The Ultimate Guide to Choosing Calendar Print

Mar. 07, 2024

Packaging & Printing

Do you know what you’re posting, sharing, and blogging this Thursday?

How about two Thursdays from now? Thursday of next month? Thursday of next year?

We don’t have things figured out quite to that extreme here at Buffer, but we do have some idea of what’s ahead. (Those of you who are yearly planners, our hat’s off to you!) Planning content far into the future is a common element of many marketing strategies, and the erstwhile content calendar—in its many shapes and forms—fits this role perfectly.

What calendar do you use for your social media marketing and content creation?

We hear a lot of interest in calendars from our community, so I dug around to find some of the best tools and templates for premium and free content calendars, as well as the

elements that make a good one—the who, what, when, where, and why of planning out content a week-at-a-time, month-at-a-time, or year-at-a-time. Here’s what I discovered.

The psychological draw of a visual content calendar

We recently held a webinar with the team at Twitter, and included in the webinar slidedeck was a slide of a content calendar. This slide was a big hit with everyone who saw it, and our community wanted to know: What is this calendar and where can I find it?

Turns out, the calendar was just a graphic. Nevertheless, the magnetism of that graphic got us to thinking: What made the calendar slide so attractive?

I found a couple psychological theories that might explain why.

1. Calendars work as mental models, showing us something familiar to help us comprehend something hard.

Now, I’m not saying that blogging or tweeting is hard, per se. But psychologically, we have a much easier time thinking about content when it’s pitched to us as a calendar. When we see our work laid out in a calendar, we find it to be much more manageable. The familiarity of the calendar minimizes the difficulty of our work and instead makes it exciting and fresh and fun—and we’re enthused to keep at it.

2. A simple, visual calendar greatly lowers its perceived difficulty.

Cost-benefit analysis says that our behavior is influenced by how easy or difficult we perceive an action to be. An easy-looking calendar is more likely to gain a positive, visceral reaction—as we experienced when we showed everyone the calendar graphic in the webinar.

Hick’s Law is similar. According to this law, we take longer to come to a decision when we are faced with more options. The Twitter calendar was simple, clean, and gave off the appearance of few options, which could explain its popularity.

These theories might be helpful to keep in mind when you’re choosing a content calendar of your own. Find one that is familiar, simple, and easy-to-use, and you’ll be more likely to stick with it.

3 ways a calendar can improve your content creation

We use a type of content calendar here at Buffer, and based on conversations with other content creators and social media marketers, it’s plain to see why thinking in calendar terms can be so helpful and why writing down your plan can be beneficial. Here are three of the benefits:

1. Take a bird’s-eye view of your content and fill in any gaps

A content calendar gives you new perspective both in the way you think about your content and in the way you see your content. You get to examine your updates, sharing, and blog posts from a 10,000-foot view, where you can’t help but notice the big picture. It’s easy to get lost in details when you’re in the heads-down process of content creation, so having a larger visioning session to create the calendar plus taking regular peeks at the calendar once it’s made can help bring your work into context.

Have you ever had an event sneak up on you? I’ve been there before, and in the mad rush to produce content for the event, I kinda wished I had written it down on a calendar. When you plan your content well in advance, you can prep and organize around the key dates that could influence your content. As you’ll see below, many big brands plan out far ahead to cover the recurring events and important dates that seem to crop up at the same time every year.

3. Ensure plenty of prep time to get content ready to publish

Working ahead on blog posts is my guilty pleasure. (I don’t know why I need to feel guilty about it, but I do.) Calendars help me see what’s coming up so I can carve out time in my schedule to get ahead. Pam Moore calls this the drumbeat approach to content development. Jamie Griffiths, writing at Convince and Convert, describes the effect this has on consistency and expertise:

In general the further ahead you plan your digital content publishing the better placed you are to produce a consistent flow of content that builds your brand’s perceived expertise in your chosen subject areas.

Should you have a weekly, monthly, or yearly calendar? Yes.

