Official skill · Marketing

Content calendar for 4 to 8 weeks

v1.0.1 · Updated 4 November 2026

Builds a 4 to 8 week content calendar: one row per piece with channel, owner, dates, the goal it serves, and its repurpose plan. Use it when you need next month's blog, newsletter and social posts planned and owned.

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When to use it

• You need next month's blog, newsletter and social posts planned and owned
• A launch date is set and the content around it needs scheduling

What you give it

• Goals with numbers
• Themes and fixed dates
• Channels and who can produce, in hours per week
• Past top performers (optional)

What you get

A dated calendar table within the team's capacity, fixed dates, and a list of risks and open slots.

How it works

1. Set the capacity budget Our default hour costs: long article 6 hours, newsletter 3 hours, LinkedIn post 1 hour, short video 4 hours, repurposed post 0.5 hours. Sum the hours per week; our default is to plan no more than 80% of stated capacity.
2. Pick 1 anchor piece per week The anchor is the piece that costs most and serves a goal directly (an article, a guide, a webinar). If capacity can't fit one per week, make it one every 2 weeks.
3. Repurpose before inventing Each anchor yields 2 to 4 smaller pieces (a LinkedIn post from its most specific point, a newsletter item, a short clip). New standalone pieces only fill gaps.
4. Place fixed dates first Seasonal and brand dates go in before anything else. Launches and events get their pieces scheduled backwards (our default): teaser 1 week before, main piece on the day, follow-up within 3 days.
5. Tie every row to a goal If a piece doesn't move a goal, cut it or say which goal it serves indirectly. Mix: at least half the anchors aim at the main goal.
6. Assign one owner and a status per row The owner is the person who moves the piece through and approves it; a person, never "marketing". Status starts at "idea" and moves to drafting, review, scheduled, published. Draft due (our default): 3 working days before publish for anchors, 1 day for small posts.
7. List open slots and risks Weeks short on capacity, pieces waiting on someone outside the team (a customer quote, legal review).

The SKILL.md

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---
name: content-calendar
description: Builds a 4 to 8 week content calendar from goals and themes, one row per piece with channel, owner, publish date, the goal it serves, and how it gets repurposed. Use when someone asks for a content calendar, content plan, editorial calendar, posting schedule, or "what should we publish next month" for a blog, newsletter, LinkedIn, X, or YouTube.
---

# Content calendar

A calendar is a promise of who ships what by when. Every row serves a stated goal, has one named owner, and fits the team's real capacity; a plan the team can't ship by week 3 is worse than a shorter one they can.

## When to use

- Planning the next 4 to 8 weeks of blog, newsletter, and social content.
- After a strategy or launch date is set and you need it turned into dated pieces.
- Not for choosing the strategy itself (which audience, which channels): settle that first, then calendar it.

## What you need

- 1 to 3 goals with a number if possible (signups, demo requests, newsletter subscribers).
- Themes or topics, and any fixed dates (launches, events, holidays in the audience's market).
- Channels in use and who can produce content, with hours per week each. If capacity is missing, ask once; otherwise assume 1 person at 4 hours a week and mark it "[assumption]".
- Optional: past top performers, so the calendar repeats what worked.

## Steps

1. **Set the capacity budget.** Our default hour costs: long article 6 hours, newsletter 3 hours, LinkedIn post 1 hour, short video 4 hours, repurposed post 0.5 hours. Sum the hours per week; our default is to plan no more than 80% of stated capacity.
2. **Pick 1 anchor piece per week.** The anchor is the piece that costs most and serves a goal directly (an article, a guide, a webinar). If capacity can't fit one per week, make it one every 2 weeks.
3. **Repurpose before inventing.** Each anchor yields 2 to 4 smaller pieces (a LinkedIn post from its most specific point, a newsletter item, a short clip). New standalone pieces only fill gaps.
4. **Place fixed dates first.** Seasonal and brand dates go in before anything else. Launches and events get their pieces scheduled backwards (our default): teaser 1 week before, main piece on the day, follow-up within 3 days.
5. **Tie every row to a goal.** If a piece doesn't move a goal, cut it or say which goal it serves indirectly. Mix: at least half the anchors aim at the main goal.
6. **Assign one owner and a status per row.** The owner is the person who moves the piece through and approves it; a person, never "marketing". Status starts at "idea" and moves to drafting, review, scheduled, published. Draft due (our default): 3 working days before publish for anchors, 1 day for small posts.
7. **List open slots and risks.** Weeks short on capacity, pieces waiting on someone outside the team (a customer quote, legal review).

