Review of The Content Planner

When it comes to starting something new, there is an inevitable period of growth that takes place. Blogging is NO exception. As for learning the ropes in the blogging world, you quickly start to see that as a blogger, you wear many hats. From creating written content to visual content to managing many social medias (and most likely, Pinterest as well), you can easily find yourself overwhelmed, falling behind and posting simply for the sake of posting. While this strategy may get you off your feet, it won’t sustain you in the long run. The truth is, you need to figure out how to plan your content so that you can meet deadlines, know what and WHY you’re posting, and get your content out there. Check below as I dive into my honest review of The Content Planner to find out how it changed my planning game, keeps me organized and makes me money.

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Related Post: 5 Things You Can Schedule to Make Blogging That Much Easier

The Truth About Planning

The truth about being successful as a business owner, blogger or entrepreneur lies in the plan. No, the plan is not the be all end all. However, without a plan you’re not going to be seeing the results you want. Try to picture your idol and then to put yourself in their shoes. Would they have gotten to where they were today if they just decided to wing it? Probably not. Remember, the plan can always change, but not having a plan in the first place is essentially planning to fail.

As a blogger, The Content Planner is key to how I get myself organized for the week, the month, and year. The CP keeps my dreams, goals and plans all in one place, which makes it easier to prioritize and execute my blogging tasks according to season, and monthly theme.

Without focusing on a content planning strategy, I would not have

1. Organized and published blog posts in time for special holidays and seasons

2. Posted with a purpose (instead of just posing blog and Instagram posts for the sake of posting)

3. Been able to make money just for posting (Yes, money)

Related Post: How to Use Twitter to Boost Your Blog Traffic

Why I’m Telling You All of This

The Content Planner is the only physical planner that allows you to brainstorm, plan and track your growth in one place. The motto of The Content Planner is quite literally, ‘Plan It, Post It, Profit’. So, if you’re posting with intent to monetize, and haven’t yet monetized, you need to switch up your planning game. Because if you don’t plan, then you won’t post. And if you don’t post, you sure as heck aren’t going to be profiting! Below I go over individual features of The Content Planner and how I used them to change the planning game.

Functionality:

Full Customization

The monthly spread is COMPLETELY fillable and customizable (to your own timeline). You receive sticker sheets with monthly stickers. You simply place the month sticker in the top corner and fill in the dates! The day you decide to change your content planning game is the day the planning starts!

Clearly Labeled Sections

There are specific slots for monthly goals, themes, weekly goals, weekly wins etc. Having labeled spaces prompts you to think outside of the box, and break down goals into monthly and weekly tasks. Writing down your wins is a great way to see your progress and acknowledge (and celebrate!) your victories!

Space to Write Daily Tasks

Each square represents a day. This is where you can write in daily tasks and plan for the future.

Growth Chart

This feature is SO helpful (left hand column in above picture!) Numbers don’t make or break you as a blogger. Having a ton of followers doesn’t make you a great blogger either. BUT, if you aren’t keeping track of growth and income, how do you know you’re on track? Keeping tabs on your growth is an important part of growth, setting goals for yourself and seeing where you need to improve.

How The Content Planner Inspires:

Provides Monthly Themes

The CP allows you to stay on top of upcoming holidays and special times of the year. The monthly theme page at the front inspires and allows you to plan out your monthly themes! (So important if you want to stay on top of what to do next!)

List of Holidays & Marketing Dates

This is probably one of my favourite things! The CP has provided a list of holidays as well as a list of popular marketing dates (#nationalwineday is probably my fav). This is such a fun page to utilize and can easily help you capture attention on social media!

Designated Spaces for Ideas, Dreams & Quotes

Within each month, The Content Planner has a blank space for you to dream. This is what drives your brainstorming, planning, and writing down of ideas! The dream space is the place I can brain-dump all of my content into and visualize the goals I want to accomplish for the month!

Other Things I Love About The Content Planner:

Stickers

The Content Planner comes with stickers to help you plan further. With stickers such as ‘blog’, ‘Instagram’ and ’email’ to name a few, it makes it easier to jot down individual tasks and assign them! (I’m also just a huge fan of stickers and don’t think you can argue with a planner that comes with stickers!)

It Serves a Purpose

The CP isn’t something I bought and never use. I use the CP every single day to jot down ideas, organize my week/month/year, and keep track of growth. Visibly writing down my goals, dreams, wins and next steps in one place keeps me focused, driven and on top of my content. Kat has designed the perfect system to capture all of my blogging needs in one place.

The Creator Herself

I cannot rave enough about Kat Gaskin, the genius behind The CP. I cannot rave about her work ethic, her drive and her mission. Kat truly believes in AND uses her product daily. She delivers stunning content, a plethora of knowledge, and is approachable. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Kat in person and attending one of her workshops and her values, work ethic and vision is what keeps me hooked (and a customer for life). Not only does she deliver a stellar product, she also teaches you HOW to use it to maximize your efforts.

Special Treats for the 2020 Content Planner Release

Crazily enough, I’ve had this planner since March and the 2020 pre-sale is already here! Kat has sold out of The Content Planner the past 3 releases and I have no doubt she’ll do it again! If you plan on getting your hands on the 2020 Content Planner, check out some little treats Kat has released:

1. There is a new stationary line being launched Fall 2020 (I’m internally screaming at the fact there will be NEW stickers and washi tape!!)

2. If you sign up for the 2020 Pre-Sale you save 15%

3. There are THREE colours to choose from! (In the past it’s only been one colour combo – peep below to see the 3 lined up for 2020)

Cons

The Content Planner is a product I truly enjoy using and cannot imagine what I would do without. As with anything in life, there are just a few things that would make me love it even more than I already do:

An Extra Note Page Added to Each Month

I personally get carried away with jotting down notes and ideas, and would love a bit more space (There is a section for notes but it only takes up half a page). It would be more beneficial for me to have two pages of dream space instead of one!

Overall Shape

I would love if it was more square than oblong, but this is a minor detail. Ideally I would love if the shape was more uniform with other books, BUT, the CP comes with a box for storage to ensure it stays intact!

Final Thoughts on The Content Planner

Despite the two very minor , I can already tell you I’m getting the 2020 Content Planner. This planner actually makes me excited to plan, and allows me to get everything in one place. I love the endless source of inspiration and the prompting provided to allow you to explore the direction your blog or social media is taking. Making money doing what I love (thanks to getting organized from the CP) is all the motivation I need to keep going on this journey and keep me hooked on Kat and her next steps.

Tell me if you’ve tried The Content Planner or what you use to plan your content right now (also let me know which colour you’re getting for the 2020 release!)