My 3 Content Calendar Must-Haves for Artists

Because not all content calendars work for creative brains!

Author

Fabiola Lara
June 25, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

Hey Content Support Groupies 👋

For today’s Content Creation Support Group session, we need to talk about your content calendar. If you’re just winging every piece of content you publish, and then feel sooo frustrated when it doesn’t perform to your expectations, then your calendar— and your workflow— are in need of an upgrade!

After months of testing and tinkering with my notion content calendar, these are the 3 non-negotiables when it comes to creating an ACTIONABLE content calendar that’s more than just a list of due dates.

Your content calendar should track your content, but also help you execute on a reasonable timeline, and these are some key features that will help get you to the finish line!

1. Differentiate Content Project from Content Tasks

If your content calendar only helps you plot out content, but not the actual tasks required to get to execute, then it’s just not enough! In my Notion Content Calendar, you’re able to plan an IG Reel on a specific date, and then automatically generate the tasks necessary to actually finish that reel from scripting to scheduling!

The best part? You don’t need to think of every little task you need to do, because I’ve already autopopulated the tasks so you just need to find time in your schedule to get that done.

Of course, included in my content cal is a content task calendar so you can realistically see if you have too many tasks for the week and need to adjust accordingly. Plus, this isn’t just for IG reels, this goes for all content projects such as newsletters, podcast eps, tiktoks, ig carousel posts, and even IG animations of your artwork!

You can see content schedule up top, and down below are all the tasks!

2. Auto Create a Master Shot List

With video being so in-demand on social media, I finally built out the one thing I haven’t been able to find in any content calendar — a master shot list!

If you’ve never put together a shot list before, think of it as a handy outline of all the different shots you need for your Reel, TikTok, or YouTube video. Shot lists are super helpful because they let you picture your video before you even start filming. This way, you can make sure you capture everything you need before diving into the editing process. Plus, it saves you a ton of time since you won’t end up with hours of unused footage taking up space on your phone!

With my Notion Content Calendar, every video project you plan gets its own space to outline each shot in detail. But that's not all! I've included a feature that gathers all your shots from various projects (both vertical and horizontal) and organizes them by filming location. So, when it's time to shoot, you'll know exactly what to capture before moving on to the next scene. This setup allows you to batch record your videos efficiently and stay ahead of schedule by 1-2 weeks for all your content!

Here are all the shots I need to record right at my desk vs in the office

BONUS: This means you don’t have to bring your on-camera energy everyday, you can designate it for 1 filming day and not miss a clip!

3. Plan Based On Your Energy Level!

Speaking of energy, I totally understand that you don’t always have the energy to show up on camera or film your drawing session, that’s why my content calendar allows you to tag tasks by the amount of energy required.

Why does this matter? Because if you wake up one day and realize you only feel like writing or outlining videos, you can sort all your tasks by “shallow work” and re-arrange your tasks for the week accordingly.

Now my weekly tasks are sorted by energy needed!

My Notion Content Calendar is meant to work with your energy and mood, and not against it, because that’s the only way you’ll be able to stay consistent and get the social media results you really want!

Coming Next Month:

Join My Live Notion
Content Calendar Workshop

I decided that I didn’t want to just give you the template, and have you figure it out on your own, so I’m hosting a live content calendar workshop that goes over my exact step-by-step process for content planning!

In the workshop, I’ll show you my method for:

  • Planning a cohesive schedule that actually makes sense with my business goals

  • Tracking my content to make sure I have the right content mix week-to-week

  • Organizing my tasks to fulfill every single one of my content projects (Reels, Youtube Vids, Newsletter, etc.)

  • Scripting video content so you never second guess what you’re doing with your footage

  • Outlining my Reels, Tiktoks, and other video projects so I can record more efficiently come shoot day

  • Going with the flow of my energy instead of fighting it!

If you’re ready to get out of the weeds and learn my exact Notion Content Calendar Workflow, leave your email below!

Social Media News
For Artists & Creators

🎁 Patreon announced a ton of features that are coming soon, including the ability to gift patreon subscriptions, a countdown clock to release new work, and the ability to sell individual posts and collections. ​

🌟 TikTok is coming for Instagram once again with a new photo-sharing app called Whee, could it be the next place for artists? Check it out here for iPhone or Android 🤷‍♀️

👩‍⚖️ TikTok officially files a motion to oppose the US ban saying the new law violates the First Amendment. We’ll see what happens!

🎶 You can now add music to IG carousels even if they include videos! Super handy to share your multi-page animations or even animated explainer posts in a more engaging way!

🎬 On Instagram, you can now go live just with your close friends! This could be cool for creatives who use their close friends as a BTS tool or exclusive community.

🎥 CREATIVE TREND 🎥

  I WASN’T SAD I JUST NEEDED A…

So this is a cool way to hop on an existing trend but tailor it to your work as an artist. The audio is really what is driving the edit, so you need to display the lyrics/text on the screen and then instead of “holiday,” you could put something like “a painting session,” “a sketchbook session,” etc.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE

Sabrina Carpenter’s songs have been Summer hits, so here’s her latest single to use for your next studio vlog, process reel, or to unbox a new creative tool. This song has been stuck in my head so much, so I think you should use it.

BY KELLYWEARSTLER

Really nice little song that has a good intro and reveal that’s easy to edit to. You can use it to explain something about your business, show off a studio reset, and just romanticize your studio life.

LOVES ART, PAYS CASH

As always, you know I love to include a scroll-stopping audio that you can easily edit to. Here’s this one from @maritaliivak that’s a spin off of “i’m looking for a guy in finance.” Be sure to add the lyrics/text directly on the screen to include a visual hook AND audio hook.

I can’t wait to host this live workshop with y’all and show you the amazingly efficient Notion Template I’ve been designing for 3 months! If you have any thoughts on this week’s newsletter, feel free to hit reply <3

thanks for reading,

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