5 Great Goal Setting Ideas For Bloggers This 2021

There is no right or wrong time to do goal setting. 

…whether that’s at the start of the year or whenever you feel like it. 

Going after any goal or dream is always a good idea. 

Especially if those goals spark inspiration and make you excited to go after them. 

You can create a vision board anytime.

However, there are times where you are unsure of what goals to pursue, especially when it comes to growing your blog. 

While there are many types of goals, I’ve put together this post to give you five goal setting ideas that you can consider to help you improve your blog. 

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Build your email list 

It’s time to prioritise your email list if you haven’t already. 

Whether you’re blogging as a hobby, a side-hustle or in the hopes of making money and going full-time, having an email list has many benefits. 

Related: How I Became a Full-time Blogger 

Much like investing in a self-hosted website, you own your list, meaning you don’t have to worry about losing your followers overnight if a social media platform shuts down or deletes your account. 

Unless of course, someone in your list unsubscribes. 

People unsubscribing isn’t always a bad thing because it just means he/she isn’t vibing with your content anymore. 

And isn’t your ideal community member anymore either. 

Another great thing about having an email list is that you connect with your community on a more personal level.

Sending an email also means that those on your list are more likely to read your content because 1) they signed up for it and 2) you don’t compete for visibility or algorithms like other social media platforms. 

If you’ve been nurturing those in your email list and have established a relationship with them, they are likely to open your emails especially if you’ve given them a good reason to in the past. 

Of course, this all depends if your subscriber does open your emails. 

If you have any subscribers that don’t open your emails or bounce, then you’re better off deleting them from your email list. 

When you have an engaged email list, it’ll be easier for you to share your products or affiliate links with them because they already trust you. 

Related: 6 Email List Building Mistakes

Commit to consistency 

Consistency reminds me of how slow progress is better than no progress.

And how small progress adds up in the long run.

Consistency also teaches you discipline and patience.

And it builds trust with your audience. 

So if there’s one goal you want to go after this year, why not make it consistency? 

It can be a challenge to be consistent as I’ve also struggled with it.

I’ve shared previously that a secret to consistency is to plan using a content calendar. 

Having a content calendar changed the way I blog. 

Before using one, I’d post on a whim and whenever an idea would strike me. 

Since everything was last minute, there would be times where I wouldn’t find any graphics to post with my article that I would delay posting sometimes even for weeks!

And when I did post, the views were sporadic. 

I mean, of course, they were because I’d post weekly for two or three weeks and then disappear for another week or two.

While posting consistently won’t magically explode your blog traffic, the small efforts will compound. 

Here’s an example of my blog traffic growth: 

A content calendar helps you stay organised, brainstorm all your ideas and market research in one place, as well as keep track of your analytics and blog income. 

And it’s helped me stay on top of my blogging business.

If you need help with consistency, I invite you to take part in my free 5-day consistency challenge that’ll teach you tips to help you be consistent!

Jumpstart Your Consistency Challenge

Focus on one social media platform and grow it exponentially

When you see other content creators rise to success on different platforms, it makes you want to work on yours too in the hopes of achieving the same growth. 

We cannot compare our growth to theirs.

It’s impossible because we don’t know how long it took for them to get to where they are, and even those that seem like an overnight success could have taken years.

In relation to the previous goal setting idea, you could commit to being consistent on one platform and observe how focusing on one platform versus many will help your growth. 

It can be tempting to be on all the platforms all at once. 

There’s that fear of missing out on the growth opportunities with that, but if you’re starting or are a one-person team, it doesn’t make sense to be active on all social media platforms especially if you have a day job. 

Start with one platform and watch it grow.

When you’ve nailed that platform, that’s when you can expand to another platform.

Or if you want to grow multiple platforms at the same time, then you should consider hiring help. 

Okay, so, if you want to focus on one platform, which platform do you choose? 

You can choose the social media platform that you enjoy creating for the most and have the most fun. 

Another strategy is to choose the platform where your ideal community members are most active at. 

For example, if you’re a food blogger, think about which social media platform other foodies or those who love to cook are most active. 

Is it on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter? 

By focusing on one social media platform, you won’t be spreading yourself too thin.

And once you’ve chosen which platform will be your number one focus, remember to plan out your content in advance in your content calendar.

Connect and support other bloggers 

Another goal setting idea for you is to prioritise networking with other bloggers or creators in your industry. 

Blogging can be a lonely path if it’s something that your family or friends don’t support you with or don’t understand why you blog. 

It can be lonely too if you don’t know other bloggers.

A great thing about the blogging industry is the supportive community. 

When you find your group of blogging friends who support you and lift each other, it makes your blogging journey all the more fun and purposeful. 

And when you network and support other bloggers, you’re able to collaborate with them too. 

You can initiate the collaboration yourself or ask to be part of a collaboration with others.

An example of when I collaborated with other bloggers is with this post on blogging advice on improving one’s blog.

Similarly, I was also asked to be a part of this lovely collaboration post on the 7 Tips to Live Your Life to the Fullest Now. 

And speaking of upcoming collaborations, Ming Qian and I have been working on a collaboration that we’ll share with you this February! 

Prioritise money-making activities

This final goal setting idea is for those who approach blogging as a side-hustle, hope to take it full-time or are already full-time bloggers. 

And that is to prioritise the tasks or activities that lead to a sale. 

What exactly are those activities? 

That could be creating a digital product.

Setting up your online store. 

Launching a service such as a social media account audit or a blog audit.

Getting started with affiliate marketing and curating posts to make that first sale (if you need help in getting started, check out this ebook by Kayleigh who made an affiliate sale every day for a month)

Promoting your services online. 

Applying for sponsored post opportunities and pitching to brands. (When working on sponsored collaborations, remember to protect yourself with a contract like this to ensure you get paid!)

Creating strategic content to promote your products/services or an honest review of an affiliate product you love. 

Those are just some goal setting ideas for you to improve your blog!

If you need any extra help, I offer personalised blog audits and a monthly support service with whatever help you need.  

So whether you do your goal setting at the beginning of the month, year or whenever, I hope this post gives you ideas on which goals to consider. 

To recap, these are five ideas for bloggers when goal setting:

1. Build your email list

2. Commit to consistency

3. Focus on one social media platform 

4. Connect and support other bloggers

5. Prioritise money-making activities