CoSchedule, makers of a handy-dandy WordPress editorial calendar plugin, advise that a good calendar creation process include a handful of different timeframes. Their three-step process goes like this:

Start with an annual review
Begin collecting ideas
Plug the content into monthly calendars

The purpose of the process is to think big-picture about the content you create and share. It’s similar to the heads-up/heads-down approach I mentioned above. You need to pick your head up every now and again to see where you’re headed.

There is no wrong way to build a content calendar.

As you’ll see in the tools below, some calendars include both blog posts and social media updates. Depending on the way your marketing team is set up, you can approach calendars from any number of different ways.

Many content strategies begin with marketing personas, and the messages of the content align to fit different needs and customers. Identifying these different audience types will likely guide the way your calendar lays out. For example, our Buffer content might be 80 percent social media tips, 10 percent Buffer tips, and 10 percent product announcements.

The next step is deciding what types of content you can place into your calendar, including blog posts and social media updates. Here is a list of content you could consider adding:

Regular blog posts
Social media updates
Recurring posts, series, or themes
Photos
Videos
Case studies
Infographics
Charts
E-books
Company news and announcements
Product launches
Industry events
Seasonal content

(We have a lot of helpful posts on the optimal frequency for posting content, too.)

You can likely find even more ideas on what types of content to add when you consider all the many different ways you can repurpose content. Create slide decks from existing articles, compose e-books based on past stories, tap the expertise of your coworkers, etc.

And the calendar customizations don’t stop there. In addition to the types of content you’ll include, you may also choose to have additional information on each item. In a spreadsheet calendar, this information often appears in the columns beside the date and content. Marketing Nutz has a big list of categories to consider when you’re putting together your calendar:

Blog post title
Social media update copy
Target audiences (primary, secondary & tertiary)
Author
Editor
Purchase cycle (awareness, consideration, preference, purchase, loyalty)
Draft due date
Primary keywords (5-10)
Categories
Supporting image(s)
Other supporting media (image, video, podcast)
Embed in other resource kits or publications
Syndication
Possible whitepaper (y/n)
Client testimonial / graphics

Combine all these different factors, and it’s easy to see how a content calendar can take hundreds of different forms. Find the form that’s right for you—detailed or minimal, weekly or monthly, etc.—and start working it.

Examples of editorial calendars

Many big brands use content calendars to plan out weeks, months, and a year in advance. Here are a few that make their calendars public online. Feel free to use for inspiration and ideas.

Forbes

Forbes’ yearly editorial calendar includes the highlights of their 18 big recurring features and where these features land on the calendar. The list view shows when the copy and design are due (the print close), when it is delivered to print subscribers, and when it launches online.

Time

Time magazine also plans content a year out, providing deadlines for print, online, and advertising on some of its most popular (and important) features.

Inc

Inc’s calendar highlights the most important moments on the magazine’s editorial and online schedule. Features like the “Inc. 500” and a “How I Did It” series are known a full year ahead so that content can be created and advertising can be sold.

Vogue

Vogue’s editorial calendar is very similar to the others: Brief descriptions of the content with relevant publishing and print dates.

CoSchedule

The gang at CoSchedule shared their annual calendar, which they keep with paper and pen (and color-coded stickies).

Buffer

We schedule our blog posts a week at a time with a fluid to-do board in Trello. We’ve found that ideas and directions change quickly, so we try to assume a good level of flexibility with the content we plan. There are no set dates for the content on the Trello boards; we publish whenever the post is ready.

A calendar tool is a common way that content producers choose to stay organized, whether in a standalone app or an integration with a company’s content management system. When you’re choosing a tool or template to help with building a content calendar, it might be helpful to ask yourself a few questions:

What features are most important to me? e.g., collaboration, sharing, follow-up, progress, assignments, etc.
How easy will it be for my team to find and use the calendar?
Does the tool or template fit our content plan? e.g., does it support social media updates, visual content, etc.

Here are five tools that you might find helpful, depending on your needs.

WordPress Editorial Calendar Plugin

We use this tool on our Buffer blogs for scheduling our posts for the coming weeks. The drag-and-drop interface updates both the calendar and the unpublished posts themselves, and it is a cinch to use with a WordPress blog (or two).

