Where did this summer go? One minute we’re in Antigua, the next we’re revising syllabi and preparing for another school year. My mom used to tell me that time went faster as we grow older, and it turns out she was telling the truth: I have no idea how the last three months have slipped past me. And the last time I did an accountability check on the blogging goals I set for myself this year was way back in April. That means another goal check is long overdue.
I’m pleased to report that I’ve been staying focused on my goals. That, in turn, has helped me stay focused on my word of the year, authentic. A friend recently referred to authentic as “one of those hipster words that don’t really mean anything,” but I couldn’t disagree more. To my mind, authentic means something very specific: walking the walk. And that’s exactly what I’ve been trying to do: exactly what I said I would.
Let’s take it goal by goal, shall we?
1. Be creative. I decided this would mean continuing to post three times a week, which I have. (For the most part–a handful of weeks got away from me. Also, I posted older material while I was on vacation.) I’ve extended this goal, though, by joining an online art challenge. Every day for the last two weeks I’ve received a prompt via email; every day I’ve created a piece of art. I used to love drawing, when I was younger, and this art challenge has revived that interest. Making visual art requires that I think in images, not words, which is a great challenge for a blogger. Thinking in words is not difficult for me. Thinking in images–and then figuring out out how to create them–definitely is. I already have several blog post ideas that have grown from this experience.
2. Publish new voices. I hope you read Elyzabeth Wilder’s terrific post, What do you hunger for? Her post was the third entry in my “On Her Way” series. As I noted in my last goal check, it’s not possible for me to publish work that isn’t being submitted–so I switched my goal from publishing to soliciting new voices. That’s how I (virtually) met Elyzabeth, via a call for submissions that I posted in a blogging group we belong to. Another writer responded, too, and I’m hoping to publish her work soon. I’ve sent out requests for submissions from two more women who are going through challenging experiences, and one has already agreed to write a guest post. So I’m definitely sticking to this goal, even if I’ve only published one more On Her Way feature.
3. Publish more Table for Two recipes. You may recall that I let myself off the hook for this goal, since it clearly was not a priority for me. Still, I confess, I was hoping that removing the pressure to post more recipes would spark my desire to do just that. (I’m contrary that way.) This hasn’t proven the be the case, alas. Still no recipes. I did write a product review for Bob’s Red Mill Protein Powders, but I don’t think that counts.
4. Support others. This is the goal I’ve focused on most clearly, in the last few months. I’ve joined a second blogging support group on Facebook, where I’ve met lots of fabulous new women working hard on their own blogging goals. I also learned (somewhere along the way–I can’t remember who posted this) the 80/20 principle, which is completely counterintuitive: you should do 80% of your work in support of others and 20% in support of yourself. Sounds crazy, but I decided to try it out: for every post from my own blog, I posted four things from other sources on my Twitter feed or Facebook page. And guess what? My blog readership has exploded over the last few months. And all because I thought about others first. I have to say, that rocks.
5. Develop a stronger social media presence. The 80/20 principle has really helped me with this goal, too. Looking for material to post on Twitter and Facebook has given me a stronger presence on both platforms, and I’ve connected with lots of new people as a result. (My Twitter following has grown by 15% just since the beginning of July.) I’ve also learned to use Buffer, which helps me maintain a consistent presence on social media. That’s something I hadn’t really thought much about before. And when I can’t find material I want to share, I’m creating my own visuals. That’s another benefit of the art challenge I mentioned above.
All in all, I’m pretty proud of the progress I’m making with She Dwells. I celebrated my first anniversary with this blog in August, and that wasn’t something I was entirely sure I’d be doing when I started out. But She Dwells continues to be a place for growing in new directions and exploring new possibilities–and as long as that’s happening, I’m sticking with it. I hope you will, too.
5 Comments
I love these goals! I am currently working on my social media presence and on supporting others. It’s amazing how focusing on these two goals and not on advertising has actually built my blog more!
That really surprised me, too. I went into creating this blog thinking that advertising should be a top priority, but it turns out that’s simply incorrect. Building community (something I actually believe in) has been a far more effective and rewarding strategy.
Geat post and some good inspiration for others
Great goals! Community is so important in this little trade of ours. Nothing bugs me more than bloggers who are self-absorbed and won’t respond to comments, ever read your stuff even though you religiously read theirs, or just have a sense of ‘team.’ In the past week I ‘met’ a new blogger and we’ve already shared each other’s posts (not because we felt we had to; we wanted to) and that intro’ed me to some OTHER bloggers. It’s time consuming but so worth it.
I totally agree. I’ve always read other blogs, but didn’t always take a moment to comment or share. Now I do because I understand how important that is to the blogger. Also, I genuinely like supporting oother– just didn’t realize how easy it was to do that.