Blogging 201, Branding and Growth, Day One: Set Three Goals

“Don’t procrastinate. If you want to blog, then blog.” Fritz Chery

Blogging 201, Branding and Growth, Day One: Set Three Goals

Day One: Set Three Goals:

Welcome to Blogging 201: Branding and Growth! We’re excited about what we’re going to cover over the next two weeks, and we’re glad you’re joining us for the ride.

Today we want you to do a bit of thinking about your blog, so you can focus the next two weeks effectively.

Today’s assignment: consider what you want to accomplish with your blog. Write down three concrete goals.

Why are we doing this?

* Because writing down goals forces you to think carefully about what success means to you — “success” is different for everyone.
* Because having goals helps you focus. If something you’re doing isn’t helping you achieve your goals, ditch it.

Here are some questions to mull over to help you uncover/refine what’s most important to you about your blog:

Why do you blog? For notoriety? To get a book contract? To self-publish? To establish yourself as a leader in your field? To gain followers? To connect with others? To clarify your own thoughts?

If your blog exceeded your wildest dreams, what would that look like? Would you have a different design? How many followers would you have? How much traffic? What sort of community would participate? How often would you post?

Answering these questions helps you create a vision for your blog. Next, translate that vision into three specific goals. You can articulate your goals however you’re most comfortable, but we recommend making them simple, concrete, and time-based to create laser-like focus, like:

* Gain 20% more followers by January 15st.
* Increase average daily hits 30% by the middle of 2016.
* Publish three times each week during December and January.
* Spend one hour each week visiting my followers’ blogs, reading, and commenting from now until February 1st.
* Establish a new weekly feature on my blog by January 1st. (Throwback Thursdays, Wordless Wednesdays, Soup Sundays), and publish that feature each week through 2016.
* Create an editorial calendar for the next 90 days by December 31st.
* Gain 100 new Twitter followers by February 15th.
* Publish posts from three guests over the next three months.
* For bonus points, write a post detailing your blog’s goals and publish it. Making your goals public ups your accountability. Your readers will cheer you on, and might even find ways to help you achieve your goals.

Create a private page on your blog to keep track of your goals, or just write them on a post-it note — whatever works for you.

Stuck on what to pick for your goals? Not sure what’s actually reasonable? Head to The Commons to bounce ideas around with fellow challenge participants. You know the old saying: 1000 heads are better than one!