Gather Content

Gather Content, a tool for content marketers and project managers, stores files in the cloud for consistent group editing and has some neat features in terms of assigning tasks and tracking progress.

Kapost

Kapost focuses directly on content marketing, with a slick calendar for writers, editors, and publishers. The calendar is one of many tools that Kapost offers, including online payments and a distribution and analysis system.

CoSchedule

A WordPress plugin, CoSchedule synchronizes your blog posts and your social media sharing on one unified, drag-and-drop calendar interface.

Excel or Google Spreadsheets

For complete and total customization, you may want to just create your own calendar with a free spreadsheet. Many of the templates you’ll see below were built in Excel. The benefit of doing your calendar this way is that you have full control over what you want to plan and track, and you can do so for free.

Content Calendar Templates

Just like with calendar tools, any template you choose should be specific to your needs. There are lots to pick from, so if you go the template route, take care to pick one that fits you and your content strategy. (And based on the psychology of visual things, it won’t hurt to pick one that’s easy on the eyes, too.)

Here are five of our favorites.

The printable content calendar from CoSchedule, available in yearly views, monthly views, and an idea worksheet:

(CoSchedule’s instructions are to print one annual calendar and 12 monthly ones and as many idea sheets as you’d like.)

Content Marketing Institute’s content calendar template:

Convince and Convert’s content calendar template:

Hubspot’s content calendar template:

WebpageFX content calendar template:

Takeaways

If you’ve been creating content for long enough, you’ve likely experienced the benefits of a content calendar for your blogging and your social media updates. A strategic approach to content makes a world of difference for delivering the absolute best blogs, updates, and shares you can.

What do you use for a content calendar? Which elements of the calendar are most important to you? I’d love to hear about your experience in the comments.

P.S. If you liked this post, you might also like The Ultimate Guide to Repurposing Content and The Social Media Frequency Guide: How Often to Post to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and More.

Image credits: Enokson, CoSchedule, Twitter, The Marketing Nutz.

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When you are choosing your business calendar planner the options can seem endless. This post is the ultimate guide that will walk you through all the aspects of picking a planner!

While we all wish there was the PERFECT planner, very few of us actually reach that lofty goal. But if we can get 90% of the way there then our lives can change forever.

please note :: I often recommend resources, some I receive an affiliate commission for at no additional cost to you, these all help to keep this site free for you!

The Difference Between Just A Calendar And A Planner

There are millions of calendars out there (and we will talk about a bunch of them). But having a planner takes it one step beyond just a calendar.

A planner lets you track dates, appointments AND what you are working on. My planner has a small section in the front that is my calendar and then I have all the information I need related to my business including my two product lines, my clients, upcoming product launches and my business leads.

Everyone's planner should be different. If you are a traveling salesman who moves around, you might need to have contacts (in case your phone dies), lead sheets and a product catalog in your planner. A work from home internet marketer's planner might include things like launch dates, sales funnels and product development plans.

I think these were my hardest things to learn:

First that I needed to find the best kind of calendaring system that works for my style and
That I needed to have the things in my planner that matter to MY business

I have chosen to make my own planner using an ARC System from Staples, but there are many ways you can choose or modify “off the shelf” planners and calendars to meet your needs.

Why Do You Need A Planner

Before I go into details, let's talk about why we need a business planner.

For years I tried to make calendars do more than they were intended to do. Calendars are simply meant to record appointments. They can occasionally also serve as your to do list, but asking them to do more than that is outside of their capabilities.

The day I broke and decided that I needed more was when I had about 30 todos listed in a tiny little box on my fancy calendar. For heaven's sake, your calendar is simply to record what and where you are supposed to be at certain times.

Additionally they were all mashed up with no order. Not by urgency of getting done, let alone by which part of my business they were serving. I was a disorganized mess, chasing from one fake emergency to the next with no overall plan.

Having a planner takes you beyond just existing and running from task to the next and puts you on the next level where you can take control of your life and work with purpose.

Should You Merge Work And Family?

One thing I go back and forth about a lot is whether I should have my kid's and family calendar integrated into my planner.

