Today your task in the 31 Day Project is to articulate a ‘Mission Statement’ for your blog.
I won’t rehash all of my reasoning for having a Mission Statement and tips for writing one because I’ve previously written about Mission Statements as part of my previous series on Strategic Blogging (head back for a read as part of your task today).
However I will say that knowing why you’re blogging is really important because it will give you direction as well as a framework to review whether you’re being successful.
So what’s your blog’s Mission Statement? Why does your blog exist?
Feel free to share your answer in comments below.
I just changed mine to:
‘Know a little bit about a lot of things’.
A tall order because I really want to post at least once a day and perhaps it leans a touch on the wrong side of generic but what the hell, I think it represents me somewhat so I’ll just go with it =)
Our mission is pretty simple and concrete: to provide the best way to grow a small business.
If anyone is interested, our website has the full version of the SmallFuel Marketing mission statement
Thanks for the opportunity to post this,
– Mason
My blog exists to further my own knowledge of blog design, share it with others, and someday act as a platform for launching my own blog design services.
Great task – It’s always an interesting moment when you have to define a goal so precisely. :)
Our mission statement is still in the “works”. My blog is only 2 weeks old and it’s still trying to find it’s way…. If anyone would like to help me come up with a mission statement I would appreciate that :)
Once again. Great post Darren.
I guess I need to get to work on a more specific mission statement! Good advice… I think every blog should have a mission statement… (even if the mission statement isn’t labeled as a “mission statement” on the blog itself)
–Terra
http://www.BetterForBusiness.com
Mmmm, a mission statement eh?
Let’s see: “To be the best EVE Online blog, provide all the necessary information on this MMORPG to new players, and become an integral part of the community.”
How’s that!
Mission statements not only help the reader but also the blogger as well. The reader gets the idea of what the blog’s purpose is and the blogger re-ignites his passion for the purpose of his or her blog!
My blog exist for 3 reasons:
1. To get sticky visitors
2. To make money.
3. To help people.
Maybe one more : 4. To keep track of my journey
Our mission statement:
To help people become competent managers.
My mission statement similar to Roosevelts, I help bloggers with many blog t1ps something similar to you Darren.
A blog mission statement is a great abstract tool for keeping us on track. Mission statement are worthless unless we actually implement them. Also it is a great tool to keep us on track.
My goal is to offer real,unique, and timely advice. Doing so will take hard work and consistency.
It’s not officially ready or launched yet, but our mission statement is to provide users news and entertaining perspectives. on StarCraft 2. And eSports in general.
Here is what I wrote down back in March when I first started my blog:
Why am I doing this? “To expand my ministry as a pastor; to serve a broader community; to provide an opportunity for interaction with others; to keep a record of my own thoughts, reflections and observations.”
This is a good opportunity to stop and reflect on my initial statement and see:
1) if I am fulfilling what I set out to do, and
2) if my purposes for doing this have changed any over the past six months.
My title page says it all :-
Radiogandy – A family & friends journal and personal diary.
18 months old and going strong !
To make boat-loads of money online :)
Most of the mission statements I have read lack any flair of originality to them. The statement says we are here to serve our customers with a smile and build a quality product, etc., etc. –boring. It may be true, but it’s the same truth for all companies. If you are going to place a mission statement out there for all your customers and potential customers to view, make it more insightful and tell us how your company’s mission is any different than the other. Be different. Be Bold.
To give honest reviews and commentary on restaurants, food products, and the food blogging community.
Why? Because I love food, and going out to eat is a fabulous way to pursue my passion. My other passion is writing, so why not combine the two, and see if I can get heard all at the same time! And if I can make enough money to support my dining habit, all the better.
Having a personal development blog, my mission statement in brief is to essentially provide useful, actionable advice where possible. I noticed a lot of other blogs in my niche tended to provide more abstract information; great to think about but how could I put it into practical use?
SpiKe
Organize IT
My personal mission statement is to see if I have what it takes to be a writer. Blogging is the only avenue I know of to self-publish.
My blog’s mission statement is unfortunately all over the map. Still having “niche” issues, and am considering splitting one blog into at least two.
My blog contains PC tips for the non-technical user, thoughts about language and linguistics, and finally — stuff that either makes me laugh or drives me nuts.
