I always love the start of a new year, not just because it’s a fresh start but because I get really motivated and highly dedicated to all of my goals (again). I LOVE always having a goal, I actually took a personality test over the holiday break that threw me in the category of people who feel they have no purpose without a goal – I always thought I was just OCD and needed to be doing something all the time but turns out it’s just me being me – ha! However, even though I am a goal setter and I do love having something to work for I do not accomplish every goal I set! I sure do try but sometimes I fail or fall short and that’s okay -gives me more goals to work for I guess! Anyhow, this year a lot of my goals are business based – starting with my blog! I know I am one of millions with similar blogging goals so I wanted to share a few ways I plan to tackle the goals I have for my blog this year!
Setting goals for your blog is a great way to get and keep motivated about making the changes and taking the chances you may have been putting off. I understand that blogging goals will not be top priority for all bloggers but setting goals, especially if you plan to grow your blog, will be well worth it. Maybe your too busy (this is 100% my excuse) or your just not sure where to start, no matter what the reason now is the perfect time to get your blogging goals in check and we have a few realistic ways to reach those goals without letting another year go by wishing you had given your blog a bit more love!
First and foremost you will have to decide what it is you want to accomplish. Maybe you know what your blogging goals are, maybe you don’t. If not, here are a few things to ask yourself that may help you decide what goals you want for your blog.
A few things to ask yourself when deciding upon your blogging goals:
What direction do you want to go with your blog?
Do you want to make money or increase earnings from your blog?
Do you have a clear niche? If so are your posts consistent with it?
Do you post steadily to your blog? This is a great goal, even if it’s once a week. Consistency is key. (I am so very bad at this so this has made the number one spot on my blogging goals)
Are you socially connected? Maybe your goals can be to connect more through social media?
Are you accessible? Do you give your readers other options to follow you and stay connected via other social media sites?
Is your blog organized and easy to navigate?
Are you happy with your blog design? Or would you like to change the look of your blog?
Is your blog all that you want it to be? For most the answer to this is no, a blog is like your home it can always use a few touch ups! So think about what you want to touch up!
Would you like to grow your followers?
Take note of what you may want to focus on, change, or implement on your blog and once you have a general idea of what your blogging goals are all you have to do is reach toese goals, easy right? Well maybe not easy but it doesn’t have to be too hard. I wanted the tips of reaching your blogging goals to be useful and to the point, no need to delay the process of accomplishment right? So, here we go!
5 easy tips to keep you (and me) on track to reaching our blogging goals:
1.MAKE SURE YOUR GOALS ARE REALISTIC– There is a huge difference between setting hard goals and setting unrealistic goals. Goals should push you and challenge you but they shouldn’t stifle you! If you have 3 kids, a full time job, karate practice, dance class, business meetings, oh and everyday life tasks it’s probably not realistic to set a goal of posting 7x a week to your blog. Of course you could do it because you are awesome, determined and capable but no need to get burnt out from the get go. When you take on more realistic goals it makes the ride so much more enjoyable! Set your goals high but also make sure that they make sense to you and your life! Be honest with yourself, don’t underestimate your capabilities but don’t go into burn out mode from trying to take on more than your life allows for – we all somewhere inside know what we can realistically handle without adding more stress to our lives so just keep that in mind when making your goals.
Last year when we were going over our New Years resolutions as a family one of mine was to run a marathon and my sister (with her look of complete shock) kindly reminded me that a marathon is over 36 miles, I had never run before in my life other than after my kids and I have bad knees – really bad knees. I laugh when I think about it now because it wasn’t realistic AT ALL -I was just ambitious. If you knew me you would know that I am a fighter, a doer, a never quit or give up, hustle ’til I die kind of girl so for me to retract on a goal means I really did step back and say maybe not this year – but soon and that’s okay! So I changed the plan for that goal to run a 5k and work towards a marathon (note I did not say I changed my goal, instead I just changed my plan)- I trained, hung on best I could through the pain of my knees and ran my 1st 5k 3 months later. My point is just to look at the bigger picture, big goals are great unrealistic goals are not.
