Three Steps To Prepare Pet Blogs for the Holidays

by: Carol Bryant

With 92 days left to a new year, these next few months are
some of the busiest (and most profitable and traffic driving) times of the
year. Your readers look to pet bloggers to help guide them through the holidays
but also as a source of inspiration, for shopping tips, to connect them to
places to go and things to see, and as a credible source of information.

If you’ve been blogging for a while, keep reading—I’ve been
blogging a while, too, but I’m always open to learning new things. If you are
fairly new to blogging: Stay tuned, here’s a 3-month plan to escalate your blog
through the holidays.  Here are some tips
to keep you moving along, growing along, and getting through the holidays
fret-free (at least from a blogging perspective):

Step One

Make a 3-month Editorial Calendar: I’m doing it with you and
since today is October 1^st, now’s the perfect time to do it. Start
with the “basics.” What are the holidays, key dates, and significant pet-themed
dates from which you can build a blog post?

List them out in no particular order – just brainstorm.
Include everything from Christmas Day to Halloween and Veterans Day to Daylight
Savings Time. Once you’ve hit the big dates, refer to a pet calendar such as
this one to get a more detailed look at some of the lesser known holidays. Are
there any themed months happening? Did you know BlogPaws is celebrating Adopt-A-Shelter
Pet Month in October? Talk about perfect fodder for a post.

Now what will folks
be needing help with throughout these next few months? Brainstorm the
possibilities. Potential topics that come to mind include:

Why Pets Are Not a Good Holiday Gift

10 Ways To Survive the Holidays With A Cat

15 Things Every Dog Mom Wants for Christmas

How to Budget for the Holidays with a Pet In Mind

You get the point, right? Be unique and different but be
useful and practical. This is the stuff of which a good blog post is made.

Step Two

Take all of the above ideas and brainstorming results and
put them to a calendar. Start by labeling each one with “October” or “November”
or “December.” Once you have a sheet for each month, start breaking down the
topics into weeks. Maybe you want to do a 25 days of gift giving theme for
December? Perhaps you are taking the road less traveled and writing about “What
to Do If You are Bah Humbug.” If this point tickles your fancy, plan ahead for
it: Give pet parents viable options of things to do should they choose not to
celebrate the holidays for one reason or another.

Get really organized in this step.  Topics gain clarity, get focus, and are put
to a timeline in this step.

Step Three

Start planning ahead for the visuals you’ll need to
complement these three months of posts. I’ve recently begun paying more
attention to my visuals and it’s paying off for me. I carry my camera or camera
phone everywhere. This is my plain and simple solution to “how to gain more
photos.”

If you need image and don’t have the time to get out and
take your own, there are plenty of free websites and those with a small fee
attached where you gain get pictures.

For me, the devil’s in the details and people remember a
post if there is engaging imagery associated with it. Plan now for those posts
you’ll be doing in a few months. When I am out in department stores shopping,
if I see a sign or a quote that would be a good fit for my blog, I simply snap
a picture.

Here are tips I recently shared which include ten
photo resources for pet bloggers.

So who's ready for the holidays? Got those blog plans ready?