5 Must-Haves for Entrepreneurs Ready for a Successful 2022 in Business

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

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Do you have your intentions mapped out for the year ahead?

Have you gotten clear on the income and impact you want to make in your business in 2022?

Have you thought about the habits and intentions you'll set to make said intentions a reality?

GREAT! And, if not, there is still time my friend.

But, no matter where you're at in this planning phase, I want to bring something to your attention.

Your success isn't just about the goals or how you'll achieve them it's also about your environment and habits! Yep, these elements play a role in your success so it's important that we take the time to focus on these pillars before we dive headfirst into January 2022.

In today's episode of The Brandmerry Podcast, I'm sharing, "5 Must-Haves for a Successful Year!"

Tune in now to hear:

• How important your habits are in achieving your end-of-the-year goals.

• The key factors, often overlooked by entrepreneurs, that play a vital role in their business sucess.

• An important reminder about how you're spending your time OUTSIDE of your business - don't feel like you have time outside of your business? This is definitely something you need to listen to!

Tune in now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to hear the full episode and all the tips.

P.S. One of the ways business owners can improve their marketing in 2022, is by having a clear content strategy. If your intention is to show up consistently online, to improve your relationship with your existing audience while always getting new leads and subscribers, and of course having a system you can repeat week after week then you need to grab my Content Creation Mini-Course. It's free at brandmerry.com/content.

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

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MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

How to Create a 90-day Content Calendar for Your Blog

Is planning your content creation for 90 days really possible? 

I know right now you might be thinking, "Absolutely not. It is a goal. It is an aspiration, but I'm barely doing 30 days." 

So we are going to remove the overwhelm, remove the mystery, and talk about the system to have in place to plan out your content for 90 days.

This question comes up a lot from my free community all the way to my paying clients who are constantly like, "How the heck do you create content?" 

It all starts with a plan. 

This blog (and video if you want to watch it here) is perfect timing.

I got this idea in June of 2021 that I really wanted to test my willpower and see how powerful my planning really was and I wanted to batch create 90 days worth of content within a two-week period so that I could thoroughly enjoy myself in Greece. Not to mention wifi is very unreliable and I didn't want to deal with that. I learned a lot living in an RV.

Now, I'm not recommending that that's where you start. No way am I recommending that you just start planning and creating 90 days worth of content right out of the gate, but I want to share with you how I'm able to do it. 

It's the exact same system that I've used to create weekly content, 30 days’ worth of content and now 90 days’ worth of content.

It all comes back to this plan and this system so you can use it to get your content out into the world.

90-Day Content Creation Plan

STEP ONE: Create Your Repurposing Plan

Step number one is to create your repurposing plan. 

Now, if you didn't already know this about us over here at Brandmerry, we are big fans of repurposing. It has also floated around with my clients that I should change my name to Repurposing Queen because I'm so obsessed with it. 

This need for repurposing came out of building my business while working a nine-to-five, being at home with my son, and then trying to be this whole entrepreneur thing. I realized I could not create fresh content every single day, but I did want to show up every single day. 

So that really introduced me to the art of repurposing, something I talk about in-depth in this video right here, where I actually break down the entire planning process of your repurposing workflow. If you don't know what I'm talking about, this video is going to support you in building your plan. 

So the base of your content system is your weekly workflow or repurposing plan. 

What I mean by that is: What is your core piece of content? You need to know this in order to plan out 90 days worth of content. 

For instance, for a really long time, my core piece of content was a live video that I did on Facebook and Instagram. I would go live every Monday, I would take that content, turn it into a blog post, I would push that out on Pinterest, I would share it in my Insta Stories, I would create an IGTV, and then I would create various posts throughout the week that talked about the same topic that I talked about on Monday. 

That's the art of repurposing. Think of it like a web and all of these other platforms coming out of that.

As my business grew, I started creating pre-recorded content that we could do 30 days in advance. We would repurpose that, transcribe that into a blog post, put it out on Instagram, put it on Facebook, put it out on Pinterest, all the things to where we are today. 

I've really mastered the art of repurposing so that I now have two core pieces of content. I have a weekly YouTube video and a podcast, both with completely different content ideas. So I have two new ideas every single week for 90 days. That's a lot. I get it. You do not have to start there. 

I recommend just starting with one. When you really think about it, all you're planning for 90 days is one idea every week. Doesn't that make it a lot less overwhelming than thinking about it every seven days? I know it does for me. 

The first thing you want to do is determine what your custom repurposing plan looks like. Again, watch this video because that's going to go through the entire process.

STEP TWO: Brainstorm Ideas

Step two is a brain dump of sorts. It's really a brainstorming session that happens every 90 days where you are just dumping ideas for content creation. We're not going to stop here, there's way more strategy involved, but you've got to get the juices flowing. 

