If anyone wants to read (I write this as much for myself so I can look back on it as I do for my audience)…here is a rundown of my goals for 2014! First, a look back…
Wow. What to say about 2013 as it relates to my life and my blog?
Unfortunately, 2013 for me was filled with chaos in my life (both good and bad). Life kicked me around and beat me up like a suitcase full of crystal going through the baggage system at a major airport and my blogging unfortunately suffered as a result.
My blogging motto for 2014? Slow and steady. My aim is reasonable goals that I can meet (with an infant at home, my level of productivity is greatly reduced.)
Looking over my last goals post (a little over a year ago) I have accomplished some of what I wanted, but not all of it. When I wrote that post, I was gung ho and focused soley on my blog to the exclusion of the rest of my life. Things are different for me now. I can’t do that anymore.
Highlights of the last year – I did get my second blog, A Midwest Travel Companion, up and running! I am looking forward to enjoying a more balanced life in 2014, with lots of great opportunities to share our travel with our son and to get out and see the world again!
2014 Manifesto:
Attend one travel blogging conference (had this goal in 2013 but didn’t make it due to pregnancy): I am waiting to see where/when the biggies (TBEX/TBU) are going to be scheduled and go on from there. If life allows, I also think it wouldn’t be a bad idea to attend at least one non travel related blogging event.
Get a monthly e-mail newsletter up and running (including developing a “freebie” worthy to entice people): I have been aware for a while now how important developing an e-mail list is to turning this into a long term, revenue generating enterprise (as well as enhancing my connection with readers)…I just wish I had started sooner!
Start developing multiple streams of income:
Some ideas I am considering –
* Freelance writing
* Start developing an ebook/s that can bring in revenue
* Working at developing some sort of tour/travel consultant business
Increase PR: Get There and Back Again Travel up to a PR3 and Midwest Travel Companion to a PR2: I had this goal for 2013 and didn’t make it. I know that the importance of page rank varies depending on who you talk to (and there are other more accurate metrics) but advertisers are all familiar with this one and seem to take it into account.
1 Blog Post / week: You power bloggers out there might scoff at this, but while working full time with a new baby at home, doing one blog post each week on each blog (and doing the work to promote, which takes just as much time as the writing itself) is about all I can manage! Slow and steady, remember?
Shifting the Focus of “There and Back Again Travel”: This blog has been looking for its voice since it started 2 + years back. I am well aware of the fact that a general travel blog like it will have a hard time competing in an over-saturated market without a specific niche. Look for big shifts in the coming year, because I think I finally figured out what aspect of travel I can authoritatively and passionately share about!
Expand My Audience: I think I am in the same boat that many travel bloggers are in. I have a feeling that more of my regular readers are other travel bloggers than the general public interested in travel. Networking with others within my niche is important, but so is branching out. I am ready to reach out to other relevant niches and am actively thinking about ways to do so.
What blogging tips and goals do you have for 2014? What do you hope to accomplish with your blog in the new year?
Any advice for me from more seasoned bloggers about how I can accomplish my goals?
I can certainly empathize with some of your blogging goals and finding the time to get to them! I did get a bi-monthly newsletter up and running about a year and a half ago…I went ahead even without a premium to offer, and I still find the readership growing (very) slowly but surely. Every other month seemed manageable to start with it, and I think I’ll stick with that for a while yet…still finding my way with what I want the newsletter to be.
I started out with a 2/per/week blog post schedule. I still use that as my basic schedule, adding a post during a week when I have something more to say, but I find that I can usually keep at least the 2/per/week even when something really hits IRL (I’ve had multiple family medical emergencies I’ve had to deal with over the past couple of years and managed to work around those most weeks at the 2/per/week pace). If I manage 3, or even 4, posts in a week…it’s just gravy 🙂
You’re more ambitious than I am by starting a second blog! Best of luck with your goals.
Yeah, not sure how wise starting the second blog was…with the baby, I can’t really kep up with either right now, but I just hold on to the hope that someday, I will get a little more time to myself again and keep doing what I can without feeling guilty.
They sound like good goals!! I can certainly empathise with the struggle of blogging + work + young kids. The constant juggle drives me a bit crazy.
Yup. I feel very pulled. I want the blog to be successful (ie-success for me is making part of my living off of the blog to supplement our income) but obviously my child is the most important thing in my life. It is a struggle to balance short term needs with long term goals. Congrats on your recent successes!