Hi again everyone! Two weeks ago I talked about 10 Top Tips for choosing the perfect photography location. Today I’m talking about how to blog effectively by having a goal and why you should be doing it. I am very goal-oriented. I like to make lists and set goals because I find they help me increase my motivation and ultimately my success. Before you start setting goals for your blog willy-nilly, sit down and ask yourself a few questions..
What is it that I want from this little blog of mine? Why did I start this blog and where is it going? Am I trying to make friends, develop relationships, and grow?
Goals are essential to achieving success because they keep us focused and motivated. Without goals, we would aimlessly go down the path of life without any direction, ambition, or hope. Goals are not only something we aim to achieve but are also markers that let us know we are doing the right things to get ourselves to places we want to be. Setting goals into blogging is more important to become a successful blogger. Blogging needs lots of hard work, research and long working hours.
Step 1: DEFINE YOUR BLOGGING PURPOSE
This may sound obvious but many times people start a blog for the sake of having a blog without really thinking what they want to achieve from their blogging efforts. A few examples of good blogging purposes:
Step 3: SET GOALS THAT MOTIVATE YOU
Step 4: FOLLOW YOUR PASSION
Follow your passion, set a goal that “fits” into something that you want to do and make a genuine commitment to achieving it. Women tend to be more successful in the things they are passionate about. In life, achieving success can be tedious and challenging and the only way to overcome pitfalls is by being passionate about what one does.
Step 5: WORK SMARTER — NOT HARDER
This is something that I struggle with daily. No, hourly. I find myself wasting so much time at the computer because I don’t sit down with a clear purpose in mind. Know what you’re doing and how you’re doing it and figure out ways to save time and energy on that task. Identify you most important task and start with that.
Step 6: IF YOU WANT YOUR BLOG TO BE BUSINESS – TREAT LIKE ONE
Fill out a one-page business plan to kick-start yourself and your vision for your blog. Keep track of your progress by marking off your benchmarks. Nothing will keep you more motivated than actually seeing your progress.
Step 7: KNOW YOUR STRENGTHS
Step 8: AVOID BLOG ENVY
Step 9: BE CREATIVE
Creativity. What makes a successful blogger unique is the power of creativity. Being able to think out of the box will enable a person to do things differently. It’s not necessary that every blogger should be a creative person, but it’s certainly an advantage for you. Creativity is one the most important part of writing. Creative articles always attract the attention of readers. It helps you to stand out from the rest.
Step 10: BUILD CONSISTENCY
Consistency will help you create results (i.e. traffic) to your blog faster. I am not very consistent in publishing new content in the last few months for this blog and that’s why traffic is increasing at low levels, but don’t worry I’m back on track. There are some rules to follow related to how frequently you should publish new content but as a general guide, websites or blog that are updated with fresh, unique and relevant content perform better (in many aspects) than other websites. Search engines and social media platforms are constantly searching for new content (this is what their readers want) and providing them with what they want, you increase your chances of getting noticed either organically or socially.
Step 11: BUILDING A GENUINE RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR READERS
Let your readers in. Share yourself and your life with your readers. In order for someone to become invested in you, they need to know you. This is really hard for a lot of bloggers (included me) but is essential for building relationships with your readers.
Step 12: NEVER EVER GIVE UP
Remember, the important thing is to achieve the goal – not how fast the goal is achieved. Giving up only ensures one thing – failure. Work as long as it takes to reach your dream. Whatever it is, if it is truly your passion and something that you really enjoy, this will be a “work of pleasure” whatever time it takes.
“The most important thing to remember is that you can wear all the greatest clothes and all the greatest shoes, but you’ve got to have a good spirit on the inside. That’s what’s really going to make you look like you’re ready to rock the world.” —Alicia Keys
