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Setting Blog Goals for the New Year

Posted By Darren Rowse 1st of January 2008 Miscellaneous Blog Tips 0 Comments

Happy-New-YearHappy New Year!

Here in Australia it’s 2008 already and later this morning V (my wife) and I will go out for our annual Goal Setting/Resolutions brunch and will sit down with our resolutions notebook and think about the year that is ahead of us. In setting goals we tend to break them down into different areas including:

  • Physical (getting fit, diet etc)
  • Travel (vacations etc)
  • Friends (what people we want to invest more time into seeing)
  • Family (things we’d like to achieve as a family)
  • Spiritual (making time for connecting with this is important to us)

There are other areas – but you get the picture.

For each area we attempt to come up with some achievable goals as individuals and then share them with each other to see what similarities there are and what we can achieve together. The whole process is both fun and inspiring.

Later in the week I’ll sit down and go through a similar process with my blogs – setting some goals for the coming months. (here’s a series I wrote a couple of years on strategic blogging that has some tips on how to do this)

All this goal setting has me in the mood to hear what others are hoping to achieve in 2008. So I’d like to throw it open for some discussion (sometimes I think publicly stating some of your goals can be helpful in keeping you accountable to them):

  • What do you want to achieve with your blog/s in 2008?
  • What specific goals have you set for the year ahead in different areas of your blogging (design, content, community, traffic etc)
About Darren Rowse
Darren Rowse is the founder and editor of ProBlogger Blog Tips and Digital Photography School. Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Comments
  1. Happy New Year Australia! Here in Canada I am still at work desk today :-) This is all new to me, this family goals settings (I am originally from Eastern Europe, there was different traditions), blogging goals… even blogging is quite new. But what I wish in blogging for 2008 it is 1) find near specialization and concentrate on it (hate blogging about everything) 2) do it in my native Ukrainian language along with English; 3) install a theme like Premium News and fulfil it with content… sounds like a dream :-)

  2. Quite simple. In 365 days time, as I write my final blog post of 2008, I want to be able to say that the past year was the best year of my life.

    Sure, I’ll break that down in to measurable goals, and I’ll eventually break those measurable goals down in to month specific goals, and then week specific goals, and then day specific goals, but ultimately, everything I do this year will be working towards creating the best year of my life. :)

  3. I’ve got big goals for my blog this year. I’m hoping to double my RSS numbers, start putting folks on an email list and – perhaps most challenging – I’d like to triple my blog income this year. I’m currently not making too much (enough to pay for everything plus 50-100 and some products here and there) and I’d love if I could up this by a few hundred dollars each year – at least.

    Happy New Year!

    Eric

  4. In the new year, I hope to get a professional looking design for my blog, have a consistent schedule to blog, network more and learn a lot about affiliate marketing! I also want to set aside definite time for my spiritual growth.

    Wishing you and your family a very Happy New Year Darren.

  5. I just want to keep growing.. growth has been slow the past few years and I’d like to bump it up a notch..

  6. My blog has already started growing rapidly (it’s only a year old), so my goals are as follows:

    – Write more posts!
    – Write better quality posts!
    – Increase readership w/ increased reader interaction!
    – Quite my crummy job (not specifically a blog goal, but I wanna quite my job so I can blog full-time, so I guess it counts).

  7. I entered a contest at daily blog tips and wrote all goals for my fashion blog for the coming year. You can read it here: http://fashionbyjenni.wordpress.com/2007/12/20/blogging-goals-for-2008/. But I’ll talk about the most important goals.

    The two most important goals go hand and hand. The first is to get my own host, so I’m not using wordpress.com anymore. It is important for me, because I can have a more professional enviorment. If I don’t do this soon and my site become very popular it will be difficult for me to switch. My second goal is to recoup the costs of having my own domain. I don’t want to lose money on the site, because I dislike wasting money.

  8. I’ve planned 3 things:
    – a layout restyling
    – a brand new logo
    – a store (to sell merchandising)
    Happy New Year! (in Italy we are still in 2007) :-)

  9. My blog is officially one month old today. Because it is so new I have great expectations for it in 2008! My main commitment/goal is to:

    -Use the blog to help people succeed by communicating my experiences, thoughts and ideas in an effective manner.

    How will I do that? By:

    -Increasing my subscriber base by a factor of 10 (to 100+ total)

    -Developing a more consistent posting routine/strategy and increasing the quality of the content.

    -Improving the design and usability of the blog complete with custom logo.

    And, what will that mean to me?

    -Greater personal satisfaction and pride.

    -Increased income through effective monetization.

    I know I have a lot to learn and I am enjoying the experience. The WordPress For Dummies book I won here is already helping me tremendously. I am looking forward to growing my blog in the coming year.

    Mark

  10. I love how you set goals together with your wife. What a great idea — you’ve totally inspired me to (try to) do the same with my fiance. (He’s not much of a list-maker, though, so we’ll see how it goes…) Happy New Year, Darren!