One reason TO do it is that then I have everything in one place. When someone wants to meet with me, I can check and see if there is anything going on that I need to be aware of family-wise.

One reason NOT to do it is a business planner can quickly devolve into a journal or personal planner if you are not careful. If you are focusing on your business and your family or personal goals, you may be able to merge the two, but I tend to keep my kids calendar separate from my business planner.

Choosing Your Business Calendar Planner

Now let's get down to the meat of your planner. There are a bunch of different considerations that I have noticed over the years and I will try to touch on them all as we go through.

Size

I like to start with planner size because it is going to effect how your planner functions and what you need to do to accommodate the size you pick.

Staples Arc Customizable Patent Quilted Leather Notebook SystemAvery + Amy Tangerine Designer Collection BinderLevenger Circa Sliver Foldover Notebook, Letter

Letter Sized – My favorite sized planner is a plain paper letter size. After years of jerking around with a paper cutter and scissors, I finally figured out that just having a planner that matches 90% of the papers that I use and get would save my sanity.

My main one I use is this ARC Planner with MAMBI (Happy Planner) rings! I also use an Erin Condren for my editorial calendar!

Pluses: Because it is “normal” sized, almost everything fits there. I don't have to cut things down to fit into it. I can print out pages on my regular printer and just pop them into my planner on a whim.
Minuses: It is too big to put into a purse. It probably weighs a couple of pounds and is great on desk, but does not work well for keeping with me everywhere.

Available Planners:

Filofax A4 Finsbury Organiser – Raspberry

A4 Sized – Similar to letter sized, A4 is pretty close coming in at 8.3″X11.7″.

Pluses: This is big enough to accommodate larger handwriting like mine. It is hefty and will not get lost.
Minuses: For me, the weird size is a huge minus. I am not sure why you get so close to letter sized, but then still have to cut down pages to fit into your planner.

Available Planners:

Smaller Than Letter, Bigger Than 1/2 Sized

There are a number of popular “pretty” planners that fall into this category. They are strangely sized and run the gamut of different binding types. I have used the MAMBI, Me and My Big Ideas, Erin Condrens and all different kinds of other planners!

Pluses: They are super cute and fun to calendar in.
Minuses: While a few of them allow some personalization, as a business planner they are limited in what they can do.

Available planners:

kikki.K Leather Personal Planner Medium: Pinkme & my BIG ideas BOX-109 Create 365 The Happy Planner Box KitClassic FC Basics Leather Zipper Binder – Red

Half Paper Sized – This one is exactly half a letter size page.

Pluses: Not a bulky as a full paper sized planner, this one easy to throw into a purse and keep with you at all time.
Minuses: I have tried this one and it is nice for keeping with you, but it winds up getting pretty thick because you have to have twice as many pages to have a full calendar or end up writing smaller.

Available Planners:

Franklin Covey Classic
Levenger Junior
Staples ARC Junior

A5 Sized – Similar to half letter sized, A5 is 5.8″X8.3″

Pluses: Not as bulky as a full paper sized planner, easy to throw in your purse and keep with you at all times.
Minuses: Can get thick and bulky because you have to have twice as many pages to accomplish the same things as you do with a full sized planner. You have to specialized paper products to fit into this one.

Available Planners

Filofax A5

Compact Sized – These are all over the board and are definitely not based on letter sized paper. Sizes range from 3.7″X6.7″ to 4.25″X6.75″.

Pluses: Super handy to carry around with you in a pocketbook or a brief case.
Minuses: Not great as a business planner since there is so little room for including anything besides your calendar.

Available Planners

Filofax Compact – 3.7″X6.7″
Franklin Covey Compact – 4.25″X6.75″
Levenger Compact 4.25″X6.75″

Closure and Flexibility

The next thing to think about is how the planner stays closed and its range of flexibility.

Disc/No Closure – This is my favorite kind of planner because of the ease of access when I am looking to work! It will lie completely flat on a desk and also fold over onto itself to make it just paper sized. The only drawback is that you need to buy a special paper punch from Staples or Levenger to make this one work. Additionally you need to buy special dividers and add ons. The are not expensive, but are limited.

