Confessions of a Homeschooler's 2013 Blog Planner Review
Before our "official" reviews begin for the brand new Mosaic Reviews, we were asked to do a dry run with our choice of several different blog planners. All are free, and each one offers different features and layouts. The one I chose is offered by Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler.
Isn't it pretty? Erica is amazingly talented! I first "met" her when we were both on the same review team, and I can tell you that once I saw all she has to offer, her printables quickly comprised most of my youngest daughter's kindergarten school work. Although I'm a huge fan of her printables, I chose her planner because it just made the most sense to me. She thinks like I do. There is a page at the beginning of the planner that offers a year at a glance. And the planner comes in two formats-- one with the monthly post layout calendar and one that offers post layout in more of a list form with the dates followed by a blank line that you can use to fill in the details. These post layout pages all include small boxes that you can check for Facebook, Twitter, Google +, and Pinterest, so you can keep track of which social media sites you have posted to. There are also small boxes for you to check if you've scheduled a post for that day, and if you have a giveaway/winner for that day. Each month also has a Blog Notes page for recording all the details for reviews/give-aways, post ideas, and monthly stats. The color schemes are different for each month, but you can get a good idea of the colors used in the planner from the sample pages in the picture above.
The pros: Did I mention it's pretty? I HATE planning. And I do a ton of it for the schooling of 4 children, so the last thing I really want is to have more planning to do for my blog, of all places, which is supposed to be a creative outlet, not drudgery. But the reality is I have long passed the point where I can keep track of everything in my head and never have one of those "oops, I forgot..." moments, so I really, truly needed a planner. And I knew I'd be much more likely to use it if it was pretty and made me happy to look at it :-). This one is and does. And I have always been a "month at a glance" sort of girl. Always. So it just clicked with me to have my planner work that way. I love the Notes pages that give me a place to record more info about reviews and giveaways when I need to, and give me a place to keep post ideas where they are easy to find again. And as I branch out into other forms of social media, it's definitely nice to be able to check a box for "yep, I shared it there" instead of trying to remember them all each time. This planner is just perfect for me!
The cons: Remember how pretty it is? Well, you can only appreciate that if you print it in color. That could be a con if a) you don't have a color printer or b) you don't want to spend about $11 to have your free planner printed at a print shop. I do have a color printer, but chose to have it printed because I had free credit to use. And since I was having a printing place do it, I had it bound too. The whole thing cost me about $13. I probably would have just done it at home and stapled it if I didn't have the credit, but I had it and it was literally expiring in a few days, so I made use of it. Other than that, there's not a single con I can think of.
The bottom line: I'm very happy with my planner. It provides me with everything I need, laid out in a way that makes complete sense to me. And it's pretty ;-). Oh, and did I mention FREE. So if you need a blog planner, I would definitely recommend the 2013 Blog Planner from Confessions of a Homeschooler.
Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler also offers tons of other free printables from pre-k worksheets, to journaling pages, to short unit studies...and everything in between. You can check out her blog and find all of her printables at Confessions of a Homeschooler.
After March 1st, you can read all about what my fellow Mosaic Reviews members thought of the planners they reviewed by clicking on Mosaic Reviews.
The pros: Did I mention it's pretty? I
The cons: Remember how pretty it is? Well, you can only appreciate that if you print it in color. That could be a con if a) you don't have a color printer or b) you don't want to spend about $11 to have your free planner printed at a print shop. I do have a color printer, but chose to have it printed because I had free credit to use. And since I was having a printing place do it, I had it bound too. The whole thing cost me about $13. I probably would have just done it at home and stapled it if I didn't have the credit, but I had it and it was literally expiring in a few days, so I made use of it. Other than that, there's not a single con I can think of.
The bottom line: I'm very happy with my planner. It provides me with everything I need, laid out in a way that makes complete sense to me. And it's pretty ;-). Oh, and did I mention FREE. So if you need a blog planner, I would definitely recommend the 2013 Blog Planner from Confessions of a Homeschooler.
Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler also offers tons of other free printables from pre-k worksheets, to journaling pages, to short unit studies...and everything in between. You can check out her blog and find all of her printables at Confessions of a Homeschooler.
After March 1st, you can read all about what my fellow Mosaic Reviews members thought of the planners they reviewed by clicking on Mosaic Reviews.
Comments