Short answer: to plan a month of content in one afternoon, start with what you're selling that month, not with content ideas. Decide your platforms and how often you'll post, map the month week by week around your offer (promote, run, open cart, close), pull in your top 20% of last month's content, then give every day a post idea and a call to action. Batch record your videos in one block and drop everything into a content calendar so you, or your team, just follow it.

Most inconsistent content isn't a motivation problem. It's a planning problem. If you wake up every morning wondering what to post, you'll either panic post something for the sake of it, or you won't post at all.

I plan all of my content in one go. One sitting to plan it, one block to record it, and then I barely have to think about it for weeks. Here's exactly how, as a timed afternoon you can follow, with a planning template, a worked example and the prompt I'd give an AI to speed it up.

This is part of my ultimate guide to turning content into clients. Planning is the step that makes everything else in that system run without the morning panic.

The afternoon at a glance

Around three to three and a half hours the first time. Once your bank of posts is built, it gets quicker every month.

Step 1: Start with what you're selling

This is the step almost everyone skips. Your content has to relate to whatever you're promoting that month, whether that's a free offer or a paid one. If you spend three weeks posting about mindset and then promote a course on launching, your content hasn't warmed anyone up for it.

Time: 15 minutes. Done when: the four lines above are filled in at the top of your plan. Not sure what to sell this month, or how many sales you need? The Strategist inside Ascendia OS learns your business, sets the goal and maps what to sell, when, and how many sales it takes.

Step 2: Choose your platforms and frequency

Which platforms are you posting on, and how many times a day on each? That tells you how much content you actually need. You don't need to be everywhere. Pick one primary platform, create for that, and repurpose across the others. We mainly use Instagram and Facebook (our personal profile, our group and our page), plus email.

Time: 10 minutes. Done when: you know your number: for example, 1 grid post a day plus stories, 2 emails a week.

Step 3: Map the month week by week

Break the month into weeks, write "week commencing" against each one, and decide what's happening that week. For a challenge launch:

• Weeks 1 and 2: promote the free challenge. Every call to action points to the challenge.
• Week 3: run the challenge and open cart. Posts remind people to show up, then talk about the offer.
• Week 4: cart open, then closing. Every call to action points to the paid offer and the deadline.

If you're not promoting anything that week, your content still needs a job. Nurture with value and use a question as the call to action, like "What are you doing to make $10k this month?"

Time: 20 minutes. Done when: each week has one line saying what's happening and where calls to action point.

Step 4: Pull in your top 20%

Before you come up with anything new, look back. Find the top 20% of last month's content in your analytics and use it to feed this month. Repurpose your best performers in a new format. Make sure the month includes a mix of the 6 types of content, with educational, story and evidence based content as the core, and lead generation content a few times a week.

Time: 20 minutes. Done when: you have 5 to 8 proven posts to reuse or repurpose this month.

Step 5: Give every day a post and a call to action

Now fill in the days. For each one, write the content type, the idea and the call to action. Every idea should sit under one of your content pillars.

You don't have to do this from scratch. I give my AI my top performing content and what I'm selling that month, and it maps out the content types and ideas for me. Then I edit, because the ideas still need to sound like me.

Time: 60 to 90 minutes. Done when: every day of the month has a post idea and a call to action.

Step 6: Batch record your videos

I'm not a natural on camera. I used to throw a little paddy every time I had to record a talking head. What fixed it was batching. I keep one morning completely free, plan my ideas and scripts beforehand, iron an outfit, get my whiteboard out and record video after video. In about three hours I have weeks of talking head videos done.

Then repurpose. One talking head becomes a carousel, a single image with the caption and a B roll reel with the text over the top. One idea, four posts.

Time: 5 minutes to book, about 3 hours to record. Done when: a recording morning is in your diary with the scripts ready.

Step 7: Put it in a content calendar

Get it out of your head and into a calendar. I use a simple board with:

• A bank of posts sorted by type, so you can drag a proven post onto a new date. Eventually you'll have 30 engagement posts, 30 authority posts and 30 promo posts ready to reuse.
• Your lives and events, with notes in each card so you can open it and go live.
• Your launch assets (outlines, opt-in pages, email series and graphics) in one place for when you run that challenge again.
• Labels and due dates for posts, stories and lives, so you (or your assistant) can see exactly what goes out where each day.

This is also what makes it easy to bring in help. My team can look at the board, schedule everything that can be scheduled, and post the rest for me on the right day.

Time: 30 minutes. Done when: every post has a card with a date, label and caption, and anything that can be scheduled is.

If you'd rather skip the board altogether, the Content Creator inside Ascendia OS plans your month, writes the posts in your voice and schedules them straight to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and more. You approve, record your videos and get back to your clients.

Worked example: a challenge launch month

Example: a business coach selling a $997 programme through a free 5 day challenge that starts in week 3.

With 1 grid post a day she needs about 30 posts, but with repurposing that's only around 10 to 12 original ideas.

Common mistakes (and the fix)

• Starting with content ideas. Fix: start with the offer and the month's call to action.
• Being on every platform. Fix: one primary platform, repurpose to the rest.
• Planning every post from scratch. Fix: use your top 20% and your bank of posts.
• Posts without a call to action. Fix: every row in your plan has one.
• Recording a video a day. Fix: one batch recording morning.

Your action plan

Day 1

• Write the four line top of your plan: offer, method, call to action, goal.

Day 2

• Map the four weeks and pull your top 20%.

Day 3

• Fill every day using the planning row template or the AI prompt.

Day 4

• Write your video scripts and book your recording morning.

Day 5

• Record in one batch and repurpose into carousels and images.

Days 6 to 7

• Load everything into your content calendar and schedule what you can.

For the bigger picture, read the ultimate guide to turning content into clients. And if you want Claude to do the heavy lifting on Step 5 in your own voice, The Claude Content Engine includes a monthly content sprint built for exactly this.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to plan a month of content?

Once you've done it a couple of times, one afternoon to plan and a three hour block to record. The first time takes longer because you're building your bank of posts.

What should I plan first, content or offers?

Offers. Decide what you're selling and how, then plan content that leads to it. Content without an offer behind it is just posting.

How many posts do I need per month?

Roughly one a day on your main platform, plus stories. Repurposing means you need far fewer original ideas than posts.

Can I reuse old content?

Yes. People don't remember what you posted last month. Reuse your best posts with a new hook or in a new format.

Laurie Burrows is a UK-based marketing and sales strategist who has built a business that's generated multi-seven figures in sales through social media and digital marketing. Today, Laurie helps business owners use social media, content and digital marketing to get seen, attract more clients and make more sales. She's also the founder of Ascendia OS.