  11. Get my blog on the cover of Time magazine (for the right reasons).

    Too ambitious?

  12. Darren,

    Great post idea. Thanks for all your useful and inspiring information over the year.

    The goals for my blog this year…

    1. Double the number of subscribers (~1000 now)
    2. Quadruple traffic
    3. Launch book based on blog
    4. Become a 6 figure blogger (include book sales)
    5. Launch 2 more blogs
    6. Become a full-time blogger

  13. When I sat down to write up my goals for 2008, I chose to start with what my blog would offer to readers. Then I followed the reader-based goals with some personal goals that I would like to see as the author (and how I’ll accomplish them).

    I viewed the post as a contract with my readers and a road map of what’s to come in 2008. At the end of ’08, I’ll publicly review the goals and offer more for the following year.

  14. Happy New Year Darren. May all your dreams for your blog come true. Thank you for your blog; I’ll be reading it a lot when I start my blog next year. In search of inspiration!

  15. Happy New Year!

    I think my goals are in line with your other readers – increased traffic, increased income and drastically decreased visits to the office. The first two are easily attainable because both numbers start out the year at zero. The third is more of a long-term goal and will be more clearly defined at the end of 2008. I have a month by month plan, but it’s difficult to know how realisticly I’ve projected growth. So, January’s goal is to dig deeper into the numbers. And to post as often as I can.

    You are always an inspiration.Thanks for the guidance.

  16. Happy New Year from All Talk Sports! My blogging resolution for the new year is to simply get more traffic by any mean neccessary. If anyone is interested in Sports, please visit my site. Comments would greatly be appreciated.

  17. Darren, do you set any internet goals with your wife? or do you keep them private?

  18. Happy New Year to you down there! Good luck making and KEEPING those resolutions!

  19. What do I want to do with my blog?
    I want to keep going.

    That’s not quite an ambitious goal, but they say that the average burn-out point for a blogger is around six months and I am almost there. So keep going would be a good goal.

    I’d also like to make a better header graphic, tweak my video making streamline and maybe start other blogs. We’ll see what happens.

  20. Happy New Year! Well, at about 5 to midnight I made the first post on my new website so my goal for this year is to grow that site. As for In Love With Lisbon, I am intensely focusing on growing my readership. I’m feeling very excited and positive about both sites. I’ve been fighting myself to not start a new website but it feels right. Both are passions of mine which I will enjoy writing for and working on. I think 2008 is going to be an interesting year!

  21. Estella says: 01/01/2008 at 11:49 am

    I think it’s great how you and your wife know what sort of goals to make for the new year, and would actually sit down to go through them. My goals for the year are more lifestyle oriented – trying to decrease my computer usage as my eyesight’s gone worse.

    As with my blog, I’m now using a Korean blog software called Tatter Tools. There are occasional errors though it’s quite user-friendly. I’m aiming to shift over to WordPress as there is more support… in English! It doesn’t help when you don’t understand the software developer’s language. WordPress is my ultimate blog goal for the year.

  22. Darshana says: 01/01/2008 at 12:02 pm

    Happy New Year!

    I just started my blog, and want to make 2008 a memorable year. The goal is to do the basics well, I will try to improve my copywritting skills and write better and better post. Need to learn some technical things slowly through out the year so I can do some blog design as well.Very intent on earning the first dollars from blogging this year too.

  23. I just finished reading through Strategic Blogging. Thank you. You are referred to by so many–and I can see why. I don’t know how many of you writing bloggers consider what a service you provide to others through your tips and advice. My day-job is a teaching–From one teacher to another you are an awesome teacher! Thanks!

  24. Darren, I know that you have a personal trainer, but I’d love to be of any help in the “fitness” area of your life.

    Best of health in 2008 for you and your family,
    Coop

  25. Happy New Year, people.
    May year 2008 brings us peace, health & happiness.

    Cheers!

  26. Greetings and Happy New Year to all!!

    I recently posted an article that focused on my goals for the upcoming year, but even more importantly, I posted my personal 2008 mission statement. If you like have a read of ‘You Can’t Possibly Do That – My Personal 2008 Mission Statement’ here:

    http://www.mytropicalescape.com/2007/12/30/you-cant-possibly-do-that-my-personal-2008-mission-statement/

    Best of luck in the New Year!
    Mark

  27. Great post :)

  28. I often start the year by writing goals. Last year, it was to buy a new house. On the same day, I found my house. Unbelievable. So this year, I am doing the same. set new Year goals.

    New Year goals are something we need to dig within and discover what we would like to happen in our life this year. It is an affirmation that we are interested in living life in the year to come.

    I hope to become an even better blogger this year.

  29. One of my main goals is to blog more about topics that scare me. What I mean by that is that sometimes I shy away from posts which I’m afraid to write because of how they make me feel or because of fears on how my audience will react.

