How to Use Your Editorial Calendar to Grow Your Readership

By Chris Gardner. Photo by Susie Blackmon.

There is a magical formula to growing your blog’s readership, and you’ve heard it a thousand times--publish consistent, high-quality, original content, and use it to interact with your audience and other sites. That’s it, and it comes as a surprise to no one.

And, in some ways, it’s not all that easy to execute. With this in mind, here’s an editorial exercise to help you plan and produce high quality pieces of original content every week for the rest of the year. You can mix these in with the rest of your posts to remind your readers that there’s a real person behind the site they’re reading.

Step One: Go to a fresh page in your notebook, or open up a new spreadsheet on your computer.

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Announcing Alt San Franciso!

Photography by Stone Crandall.

Alt has taken over Salt Lake and NYC and now we're ready to take on San Francisco! That's right, Alt is headed to the west coast on July 18th for a day of chock-full of inspiration. And as if the initial announcement isn't exciting enough, it will be taking place at GAP headquarters! Registration opens March 15th at 12:00 PM EST and tickets are limited so don't delay. You will find a link on this site that will take you to the registration page.

More exciting details to come! Make sure to sign up for our newsletter (to your left) and subscribe to our blog for the latest updates.

Alt SLC Recap Links

By Victoria Hudgins. Photography by Cloth and Kind.

Now that we are home, many of us are processing what we've learned online. Here are a few great recap posts to get us going. Check back throughout the week for more links, and be sure to tweet your post with #altsummit to be included.

I am jealous of Stefan Sagmeister

5 reasons Alt rocked my world

4 ways to earn good revenue for your blog

I met up with people who I've been admiring for awhile and expressed my unfeigned adoration.

Around every corner and in lots of nooks you'll find inspiration, ideas, and goodies to make your mind and soul feel good. 

Tips for today, now that you are at home

How to craft for a living and grow your blog

How Choosing Monthly Themes Can Grow Your Readership

By Chris Gardner. Photo by Liz West.

I’m a firm believer in being as transparent as possible to your readers. Let your audience know that you’re not some magical, creative, and beautiful mist floating around the internet in perfectly lit spaces wearing amazing clothes. You are a real person who blogs at night, and on weekends, and in your pajamas. Let your readers know that just to the left of that photo frame is the pile of junk you scootched over to find some blank wall space, as well as a bunch of tape and string and other tricks. Doing so makes you a real person, and people want to follow real people, not anonymous tastemakers.

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After Alt: Organize Your Inspiration & Get to Work

By Sara Urquhart. Photography by Mandy Pellegrin.

Alt Salt Lake City is over. You’re home now and your head is spinning with awe, inspiration, and maybe a little intimidation. It’s time to put all those great ideas to use to build your business.

Start by making a list of your biggest a-ha moments. Hopefully you took some time each day at Alt to jot down those highlights, and you can use this list to prioritize your actions. Start with the things that moved you most, and break down the action items associated with each idea. Then put them on the calendar and start. Just start. Success in following up on all the inspiration and ideas is a matter of moving forward.

Make another list of people you need to follow up with: pitches, phone calls, collaboration ideas, emails, even something as simple as a note to someone who impressed you (they’ll be flattered, and you’ll feel great acknowledging them). Put these to-do’s on your calendar. Remember, moving forward with the conversations that you started at Alt is key to turning that inspiration into profitable action.

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