I think these other reason these goals are scary is I'm not necessarily sure how to make them a reality. Sure, if I want more pageviews I can work on pinning more of my own content on Pinterest, joining linkups or commenting on others blogs, but, at that point, I've done what I can do, and it's up to folks to stumble on back here.
Blogger Babes, I hope you'll share some of your blogging goals with me, or, if you've got a whole post on it, drop yo link in the comments! I love to see what other bloggers are trying to make happen & how they plan to do it. Because, if nothing else, I'm learning that it's a lot more about the plan & the work you put in than the end result.
Give The Sass a facelift | Pretty self explanatory, I'm rockin' a free little template that I changed some colors on and added a Canva header to. I feel like after 1 year + of blogging I've proved to myself that I plan to make this a thing, and am now willing to invest a little bit of money (But not a lot, 'cause I'm still a frugal bastard).
Consider buying .COM | I say consider because, more $$$. I can't really come up with any cons other than the $. But, still want to see what sort of work would be involved. I am the least tech-y person ever. Like, can I just buy it an all of a sudden people will be redirected there instead of .blogspot.com? Who knows. Actually, if you do know, also please comment and tell me.
Hit 5,000 monthly pageviews (or 15,000 on blogger) | I'm torn on how to represent this goal. Blogger displays my stats in terms of monthly & daily pageviews, but I also have Google Analytics which displays similar statistics. BUT, the numbers they provide are dramatically different. So, I would love to see 5,000 unique monthly visitors via Google Analytics, and 15,000 monthly pageviews via Blogger.
Reach out to 3 brands for collaboration | This is a scary one. But, the worst that can happen is someone says no. I'd love to find some smaller brands, things that fit with my blog // lifestyle and reach out about collaborating. I would love to even do a product give away on the blog!
Grow my Instagram | I have right around 445 followers right now on Instagram. Not too long ago though I had somewhere in the 200's. I wasn't consistently and actively using Instagram until I started blogging, and even then it wasn't until the end of summer that I began consistently posting and using good hashtags. I want to continue to work on posting and hashtagging posts. And work to grow my following to 1,000+ by the end of 2017. I feel this will also help me as I try to collaborate with brands.
Bloggers - what are some of your goals this year?
What's your favorite social media?
What brands would you love to work with?
Linking up with Amanda
I'm so excited for these! And I'm really excited about your Sass face lift. Can't wait to see what you come up with! Some day, I'd like to have a sweet design too.. but that's in the future. Go girl!
ReplyDeleteThere are so many options, I feel like I'm going to have such a hard time picking the right one!
DeleteGreat goals! Blog makeovers are so much fun! When I bought my own domain, I did it at the same time as I began self-hosting. I hired a designer who designed my blog AND transferred my content from Blogger to self-hosted WP. She also took care of my domain. Depending on budget, it may be something to look into and consider!
ReplyDeleteI love your design! I hadn't really considered my budget yet. I had planned on keeping it low, but that does sound like a it would make a big positive change on my blog!
DeleteI have my .com through GoDaddy & it is super cheap & it was great at automatically moving people from the old address to the current. I know nothing about this kind of thing & even I figured it out.
ReplyDeleteI so need a facelift. I'm going to add that to my list to do.
As for Canva? I feel like an 102 year old idiot - I cant make heads or tails of it.
Was there a little tutorial that walked you through how to use Canva at the beginning? I feel like there was for me, which is how I figured it out, but I still screw it up sometimes.
DeleteI did a facelift by switching blogging platforms and that gave me some zest for a bit...then my blogging sort of fell by the wayside again. I think it's also because I've been trying to get through all of my library books; all the good ones came in and I don't want to return them unread!
ReplyDeleteOh man, I just got 4 new books from the library and I have a feeling I may just sort of disappear into a hole as well until I finish them all.
DeleteI have pretty similar goals- grow my instagram, grow my daily views, do more collaborative posts, etc. And they all scare me!
ReplyDeleteGood luck!!
Jen
jpabstfitness.com
Good luck to you too Jen! If you have any tips you feel are working for you, definitely share!
Deletegood luck with your goals girl! i bought a .com and redid my template and all that. everything i did myself i learned from venus trapped in mars, i think that's her blog. it's been a while. as for the .com, i don't remember how i did it as it was 2+ years ago? maybe? but there are tutorials online and it is very easy, and there's a little spot where you put in your new web thingy with the .com and it automatically redirects like magic.
ReplyDeletei personally only do this for fun - i used to care about page views and things like that, but something happened over the last year where i just don't anymore. it's more about the community and friends i've made.. which sounds super cliche and corny, but it's true.
I've definitely poked around Venus Trapped in Mars, didn't know she had tutorials for creating your own design, I'll have to check it out. Part of what I've loved so much about blogging is I feel like I'm having the opportunity to learn something new and interesting to me all over again.
