A Trello board for the Content Creators Planner wasn’t in our original plan of products.
Obviously we’re big believers in using pen and paper for planning.
Not only because we like it, but because there’s massive value in the process and how our brains work. We’ve shared a handful of reasons for this in previous posts (and science backs us up on this), so we won’t go back over them here, but needless to say, the Content Creators Planner will always be our core product and everything else we create will be to support that.
That being said, there are a couple of questions that have come up that have given us reason to pause and think about the best way to serve our customers.
One of the questions we get most often is whether or not the digital version (PDF) is fillable.
The simple answer is no.
The not-so-simple answer will be explained in a forthcoming blog post, but the primary reason is that there are usability issues with some of the form fields based on the size of the fields.
Could we still create it?
Sure, but outside of the time it takes to do that, we have very strong feelings as to why the planner isn’t really suited for a fillable PDF.
Back to the Trello board.
One of the reasons people have asked us about having a fillable PDF is so they can collaborate with team members. Many people with online businesses don’t work in the same location as their employees or contractors (Jodi and I are on separate sides of the country ourselves). Having everything online and accessible to people who need it is a standard business practice.
Another reason is that not everyone wants to use a pen and paper.
Some people are trying to minimize the paper in their lives for environmental reasons and others just prefer doing everything online (someone actually said having a physical planner felt like a step backward… sigh).
Either way, the primary reason we created the Content Creators Planner was not because we wanted a physical product (although I have to tell you, that has been a hell of a lot of fun), it was because we wanted people to create a content strategy based on their business goals, not on the theory that ‘more is better’ (we’re going to save that rant for a podcast at a later date 😉 ).
There is so much noise online and it’s exhausting.
Creating content for your business should be enjoyable. You get to share your passion and purpose with the world, it shouldn’t feel like a chore. We also want you to create higher quality content that continually brings in results, not quick hits just to be seen at the moment.
Anyway…
People started commenting on the threads of some of our ads that they would be interested in a Trello board version of the planner.
Yes, our minds were blown.
We hadn’t even thought of taking the framework of the planner and putting it into an online planning tool (we have been asked if we would do a SaaS version… and the answer to that is also no).
Once one person had shared that they would be interested in a Trello board of the planner more people started commenting that they would also be interested and here we are… creating a Trello board version of the planner.
Depending on how well this product does we may look into creating additional versions for other platforms (Asana as an example).
What this looks like:
The first-round draft of the planner is just about completed.
Once this is done we need to create a sample of it in use (in the digital and physical planner we have a sample business showing how to use the planner). We’ll follow the same guidelines and create a fictitious business and then fill in the Trello board (for one month), with those particular businesses goals in mind.
We will also have a masterclass that complements the Trello boards.
The class will be the same framework as the current masterclass (which is being re-done by the end of the first quarter), so if you have that class and are familiar with Trello you probably don’t need it (although we may offer a pretty sweet deal on the bundle of both the board and the class).
There will be a few additions for our Trello board customers that don’t currently accompany our other products:
- Link to a custom Google analytics dashboard
- Link to a Google sheet for tracking data
We’ll probably offer both of these as free downloads to our existing customers (it’s easier to track data online and the analytics dashboard is just cool).
So far, we’re loving how this is coming together.
In addition to the fictitious business we’re going to use for the boards, we’ll be adding some images and links where it’s helpful (ex: for the tracking and measuring boards we want you to be able to access the Google sheet from within your board).
We’ll have sample images for micro-content and the checklists will go a little more in-depth with tips and guidelines.
Example: for the micro-content, we want to make sure to list appropriate image sizes within the cards.
And much like the planner, we’re sure that we’ll get requests or suggestions after people start using it (not to mention all the options for utilizing additional features for paid Trello power-ups).
Here’s a little sneak peek (and the backgrounds will be changing, even though you’ll be able to change these to whatever you want):
Get the Content Creators Planner for Trello below!
SO EXCITED for this!! I cannot wait!
Haha…love the enthusiasm Amanda! Glad you’re looking forward to it!
Thanks for the new info. Just received my first planner (hard copy & pdf version). I was very disappointed that the pdf could not be filled, it actually proved to be useless for my business.
Looking forward to the Trello option.
Thanks, Katherine,
We understand that people want a fillable PDF. We’re going to create a post and explain in more detail why we didn’t do that.
Glad you’re looking forward to the Trello option.
Love love LOVE this!
WOOHOO! Good to know we’re on the right track!
This is a terrific idea! Perfect for paperless and teams!
Thanks, Jan,
That was exactly what we were hoping to hear.
OMG – So excited for this! I was already attempting to create my own Trello version but didn’t get very far. Thank you!
Haha… that’s great to hear Fancy 🙂 We’re looking forward to getting this out to people who prefer digital and need team collaboration.
I Love this! I can’t read my own handwriting! And I love Asana is mentioned too! Also, I have a team so I am always looking for ways to collaborate with them.
Hahaha… I get the handwriting piece 😉
Thanks so much, Cathy! I can’t wait to hear how it works for you.
Love that a digital option will be avail for the team aspect.
Does Trello offer the ability to link the content into calendars as well like Asana does?
Hi Kathi,
Thanks so much for the feedback. I’ll let you know about linking to the calendar (I believe it does but it may require a paid acct. or powerup). I’ll let you know asap (and we’ll include all the features on the sales page).
If I did not already use the Full Focus Planner for my overall planning I would probably be going nuts over this. But the FFP converted me to paper and I’m never going back (paper is a technology – albeit a much older one) LOL
I LOVE Trello! And I love what you ladies are putting together for Trello (and seeing your thought process along the way) – hope it’s a smashing success and helps a ton more people with their content.
Haha… I love the older technology also Stefanie! 🙂
I’m a pen & paper girl at heart. We think this will make it super easy for teams to collaborate. Thanks also for the kind words.
Very excited about this. Love Trello
That’s great to hear Jo! Thanks so much
Any chance the work you are doing on Trello can also be offered on the Clickup platform?
Hi Alfie,
We’ll definitely explore other platforms (we’ve had requests for Asana, Clickup, & Notion). Once the Trello version is out we’ll probably take a survey and start on the most requested one next.
I am so excited to read this! Can’t wait!
WOOHOO! That’s great Lisa, we’re really thrilled so many people are interested in the Trello board version.
Can’t wait, I use Trello already for social media so the planner in Trello would be awesome.
Thanks, Joslyn,
Really appreciate the feedback 🙂
I’m glad I found your product(s) and am on the list for the Trello version, but also buying the Planner. Great product!
Thanks so much Kim!
Can’t wait to hear how it works for you. 🙂