It is a fresh new year and many of us are feeling hopeful that 2016 will bring amazing growth for our sites. And there’s nothing stopping you from that amazing growth this year! But setting the right kind of goals will help.
Goals can fall into several categories. Here are some ideas if you’re trying to find some for 2016.
- Grow monthly readership
- Grow social media following
- Improve photography
- Establish a posting routine
- Start an email newsletter
- Get featured on other, larger blogs/publications
And the list can go on. But no matter which kind of goal, or goals, you set it is key to break each one down into three phases – Long Term, Short Term & Immediate. To demonstrate, we’ll use the “Grow Monthly Readership” goal. For our Readership goal, you can pick a number of monthly uniques, you can pick a percentage or you can just say that your readership will increase if numbers stress you out. Either way write it down then we’ll break out the actions you need to take to get to that goal!
Long Term Actions (6+ months)
Long Term Action is the final step(s) you need to take for reaching your ultimate goal. Long Term Actions are for things that will take at least 6 months to work up to. For our increased readership goal a long term action would be:
- Submit articles to sites that feature blogger content in round-ups
- Join private Facebook groups of influencers who share each other’s work
- Start a Q&A or other interactive series with your readers
Short Term Actions (3-6 months)
Short Term Actions are the steps you take once you’ve got the Immediate Actions down pat. In most cases you won’t stop doing the Immediate Actions but you will take them to the next level. For our Readership goal some short term actions would be:
- Invest in Facebook Ads to expand your audience
- Introduce new series on the blog
- Continue to track monthly stats
- Engage on social media with other bloggers
- Engage on social media with readers
Immediate Actions (1-3 months)
Immediate Actions are things that you can start doing today to help you build towards your short term and long term actions, and ultimately hitting that goal! They are small tasks and things that will help build a foundation. For our Readership goal the list of immediate actions could include:
- Start a spreadsheet to record monthly stats
- Participating in weekly Twitter Chats to meet new bloggers
- Maintain posting schedule
- Ensure each post is shared to Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest
- Incorporate blog content into Instagram posts
- Make plans for a new series on the blog
What goals are you setting for your blog for 2016? We’ve got content on our Blog Better Pinterest Board that can help inspire some ideas. Join us tonight for #WCBCChat with At-A-Glance 7pm Central to discuss New Years Resolutions both on and off your blog!