At this stage, what I recommend is having a very simple spreadsheet where you're just listing out all the different ideas that you can create for your core piece of content.

Now, you want to start to think about launches. Is there anything that you're going to be promoting within the next 90 days? Is there something new that you're going to be offering? 

You want to think about any events that are coming up, whether that's within your own business or outside of your business. Think holidays, Black Friday, end-of-the-year sales, those different things. 

You also want to start to think about some of the top questions your audience has really been asking you. If there's something you've noticed that people are asking you over and over and over again, it's probably time to deliver some information around that. So you want to use this as a brain dump.

This is also really helpful if you want to conduct some fresh market research, which I talked about in this video right here, where you can take some fresh market research that you've done and put that into your spreadsheet. 

You're not thinking too analytical about this process, you're just getting the information out there, and you're letting the juices flow. 

At this stage, I also recommend thinking of any content that you could use from live events that you've done. Maybe you did a podcast interview and you haven't shared that out with your community. Think of ways that you could repurpose content that you haven't repurposed. This is really going to help you so it doesn't feel like you're constantly creating fresh content. 

In fact, for my podcast, The Brandmerry Podcast, I repurpose live videos that I do on Instagram. I release those recordings weeks later on my podcast and that really helps me because I don't have to just constantly be creating fresh content.

STEP THREE: Plan Your Content

Then the final step, if you haven't done this already, is to put that information on a spreadsheet with your dates and if you want to, you can absolutely start putting this in a task management software. 

I personally like to organize my entire spreadsheet before I add it to the task manager because it just saves a lot of time back and forth. The task management software that we love to use is called ClickUp. 

At this stage, we are focused on getting the information inside of the spreadsheet. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, a simple spreadsheet will do.

**If you want to watch this entire process as a screen share, I recommend hopping off of the blog and over to my Youtube channel to watch this video explanation. You can watch this video here. 

In the first column you want to have your release dates. So, I release a new Youtube video and blog every Monday. Then again, I release a podcast episode and blog every Thursday.

In the second column you can create a drop down menu with different status of the project. This is just for my end. I'm the main person who uses this spreadsheet. Once everything feels final to me, that's when I upload it or add the information to ClickUp. 

At this stage we’re just organizing your spreadsheet with your content ideas you’ve finalized. 

We've got the release date. 

We have statuses drop down. I just have very, very simple things here: Research, ready for notes, recording, editing, workflow initiated, and posted. 

"Workflow initiated" just means that we've input it into ClickUp and it's started its process. 

At this stage, I’m also adding the title once it’s been finalized. This is the big piece of the puzzle. 

This is the piece of the puzzle that people forget about. I recommend conducting your SEO research at this stage. A lot of people will teach you to wait until you’ve recorded or written your content. But, I recommend figuring it outright at the beginning. 

This information is going to help you finalize titles, which is going to play a role in formatting your blog, it's going to play a role in your thumbnails, it's going to play a role in everything. 

It'll allow you to finalize your title based on SEO and it's going to allow you to understand what keywords are going to help you, which will also help you in formatting your content as well.

There are two platforms that I prefer to use for SEO research. 

The first is called Ubersuggest. I've talked about it multiple times on this blog. You can use a paid version of that, which is what I use, or you can do a few free searches every single day. So you'd have to be really strategic in that week when you're planning it out. 

Ubersuggest is a fantastic platform that will allow you to type in the main content idea and then determine, "Hey, what is the search volume? Is it really difficult for me to rank for that?"

You'll see that I have two columns here for that: Search Volume and SEO Difficulty

I don't use these in my business for the podcast and the blog specifically because I've been doing this enough that I know, but a lot of my clients love to put in how much is the search volume and what's the SEO difficulty when they're in that initial stage of modifying their title. 

This information can be found using the Ubersuggest tool I mentioned previously.

But you're going to want to do this research to find out if people are actually searching for this. You want to play with your title quite a bit.

For example, I have a podcast titled “Your Brand Values.” For podcast titles, I like to keep the title shorter, but you'll see after I did my SEO research, the title for my blog modified to, “What Are Brand Values and Why Are They Important in Personal Branding?”

Because by doing my SEO research, I was able to find that this was a great combo. "What are brand values?" was a top question that people are asking on Google. Then the keywords of "personal branding" are ones that I always want to rank for, so I added that and made a long-tail keyword.

You'll see how doing the SEO research is incredibly helpful. We know what the podcast titles are going to be. We also know what the blog title is going to be and then I also write my SEO description based on the keywords.

Then you can use this research to also write out your SEO Description. 

