Hello hello, and Merry day-after-Christmas! I hope you all had a great holiday, however and whatever you and your family celebrate! Just having time off to sit, take a deep breath and be around the people I love most is enough for me.
2013 was a great year for me when it came to blogging. Not because I did everything right and was super successful, but rather because I figured out what works for me. Even more importantly, I figured out what doesn’t work for me. I was able to step back a little, and seriously consider the role that blogging has played in my life, and the role that I want it to play in the future.
My biggest takeaway of 2013: balance. A week full of great posts and high pageviews means nothing when everything else is falling apart.
All of that being said, I’ve come up with a list of 14 goals that I would like to accomplish on the blog in 2014. I know I shared this post about some goals dealing with my online presence overall, but this is much more tailored to this space. I can’t wait until this time next year, when I can go back to this post and see how far I’ve come…
01 / Take SEO more seriously. I can’t lie, I haven’t really taken SEO into consideration at all. It’s something I’m knowledgable about, but never put into effect to use for my benefit. I definitely want to get a handle on this in the new year.
02 / Collaborate with other bloggers. My favorite part of blogging has been the connections and friendships I’ve formed through this community! I really want to create more ways to connect with other talented creatives in the new year.
03 / Mastering the ed cal. Having an editorial calendar has been extremely helpful in staying organized and tracking which posts hit the blog. One thing I learned sooner rather than later is that you have to have gaps, spaces and room to be flexible in any editorial calendar. I’ll be writing more on that later.
04 / Be less of a lurker. There are so many blogs that I read weekly, even daily that I never take the time to comment on! I hate when I do that! In 2014, prepare to see my name in your comments more frequently.
05 / More life posts. Before I launched this blog, I gave a survey to my readers about which categories of content you all wanted to see. By far, the ‘more post about you/your life’ came up the most. I definitely want to be more open and personal in 2014.
06 / Revamping sponsorships. I love that I am able to offer sponsorships here on the blog, but there are a few improvements I want to make in the new year.
07 / Learn to say no more. I never want to risk the authenticity of this space for an opportunity that isn’t right for me.
08 / Create more. I love creating things that you guys can download and use, and I really want to design more this year.
09 / Take off time, without feeling guilty. Leaving the blog without content for even just a few days makes me feel incredibly guilty. But sometimes, I do need to step away and focus on other things.
10 / Send out a successful newsletter. Before I know it, I’ll be sharing the subscribe link for the first AYTJ Newsletter. I’m excited and nervous, because I’ve never done anything like this before for my blog.
11 / Use social media more. Lately, I feel like my social media platforms have only been used to share posts and announcements, when really it should be another way to communicate and connect with all of you!
12 / Organize, organize, organize. Especially my laptop! I’m usually pretty on top of this, but it’s time to delete old images and blog ideas that are just taking up space.
13 / Think of myself as bigger. It’s come up more than a few times in conversation with close friends that I don’t give myself enough credit. I don’t take the time to celebrate all f my accomplishments, even though I’m constantly encouraging others to. In 2014, I need to be more of my own cheerleader.
14 / Become a resource. In 2014, I really want this blog to serve as a resource to people. For a while I couldn’t exactly figure out my ‘niche’ as a lifestyle blogger. But that’s just it: I’m a tool – a resource on blogging, organization, goal setting and self love. Those are things that will always pop up within my posts. A creative space building community for others to ignite their own creative powers and spread joy. That’s what I want to be all about in 2014…
So get excited1 Because this new year will only be ten times better with all of the support of my amazing readers who have been so supportive, and made this journey worth while.
What are your blogging goals for 2014?
I really enjoyed reading about your blogging goals. It’s a form of transparency in business that I wish more people would engage in — I know that I’ve been creating plans and maps for myself regarding business goals for 2014, including creating systems for the curating & editing services that I’ll be rolling out this upcoming year. I’m especially impressed by the mix of more technical goals, such as learning SEO, & the more people- oriented goals, such as commenting on other folks’ blogs and sites. Thank you for sharing! x
Thank you for stopping by and commenting! Your sweet and kind presence leaves such a positive and powerful energy where you leave it — I’m glad my little blog was one of those places. I am very happy that you enjoyed the post 🙂
Xo.
Good luck with your goals. I have zero blogging goals because blogging is just a hobby for me. I don’t check page views or followers or any of that stuff because none of it matters to me. I post just to interact with my friends. 🙂
I think thats awesome, and i love that you just blog for yourself. That’s how journaling is for me…where the typos and grammar errors can run wild — only getting judgement from myself haha
great goals & good luck!! My blogging goals for 2014 is to make sure I keep blogging ( I have a tendency of not sticking with things) and to open up more.
It took me a while to get to a point where I consistently blogged and consistently WANTED to blog. Creating a schedule, and finding a place for blogging in my life has been a big help.
I love these goals! I’m currently in the process of drafting mine for my own blog, and it’s so daunting! I’m not quite sure what I want to focus on yet, but thanks for the great inspiration!
Don’t force it! Think about areas you feel you missed this year, and start there! Just free write for a while, and I’m sure the goals and aims that you truly want to work on will come freely.
I love seeing your blogging goals Amber! Best of luck to you for the new year. I’m coming up with a post for my 2014 blog goals but I already made some personal goals for the new year. (Getting fit and active is at the top of my list.)
I also was shaking my head in agreeance with #1, #3, #4, #5, #8 and #12. I definitely have to get more interactive with the blogging community and stop reading and lurking.
Healthy living is definitely on my list of personal goals, too! Glad we’re in agreement with some of the goals listed here!
Love this and congrats on getting these goals down 🙂 I’m working on my list as we speak. On board with a lot of the same ones!!
Can’t wait to read your list 🙂
This is a very inspirational post in terms of blogging goals. I’m taking a blog break until 20th January while I travel but want to come back to it with a more definitive idea of what it is I want to focus on and achieve. This has been really helpful and definitely something I will draw from.
Blogging breaks usually help our true aims and goals to emerge, so enjoy your time off! Glad you found the post helpful.
Love this post – many of these goals are on my not-yet-existent list as well. I’d love to hear more about how you’re revamping sponsorships in particular, since I’m hoping to launch my program properly in January.
I’m also up for collaborating with you any time you have a suitable idea!
I’m sure I’ll be sharing more about my sponsorship updates soon 🙂
and of course I’d love to collaborate with you in the future!
I loved this, Amber! Especially number 4 and 14, I’ll join you in the quest of achieving those two 😉
Woop woop! Let’s achieve these goals together! I’m glad you;ll be joining me!
I love all of the goals! I have definitely been trying to be more active in commenting and collaborating with new bloggers and I am extremely inspired you are doing so! I am pretty new to the blogging world and am essentially fumbling my way around, but I love the idea of creating blog goals for 2014!
Creating goals along the way throughout my blogging journey has really helped me to figure out what I like/dislike want and don’t want!
These are great goals! I’m looking forward to seeing what you’ll do with your blog during the year.
#4 Lurker-that is something I really had to get out once I started blogging. I would only follow and never comment.
I love this… and just so that I’m not a #4 either, here you go!!! TO a successful 2014!! PS: I know I need to reply to your email from forever ago – I misplaced my inspiration piece.. Maybe I need to go to Target again and hopefully they still have it 🙂