In an effort to focus/motivate myself, I've decided to revisit the goals that I first set for myself when I started blogging back in March of 2011.
These were the goals that I had back then:
1) Get people to read my blog.
2) Help make the comments section a place where people can discuss and debate.
3) Use blogging as a way to legitimize my reading addiction.
4) Read/review 1-2 books a week.
5) Post something every day.
6) Meet new people/find readers who have similar interests.
I ended up meeting all of those goals and exceeding some of them. They were, however, the goals of a new book blogger, someone who was attempting to get started on a new adventure. Now that I'm coming back to blogging with the full knowledge of what I'm capable of and with evidence of how much people actually enjoy reading what I write, I want some new goals. Goals that are more concrete and that are aimed at becoming a better, more organized blogger who won't give up like I did last December.
So, my new set of goals are:
1) Gain at least 300 new followers in the next six months.
2) Have something scheduled to post every day but allow myself some time off every once in a while to avoid burnout.
3) Participate in a reasonable number of challenges and only participate in ones that I know I can finish.
4) Read and review books that are sent to me in a timely fashion.
5) Be conscientious about what I sign up to do so that I don't abandon projects I've told other bloggers I would help them with.
6) Participate in discussions on other blogs. Book bloggers are a community and I need to start acting like I'm a part of that community.
7) Have a weekly plan for reading set out ahead of time that reflects what's currently going on in my life so that I don't give myself too much to handle.
8) Be open to genres that I don't normally read and don't dismiss a book before I read it simply because I don't *think* I'll like it. Some of the books that I've absolutely loved have been books that I didn't think I'd be interested in.
9) Remember that blogs take time and effort. Plan out time each week to devote to reading/blogging/participating with other bloggers.
10) Have fun. Seriously. Blogging is a blast. Don't act like it's a 9-5 grind.
How have your goals changed since you started blogging?
-Gabe
Being new to book blogging, my goals are pretty much the same as your original blog goals: get involved in the community, read 1-2 a week, post reviews in a timely fashion, get new followers! :) So far so good. Growing slowly but surely.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your new blog and on your steady growth. I think a lot of people have relatively the same goals when they start blogging. It's such a huge, exciting venture and people like to have an idea of where they are and where they're going.
ReplyDeleteA quick word of advice: if 1-2 books is all you feel you can handle reading per week, don't schedule yourself for 3-4 (or more). I did that all the time and I would get overwhelmed and feel bad when I couldn't finish the unreachable task I had set for myself. If you finish the 2 you were already planning on reading, then is the time to add more. I wish I'd learned that before I burned out.
Your new goals still seem so ambitious to me! I can't imagine scheduling a post for every day or trying to get that many followers, for that matter. I've just added your blog to my Google Reader, so you can chalk up at least one new follower this morning!
ReplyDeleteThey probably are ambitious, but I wanted to challenge myself. If I'm going to blog again I want to make sure that I'm doing it with a clear purpose. I used to be an every day poster until I started to fall behind but I don't want to do that this time around. If I have to schedule them way ahead of time, I'm totally fine with that. I just want to keep focused.
DeleteThanks for the follow!
I try to post every day as well, but it's hard to remember to give yourself some slack when it doesn't happen. :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck with meeting all of your goals!
I know, right? I always feel so guilty when I don't post every day. It's silly, but I can't help it. Thanks.
ReplyDelete