Take small steps towards your goal
Tara from Graphic Design Blog left me an interesting question in my self review post yesterday. Tara asked
I would also be interested in reading a post about how you plan/or don’t plan your blog long term(like a business plan) - eg. Within 2 months I plan to have x visitors, X articles, marketing plan - initial and long term (I realise that you won’t want to give all your secrets away
but a generic outline). Basically - turning a blog into a business.
I do have a long term plan for this blog however it’s not something that wil be achieved overnight, it takes time. So week to week I do my best to take baby steps towards that end goal. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither are successful blogs
Getting there one week at a time
I think it’s safe to assume that most bloggers have the same end goal, that is to have a successful blog with a lot of readers. Of course, to reach that end goal you need to set yourself different goals to get there. For example, you might try and reach 100 subscribers by the end of your first 2 months.
One of the most important aspects of blogging is time management and it’s something which will influence what type of goals you set yourself. When setting myself goals I like to seperate them down into weekly and monthly targets.
- Weekly targets - Weekly targets are tasks I do my best to achieve in the week ahead. I take into account the time I have to blog that week and I try and make the goal achievable however I still try and make sure I keep myself busy and focused. Weekly targets tend to be very specific for me. For example, I would set myself the task of writing a good post at least once a day or I would set aside time to change one aspect of the design.
- Monthly targets - My monthly targets are usually more closely related to my long term goals. For example, I may aim to increase the number of subscribers by 150 in that month or I may try or try and increase revenue by 10%. It should be noted however that more emphasis should be placed on weekly goals. If weekly tasks are not completed end of month targets will not be met. Remember, content is the heart of any good blog.
I think the most important thing to remember is that long term goals are not achieved overnight. Weekly micromanagement of weekly tasks will enable you to achieve these goals. Just remember to set yourself achievable goals
TechZilo | July 28th, 2007 at 5:26 am #
Very valid points - very often i see guys setting massive targets, and reaching nowhere. Instead, it would be much more rewarding to think of short-term targets which lead to a long term target.
Then again, all this depends on the kind of blog - some blogs are hot property, and grow quicker than this, while some others stagnate.
I was wondering whether u could write a review(what with you supporting reviews as good way of traffic increasing) of your new (ASUS?) lappy. I too wanna buy one, and thought of initially going with a Dell 1420, but its way too expensive for what it offers.
Kevin | July 28th, 2007 at 7:11 am #
I dont think I will have the time to do a review of the Asus laptop (I wouldnt post it here anyways as its not blogging related).
However, if you have any questions about it please let me know and I’ll do my best to answer them. I can also take a few pics for you
the buxr widget | July 28th, 2007 at 1:57 pm #
Kevin - I think you are well on your way to successful blog. Maintaining weekly and monthly goals are a great way to do it. Another key is to always make sure you are having fun.. And don’t take it too seriously.
Michael Fultz | July 30th, 2007 at 12:20 am #
Everything takes time. A big goal is usually accomplished “little-by-little”. Think about it: you don’t eat a large meal in just one bite, do you?
Tara1 | July 30th, 2007 at 3:04 am #
Hi Kevin
Thanks for taking the time to write about this. It is interesting to see, from someone who has had sucessful businesses online that your approach is quite fluid, rather than a rigid business plan.
chrisblogging.com | July 30th, 2007 at 1:15 pm #
I do things the same way. Smaller goals will eventually add up to larger ones!
More Merchant | July 31st, 2007 at 12:24 pm #
This John Cow ad from Google sucks!