Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Goal Setting

I have been acting sort of funny about this blogging business. I have a blog, but I don't tell anyone about it. I want people to read it, but I don't tell anyone about it. I want people to comment, but they don't know I want them to! What is my problem??? Today I typed "get people to read my blog" into Google and stumbled onto a website which at first glance didn't seem like it would help. The website is called "43 Things" and it linked me to other people who had the same goal. There were few, but good comments including a) make your blog interesting, b) link to other blogs, c) comment on other blogs and provide a link to your blog, d) use your blog address as your signature to really get your blog out there and e) make sure your blog has a purpose / target and stay on it.

After I read this I started poking around the "43 Things" site. Turns out it is a really cool site where you can post your goals, get help with them and report progress. It reminds me a lot of a favorite book of mine called, "Write it Down, Make it Happen", by Henriette Anne Klauser. The book simply states that if you write something down, you are able to move it from your imagination to doing it. Getting things down on paper (I think she actually says to write long hand but I may be imagining that), helps to get your brain in gear and start solving the puzzle of what you want to make happen. "43 Things" goes one step further in that it offers the possibility for others to collaborate on helping you think of things you may not have thought of on your own. If you have reached a goal that someone else is trying to reach, there is a way to share your story about how you did it. I definitely intend to spend some time there.

All of this to say that I need to create my own goals around blogging. So below you can find...my blogging goals. I would very much appreciate any comments you would like to share. It is lonely here in the blog-o-sphere when I feel like I am by myself. Am I?

My Blogging Goals:
  1. Get people to read my blog (I need to investigate how I can tell if anyone has read it!)
  2. Get at least 5 people to comment on each blog posting (this would be evident)
  3. Get linked from other blogs (my goal is to get linked from 10 blogs in next 90 days)
  4. Post comments on other people's blogs (my goal is to post 5 comments per week)

I look forward to your comments.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I asked NowNow how to track hits on blogger, and received some useful answers. This should help with your first goal.

Your second goal is to get five comments on each post. I'm not sure if this is possible unless you develop a really strong community around your blog, or you have an immense readership. For example, even one of my favorite bloggers, Rebecca Blood, rarely has five or more comments on her posts, and she has a readership in the thousands.

Getting linked from other blogs is easy to track via Technorati. Your fourth goal should actually help support your third goal, since commenting on others blogs is a good way to get them to notice you and link to you.