For the brand values, one we did "Clear brand values are essential as an online brand in 2021 and beyond," and "over to the blog to learn more about what brand values are important and how to find yours." Your SEO description is just more enticing. If someone saw this title on Google, what could you say to them that would get them to click through on your blog?

This research is so important because if you're going to take all the time and the energy to create your content, you want to make sure that people are actually finding it. 

Another tool is called Keywords Everywhere. I've talked about that platform before. That's another helpful tool. If you're doing your content on YouTube, the tool that I also love to use is called TubeBuddy.

For podcasting specifically, I won't do a ton of SEO research for the podcast title. That's for my warm audience. I will use Ubersuggest to finalize the blog title. 

For YouTube, I will finalize the YouTube title based on the research that I find on TubeBuddy. TubeBuddy is just a tool that you can use that integrates with your YouTube search engine and will help you figure out what you're most likely to rank for based on search volume and competition. 

For instance, this six-month planning step-by-step, I think originally my title was “How to Plan Six Months in Your Business”, but it was not giving me a great score, so I played around with it and ended up with “Six-Month Planning Step-by-Step Business Calendar.” 

We don't know what we don't know. Let the data tell you what you should name your content. That's why it's important to brain dump all your stuff into a spreadsheet and then go through each of these and finalize the title.

So all in all your spreadsheet will contain the following columns:

• Release date

• Status (if you want to track this on your end)

• Final title (Youtube, podcast, blog, etc) depending on your repurpose plan

• SEO Title (if different)

• SEO Description

• Tags or keywords (tags are used on Youtube)

• OPTIONAL: Search Volume and SEO Difficulty

This stage is going to take you a little bit of time in the beginning, but it is 100% worth it because you're putting the pieces in place to make sure that your content is actually discovered. 

Again, at this stage, you want to finalize your spreadsheet, finalize your dates, finalize your titles, finalize your SEO, keywords, your descriptions, your titles for your blog, have it all done, because it will help you plan out how you actually create it.

Once you've finished the spreadsheet, then we can move into the next step.

STEP FOUR: Add To Your Task Management Tool

ClickUp is the task management software that we prefer to use. You could also use something like Asana, another very, very popular one with entrepreneurs. 

With the weekly workflow, I obviously have a team, so I’m cosigning a lot of different stages of the workflow to my team. However, in the beginning, I too was doing this by myself and I have just found that organizing it in a weekly workflow is incredibly helpful for making sure that things are moving along.

As I've mentioned before, we are repeating our workflow every week. Nothing is changing. Whether you're creating new content every week based on your 90 days of planned content or you're batching it all together, what we're doing for each piece of content stays the same. 

Inside of ClickUp, we've created some automation and some templates that we can use. 

What I do is dump all of the final titles in the first column. So I'll just pull directly from my spreadsheet, put them all in here as a new task. Then I go through and I pull them either into YouTube or podcast, depending on what they are.

I would do this for each of the pieces of content that I'm going to create. Once I've done that, then I'll pull it to its corresponding piece. My automation will start pulling in the checklist that I have designed and it will also pull in all of our notes and different things like that.

The statuses that we have are:

• Idea Dump

• Youtube Schedule (this is when the automation kicks in)

• Podcast Schedule (this is when the automation kicks in)

• Research and Notes

• Recording

• Editing

• Ready for Blog

• Youtube + Blog Scheduled

• Podcast + Blog Scheduled

• Complete

Each of the pieces of content I’m creating becomes a new task and moves through the statuses.

ORGANIZING MY CONTENT

I highly suggest watching this screen share video to see how each task is broken down into a specific workflow.

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CONCLUSION

I just gotta tell you, being in it where I'm bulking 90 days worth of content, it is absolutely amazing and will save you so much time and energy.

When you have a system in place, it just makes it that much easier. 

Now, the first time that you do this, the process might take a little bit longer. Maybe you're not five years into your business and know your ideal customer like the back of your hand. 

Maybe you're just starting out. You're going to get in a rhythm. It's going to start saving you time. But I promise you, if you get into the habit of planning this out 90 days at a time, it's actually going to save you time and energy. If you're trying to come up with topic ideas every single week, you're going to find that you're wasting time. 

Do all of your research at once, add it all into a spreadsheet, add it to your task management, and then the final piece of the puzzle is actually scheduling a time when you're going to create the content.

Now, we're focused on planning content right now. I'm not recommending that you sit down and record all your videos in one week. That might be a faraway dream for you, but at least get it on your calendar. 

Tell yourself and your Google calendar when you're going to record those podcasts. When are you going to record those videos? When are you going to write those blogs?

