you guys before, one of the more challenging aspects of working any freelance job is having a schedule. Although its nice in terms of flexibility, it can be overwhelming and challenging to maintain any type of schedule or consistency in an industry like blogging. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen some of my favorite bloggers fall off the wagon and abandon some of their social channels. Ever since seeing this happen I’ve had a fear of having the same thing happen to me. Therefore I’ve tried to be pretty strict about sticking to a schedule, but I have also learned to allow myself some leniency. Read on for more!

Keep Your Social Channels In Check

When it comes to being an influencer you have to pick and chose your top platforms and forms of content. There are so many mediums in the social media realm that it’s important to decide which you would like to spend the most time and effort on. For example, my most important social media platforms are Instagram and my blog, as I love to create relatable compelling imagery and write my heart out. Second to those I dabble in YouTube and Pinterest as I’m a little less comfortable creating video and inspirational ‘pin-able’ content. This means I spend the most time/effort/planning on Instagram and my blog.

Instagram Schedule

As far as scheduling goes I try to post on my Instagram every single day and often multiple times a day. Yesterday was actually the first day in months (probably all of 2018) that I didn’t post a picture on Instagram. But it was also a great way for me to take a breather. I’ve got the content to post but I wanted a break from checking my numbers, scheduling my day around what time to post etc etc. It’s also just sometimes a good way to hit the refresh button. But I try to take these “breaks” as minimally as possible. When you need one you need one, but other than that stick to your guns and stay on track! You’ll thank yourself later when you notice your growth and success!

Oh and p.s. I use the app UNUM to plan out all of my Instagram content. This is basically a faux feed of my Instagram feed so I can see how everything works together. This is also a great way to see how your colors, depths, and overall theme are melding together. For example, I’m having a moment with some yellow accents right now. That’s why I incorporated these yellow flowers, and I knew they worked in my feed because I put the photos in UNUM before posting! Once I started using UNUM my life changed. I was able to really weave my content together and plan it out for days. Having a visual picture of this is hugely helpful for me!

 Blog Schedule

For blogging content I try to post to my blog at least once a week. Last week was actually the first (I think?) week I ever missed. But again this was just a way for me to release my rigid thinking and relax a tiny bit. I was totally uncomfortable doing it as I felt I was letting down my audience and myself, but I knew it was going to be okay. I spent the week celebrating America, my family, and friends. Due to the lack of WiFi in the locations I was visiting I couldn’t figure out a way to make the blogging content work that week. So I let it go, and it was fine. But in general I try to post every week 1-3 times a week. I typically stick to blog posts on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays so that I can evenly space out three in one week if need be.

However, over the past couple of months I’ve also become more lenient with this standard, for example today’s post is going live on a Tuesday and that’s okay! The main point is to get a little consistency, the details aren’t as important is what I’ve learned so take what you can get!

I like to plan out my blog posts before I shoot them. So on Friday’s I’ll decide which 1-3 looks I want to shoot for a blog post, what I’ll write about, etc. I usually write the actual blog post 1-2 days before the content goes live. But sometimes I’m a little frazzled and end up writing blog posts the morning of posting them. Whatever it takes sometimes 😉

When In Doubt Plan It Out

It’s taken me some time to learn what type of schedule works best for me as far as content planning, and to be totally honest I’m still figuring it out as I go. But for the most part I’ve learned it’s best to have it a little planned out. For nothing else, at least for the peace of mind. It brings me so much joy (and sanity) to know that my week/month/season is some what planned out.

In general I shoot the majority of my content on the weekends. I like to shoot as many things in real time as possible – meaning I like to wear/shoot/and post to Instagram all in the same day if and when possible. For blog posts this is a little harder as I shoot my blog content on DSLR and it takes longer to process and edit the photos as well as write the content for the post. Therefore I typically shoot my blog posts over the weekend and share them during the week.

I also sometimes shoot additional content on the weekend to post throughout the weekend so that I don’t have to scramble during the week. This usually means shooting 3-6 outfits each weekend. Sharing 2-3 that weekend and then sharing the rest during the week.But as much as possible I enjoy shooting and sharing in real time!

Plan It Out Even Further! 😉

For even larger scale planning out I like to plan out broader themes. One of my favorite things to plan around this is look books. For example I often like to brainstorm and plan out look books for each season which entail 3-5 looks around a specific season, holiday etc. This just helps me to feel prepared for upcoming seasons, occasions, months etc. To help keep all of this organized I use a specific editorial calendar. This is where I jot down my ideas as well as their potential posting dates. I also have specific sales, holidays, and occasions planned out by month in this calendar. It’s a great way to stay on top of it!

That’s it for this post. I hope you guys enjoyed it. I am always looking for new questions and topics to cover in this series so be sure to drop your questions below or shoot me a DM on Instagram! Xx

Shop The Look Below

Top – Here

Jeans – Here

Heels (similar) – Here

Bag (similar) – Here

Sunnies – Here

Photography by Clayton Wenner @clayhendrx

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