Setting Goals as a New Blogger that are Attainable

Today marks the two year anniversary of Fearlessly Foster, my personal blog. I’m finally realizing the importance of setting goals when it comes to my blog, which has transformed it from a hobby, to a passion with a side income. With each year I learn and grow which stems from setting goals. I’m sharing the attainable goals I set as a new blogger my first and second year, along with three new goals I am setting for my third year of blogging.

Setting Goals: Year One of Blogging

In 2019 when I launched my blog, setting goals didn’t seem as important as it does today. My number one goal was to be consistent. Which at the beginning, lead me to quantity over quality. However, I truly believe being consistent with taking photos, and posting led me to reaching my second goal.

My second goal was to gain an audience who was genuinely excited to follow along. At the beginning of this journey, I assumed only my mom and husband would follow along. However, after setting this goal for myself, I was determined to accomplish it. I put in the hard work by educating myself, spending my lunch breaks engaging on Instagram, and taking the time away from other priorities, to make this one. After one year, it was safe to say I surpassed my goal made 10,000 new friends on Instagram after one year.

My third goal from year one of blogging in 2019 was to receive a paid collaboration from a brand and to be accepted into the LiketoKnowit Program with Reward Style. I was accepted into LiketoKnowit four months into my blogging journey, and received my first paid collaboration at nine months. At the end of my first year of blogging, I received my first six figure brand deal after learning how to negotiate rates! For more information on pitching brands as a micro influencer you can read my other blog here. 

Year Two of Setting Goals with Blogging

After setting goals year one, I knew I had to continue to do the same for year two. My number one goal was to create genuine relationships with others and focus more on engagement than a following number. I truly feel like I accomplished this and have formed meaningful friendships.

My second goal was to start an email list. Although I am not consistent with sending them, I was able to create an email list and gain 100 subscribers. An email list is truly yours, where as Instagram is not and something could happen to it in the blink of an eye. Setting goals gave me the opportunity to grow and create a more personal connections via email.

My final goal during year two of blogging was to create a presence on other platforms aside from Instagram. I have an account for almost every form of social media, however consistently posting to each daily has been a struggle. I’ve created a presence on other platforms, but now I want to build a community on those as well.

Year Three of Blogging

When setting goals I make sure they are attainable within one year. After reflecting on the past two years of blogging, I came up with the goals below for year three.

The first goal I am setting is to learn more about SEO and the actual ‘blog’ platform in general. I am hoping in turn this will increase my monthly page views. I’ve poured so much time and effort into social media, but now I would like to grow my actual blog with SEO knowledge.

I am also setting goals to learn more about photography and embrace my creativity. When I started blogging, I strictly took iphone photos, but recently I started using a camera. My final goal for year three is to bring in 15,000 dollars. With goal setting, I cannot stress the importance of a financial goal. I truly did not keep track of finances until year two of blogging. Once I tracked my income versus expenses, it was eye opening and I realized the importance of setting goals toward finances.

 

I hope this encourage you to set your own blogging goals!

Stay Fearless,