If you are a digital savvy person and find it hard to keep your editorial calendar organized way that gives you a quick, at-a-glance way to see the status, then this is the post for you. This is the no-fail way to keep track of everything you need to do to get a blog post from idea to published without losing time trying to remember what needs to be done or remembering to carry a notebook with you everywhere you go. The magic tool you ask to achieve blogging greatness? Trello. This is essentially the fantastic idea of a large board with Post-It notes but digital and ready to go with you everywhere you carry a laptop, smartphone or tablet.

There are some parts of the blogging process that I prefer to do sans screen; this includes brainstorming. But after I create a beautiful map of ideas I need to put them in a way more organized fashion so that I can follow them through the workflow. With my brainstorming sheet in hand, I am ready to add ideas to the first column on my Trello board. I prefer to label this “IDEAS,” it keeps things simple and clear. I do this so that when I hire an assistant they will be able to see where to pick up on the board with specific tasks.

But I take it one step further; I color code my ideas based on the topic, I have very few topics that I write about here at The Creative Boss, and this makes sure that I am not working on one subject more than others.

From here I am ready to add them to the editorial calendar and give it a deadline. I can add the deadline right to the card. There is much more information that you can attach to a card, and I will go into a bit more detail as we move across the board.

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Once I have a projected deadline for an idea I can move into in the second column if the deadline is approaching. This column is my “UP NEXT.” This is where I move cards so that they are not lost in a sea of ideas, and I can get a quick glimpse of what I need to start writing. This also helps since I tend to work in batches. So I will write the outlines for these ideas and attach them to the card here.

Once I have started working on the drafts for a blog post I move it into the third column, “IN PROGRESS” this column is where I also add a checklist to follow the workflow of each blog post. The list is pretty standard and is attached to every card. It includes writing the draft, create graphics for the post and social media, write social media updates, add links as required, proofread the post, insert into WordPress, schedule post, and schedule social media updates. Once the post is scheduled it is ready to move into final quality check.

“Quality Check” is the next to last column on my Trello board. This is where I pull up the posts and give it another check for typos or broken links. I also check it in multiple browsers and on mobile to make sure that it looks good, and nothing appears to be broken.

And finally, when the post is live I move it to the final column, “LIVE.” This is where I add the final checklist for social sharing. I make sure that the post goes to the major social media platforms and Pinterest a few times before I finally archive the post. While most of the social sharing is scheduled this reminds to double check that there were shared and to follow along with any comments or questions.

The best part of using Trello to organize your blogging workflow is that it is free. There is an option for a paid version, but it is not necessary when you are starting out. You may find that some of the features could be very helpful and worth the extra couple of dollars every month. Also, this is my workflow. You can easily alter it to fit yours easily. This is even great if you are not extremely tech-savvy as it is very intuitive to use and does not require you to learn a great deal about operating it.

Trello works fantastically if you are a solo blogger or if you have a team. There are some great “power-ups” that help aid in workflows such as a calendar and card aging. Card aging is pretty self-explanatory; the cards will appear to “age” as they go longer periods of time without activity on them.

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