Lay it Out
The key to staying organized within the muck of management and content development is getting all of your ideas out there. At the beginning of each month, it’s a good idea to write out every single thought surrounding your responsibilities – ideas for blog topics, new ways to grow your community on Facebook, tidbits that should go in your business newsletter, fresh people to follow on Twitter, etc. This will help clean out the corners of your mind, creating room for new ideas. But don’t just do this at the beginning of the month. Throughout your work time, whenever an idea comes to you, be sure to write it down. Keeping a comprehensive list of thoughts and ideas will help keep you sharp and encouraged, even if you don’t end up using them. Those ideas are the beginning of a plan, and once you have a plan, the implication becomes easier. Not only is it important to lay out all of your ideas, but it’s crucial that you lay out specific plans on a calendar. This includes due dates, important events, and detailed content. Creating an awesome content calendar will help your business stay organized and on track. It will also allow you to see how your ideas and plans coexist and work with each other, further generating ideas about how your plans should be turned into actions.
Compartmentalize
Though it’s a good idea to get all of your ideas out on paper so they’re not crowding your thinking, it’s also important to focus on one task at a time. Outlining a month’s worth of blog content, Twitter fodder, and marketing plans can seem overwhelming if you have to do it all at once. Set aside time to focus on one aspect of your marketing and do it well. When you’re focused on content development, conduct thorough background research. Stay up on current trends. Get out there there and digest blog posts within your industry. Ask other experts in your field for recommendations. When you choose to fine tune your focus, you’ll have more energy and drive to do one area of your work very throughly, meaning you’ll be more successful in each individual area.
Use Tools
Disorganization is a common problem businesses face when working through their online marketing plans. This problem has been realized by many, meaning that hundreds of tools have been created to make your process easier. Different businesses will require different tools, but there’s something out there for everyone. A simple shared Google spreadsheet is a great tool to organize your company calendar and keep everyone on the same page. Social media management tools such as Hootsuite and Buffer offer great platforms for saving time and simplifying your community management. Sites like Feedly offer great ways to organize the content you’re reading, making for easy access to content ideas. There are organizational tools out there waiting to be used, you just have to find what works best for your business. These are just a few starting tips to help you stay organized within the complexity of online marketing. Whether you’re a small business, larger corporation, or individual marketer, when you begin to employ a few of these organizational ideas, the unique process that works best for you will be revealed – and you’ll realize how much more fun and creativity you can have when you stay organized. Photo Credit
