When I was trying to come up with this post, my thoughts were all over place! I decided to pick a prompt from the 3rd category of the Summer Blog Social Prompts which is “Waxing Philosophical & Other Stuff” and decided to go with “What are your overriding goals for your blog and social media presence? How have those goals evolved over time?”
Something that has changed over time is that I actually have goals for my blog! When I started blogging 4 years ago, I really had no idea what I was getting into. I started a blog as it seems a lot of the ladies in my infertility group were blogging so I thought it would be a great outlet and share some of my struggles with infertility and later chronic illness. I thought other ladies from the IF group would read as its often how we traded treatment info and progress but I never EVER would have thought A New Kind of Normal would still be around 4 years later or that I would actually have people reading it or that I would have not one but TWO blog conferences on my schedule! It has been an amazing journey (but I really don’t recommend venturing back to posts from the first year or so – its pretty scary back there!) and I look forward to hopefully many years to come!
So when I think about goals that I have for ANKON and my social media presence, I would love to have more time to dedicate just to blogging but unless a miracle happens and I can quit my day job, I’ll keep my goals realistic!
I definitely want to increase my presence on my Facebook page as I mentioned in my post yesterday and hopefully with some of the tips I picked up throughout the Summer Blog Social, my page will become more of a community instead of just a page.
I also definitely want to venture out a little more with advertising and maybe find a couple sponsors. Not only do I want to feature companies and blogs that I respect and love, but I want to get ANKON out there as well. Its not about the money as much as it is the networking. Hopefully with the conferences coming up, I will be able to network more with brands and gather some more information on how to be effective in marketing/advertising. My degrees are in Music Ed & Pastoral Counseling so marketing is completely out of my comfort area!
I also want to take more time to focus on my writing as after all, isn’t that the heart of blogging? I think I’m a pretty decent writer. I always earned good grades in school and college and I always enjoy it. Unfortunately most of my writing has always been in the area of research so I want to focus on learning to write more creatively such as story telling. I’ve met bloggers who can tell a story and it feels like you are actually in the room with them as the story is unfolding. I love that! The perk of working for a university is that I am hoping that maybe in the spring I can audit a course on creative writing (keeping my fingers crossed). I’m also interested in reading books on writing if any of you have any recommendations!
I would love to tackle some of the more technical details with blogging such as HTML and SEO but I’m going to have to take those ones slow which is why these blogging resources are so awesome and help me understand the basics in a way that is easy to understand!
Wow! It feels so good to have all of this written down! What advice do you have for me as I embark on these goals? What are some of your goals for the future?
What great goals! Right now, we are just starting to rebuild the blog because I allowed my personal issues to close it down. I want to stay focused and working on growing the blog into a true ministry to help others live the best lives they can. I struggle with the thought of also using it as my “personal blog” because I see the value in the personal touch but I don’t want it to be all about me. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, I just didn’t intend for that to be the focus of this blog.
I say keep doing what you’re doing, I love coming to your blog!
Heather you just made my day! Thank you so much for the encouragement!
Your goals sound great! Finding balance in blogging is hard and unfortunately I don’t think its a goal that can ever be definitively reached as things are always in flux! I struggle with that as well! Good luck!
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It sounds like you have wonderful plans. How cool it would to take a creative writing class!
You have great goals. I too, am trying to focus more on my writing. I want more creative posts. Id love to be able to tell a story and have my readers feel like they are there with me.
This was a great post. I am so glad I found you through the #summerblogsocial
One step at a time. For SURE!
If you ever have questions about SEO or anything else, please let me know!
Thank you so much Liz! I just purchased the Mom Blog SEO book to read while I’m at home after surgery but will definitely hit you up with any questions! You may be sorry that you asked! LOL 🙂
I just liked your Facebook page! I just started one up so that’s one of my blogging goals as well! 🙂
Thanks Missy! I will find yours too!
With social media I think it’s really about one step at a time. You have great goals ahead of you, now just stick with them. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it.
In the CW class you’ll spent the first half of the semester writing poetry and the second half working on a fictional short story. Personally, I loved it. Another class you could look into is Advanced Composition (ENGL 301) which focuses on (literary) non-fiction.
Katie