## Output format

```markdown
# Content calendar — [start date] to [end date]

**Goals:** [goal 1 with number], [goal 2]
**Capacity:** [hours/week, by person] — planned at [n] hours/week ([%] of capacity)

| Week | Publish date | Piece | Type | Channel | Owner | Draft due | Status | Goal | Repurpose into |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [1] | [date] | [working title] | [anchor / repurposed / standalone] | [channel] | [name] | [date] | [idea / drafting / review / scheduled] | [goal] | [rows or "none"] |

## Fixed dates
- [date] — [event or launch] — [pieces tied to it]

## Risks and open slots
- [week] — [risk] — [what to do]
```

## Example

**Input:** "6 weeks starting Monday 6 April 2026. Goal: 120 demo requests this quarter, grow newsletter. Themes: month-end close, audit prep. We launch a bank-sync feature 28 April. Me (Rosa, 6 h/week) and Kenji (3 h/week, design and video). Blog, newsletter every 2 weeks, LinkedIn."

**Output (first 3 weeks):**

```markdown
# Content calendar — 6 April to 15 May

**Goals:** 120 demo requests this quarter; newsletter growth [assumption: no number given]
**Capacity:** Rosa 6 h, Kenji 3 h = 9 h/week — planned at 7 h/week at most (78%): week 1 6.5 h, week 2 6.5 h, week 3 7 h

| Week | Publish date | Piece | Type | Channel | Owner | Draft due | Status | Goal | Repurpose into |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tue 7 Apr | A 5-day month-end close checklist | anchor | Blog | Rosa | Thu 2 Apr | drafting | Demo requests | Rows 2, 4 |
| 1 | Fri 10 Apr | Checklist as a 1-page image | repurposed | LinkedIn | Kenji | Thu 9 Apr | drafting | Newsletter | none |
| 2 | Tue 14 Apr | Newsletter #1: close checklist + 2 reader tips | standalone | Newsletter | Rosa | Fri 10 Apr | idea | Newsletter | none |
| 2 | Thu 16 Apr | "Day 3 is where closes stall" | repurposed | LinkedIn | Rosa | Wed 15 Apr | drafting | Demo requests | none |
| 3 | Tue 21 Apr | Bank sync teaser: 40-second clip | standalone | LinkedIn | Kenji | Mon 20 Apr | idea | Demo requests | none |
| 3 | Thu 23 Apr | What auditors ask for first | anchor | Blog | Rosa | Mon 20 Apr | idea | Demo requests | Week 4: newsletter item 28 Apr, LinkedIn post Thu 30 Apr |

## Fixed dates
- 28 Apr — bank-sync launch — teaser 21 Apr, launch post and newsletter 28 Apr, customer follow-up by 1 May

## Risks and open slots
- Anchors run every 2 weeks (weeks 1, 3, 5): an article takes 6 h, all of Rosa's week, so it never shares a week with a newsletter.
- Week 2 — Kenji's teaser clip takes about 4 h and he has 3 h a week: he makes it in week 2 (3 h) and finishes it in week 3 (1 h).
- Customer follow-up on 1 May needs a customer quote — Rosa to ask by 20 Apr.
```

## Checks before you send

- [ ] Planned hours are 80% of stated capacity or less, with the sum shown.
- [ ] Every row has one named owner, a publish date, a draft-due date, and a status.
- [ ] Every row names the goal it serves.
- [ ] Each anchor lists what it's repurposed into, and those rows exist.
- [ ] Fixed dates are scheduled with a before, on-the-day, and after piece.
- [ ] Dates fall on real weekdays for the stated year.

## Common mistakes

- Planning 5 posts a week for a team that has shipped 1. Start from the hours.
- Rows like "LinkedIn post" with no topic. Every row needs a working title.
- Forgetting the draft-due date, so everything is written the night before.

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Changelog

• v1.0.1 · 4 November 2026 · Example: the plan fits the stated hours (week 1 6.5 h, week 2 6.5 h, week 3 7 h, Rosa never over her 6 h): the second article moves to week 3 and is repurposed into a 28 April newsletter item and a 30 April LinkedIn post, not the teaser row, and Kenji's 4-hour clip is spread over weeks 2 and 3, its draft due the day before it goes out.
• v1.0.0 · 4 November 2026 · First release.