2.WRITE YOUR GOALS DOWN – I’m sure you have heard this a million times before but it really works! The best way to keep track of your blogging goals and hold yourself accountable for your goals is to write them out. And when I say write them I do mean with a pen and paper, not on your phone, not on the computer – pen and paper. Writing down your blogging goals allows you to look and see all you have set out to do while tracking your progress, checking your goals off as you complete them. Your going to use this in Tip #4 – so remember – pen and paper this way it can’t be hidden in your phone notes or lost on your computer never to be seen again – pen and paper – write them out!
3. MAKE A PLAN, A DETAILED PLAN– Now that you have your realistic goals written down you will find that accomplishing your goals will be much easier if you make a mater plan to guide you and get you started. It’s a good idea to plan the big and small things.
For many tasks, like planning posts and staying organized a blogging planner is a great tool! There are tons of great planners out there just for blogging and most of them are free! Here are a few talented ladies that offer offer wonderful, FREE blogging planner printables:
Shannon from AKA DESIGN + LIFE
Chelsea from Life With My Littles
For items that require a grander plan look over your goal and ask yourself “How can I accomplish this” and start from there – write out your ideas and anything else that comes to mind that will help you accomplish this goal – maybe even set a timeline to keep you on track. For example, one of my goals was to start a few group boards on Pinterest. My plan was/is this:
Make sure the board has a decent amount of posts, write out the rules and how to join, add my 1st group board by the end of January, invite a few of my followers to get it started as a community board and then add another within a few months if the 1st one ends up being successful.
So easy enough right? Do this for all of your goals, if you have room keep it in your blogging planner to stay organized and reference when needed!
4. VISUALIZE YOUR GOALS– not just in your mind but something you can see every day! Remember your list of goals from tip #1 – the list you made with pen and paper (smiling) – take it and put it somewhere you will see it. Use it as a reminder, as a motivator, as a way to see what you have accomplished once items start getting scratched off the list! Think about your goals from last year, the first few months you are eager and ready to tackle them but with time most forget about those goals and sometimes even forget what those goals were, when you write out and hang up your goals it’s harder to forget them!
If you want to add some extra motivation I highly suggest making a full on visual board! It doesn’t have to be Pinterest perfect, you don’t have to be crafty, it doesn’t have to be cute it just has to exist! It is there to remind you and encourage you. Take things that resemble your goals and add them to your board to remind you of your goals and keep you motivated! Make a list of words you would like your blog to be and hang them on your board. Want your blog to be successful, beautiful, educative? Write ‘um down and hang ‘um up! Want to write 3x a week? Jot it down or find a cute “3” and add it to your board. Want your blog to start earning you money? Take a dollar and hang that also! Add some motivational quotes or sayings you love, make it fun! I know a lot of people who live by this! It may sound silly now but once you see it day in and out there is no way you are gonna forget about those goals you just set! I’m really excited to make mine and when it’s done I will be sure to share it (no date noted lol crafting hour around here is open house for disaster) but I do have my list of goals hanging and so far it’s done me good!
5. WORK FOR IT AS BAD AS YOU WANT IT – You dont need me to tell you that success is derived from hard work. The same applies to your blog, if you put nothing in you get nothing out. Same with your blogging goals if you don’t work for your goals they will not work for you. It all comes down to how bad you want it. It’s easy to slip after a few months but if you are ready to make the changes you will. Strive to make progress instead of excuses and you will get further not only with accomplishing your blogging goals but in life. I decided long ago that I would rather be tired than unsuccessful so there is not a day that goes by that I don’t give it all I’ve got – sometimes I don’t have a lot to give and I’m sure you will have those days also but I think what matters is that you don’t give up – set backs happen, life happens, circumstances change but your goals were set by you for a reason don’t forget that reason. No matter what keep working towards towards your goals, look at your list, your visual board, and mark off goals as you accomplish them to give you that that feeling of defeat and victory. All you need is dedication and determination which you have or you wouldn’t even be reading this! Anyone can say they want to make changes but we who work hard, who have a plan ,and who never give up will be the ones who actually do! It’s a new year – plan – hustle – conquer! You got this!
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