  30. Happy New Year 2008! I already set my goals :)

  31. This year 2008 I want to make boringblogz become more interesting with more thing to do in boring time…

  32. Growing my blog, while exploring all the facets of the blog world would be a serious goal of mine. I think having this site as a source of knowledge helps also. Thank You for another year and I hope next year is just as good!

  33. This is my first Blog in this New Year-2008.I want to make 2008
    a Memorable and Golden year,for my life and for my career.For me 2007 was a mixture of both good and bad.The greatest gift of 2007 was my new job in GRIDZONE,a fast growing IT company.I am starting my official day by writing this Blog.May God bless everyone,and wishing everyone a Prosperous and Happy New Year.

  34. My goal is to start. I am new on the blogging venture but I am learning fast. Happy New Year to ALL!

  35. Happy New Year Darren! I actually just started my blog a couple of weeks ago, so my main goal for 2008 is to get it off the ground. It’s a blog for moms and dads that my fiancee and I created when we found out that we’re pregnant with our very first child. We hope to establish ourselves in the mom/dad community and become a reliable resource for men and women experiencing parenthood.

    P.S. Although Problogger has been my daily read for a couple of months now, this is actually my first comment on your blog. I just thought it was time to poke my head in and say hi! This blog has so much valuable information! Keep up the good work, Darren!

  36. My dream here Darren of 2008 is to become the biggest blogger in the blogsphere having poeple like you know my name and helping hundreds of bloggers create a good stream income that id my 2008 goal

  37. just set my goals in stone on my blog

    http://www.yeepage.com/goals-for-2008

  38. Happy New Year, Darren!

    Hope your goal-setting lunch was fun. My husband and I did the same over dinner last night.

    For my blogs, I use a certain structure (OGSMH – objectives, goals, strategies, measures and habits) to evaluate and decide where I want to go with each one.

    This year, I’d like my main blog to have inspired and helped 50 people who would like to do what we do (become location independent). It’s a small number but a big, life-changing goal!

    A few of my readers are about to take the plunge in to the nomadic lifestyle so it’s really exciting to think the blog has helped them even just a tiny bit.

  39. I definitely have some big goals for our blog, like being able to quit my job this year. I know it will happen, so that’s exciting in and of itself.

  40. Oh yeah… it just turned midnight here in Arizona. Happy New Year everyone!

  41. Happy New Year to all from Kentucky. You have given me a perfect excuse to take my lovely bride of 30 years to lunch today to discuss our goals for the year! For those of us nearing Senior Status with short attention spans, I just posted a 7-day to-do-list to get us off to a good start for 2008. You can read it at Making Perfect Sense, http://www.theperfectsense.com/blog. Again, Happy New Year!!!

  42. Happy New Year to all! Go problogger!

  43. Goals for my blog in 2008:

    -Continue reading as much as I can, from knowledgeable sources, about how to create and maintain a qulity blog

    -Produce high quality posts on a consistent basis

    -Increase traffic, and subscribers

    -Produce a visually appealing site, that will bring “customers” back, and encourage them to spread the word, thus increasing traffic

    Happy new Year to all, and may you reach YOUR goals for 2008!

    MM

  44. I love how you go about setting resolutions with your wife. It sounds like something I’d like to try with my husband.

    Aaanyways.

    My blog is fairly new, and in desperate need of regular posts. So I’d like to:

    1. Set up some sort of editorial calendar, and
    2. Start storing up posts in advance, to prepare for crazy-times, like the holidays, or being sick.

  45. Well, from my starting days of blogging to today where I have more than 1500 unique visitors and more than 5000 page visits per month and growing I am setting a goal of at least 5000 unique visits per months.

    And yes, more quality posts as well and yes reader baiting posts and follow-up posts as well.

    Cheers.

  46. Thanks for all the great information and motivation that you provide us with all year long.

    Now as far as my blog resolutions for 2008:

    1. Get more organized in my daily blog to do list, and stick to it.
    2. Increase traffic and subscribers.
    3. Become a Six Figure blogger.
    4. Help others succeed as well.

  47. The blog is fairly new. I’d like to increase readership. And later, tweak the design. And eventually, add a logo.

  48. These pre-planned goals are few but important enough to want to focus on them more than checking stats or any of the other acitivities that have been done for blogging in 2007. The 2008 goals are:

    1. Get More Subscribers
    2. Stay on top of the editorial calendar more to write posts more frequently.
    3. Re-Design that incorporates the main website.

  49. Actually i started blogging just to learn how to blog. Frankly speaking now i am in love with it. I do want to get my domain and stuff but since am not a techie guy, so i have to set a goal of completing this task in 2008 (if God Wills) and to create a new vibrant look for it.
    Since i only write political things, i would like to add few fellow bloggers to bring synergy in my efforts.
    I would really like to become one of the Best Blogger of Pakistan in 2008.
    Happy New Year to all the bloggers around!

  50. In addition to increasing subscribers, traffic, etc. I want to be more strategic with my posts in order to make them interact with eachother better.

    Kind of like how Darren discussed writing new posts that build off your previous one.

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