Establishing My Blog Goals for 2016

I am a little late to the game, I know, since it's April 1st, but I have put together my blog goals for 2016.  As I've gotten back into the blogging game (after taking a long hiatus) and changed the direction of my blog, I've realized how important it is to establish goals.  My first month back, I joined linkup parties at random, got back on Twitter, signed up for BoardBooster to schedule my pinning, and have been trying to post somewhat regularly.  But I have been all over the place and I hope that I can get organized by putting together reaching, but attainable goals.

LONG TERM GOAL (ALSO MY DREAM GOAL)

My first action was thinking about my blog's long term goal.  I love writing and sharing about my kids, home, and life.  However, I would love to be successful at this so I could focus on the blog full time.  Working full time and doing this in the evening and early mornings has become exhausting.  I haven't fully thought out how I would do this for a living, but if I could dream and dream big, I would love to be a brand ambassador for Homegoods and T.J. Maxx.  For now, my first realistic vision for the blog is to extend its reach.  To extend its reach, I would like to drive more traffic to the blog by having more views, more unique visitors, and more followers.  To do those three things, I need to gain more followers on social media outlets - Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Bloglovin.

YEAR LONG GOALS (April 1st 2016 - March 31 st 2017)

1.  Double my traffic based on number of views as tracked by Blogger

• Increase page views from 1400 to 3000 views per month
• Total yearly views – 36,000 views

2.  Increase my Twitter following by accumulating 3K followers

• Currently at 300 followers

3.  Increase my Pinterest following by accumulating 300 followers

• Currently at 101 followers

4.  Increase my Instagram following by accumulating 10K followers

• Currently at 162 followers

5.  Increase my Bloglovin following by accumulating 100 followers

• Currently at 32

QUARTERLY GOALS

1.  Double my traffic based on number of views as tracked by Blogger

• Accumulate 9,000 views per quarter 

2.  Increase my Twitter following by accumulating 3K followers

• Accumulate 675 followers per quarter

3.  Increase my Pinterest following by accumulating 300 followers

• Accumulate 75 followers per quarter

4.  Increase my Instagram following by accumulating 10K followers

• Accumulate 2500 followers per quarter

5.  Increase my Bloglovin following by accumulating 100 followers

• Accumulate 25 followers per quarter

MONTHLY GOALS

1.  Double my traffic based on number of views as tracked by Blogger

• Accumulate 3,000 views per month 

2.  Increase my Twitter following by accumulating 3K followers

• Accumulate 225 followers per month

3.  Increase my Pinterest following by accumulating 300 followers

• Accumulate 25 followers per month

4.  Increase my Instagram following by accumulating 10K followers

• Accumulate 833 followers per month

5.  Increase my Bloglovin following by accumulating 100 followers

• Accumulate 8-9 followers per month

WEEKLY GOALS

1.  Double my traffic based on number of views as tracked by Blogger

• Accumulate 933 views per week (133 views per day) 

2.  Increase my Twitter following by accumulating 3K followers

• Accumulate 56 followers per week (8 per day)

3.  Increase my Pinterest following by accumulating 300 followers

• Accumulate 6 followers per week (1 per day)

4.  Increase my Instagram following by accumulating 10K followers

• Accumulate 208 followers per week (30 per day)

5.  Increase my Bloglovin following by accumulating 100 followers

• Accumulate 2-3 followers per week

Breaking everything down to weekly goals makes it less intimidating.  Now to explore HOW I will accomplish these goals.

HOW To Increase Blogger Views

1.  Continue to join in linkup parties

• Currently went from 494 views in month of February to 1400 views in March by joining linkups
• View my Linkup Parties page
• Penny's Vintage Home - constantly updated list of linkup parties

2.  Work with another blogger(s) to host linkup party

3.  Comment or promote at least 5 other blog posts per day

4.  Actively grow New England blogging community

HOW To Increase Twitter Followers

1.  Sign up for Hootsuite for scheduling tweets

• Re-promote old blog posts
• Re-promote current post 

2.  Continue to use Crowdfire to track new unfollowers and followers

3.  Sign up for Bitly to shorten web links (great article here on success of tweets using Bitly links)

4.  Consistently post at least 3-4 tweets a day  

Today for example, I did and my tweet was retweeted and liked, I received 12 followers without actively searching for new ones

5.  If I am not followed by new followers, then seek out similar twitter accounts and follow

HOW To Increase Pinterest Followers

1.  Join at least 4-5 group boards

2.  Pin at least 30-40 pins to my boards a day

3.  Pin my pins to my blog board and group boards as well as my individual boards

HOW To Increase Instagram Followers

1.  Continue to comment on people’s Instagram photos

Since I have started to comment on Instagram posts, I gained 32 new followers in 2 weeks.

2.  Participate in chat loops

Current one that I like a lot, #girltalk found on admist.the.chaos

3.  Participate in an IG giveaway

Great post on how Jessica from 1-2-3 Neat & Tidy got up to 1000 followers with IG giveaway.

Next on my list:
Come up with a writing schedule for this year

Love, Candace Jean

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