When I first started, I did this every Monday. So I knew what I was talking about for 90 days. 

Then every Monday I would sit down and I would say either write a blog or I would record my video or I would go live, whatever my core content was at the time, and then I would transcribe and get it on the blog and all of those different things.

I just refined that practice week after week. Then I moved into batch recording for 30 days. Then I moved into 90 days. That became a lot easier when I had a team and we used platforms like rev.com to transcribe. I dive into so much more about repurposing in this video. 

I mean, I know I've told you like six times to watch it, but if you haven't, you got to watch it. All this will make sense when you do.

In next week’s video, I’m releasing my first vlog where I document the process of creating all of the content I had planned.

Make sure you head over to the Brandmerry Youtube channel and subscribe so you don’t miss it. 

And remember this is just one piece of a solid marketing strategy. So if you’re ready to elevate your marketing strategy and really master the art of online marketing, then check out my free training.

P.S. Planning and creating your content doesn't have to be a constant struggle. There is a better way to research, plan, and create your content as an entrepreneur and it's all inside the Content Planning Blueprint!

The Content Planning Blueprint is perfect for online business owners who know the power of content creation but are tired of spending all of their time coming up with ideas, organizing their content, and wondering what will attract their dream clients.

In just a few hours, you'll have 90 days of content planned, a repeatable workflow to save you hours on creating and distributing your content every week, and content topics that will keep performing for your brand for years to come! Get your blueprint now >>

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

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- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

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MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

How to Plan 6 Months at a Time in Your Business: A Step-by-Step Guide

Have you started thinking about the next 6 months in your business? What if I told you that you could plan 6 months as a small business owner and entrepreneur and feel confident in your business plans as we head into your next phase? Half of your business success comes down to having a plan, and this 5-step process can help. Learn how to make your 6-month calendar for content, launches, and main focuses in your business. Learn more at brandmerry.com! #businessplans #6monthplans #endoftheyearplan

In March 2021, I released a Reel over on Instagram that showed a quick look at how I prepare for every quarter in my business. 

The video showed my giant calendar wall in my office where I have exactly six months visible to me at all times. I showcased the process of me planning with my Post-it notes, and the response was, "Michelle, we need a video about this. Michelle, we need to know how you're doing this, all of the details." 

So here we are. 

We’re jumping in with a six-month, step-by-step, behind-the-scenes look at planning. 

Now, before we get into those step-by-step pieces, I want to take a few minutes to talk about why I think planning is important and also talk about one of the key things that I do before planning for six months.

WHY PLANNING IS IMPORTANT

Some of you might be here because like me you love planning!

Some of you might be teetering a little bit. You might have been gung-ho about planning. You might try to do it a lot and then find that you fall off the wagon, but you get back on again, and you keep doing it, and you keep trying new strategies over and over again. 

And then there are a few of you that are here because you're super intrigued, but you also have a lot of resistance when it comes to planning because it can feel very restrictive.

So I want to take an opportunity to share with you the mindset shift that completely changed the way I view planning in my business. 

I've always been a big fan of planning. Even since I was a little girl, I used to plan out, on note cards (thanks, Mom), my goals for the year.

Then I'd tuck them away, and I'd never look at them again. I think we can all agree that's not how you plan effectively 😂. 

Over the years planning took on two different emotions for me, I’d either have these big ambitions to plan, but then I’d feel as if I was setting crazy unrealistic expectations for myself and freeze.

Or the idea of planning would feel restrictive; as if I couldn't do anything else, and so I never really followed through with the plan.

It wasn't until I became an entrepreneur and started my business in 2016 that I realized that I was constantly sitting in overwhelm without a plan.

I would question:
👉 How am I going to make money?
👉 What am I going to share today?
👉 What am I going to email?
👉 How am I going to get new clients?
👉 What am I focusing on?

And every day, I would repeat that kind of overwhelmed feeling, because I didn't have a plan.

This season of life made me realize that by having a big-picture plan in place, I was able to be more creative in my business. By having this roadmap in place I moved out of overwhelm, and I had more opportunities to create and be in my zone of genius, and that has served me as a business owner in so many ways.

So if you're coming into this like me where you might have had a little bit of resistance about the idea of planning and having it all mapped out, I hope that this blog changes your view on what planning is. 

So if you're worried about being restricted when it comes to planning for six months, I want to encourage you to look at it a different way, and look at it as a roadmap guiding you, allowing you to be in your zone of genius and have more time and space for more creativity.

PLAN YOUR FOCUS FOR THE YEAR

On my office wall, there are six calendars, one for every month. Now every single day doesn’t need to have something on it, remember this is big picture planning, but the purpose is to map out where you’re going.

