4 steps to help you stay on track and achieve your
Blogging Goals in 2018
Now that 2018 is well and truly in full swing and we’ve had time to digest the fun and excitement (and the overindulgence!) of the New Year, it’s about now that we look around and think about what we really want to achieve in the coming year and what we might have liked to have done better in the year before.
You may be wondering, isn’t it a bit late for this sort of thing, heck it’s already April. Well, to be honest, this is something I do every quarter. If I don’t reassess my goals regularly, how do I know if I’m on track?
Here are some steps that you can take that will help you get better clarity of what you want to achieve this coming year and how to make it as seamless as possible so that in 2019, you can look back and be proud of everything you’ve done.
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Why did you start your blog?
Before you can make any goals for the year, it’s really important to first have a think about why you started your blog in the first place. Did you want to get the message out about something your passionate about and share it with like-minded people? Or maybe you have always wanted to start an online business and achieve some financial independence?
Whatever it is, by looking at your reasons behind your blog can be a great start when it comes to your goals and what you want to have achieved by the end of the year.
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Go over the good, the bad and the ugly of the year before
As much as it’s nice to move on and not go over the negatives of the past, a bit of retrospection can actually be really beneficial to your future. You can use this method to ask yourself questions such as did you procrastinate too much? Do you spend too much time on projects being a perfectionist? What obstacles were in your way that you want to be prepared for this time around?
It’s important though to not just look at the negatives. I’m sure there are plenty of things in 2017 that you were proud/excited about so don’t skip over these things because they are just as important! Going over what you are happy with allows you to focus on what you want and gives you the motivation to pursue similar feelings in the year ahead.
Looking over the past allows you to isolate what went well and what you want to improve on – that’s why this step should definitely be high on your list!
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Come up with a blogging strategy for the year ahead
Whether you have a hobby blog or something a bit more business oriented, having a strategy allows you to plan ahead. It always sounds so simple, doesn’t it? Just write a strategy they say – but what does that even really mean? Firstly, sit down and think about your goals for your blog. What do you want to accomplish? If it’s a hobby blog, what type of audience do you want to attract and how will you attract like-minded people?
For a business blog, you’ll likely want to attract more customers, so what is the best way to go about that? By thinking about your goals, you are able to make a more targeted strategy that will help you achieve them faster!
The next thing to do when planning a strategy is to take advantage of the analytics that are available. Google and Facebook have great tools that allow you to track your engagement, subscriber rates and any other information that will be beneficial to your planning process. Using the analytic tools available to you is a great way to gauge what works and what doesn’t. This allows you to plan content style, posting times and how to engage your audience.
Although it seems a bit daunting (and a bit of a pain in the ass, let’s be honest!) creating a strategy can really set in motion a clear plan and allow you to tackle hurdles that can come up in the future.
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Create deadlines for yourself and stay accountable
Okay, so this next step is pretty self-explanatory and even a bit obvious, but it’s definitely crucial in achieving your blogging goals. Once you’ve set up a strategy for yourself, it’s important to stick to your deadlines, even if some of them seem a bit arbitrary at times. Did you make a commitment to yourself to post to Facebook and Instagram at least once a day? Make sure you do it! Did you want to learn how to use a certain tool by a certain date? Make sure you do it!
By going through with your own personal deadlines, you will be able to look back at the end of the year and be surprised by how much you were able to get done and you get to watch that to-do list shrink away!
Sometimes achieving our goals can take more than just wanting it, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be tough or that you should avoid it – in fact, it can be a very rewarding learning experience! We hope that these tips for achieving your blogging goals in 2018 were helpful in helping you gather your thoughts and help you get to your desired goal!
