Membership Call Recap: Calendar & Content Hacks for Small Business Marketers

Calendar & Content Hacks for Small Business Marketers

Presenters: Liza Graves of Style Blueprint
Notetaker: Mary George Sowers

Liza’s Story

• Opened a cafe at 24; the business centered around rotisserie chicken cooked in a large cooker.
• The team disliked the cooker – it took up a lot of space.
• While Liza was out on maternity leave, her team began boiling the chicken instead.  
  • It saved time and simplified operations.
• Eliminating the cooker saved 250 hours per year and freed up space for grab-and-go sandwiches—doubling revenue.
• Key Questions:
  • What’s your “boiled chicken”?
  • What could you simplify to increase revenue?

Working Smarter, Not Harder

• As business owners, we often focus on working harder-but are we working smarter?
• Ask yourself: How can I be “lazier” and smarter?

The Brilliant Lazy Framework

1. Build in Accountability
   1. Use SOPs so everyone knows their roles.
   2.  Regular check-ins and review processes.
2. Lazy Tech Playbooks
   1. Use time-saving tools like AI.
   2. Saving time = saving your mind.
3. Calendar Cadence
   1. Plan your year using a 12-month calendar.
   2. Assign content blocks in advance (e.g., every Thursday= share business tip).
   3. Helps reduce mental load and gives space for creativity.

Planning Tips

• Take one full day ( 6-7 hours) to outline content for the year.
• Remember: business social f:. personal social.
• Plan business communications strategically.
• As your business grows, you won’t have time to plan day-to-day-plan ahead now.

Recurring Rhythm Meetings

• Types of meetings to schedule:
  • 1:1 s
  • Weekly clean-ups
  • Quarterly planning
  • Yearly kickoffs
  • Management check-ins
  • Weekly goals review
  • Daily huddles
• Quarterly Reflections are more effective than yearly-events are fresh on your mind.
• Ask: What went well? What didn’t?

Newsletter Strategy 

• Take a few hours to ask: What do I want this to look like?
• Make it doable and community-focused, not just sales-focused.
• Build trust, so when it’s time to sell, people are ready to buy. 
• Align newsletter content with social media messaging. 
• Planning gives you control and consistency.

Content Planning & Execution 

• Batch your time for content creation. 
• Always keep accountability and your calendar top of mind. 
• When planning content, think from your audience’s perspective. 
• Your content calendar is a roadmap, not set in stone.    
• Content should be:   
  • Easy to execute 
  • Reusable across platforms (newsletter + social)
  • Grounded in your personal passions-tum them into “big things” 
• Block time now to plan content for next year. 
• Give yourself grace-if you miss something this year, plan to do it next year.