So the first thing you need to determine before you start mapping out your steps, is what is the main focus for the year.  

Now, many of you watching this video are most likely small business owners and entrepreneurs and might find that your yearly goal is a specific dollar amount, but this works for anything and I often follow the same structure when I determine how many trips I want to take in a year.

When I'm heading into the year, I like to figure out: 

• What is my purpose? 

• What is my focus going to be for the year? 

• How much revenue do I want to bring into the company for the year? 

• How is that broken up into each quarter? 

• How is that broken up into the individual offers that I have, or that I'm planning on putting out?

So I never go into six months completely blind. I definitely know, "Hey, by December 31st, 2021, this is what I want to achieve," and this allows me to reverse engineer, and it makes the planning process easier. 

So although I'm not going into all the details of planning for 12 months at a time in this post. I want you to know that thinking of the big picture is important, and you want to have at least a number, or something measurable, tied to your yearly goal so you can move forward with mapping out six months, quarterly (every three months) and monthly actions in your business.

5 STEPS TO PLAN 6 MONTHS

Don’t move on until you’ve got your big picture goal established.
Ready?
Ok, let’s dive into it!

PLANNING TIP #1: START WITH THE BIG PICTURE

Number one is kind of a piggyback on what we just talked about, and that's thinking big picture. When you're planning for six months, which can feel like a lot of work, you're thinking about focus. 

You're thinking about the bigger picture of…
What am I trying to achieve for these six months?
What are going to be my big three things that I want to hit?

That is going to allow you to figure out all the nitty-gritty details needed to get there.

Sometimes people think when we're talking about content, specifically, that we're planning content for six months. I'm not saying, "Tell me the title of every blog post that you're going to create for the next six months."

That's not necessary, at this stage. That comes later, in step five. 

But you do want to understand what the focus will be over the next six months.

So think again: 

• What is the yearly goal? 

• Okay, how does that play a role in the next six months? 

• How does that play a role in the next 90 days? 

Because in case you didn't realize, you have to go through the 90 days to get to the six months, and the six months to get to the year. 

So reverse engineering from the big picture goal for the year to the focus every six months and 90 days will give you the stepping stones to get to your end result.

PLANNING TIP #2: CREATE YOUR WORKFLOW

Step two is to create your workflow. 

Now, in a recent episode of Monday’s with Michelle, I talked about the process of creating a workflow. As entrepreneurs, workflows are so important. If you want to achieve your goals, you need to have the systems in place that are going to support you in achieving your goals. 

One of the things that I did a couple of years ago, that changed my business completely, was this idea of creating a very clear content workflow. 

So every week, I know how many blog posts I'm creating, how many videos I'm creating as part of Mondays with Michelle, how many podcast episodes I'm putting out there, what emails are coming from that content, where I'm showing up on social media or other platforms. And I have a clear workflow every week that resets.

So we go through our week, tick the boxes, and it resets the next week. The topic will change weekly, but what we're doing behind the scenes to get the content out there does not change. 

Having a workflow is going to help you plan out six months with ease. 

This calendar that I'm looking at, says every Monday there's a Mondays with Michelle video.
Every Thursday, there's a blog post.
Every Wednesday, there's a YouTube video.
Every other Friday, there's a podcast episode.

That's what I'm able to visually see on this big-picture calendar that I've got up, and that helps guide my efforts. So make sure you have a workflow in place, and if you don't have one, there's an entire video and blog teaching you how to create your own.

PLANNING TIP #3: DETERMINE IMPORTANT DATES

Step three, when planning out for six months, is to determine any big launches, promotions, dates, and vacations. Any big these-are-set-in-stone dates that aren't super flexible.  

You want to put those on your calendar because that is going to impact a lot of your content that you're creating. It's going to help you look ahead and say, "Oh, I'm opening the doors to the Academy." 

Which I am, at the end of May. Just a heads-up 😉

I know that that's happening and it’s already on my calendar. This helps me determine what content to share leading up to that. I know The Academy is focused on marketing your business, so my content will be marketing-focused.

This clear focus will help build know, like, and trust with my audience so that you're most likely to join me inside of the Academy.

It's also going to allow me to put my promotion dates on there. If you're doing a challenge or a masterclass, what day you're going to open the cart and what day you're going to close the cart. If you're going to run ads, when are you going to run ads? 

So putting your actual promotion dates on your calendar will allow you to reverse engineer and add in the smaller details needed for a successful promotion. 

So step three is to determine those big launches, promotions, or any specific dates that you have. 

Think of EVERYTHING!
Maybe you're launching a podcast. What date is that? 
Maybe you're thinking of launching or putting a new product out there. What date is that? 
Maybe you're putting out a freebie. What date is that? 