I’m afraid unless I narrow down my mission, I’m firing on all cylinders in too many places and I’m not hitting my mark.
Out of the Ether exists to document my rediscovery of all the enjoyable things that I lost touch with over the years. A pillar article has to do with my rediscovery of the game of Chess. But it also has to do with Christianity, relationships, and focusing on the things that matter.
I am working on book reviews, as well as other pillar content. Not so much worried about my income streams until I get the content quality up to speed. It’s hard to post once a day, and sometimes I will just link to someone else, which is not original. I have to work on that, and it takes time.
But my stats keep improving, especially since I started applying what I’ve learned here. The graphs keep marching up! Next is to move to self hosting, as well as more original quality content.
Thanks,
Rich Dailey
I like the idea of a mission statement for blogs. It helps you to realize that it is a business and treat it like one.
I haven’t sat down and wrote it out (like I should) but my blog is about skin care. Specifically, from my own struggles with horrible skin, I want to cut through the hype and show people what actually works to achieve healthy skin.
I am not sure yet if the goal is the same as a mission statement but this is what it says on my home page.
It is the goal of my website to help you learn alongside me as I develop my website into a business of helping other people like myself who are interested in leaving this world a better place than when we came in.
My blog is a platform of my advocacy, grief education and grief support. “Touched by An Angel” aims to promote my mission in life, The Compassionate Friends Philippines and reach out to bereaved family members who have lost a child.
Ever have one of those “eureka!” moments. Well this is one for me. As stupid as it sounds, I just realized that with all the wandering topics on my blog, it would help me focus if I had a mission statement. Back to that old “how do you know what you should be doing if you don’t know what you are trying to achieve” type things. Strange that you can tell that to all kinds of people all the time and yet never take it to heart for yourself.
Thanks!
Being that our blog is a niche news/fan site theme and we get a lot of random Google hits, our blog puts the mission statement on the front page of the blog, at the top, and makes it clear to new readers what they can expect from our site. It is also handy to have a short, stock description to submit when we want to be linked on a site, like Mahalo.com (which we did today), that describes the site in a concise sentence or two.
We have two sites – our main news blog, and our sister site. Here are the mission statements:
NoFactZone.net (http://www.nofactzone.net)
The purpose of this fan site is to aggregate topical news articles and buzz from the blogosphere into a comprehensive Colbert-centric news source. We also feature exclusive interviews, daily Episode Guides, and breaking news updates with live coverage of events.
Colbert University (http://colbertuniversity.nofactzone.net)
Our sister site, Colbert University, is an ongoing collaborative project: a viewer’s companion for ‘The Colbert Report’. Colbert University explores aspects of the show’s comedy and catalogs its major recurring characters, terms, segments, and in-jokes. The site also features archived articles and videos, as well as one of the most comprehensive collections of ‘Colbert Report’ historical data and trivia on the web.
My (new and very first) blog aims to “inform, comfort and inspire those living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease”.
Coming up with a purpose statement before I launched was important to me because:
1) I wanted a succinct statement which would let people know what this was ‘all about’ and what to expect; and
2) I needed to clarify in my own mind what my purpose was, so that if I ever felt lost or unsure I could come back and use this statement as my compass.
Darren: Just wanted to say that your site has been an absolute goldmine for me in the last couple of months as I have been thinking about / starting my own blog.
Even though I do not have the ambition to make money from my blog – my motivation is to help people in the same situation as myself – all the principles of how to make the information relevant, interesting etc still apply.
The richness of material freely available here is great – if I ever got stuck on an issue I would just come here and look it up. What to call your blog? How long should a post be? etc etc
And I was super pleased to see that you are a fellow Aussie – I don’t know why exactly but it’s nice to see Aussies doing great things.
Thanks
I made a small website so I can share what I know about computers and help others.
My mission statement is to make people laugh, and feel good about themselves. This is actually a new focus. I was a bit unfocused before that. I was writing humor, but I didn’t really know what the point was.
I took some time to think about it about 2 months ago, and I decided that I didn’t just want to write funny posts, I wanted to have a general aura of good feeling about my blog.
