Important Tasks to Add to Your Digital Calendar When Starting an Online Business

Thinking of starting your own online business? Becoming an entrepreneur is a lot of work that requires proper planning and scheduling. An online calendar can definitely help you make progress and stay on track when starting an online business so long as you’re using it effectively.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed and add too much to your plate or procrastinate on important tasks. This could only slow things down and lead to discouragement as you’re trying to pull off a major feat already. Here are 5 important tasks to add to your digital calendar when starting an online business.

Brainstorming Session

A good business idea always needs a solid brainstorming session. Mark a time and day on your calendar where you can map out important details about your business and what you’d like to execute. This could also be the perfect time to develop a rough business plan, determine if you’ll need funding, and narrow down your products and services.

Brainstorm potential obstacles that could come up and what you’ll do to overcome them. If you have a business partner, this would also be the perfect time to schedule a call with them to go over important plans and delegate tasks. Make sure you don’t spend too much time during the brainstorming process. You want to take real action steps to get your business off the ground, so realize waiting for perfection isn’t necessary.

Content Creation

Creating quality content can make or break your online business. Whether you’re selling a product or service, your target audience is going to expect to see high-quality content being pushed out from your business. Content helps explain concepts and ideas in more detail. Plus, it also builds trust.

You don’t have to start a blog, but this could be a good idea, depending on your business. Other types of content to produce include videos, social media posts, email newsletters and more.

Get organized by coming up with a content strategy and editorial calendar. This can lay out what type of content you plan to produce, and when it will get published. If you’re outsourcing content creation, you’ll still need to use your online calendar to keep up with publishing dates and also make sure your writers and editors meet deadlines.

Most entrepreneurs write their own content when they’re just starting out to cut down on costs. If you find yourself in this boat, having an online calendar can really help you stay on track with content creation and avoid burnout. Even if you’re not pumping out a ton of content initially, understand that quality is better than quantity.

Product/Service Development

Of course, you need to dedicate some time and effort to actually developing the products and services you want to sell. This could involve testing out digital and physical products and determining how you’ll sell them securely from your website. Or, it could involve setting up a services page and creating your rate sheet.

Consider offering a few products or services to start so you can determine what your ‘bestseller’ is. This is also the perfect time to email your target audience to get the necessary feedback to improve your offering. Try to split your focus between free content and paid products or services. After all, if your business is not selling things, then it is more of a hobby.

Use your online calendar to set some hard deadlines, so you don’t spend a month developing a business with no real products to sell.

Social Media Scheduling

Whether you like social media or not, it’s crucial that you establish a social media presence for your business. You don’t have to be on every social platform. Just start with one or two and promote your business while also offering value to serve your audience’s needs.

I’d highly recommend scheduling out your content for social media in advance. One of my friends, an expert marketer, is hosting a webinar about scheduling out 12 months of social media content, and I will definitely be there.

You didn’t go into business for yourself just to sit on social media all day, so it’s important to plan ahead, so you’re not wasting time online each day. Make social media work for you by scheduling things out in advance. Your social media strategy can be an extension of your content strategy, so don’t try to reinvent the wheel.

Set a day and time where you can schedule your social media content out, whether it’s going to be weekly, monthly, or quarterly.

Marketing Strategy and Execution

One of the biggest mistakes I see people make when starting an online business is failing to follow through with marketing. You can create all the content in the world or sell the best products, but it won’t matter if you don’t market to your target audience.

Marketing is a key area of your business that shouldn’t be overlooked. It’s important to decide what strategies you’ll implement and add ongoing marketing tasks to your calendar. Don’t just put ‘work on marketing plan’ in your calendar every week. Choose a specific task to focus on, whether it’s developing an email sequence, writing Facebook ad copy, filming a webinar, or setting up coupons.

Summary – An Online Calendar Won’t Smooth Out All Your Plans

When you’re in the process of starting an online business, having a clear online calendar that’s optimized to help you make progress will be helpful. However, know that the online calendar can only do so much. You have to show up for yourself and make sure you continue to plan, focus, and take action. It’s easy to fall behind or off track even when you have an excellent online calendar set up.

Take some extra time to work on your mindset and make sure you’re ready to honor the commitments you make to yourself. Finally, enjoy the journey while you build a business that is hopefully meant to last.