DeleteI had a lot of goals last year for my blog, and this year I have none lol! I got way too wrapped up in the numbers and growing it, and now I just want to put out more quality posts and not even look at the numbers. It's really easy (and relatively cheap) to buy a domain and switch. And yes, you can get people redirected from .blogspot.com!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear it's not crazy expensive. I'm definitely realizing how important it is to put out quality posts, but I love connecting with people, so I don't want to lose some of the less Evergreen posts like my weekend highlights.
DeleteAll of your goals are great and really feasible I think! I'd also like to reach out to more brands and partner this year. I kinda realized that I like blogging so it's worth a little investment on my part to grow it or invest in things that I can't teach myself!
ReplyDeleteThat's a great way to look at it. I've definitely come to love blogging, the people I've gotten to know, and also all the things I've been learning along the way.
DeleteI would love to hit more page views, but I've seem to kind of grown stagnant on that one... Hmm.... You get GREAT engagement on your blog Jess, and I think growing your Instagram will be really fun. :)
ReplyDeleteOne of my blog goals is to make more of my own recipes this year. :)
Love that goal Emily! More recipes are always a good thing - and something that are always relevant!
DeleteI am definitely interested in working with brands local to me - I feel like I don't necessarily know a great way to find them though.
Oh yes, and I would LOVE to work with:
ReplyDeleteGeneral Mills (Cause I love their Cereal)
Love Grown Foods (Cause their cereal is local)
And... more local Colorado brands.
My blogging goals are just to keep up, lol!
ReplyDeleteSometimes it is just not enough time to devote to all that I need too and want to read. I find that I'm loving IG more and more and it's so easy to interact with people there!
I agree - I've been almost thinking of IG like a mini-blog. Blogging is time consuming for sure. And hard, because I want to be a good steward of the blogging world, but sometimes just don't have time. I never know if I am better off responding to comments on my own blog, or visiting others who have taken the time to comment on mine.
DeleteThe reason the blogger and GA stats are so different is because blogger shows stats based on every view instead of unique visitors. If, say for instance, someone was to visit your blog 10 times and another person visited it one - blogger would say you had 11 views whereas GA will say you had 2 unique visitors.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I need to give SIL a face lift - but then I get so many email from readers telling me not to anytime I mention it so I don't know!
I'd love to work with an airline. I have worked with one before, however, I'd like to approach it a little differently and be able to share more behind the scenes stuff so it's not just your average travel post.
That was my thinking, but glad to hear it confirmed. :)
DeleteI love your SIL design - but I also understand about wanting a facelift. Maybe you could do one but bring this layout back next time you're ready for a facelift? I don't know if that would be difficult or not...
Ooh - I would love to see behind the scenes from an airline. Especially the food service, beverage service, etc and how it works and it prepared and then ready to serve in the air! Hope you get the chance!
These are great! I'm also hoping to reach out to some brands this year. The thought of doing that is so scary! I also want to host one or two giveaways because I've never done one yet!
ReplyDeleteThe thought it definitely scary, I try to remind myself that the worst they can say is no. And I also try to remember that if they say no it's not necessarily a reflection on me, but perhaps just where they are as a brand right now.
DeleteI totally hear ya. I've got some blogging goals this year that are super scary to say out loud. It's almost as if I say them, then I have to actually WORK on them and I'm like you - not sure how to go about doing that. I just want to produce content that people want to read but figuring out what that actually is WITHOUT BEING LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE is the hard part. I think I had an epiphany this morning and I came up with some good ideas so we'll see. I've also been trying to increase my Instagram followers. I just need to remember to take pictures of EVERYTHING!
ReplyDeleteAs for brands, I'm all about Love Grown foods and Siggi's. Omigosh, I would be so excited if I could be an ambassador for one of them!
Even as I feel like I am getting better at Instagram it still isn't quite natural to take pictures of everything. I especially hate interrupting a fun time to snap a picture.
DeleteAnd I agree - so hard not to be like everybody else.
Etsy is a great place for some really nice yet CHEAP templates for Blogger! I recently switched to Wordpress & didn't realize how much more expensive their templates were compared to Blogger, haha. Finding a hosting site is confusing! It seems like I've read so many horror stories about certain host websites. I started using SiteGround when I went with Wordpress & haven't had any major issues. You have some pretty good goals-- good luck!
ReplyDeleteI peeked around on Etsy and there were SO MANY TEMPLATES! Like a kid in a candy shop. So many options I don't know what to pick!
DeleteI've heard the same thing about brands as well. Which is part of why being a .com sounds appealing, but then I think that I'm not trying to make this my job. But, moreso want to work with brands I love and believe it, and not necessarily to make tons of money, but because I love them. Maybe that's still, IDK.
ReplyDelete