It’s a brand-new year…and once the New Year’s celebrations are over, that means a whole blank content calendar staring you in the face. It feels overwhelming, I know, but really all it takes is a few hours to figure out exactly what you’re going to blog about for the next twelve months. So grab your calendar and a mug of something hot and let’s get started!

Step by Step Guide for How to Come Up with a Year’s Worth of Blog Topics in One Day

1. Do the Math

First, let’s figure out how many blog topics you need for a year’s worth of content. Is your goal to post once a month? Once a week? Plan out your schedule so you know exactly how many blog posts to plan for.

2. Break Down Your Blog Categories

If you’re a portrait photographer, you’re probably thinking in terms of sessions: Weddings, newborns, families, seniors, cake smashes, etc. This is great, but you also want to think in terms of topics. Session blog posts can really be a category unto themselves, because they all do the same thing: allow people to check out your recent work. But what else do people want to do when they come to your blog? What other things do you (or should you) blog about?

For example, if you’re a newborn and family photographer you might decide to blog about your sessions, your services, and parenting tips. Your category breakdown might look something like this:

Sessions (Things like: Sarah and Austin’s Wedding, Jayda’s Newborn Session, Outdoor Photoshoot with the Walker Family)

Informational about Services/Sessions (Things like: What to Wear for Family Photos, How to Prep for Your Newborn Session, When to Book a Cake Smash)

Informational about Parenting (Things like: Tips for Holiday Hosting with a Newborn, Low-Key Alternatives to Screen Time for Toddlers, Making Memories with Your Teen)

3. Create a Pattern for Your Categories

Now that you have your categories figured out, as well as your total number of posts for the year, it’s time to spread those categories out across the calendar. How many posts do you want per category? This doesn’t have to be equal, by the way. Maybe you want to do session posts three weeks out of the month, and an informational post once a month. Just work out a fairly consistent pattern for your blog categories.

As you’re figuring this out, it can help to ask yourself, “What do I blog about most frequently?” “What do I want to blog more about?” “What adds the most value to my clients and serves my business goals?”

4. Mine Your Blog

If you already have a blog, look over your posts from previous years. Were there any blog posts that performed particularly well? Any that you got some good feedback on? Also look for topics you’ve already written about that would still be relevant to your audience, or points you mentioned in a previous post that you didn’t have time to really dive into. Recycling content, when done right, can be a great way to make the most of your work and avoid burnout, so make a note of posts you can freshen up and re-use for this year.

5. Look at the Calendar

Just taking a look at the months ahead can give you some inspiration for seasonal content. Do you offer holiday mini sessions? Senior and graduation photos? Plan to post blog posts around those topics when you open for booking so you can get all your slots filled. Or maybe particular seasons spark other ideas. Spring may remind you of spring cleaning, and inspire a blog post on how to purge and organize your digital photo library. Take it month by month and jot down any ideas you have.

6. Look at the Competition

You don’t want to steal other people’s material, but you do want to be aware of industry trends. Focus on sites that are ranking well for your target keywords and see what they’re blogging about. It’s easy to get sucked into the rabbit hole of the internet here, so set a timer (no more than an hour), take notes as you research, and then stop when that timer goes off.

7. Brainstorm!

You’ve probably already got a pretty good list going just from taking a careful look at your own blog, the calendar, and a few other people’s blogs. Now it’s time to brainstorm and see if there are any other ideas lurking in the corners of your brain. (I can guarantee there are!) Brainstorming is sometimes easier with other people, so if you have a couple of friends or family members you can rope in here, all the better. But if it’s just you, that’s fine too! I find a timer helpful in the brainstorming step too—I usually set mine for about 15 minutes. During this step write down every single idea that comes to mind. No stopping to judge if it’s “good” or not. Just get it down.

8. Start Filling Your Content Calendar

Now that you’ve got your complete list of ideas, it’s time to start plugging them into your content calendar so you know exactly when you plan to post. I usually grab a stack of 3X5 cards or a pad of sticky notes, write the month on top of each card and then start jotting down the ideas that I think would go well in each month. (Obviously you can do something way more high-tech…I’m just one of those weird people that still likes pen and paper.) Starting this way ensures that your seasonal content is where it’s supposed to be. Once your seasonal content is in place, take a look at your other ideas and start filling out the rest of your calendar with that evergreen content. (And it’s totally okay if some of this is a bit sketchy. For example, if you plan to do a monthly session post, then just penciling in “session post” on the third week of every month is great. You don’t have to know yet if it’s going to be a family or newborn session.)

9. Celebrate!

Give yourself a pat on the back! You’ve just come up with a year’s worth of blog topics in one day—which means that you’re way ahead of most of your competition. (In order to keep it that way, I also recommend taking a look at your schedule so you know when your busy times are and try to write those posts ahead of time. This post has a bit more info about that. But no need to worry about that today. You’ve earned a break!)

In a day or two it will be time for the writing to begin. Yeah, I know…you’re not done celebrating yet! Give yourself the time you need, but once you’re done admiring that beautifully filled-in content calendar, check out these writing tips for your photography blog to make the writing part a little easier. And hey, if you know you should have a blog but writing just isn’t your thing, outsourcing your blog may be the answer. RedFox Blogging specializes in helping photographers and other small business owners reap all the benefits of blogging with none of the hassle. Want to learn more? Please get in touch. I’d love to hear from you!