I hope your new year is off with a bang! After having the last week and a half off from work for the holidays, it was SO hard to have the alarm go off this morning! Abby had crawled in bed next to me and when she heard it she said, “No, Mommy! It’s still dark outside so its time to stay in bed!” Oh, my child, how I whole-heartedly agree!
The new year is the perfect time to set new goals! We will hear endlessly about New Years Resolutions in the media (for the next month anyways before they all get ditched) and while I admit, I am a prime example for creating goals but falling terribly short on the follow through. I have a bad habit of creating really big goals and then getting really discouraged when they cannot be achieved quickly and then usually end up giving up all together so this year I am trying to focus on smaller goals that I can build upon as the year progresses.
As I reviewed the past year’s posts as I created my list of favorite posts of 2012, it was easy to notice how thin posting got as the year drew to a close so I am really hoping the new year helps me refocus and re-energize. A New Kind of Normal needs some new life in 2013 so it is time to set some new yearly blogging resolutions! I am loving my new blog planner from Click It Up a Notch and I picked up a couple new writing books at Christmas (one I am starting with is 642 Things to Write About) so feel really good about what 2013 has in store! My husband and I also got a new laptop – a Macbook Pro! – as our Christmas gift to each other which has taken some adjusting but I’m digging it so far!
Onto the goals –
- Post at least 3 times a week. Quality over quantity.
- Read & COMMENT on at least 3 blogs a day. I have gotten so slack on commenting and after reading a few posts, it has seemed to have become a common (and sad) trend in the blogosphere so I am hoping to join with other bloggers to breathe some life back into blog comments!
- Guest blog at least 3 times throughout the year.
- Feature at least 3 new guest bloggers here at A New Kind of Normal this year. I love showing off fresh faces and I am sure you all get tired of hearing me blab!
- Organize & complete the 2nd annual Blogging for Endometriosis Awareness campaign.
- Grow blog stats by 20%. I am not a huge numbers girl and do not equal my value as a blogger with my stats but I know tracking my stats encourages me to be more active.
- Attend Type A Conference in Atlanta in September! I cannot wait!
- Follow through the book Mom Blog SEO by the awesome Kelby Carr! I have really been wanting to do this as my SEO skills are zilch so I think 2013 needs to be the year to master it! Anyone want to work through it with me?
- Have head shots taken! This is definitely not a necessity but for fun! Why not have an excuse to get all gussied up for some pictures?
That should keep me plenty busy for 2013!
Do you have any new yearly blogging resolutions ready to go New Year? Do you have any other resolutions outside of blogging?
Well what kind of friend would I be if I didn’t comment on this? Especially since you practically quoted my intention to do so! LOL. Thanks for the mention, chica! I love the goal of getting head shots taken!
I loved your resolution post! It was definitely inspiring! Google Reader has been the downfall of my commenting I think. I love being able to read all of my fav blogs in one spot but I’m bad about not clicking over to leave a comment, especially when I am on my mobile device. I love being able to read on the go but it makes it trickier to comment so its a catch 22. I loved your post so much I couldn’t not mention it! Keep the inspiration coming!
I want to be more consistent with my blogging this year. Anymore, it seems to be hit and miss. I have noticed the same thing about commenting. I know people are visiting my blog by my Feedjit, but comments are at an all time low. Good luck with your goals and Happy New Year!
I feel ya on the hit & miss! When I went to make my favorite post list, I had few posts to choose from in november & december bc everything seemed so irregular but hopefully we’ll both get back in the swing of things! Happy New Year! And thanks for the comment 🙂
I have very similar goals for my blog! I also need to get back into commenting, and networking in general. Thanks so much for your comment on my last post!
I need to work on networking in general as well too. I would love to feel like I was a part of a tribe of bloggers that I could bounce ideas off of, learn from, have fun with, and most importantly have buddies on Troll Patrol in case someone keeps to be squashed! LOL 🙂
What does SEO stand for? Apparently I don’t know much. Lol
Search Engine Optimization – it means the search engines are more readily able to find your posts when users search keywords! For example, if I want readers to more readily find my blog when they type “endometriosis” in the search engine, there are certain things I can do such as how I word my post title to make that more easily happen.
Awesome. Thanks friend. I need to learn more about the blogging world. I’ve blogged for years, but have just sort of posted on my blog and read others, but not learned much about it beyond that.