I cannot believe 2013 is history and we are almost two weeks into 2014 which makes me fashionably late in checking in about last year’s goals. Oops! Am I forgiven? I didn’t do a great job of keeping up with posting about the progress on my blogging goals but I tried my best to make them happen!
Here are the results of last year’s goals:
Post at least 3 times a week. Quality over quantity. I definitely had to take a lot more time off in 2013 than I ever planned to. I would have never predicted at the start of the year that I would leave the workplace to start the disability process and go through two very dark and foggy places as a result of adverse affects of treatments. Thankfully these dark places stay in the past!
Read & COMMENT on at least 3 blogs a day. I have definitely enjoyed reading blogs more often as Bloglovin is a great tool to keep up with the blogs I follow. I have also enjoyed discovering new blogs to follow as well. I am doing a lot better about being very intentional about commenting but I’m probably not up to my goal of commenting on at least 3 blogs a day. I have definitely seen a huge shift in the blogosphere in the areas of community and engagement and have seen many mentions of the decline of commenting mentoined on social media. I really want to focus on becoming more personal and engaged here at A New Kind of Normal and elsewhere. I want to restore that community feeling that I think has not had the focus and nourishment that it needs and I know that actively responding to comments here and being intentional in commenting on other blogs is a great place to start.
Guest blog at least 3 times throughout the year. I’m not sure I guest blogged at all this year which is disappointing. I don’t think it was even on my radar between all of my junk I was sorting through this year.
Feature at least 3 new guest bloggers here at A New Kind of Normal this year. I reached this goal numerically by featuring 3 guest bloggers while I was away in December soaking up the Disney magic who shared tips on surviving the holidays with chronic illness but I wish I would have been more intentional throughout the year. Again, too much junk going on. Don’t worry, stories about the Disney magic are on the way!
Organize & complete the 2nd annual Blogging for Endometriosis Awareness campaign. Done and done! Our 2nd annual Blogging for Endometriosis Awareness campaign was even more amazing than the first and I know this year will be even bigger and better! Can’t believe its less than 2 months away!
Grow blog stats by 20%. My stats definitely grew on other avenues of social media as even in my fog, I was a little more active there than I was here. Definitely didn’t reach my 20% goal but I’m not stressing. Some things are more important than others!
Attend Type A Conference in Atlanta in September! I cannot wait! I survived Type A and had a blast! I definitely learned so much at Type A Con and even figured out a few things about how to survive a blog conference with chronic illness. It was definitely a challenge for my introverted self and it definitely required stepping out of my comfort zone. A lot. I only ended up crying in the bathroom once so I count it as a success!
Follow through the book Mom Blog SEO by the awesome Kelby Carr! Still on my to-do list! SEO is most definitely on my goal list for this year since despite my best efforts, I am still struggling to fully get it. If I can get to a point where I have a better grasp on it, I know I will see more growth as it will make my blog easier to find. I’m still working on it but I’ll get it!
Have head shots taken! It took me until December to get it done but I did! It was the first time that I had pictures taken by myself (like a full session) since my bridal portraits I think! I ended up taking my partner-in-crime Charlie with me so we ended up catching some very special shots. Here is a preview shot:
What were your biggest goals and acheivements for 2013?