If you blog you likely have some kind of a content calendar for posts. Creating the media content calendar is a similar idea. This is all about putting some solid systems and techniques in place to help you land press. It takes a little bit of time to build the content calendar but once you have the basics down you can continually build on it.
Schedule the time to create and build upon your media content calendar.
Set aside a few hours a month to build your content calendar and continue to add to it as the month goes on. You should really have a few months of content created so you are able to look ahead and pitch stories with enough time. It is also a good idea to have a few dates filled in for the entire year.
This is how I have started creating a calendar of events. I began in Word and will likely transfer it all to Canva to make it a little nicer looking. I plan to share mine with clients and occasionally with my Facebook group so I want it to look a little more presentable but you can just keep yours in a Word document. Creating a list is perfectly fine but sometimes I find it is easier to keep track of the dates when it is actually on a calendar.
You can create your own calendar template or if you purchase my Pitch Package there are editable and printable templates for you to use.
The beauty of creating these media content calendars is you can keep using them from year to year. All you need to do is update dates that change and add new days or events that fit in with your niche or industry. Think about days and events that help you share your message but don’t get too focused and pigeon-holed. Think outside the box.
The idea of the media content calendar is to help you generate story ideas that the media really wants. See what stories the media is covering and what they are sharing on social to get an idea of what they want. Use your calendar to come up with the story and pitch. The calendar will also help you stay on schedule when it comes to the pitch timeline. You don’t want to pitch a story too early or too late. The calendar will help you piggy-back on the news.
A Google search for holidays and special days will help you fill out your calendar. Using websites like TimeandDate and NationalDayCalendar will help you add some interesting dates. Be sure to mark all the holidays, even ones you don’t personally observe because you never know where a story will come from. You should also take a look at any events happening locally, nationally, and internationally. Think about any dates or events happening in politics, like budgets or important votes. Health studies and other research will also be important to take note of. Set up Google Alerts to help you stay on top of news, dates and events. Remember, this is not a one and done kind of exercise, making sure your media content calendar is complete is an ongoing activity. Take a few hours a month, maybe 30 to 60 minutes a week to work on your calendar and add dates when needed. Having your calendar full of special days, events, and holidays will help you generate stories that fit with what you do and what the media wants.
So take some time this week to start your media content calendar. It will help you generate some solid stories that you can pitch the media to help you get press for you and your business.
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