Wire Bound/No Closure – These planners are wire bound and cannot be added to easily. Again I love that they fold over and lay flat, but the fact that they are not easily changed is a challenge when using them as a business planner.

3 Ring/No Closure – If you are thinking about making your own personalized business planner, going with a 3 ring binder is a great place to start. There a myriad of them out there and hundreds of add ons you can get (like pockets, dividers and folders). The only drawback for me is that they have to lie flat on your desk. If you are space challenged like I am, the sheer amount of space it takes up on your desk is an obstacle to using it.

Tab Insert/Closure – This is the kind that has a tab hanging over on the back that slots into a loop on the front, allowing you to “hook” your planner closed. I have had one of these and it is nice for making sure that you don't lose any of your “stuff”, but it doesn't allow for folding over and the tab on the right messed up my writing.

Zippered Case/Closure – Last but not least is the zippered case enclosed planner. This one makes your stuff very secure, but for me the zippered part kept me from using my planner. Just the fact that it was constantly touching me while I was writing was a distraction while I was working.

Dividing Your Sections

As I said before, I have my planner divided into different sections of my business. This makes organizing my planner a breeze and assures that I have everything right at hand! Here are some potential ways you could organize your planner:

Todays
This Week
This Month
Monthlies
Leads
Your Main Product
Utilities
Clients
Business Divisions
Sales Goals
Bill Payment
Upcoming Blog Posts
Big Ideas
Internet Marketing

Sticky Notes Set with Bookmark Index for PlannerMe & My Big Ideas The Happy Planner Dividers MulticolorStaples Arc System Pocket Dividers

Additional Resource: How To Make Laminated Scrapbook Paper Dividers For Your Discbound Planner

Which Calendar Style?

I wanted to save this section for last because it is important, but when you are using a business planner, the calendar's importance does fade just a little bit. You will not be trying to put everything about your business onto cramped little pages anymore, instead you will be breaking out work and calendaring from each other!

Here are some of the things that you might want to consider when you are choosing a calendar style.

Day at a Glance – If you had told me years ago I would be scheduling each day as closely as I am, I would have laughed. Now I LOVE having each day laid out so I can see what I have going and what my responsibilities are. That said, I don't always get everything done in a day, so my daily planner page allows for spanning time. For example, I can have one page for Friday-Sunday. (see my daily planner page)

Week at a Glance – This is where you are organizing your whole week all on one page. (see my Week at a Glance)

Weekly Spread – This is where the week spans two pages and the days are ordered from left to right. I have to say that this is the most common calendar system and that it is effective for planning because you do have a bit more room to put things. (see my Weekly Spread)

Month at a Glance – When someone asked me to make a monthly calendar I really thought it was weird, but I find I have each of the months printed out and filled in separately, IN ADDITION to doing my daily calendar pages. These kinds of calendars are great for getting an overview of everything that you have going on! (see my monthly planner page)

Horizontal Versus Vertical – It seems weird that this could make such a difference but it does. This the difference between your weekly days running from top to bottom or side-to-side stacked on top of each other. Many calendars do not give you a choice, but keep your peepers open for what you like!

Schedule By Times or Schedule In Blocks – This is another big one…some people like to be able to see every second of their day in a time frame and some people are just happy to know approximately in the day when they are going to be doing something. I think the big difference here is whether you have lots of appointments that require precision or not.

Monday – Sunday or Sunday – Saturday – As this is a business planner and most business is conducted from Monday through Friday, I have found that I LOVE having the work week at the start with the weekend days clumped together at the end. This makes it super easy to see and schedule work-versus-home info. (want more about this, check out Should You Use A Sunday Through Saturday Or A Monday Through Sunday Calendar)

Choosing Your Business Calendar Planner Wrapup

Alrighty then, probably more than you ever thought you would need to know to choose a simple business planner. But, based on the proliferation of them in the marketplace, it is obvious that we all are struggling with managing our time and business.

Hopefully this post will help you get some clarity on what really matters to you in terms of choosing a business planner or calendar.