Does Your Blog Have Goals?

Several times per year I talk about goal setting. As a coach, I think it’s enormously important to set intentions for the year—if you want to succeed. The same goes for your blog. It needs goals if you want your site to become successful.

Without a goal, you blog or blog your book with no clear direction or result in mind. With a goal, you know where you are going, the target you want to hit, the result you desire, and where you want to end up. And you can determine how to get there.

Your Goals vs. Your Blog’s Goals

In fact, your goals as a blogger probably align with the goals of your blog. Why? Because your blog serves as the vehicle that helps you achieve your goals.

For example, if you want to publish a book this year, and you set out to blog a book, your blog shares the goal of producing a book. If you want more clients or readers (of your books), then your blog might share this purpose; every post would focus on promoting your products and services.

Or maybe you have a grander purpose, such as to create change in individual lives or the world. Your blog would have the same mission, and each post would share messages of transformation. In fact, your blog’s primary goal should align with the mission statement for your book.

Set Blog Goals

If you have never set goals for your blog, it’s time to do so!

Begin by making a list of three to five things you want your blog to accomplish during its lifetime. For example:

• Help me earn a living by attracting coaching clients.
• Help me land traditional book contracts so I become a well-known expert in my field.

Make another list of things you want your blog to accomplish this year. For instance:

• Attract 1,000 unique visitors to my site per day by March 31.
• Get ten new email-list subscribers per day who are perfect coaching prospects.
• Complete two blogged ebooks by November 30.
• Attract a literary agent or publisher.

Then prioritize these goals. You should have one primary goal for your blog over it’s lifetime and one for this year. The others should align with that goal. They are important, too, but your focus should be on your one priority goal.

Now, every time you write a blog post, check the content to ensure it is “on purpose.” Does it help you and your blog reach your primary goal for the site?

Even your blogged book should help you achieve the primary (or secondary) goal of your site. To achieve the best results, your book subject and content and purpose or mission should directly align with the goal and mission of your blog. The book should share the primary goal of your blog.

Review Your Goals Regularly

Don’t just write down your blog goals and forget about them. Treat goals as part of your business venture; review your progress on them regularly. If you don’t take this step, you won’t know if you are making any headway towards achieving them.

Every day, create a to-do list that aligns with your blog goals. Complete tasks that help you achieve those goals. Then weekly and monthly evaluate if you are getting closer to achieving your goals. Determine what is working and what isn’t working.

By taking these action steps and accumulating this information, you can adjust what you do to move toward successfully achieving your blog goals. That’s how people in every industry become successful.

 

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