Putting these markers on your calendar will help you get ahead of the game and help you embrace more of a forward-thinking mentality so you never “feel behind.”

One of the biggest things that I see entrepreneurs doing is that they aren't planning this far in advance.

They'll do maybe 30 days, and then the end of the 30 days comes, and they're like, "Oh, I have no idea what I'm doing next month." And then they're like, "Oh, I want to start a freebie, and I want to put it out next week." And then they're scrambling and doing mediocre work to get it out there. 

Give yourself space. 

By me looking at September, I can kind of, in the back of my mind, start thinking about all the things that I am doing and start formulating ideas around that. So when it comes time to create that stuff, it's not just coming out of thin air.

PLANNING TIP #4: PUT UP A 6 MONTH CALENDAR

Now, and only now do we physically put the calendar together.

I like seeing my calendar all of the time in my office, it’s incredibly helpful for me and has been for my clients as well. 

Sometimes people feel overwhelmed because things change, but again when we’re planning for 6 months we’re not focused on the tiny, tiny details we reserve for our Google Calendars, we’re focused on “What’s Happening!”

Once you’ve determined your physical calendar, then you want to take those dates that you've determined from step three and use Post-Its to pencil in. 

I like Post-its because you can move things around, as things change, which they will and not have to start over.

So once you have your calendar up and Post-its ready you want to do the following:

1. Add you’re important dates. Think launches, sales, promotions, vacations, etc…
   

2. Add your weekly workflow to the calendar. Think blogs, podcasts, videos, live streams, etc… If you write a blog every Wednesday you need a Post-it for every Wednesday.

What this is going to allow you to do is support you in the last step, which is adding the details for the next 90 days.

PLANNING TIP #5: ADD DETAILS FOR THE NEXT 90 DAYS

Now, I am not going to sit here and lie to you and tell you that I know what I'm talking about in September. I don't know what I'm talking about in July, but I know that I will be showing up, and that is super clear. 

But what I do know is what's happening in the next 90 days in my business down to the detail.

This blog that you're reading right now, if you are reading it on May 6th, when it's released, was recorded for a Monday’s with Michelle on April 6th. It's an entire month ahead, and that's because I have a clear workflow. 

So one of the things that you want to do in step five is add those individual details OFF of the calendar. I prefer a task management platform or Google Calendar for the details because your calendar can get super messy and you’re not able to list out all the tiny micro details on your physical calendar.

We use ClickUp, as a task management tool, and put those tasks and the workflow inside of there.

This allows your 6-month physical calendar to showcase the big picture and focus and your task management software to map out the smaller details needed to achieve that focus.

Or, if you’re visual like me a little something like this:

BIG PICTURE YEAR GOAL

👇

6 MONTH FOCUS
With important dates, general workflow, and promotions

👇

90-DAY FOCUS 

Specifics on what you’ll be sharing in your content, topics, etc...

HOW PLANNING LEADS TO CONSISTENCY

While I do have a team to support my business efforts today, I've been doing this since I was sailing the ship by myself. Having a clear idea of how I was showing up every week for my audience allowed me to continuously grow my audience and make sales.

As an online brand wanting to build a revenue-generating business you don’t want to disappear or ghost your growing audience, this is why creating consistent content is important.

Consistently creating content and putting your brand out into the world will allow you to continuously attract new people who have never seen you before, lead them through the process, and ultimately to the sale. 

And rather than constantly feeling overwhelmed with, "What should I talk about?" How would it feel if you just took an hour, every quarter, to plan all that out? 

I promise you, you get faster at it, and it gets easier.

RECAP

So let's quickly go through the five-step process again, and then I'm going to let you go on your way and start planning the next six months in business. I like to do this every quarter, adding on the next three months, but you can start this now, whenever you're reading this blog. It does not matter, but getting yourself in the habit will do tremendous things for your productivity and creativity.

Number 1: Think big picture. Remember, we're not talking nitty-gritty details for the next six months. We're looking at our goals for the year, and we're saying, "What is my focus going to be the next 90 days, the next six months? And how is that going to get me to my end goal?"

Number 2: Make sure you have a workflow in place. If you don't know what that is, or you need a step-by-step, go ahead and watch this video and grab this free gift. That is going to help you with this process.

Number 3: Determine any big dates, any big launches, and promotions. if you're going to launch a new freebie if you're launching a podcast if you're going on vacation. Whatever it is, it goes on your calendar, so you can work around it and reverse engineer any necessary promo.

Number 4: Put the six-month calendar up. Make it visible. Don't hide your plans. And if you can put it on a wall in your office or have a binder or something like that, go ahead and do that. But get that six-month calendar up. Put the major dates on there that we talked about in step three, and then put your workflow, blogs, podcasts, YouTube videos, all the different things up there, with Post-its or dry erase or something.