Finally, I came up with my new tagline, “Humor and the politics of empowerment.” That’s my mission statement.
My Mission Statement is simply: ‘Pretentious, moi ?’
My blog’s mission is to leave a legacy for my as yet unborn grandchildren. My kids aren’t even married yet! I loved my grandparents thoroughly and finding a little diary of my nana’s after she’d left the planet was an amazing gift, that I wanted to pass on.
There are lots of side benefits such as knowing what I think, having a record of things that have interested me and stashing bits of info that I would otherwise forget. I have enjoyed creating something personal, yet constructed with an audience in mind. I love writing. The entrepreneur in me sometimes get’s caught up in potential profits, but my mission holds through thick and thin.
(Now I have written this for you Darren, I think I’ll go put it on my blog)
“To inspire people to take action on their weight, their health and fitness by taking action. To teach people that by changing their beliefs and creating powerful intentions that they can attract anything into their lives and get healthy, fit and sculpt their ideal physique. To show people that passion in their relationships is possible, and that by having a better relationship, there is more support for their partners to begin making lifestyle changes as well as lowering stress which also supports weight loss. To give people a reason to get up each morning and to take ONE step towards their goal of better health, better relationships, better fitness and a healthy, lean body.”
I made my blog in order to help myself learn more about what I am truly passionate about, to share that knowledge with others, and maybe make some extra cash along the way.
Great exercise…
The purpose of my blog is to connect topics in economic development, community development, and new media technology and identify practical actions readers can take to make a difference in improving our society.
A few more paragraphs on my site:
http://blog.davewrites.com/index.php?title=mission_statement&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1
Now I just have to discipline myself to
a) keep up the short, useful posts
b) avoid the 2000 word essays I like to write at 1am
Darren
Are there any particular blog platforms that operate out of Australia, one that you might recommend for beginners? My blog is interactive and might need upgrading as I grow with it. I have been seriously looking at Typepad as per Andy Wibbels recommendation. Are there any local ones, though?
Cheers
Phil Needes
Good blog. Hopefully it will make a few stop and think!
I recently wrote a blog on company mission statements. Its interesting to see how they are constructed and what keywords they have decided to use to reinforce their company values
My mission for the blog is:
“Make people curious for underlying psychological causes in their behaviour.”
My Mission Statement:
“Is Your Glass Half Empty or Half Full? It’s all in your Perception” I’m an optimist, I’m a Glass Half Full Gal.
Sharing and spreading optimism and positivity
Having taken some Marketing and Business classes in recent years, I’m familiar with Mission Statements, as well as the necessity of having a strategic business plan for a start-up, or a revamped business.
Like many here, ( I Think?), I had just hadn’t applied those values or principles to my Blogging plans.
Hmm,..I guess my raison d’etre is number 3 on that list : “I blog as part of my plan for world domination’”.
Yeah, That’s the Ticket !
So Now, what is my Mission ?
My mission is to write such a great Blog about Politics, and develop such a following with my ‘reasoned yet radical’ outlook, that some major Company, let’s say b5media, will want to pay me outrageous sums for doing what I love best.
As part of my benefit package, Darren has to buy me the finest digital cameras and video equipment available, then teach me how to use them !
Once I have a proper satellite uplink for my laptop, I can blog from anywhere on the planet, so I can fulfill that Dream at the same time as I’m Blogging, and simultaneously writing and taping Travelogues from exotic locales !
Somewhere in there, I must find time to get my pilot’s license, and fly my float plane across Canada, with frequent stops to Fish and Photograph on may way to Alaska.
Throw in a beautiful and intelligent wife, and I’ll be pretty much, Livin’ the Dream !
hahaha =)
in today’s high-speed and competitive world, every individual and organization should not ignore a strong online presence. Blogs have already become a new are a new buzz marketing. Various marketers are blogging for organizations, products, ideas and or for other organizational goals and achieving so do I.
my blog mission is to introduce my company, team, product news, product uniqueness, success story, monthly reports, bits and bites, important notices and intimations etc. Through blog I can share single information between my zonal office, clients and prospective costumers. My blog work as a Public Relation Tool between my company and its client that do exactly what me and my company wants. Blogging is also useful and effective to bring more internet traffic towards business.