6 questions to ask yourself before wasting time on your blogging goals

by Cassie Jene Lee

"people with goals succeed because they know where they're going" - Earl Nightingale

 

As a creative entrepreneur, you embraced the role of blogging for your business. You loved the idea of using this platform to showcase your products, educate customers about what you do behind the scenes, invite readers to get a glimpse into your personal life, or share things that make you go weak in the knees. You decided that you are going to set goals around blogging and are looking forward to reaping in the benefits that are associated with it.

There is just one problem.

It is all fine and dandy to dream about a goal. The next part is to actually stick to it and be patient enough to work towards the finish line.

 

6 questions you need to answer before you take any action

1 Why do you want to set this goal?

What are you hoping to gain from it? What are your intentions? Don’t censor or judge yourself here. Be honest. The blogging goal you set should have a positive impact on your business. Running a small business is already hard enough. If you want pile on more to your plate, make sure that the resulting benefits are worth the effort.

 

2 How are you going to measure the success of your goal?

Everyone defines success differently. How will you know that you have successfully achieved your goal? Here are a few examples that you can use :

  • Number of blog subscribers at the end of 6 months
  • Being nominated for an award
  • Being ranked on a list
  • Number of shares/tweets/pins you managed to get for each blog post

There are many possibilities. It is important to remember that your goal has to be as specific as possible. Use numbers, dates, names, people, anything that makes it easy to use as a yardstick.

 

3 What steps are you going to take to get what you want?

For example, what if your goal is to have 100 additional blog subscribers at the end of 3 months? This benefits you because once your subscribers get to know your brand and your products intimately, it is easier for you to turn them into loyal fans and customers.

Some of the steps you may take include – adopt a regular blogging schedule, guest post on other blogs, and put your blog address on your business card, email signature or on your social media platforms. If you get stuck in coming up with ways, read related articles on the internet, ask your network, or brainstorm with a mentor or coach.

 

4 Are you able to fit your goal in your life right now?

After you have brainstormed and listed ways on how to get to your goal, the next part is re-assessing your situation. Are you able to fit the goal in your life without making too big of a change in a short period of time? Obviously change is inevitable when it comes to setting goals, and flexibility is important. But we don’t want you to do a full back flip within 24 hours as that may be too drastic and result in overwhelm.

How much time do you have and are willing to dedicate to realising this goal? If you strive to publish on your blog once a week then make sure you do. Get up half an hour earlier if that’s what it takes to squeeze in some writing time. Not do-able because you are still nursing your newborn and you need the sleep? Revisit your goal to tweak it or even come up with a completely different one.

 

5 Where can you get support?

When you are pounding on the keys of your computer churning out blog post after blog post, it can be quite hard to stick to this goal in the long run if you lack the support and guidance to help you get there. Participate in a blogging community. Surround yourself with like-minded people to stay inspired. Tell your best friend or even your family about your goal. They may not understand your reason behind it but the love and believe they have for you is extra motivation to keep you going. A healthy reminder is to always surround yourself with people who lift you up and encourage you to look on the bright side. Don’t waste time with bad eggs.

 

6 What if you give up half way?

This is a tough one and more often than not a very personal decision. No one wants to set a goal only to give up. This decision is made even harder when you have put your heart and soul in your blog and spent copious amount of time on it. However there is no point beating a dead horse.

If you feel that you have no energy left to focus on your blogging goal, ask yourself why are you feeling this way? Have your needs changed, making the goal irrelevant? Did something happen that has a major impact on your goal? Before you give up completely, do tap into your support network and talk it out with them. They may offer a different perspective and assist in you making a well informed decision.

Whichever decision you make, I highly encourage you to look at it positively and find what you can learn from it. If you don’t learn, you will repeat this cycle the next time you set similar goals.

 

I would love to hear your thoughts :

What goals are you setting for your blog? How is it going to help you in your creative business?

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Cassie Lee helps new entrepreneurs to overcome their negative mindsets in order to create a fun profitable business. Grab a copy of her free Ebook “You are What You Think – Simple Tips on Developing a Positive Mindset” here.

If you are tired of setting goals only to give up halfway, Set Your Trailblazing Goals e-course is currently open for enrolments. This 28 day self-paced training is designed to help you create goals that fit into your lifestyle and will benefit you.

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Disclaimer : tractorgirl is an affiliate of CassieJene.com, and I will receive a commission from any sales made through this post.

However, rest assured I only ever share things I believe in, and think that will be genuinely useful for you!