Number 5:Add the individual details for the next 90 days. We add these details into ClickUp but you can use any task management software. Again, the calendar that I'm looking at behind me has very specific dates. How I'm showing up, launches, promos. But all my emails aren't up there. All of that stuff is in my task management platform, ClickUp. This is my big picture. This keeps me focused. This is my roadmap.

CONCLUSION

So I hope that this blog supported you in starting to think about the power of planning and how it can ultimately help you feel more aligned, make better decisions as a CEO, and be more creative. 

Let's remove the overwhelm with a plan! And this roadmap is going to make a difference.

Be sure that you save this post, so you can come back to it and you can repeat this process time after time. 

If you want to take a look at this layout, I've also linked the reel that I shared with you, if you want to physically see what this calendar looks like. 

And make sure you check out the workflow video to walk you through creating your repeatable workflow. And for additional support, go to brandmerry.com/repurpose to grab a complete repurposing guide that talks about creating your workflow.

Watch the full video here!

P.S. Have you tuned in to The Beautiful Climb podcast? I release new episodes every other Friday on topics around productivity, motherhood, habits, goals and going after the life of your dreams! Check out past episodes and be sure to subscribe at thebeautifulclimb.com

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

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- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

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MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

3 Tips to Plan for 2022 in Your Business

3 Tips to Plan for 2022 in Your Business

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

This post has been updated to support you in 2022.

I know planning for the New Year can come with a mixed bag of emotions, you're excited about all the possibilities, but you're also thinking of all the things that didn't "quite work out" from the previous year.

Maybe, you want to plan but can't find the motivation to do so.

Or, if you're like most of my clients, planning doesn't come naturally to you, so you try and avoid it.

Well, planning is not something you can avoid if you want to build a scalable revenue-generating business.

Having a plan gives you direction, and actually leaves room for more creativity and inspiration.

To support you, I wanted to share three no-fail tips to help you with your plans!

1. SET GOOD, BETTER AND BEST GOALS

This little strategy really changed the game for me when I started implementing it two years ago and it's so simple.

The idea here is that you can feel really down on yourself if you don't hit your goals, which might even be one of the reasons you avoid planning in the first place. So, to support you in feeling your best and confident heading into the year you want to set a Good, Better and Best goal for your annual cash revenue for 2022.

List all three, but map out the "Best" scenario when planning for the year ahead, then, if you fall short on some of your goals you'll still hit the "Good" or "Better" bracket!

And in case you're wondering, you can make this your own. Your goals might have a $3,000 difference between them or $50,000 - it doesn't matter it's all about what feels good for you.

This is one of the ways I love supporting my VIP Intensive clients because we spend time mapping out their plans in their business and then take the necessary actions to bring those plans to life. Sometimes it can feel really overwhelming to actually take action on your goals, but this is hands down one of my superpowers and how I love supporting my clients.

2. MAP OUT YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY

After your brand foundation is set, your marketing is everything. 

It's not only how you attract new quality leads to your brand, but also how you nurture them into paying clients. Yet, so many people go into marketing their business in a way that mimics throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping it sticks.

Strategic marketing starts with a clear plan of when and where you're showing up weekly in your business.

Think about how often you want to show up in 2022.

Think about which platforms you want to optimize (not doing them all at once).

And think about the way in which you want to share your content.

Then begin to map out your content monthly (making it a goal to work up to 90 days)! Yes, it's totally possible.

3. OPTIMIZE YOUR SCHEDULE

If you're not already doing this, I promise this little hack will save you so much time in the New Year. It's all about bulk scheduling.

I've got a lot of love languages in building a simple and scalable business and one of the tactics I've been using since 2016 has been bulk scheduling my content, client calls, admin, etc.

As you plan out your 2022, think about the days of the week where you can set aside 3-4 hours to bulk create.

I recommend starting with one day and then going from there. I love to support my clients in using their one day for content creation so they can have their content ready to go every week.

From there, you can add additional days. 

At the beginning of my business, I would create content on Sundays because it was the only day my husband was consistently home from work (it's best if this time can be uninterrupted so I needed help with my son) and I was working a 9 to 5 during the week.

When I left my 9 to 5, I started having my bulk day on Monday. As we prepare for 2022, and I've grown my team, I actually get three bulk days #soexcited!

Start small and grow from there.

BONUS TIP: Put this day on your calendar weekly and coordinate any support you might need to make it happen.

CONCLUSION

Having a plan can save you so much time and energy, and help you focus on your business.

I know how easy it can be to get distracted and while a plan isn’t designed to be the end all be all, it will support you in staying on course.

So many people are afraid to plan because they are afraid to fail. However, after five years in business, I can tell you without a doubt that it is the entrepreneurs with a plan that is more likely to hit their goals.

Because having a clear plan allows for clear action.

And taking action is my specialty and it’s one of the reasons entrepreneurs work with me through my VIP Intensive. 

This VIP Intensive is the jump start you need to create a clear strategic plan (one that isn’t full of fluff and wasted time) and the necessary momentum to take consistent action.

Spots are limited, with only a few available every month. Learn more about the VIP Intensives and apply at brandmerry.com/intensive.

P.S. Are we connected on Instagram? No? Well lady what’s happening here we’ve got to fix that. Come hang out with me on my favorite social media platform. Follow for inspiration and send me a DM to know we’re connected.

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- FREE GIFTS YOU'LL LOVE -

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND STORY IN UNDER 5 MINUTES

START HERE ↠

LEARN HOW TO WRITE AN ‘ABOUT ME’ PAGE THAT CONVERTS

START HERE ↠

MAP OUT 30 DAYS OF CONTENT IN UNDER AN HOUR

START HERE ↠

---

- READ THE LATEST POSTS -

---

MEET MICHELLE

Hey there, I'm Michelle Knight and I an online branding and marketing consultant for female entrepreneurs.

I believe in the power of storytelling and using that superpower to brand and market yourself online...oh and to set yourself free.

I'm obsessed with living a life of freedom, so much so, that my family and I now travel full-time while running my business from the road.

This blog serves as a home base for all things branding, marketing, content creation and more.

Episode 12 | Planning Tips for 2019

Planning Tips for 2019

Free to Be Podcast | Episode 12

Today’s episode is a little impromptu because I think it’s needed! I’ve been watching so many entrepreneurs over the past year fly by the seat of their pants, and while I see incredible value in leading with inspiration, I also see too many entrepreneurs taking action from a place of desperation. My secret to avoiding this has always been planning.

In today’s episode, I’m sharing how you can plan for 2019 starting today and set yourself up for major success in the new year.

Things we talk about in this episode:

↠ How to start taking your shit seriously
↠ What made the biggest difference when I started my business
↠ How to avoid the entrepreneur end of the year trap
↠ The exact four-phase process I use to plan for the year ahead
↠ The exact questions I ask myself when planning for the year ahead

Speaking of planning, don’t forget the doors are now open to my signature program Roadmap to Freedom, but are closing soon! Roadmap to Freedom is my 6-month LIVE group program for the new female entrepreneur who is ready to launch an online business that allows her to make money on her own terms.

It's for the woman who is tired of just guessing at creating her profitable business and wants to seriously start making sh*t happen!

This program was designed to give you the COMPLETE roadmap, to remove the feeling of overwhelm and give you the support and accountability from someone who has been exactly where you are now so you can dig deeper than you could ever do on your own.

Learn more here: brandmerry.com/freedom

Questions from today’s episode:

Reflection:

• What worked for you in 2018?

• What didn’t light you up or excited you?

• What did you accomplish or celebrate in 2018?

• Based on 2018, what’s on top of mind for 2019?

• What will you create or release in 2019?

Dreaming:

• Visualize what you are doing in 10 years.

• Why do you want it?

• What action can you take in 2019, that will get you closer to your goal?

Planning:

• Where do you want to be by the end of 2019?

• How does that make you feel?

• How does this contribute to your 10-year vision?

• Now break down your main steps to get there into quarterly plans.

First 90 Days:

• What is your #1 focus for the year ahead?

• Decide on your Big 3 for the first 90 days.

• Create actionable and measurable steps to get you closer to those goals in the first 90 days (get specific with each month).

CONNECT WITH ME

Web: brandmerry.com
Instagram: @brandmerrycoaching
Facebook: @brandmerrycoaching
Biz Group: Authentic Brand Builders

LOVE THE FREE TO BE PODCAST?

I kinda secretly hoped you'd say yes! I love you right back lady and I'm so honored you tune in every week for massive inspiration. I've got a favor to ask. Would you be so kind as to leave a review of the podcast on iTunes (if you haven't already)? It means so much to me to read your reviews + it allows more people to get their hands on the amazing interviews and content. Let's spread the love, shall we? REVIEW ON ITUNES ↠

Featured Review of the Week

Review by Awecoolio

A True Expert - “Michelle knows what she is talking about and openly shares all that she has learned. With a heart for women entrepreneurs, she is your ally in building a platform that will put you in touch with the people who need what you offer! Tune in, get inspired and get ready to change the world!”

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