Year End Blogging Goals Check-in

As the year wraps up this week, I’m going to be looking back at the goals I set for 2016. I’m not a big fan of new year’s resolutions, but I do believe in the importance of setting goals. I think they’re an important a way of staying focused on what’s really important. But they only work if you’re willing to be honest about your successes and shortfalls.

So let’s get down to being honest.

 

Goal #1: Be creative.

I set the goal of posting on She Dwells three times a week this year, and I did this more often than not. There were a few weeks when I posted only twice, when life got really busy. Also, I started re-posting older material–sometimes revised, sometimes not– on Wednesdays. One thing I’ve learned about blogging is that reviving older content is actually common practice. This was a revelation to me because, in the academic world, it’s completely unacceptable. (The academic world is strange in many ways–this is just one example of that strangeness.) As I gradually accumulate more new material, I’ll have a greater pool to choose from when it comes to re-posting.

Goal #2: Publish new voices.

I’m really proud of the On Her Way series. Every time I have a new guest author to feature, I get really excited about promoting their work. Women have so many unique experiences that showcase their strength and resilience! I revised this goal just slightly, to focus on soliciting new voices, since I realized that I couldn’t control publication of submissions that didn’t exist. This past year, I’ve published three guest authors. And I recently communicated with two more women who have stories they’re willing to share. If you have a similar story, look here for the series guidelines.

Goal #3: Publish more recipes.

I think I set this goal for myself because I used to write a food blog, so it seemed like a logical leap. However, I took this goal off my list when I realized I simply wasn’t committed to it. (Knowing when to let go of a goal is just as important as accomplishing one. There’s no point in beating yourself up over things you aren’t excited about–it just drains energy you could focus elsewhere.) I have, however, published a couple of recipes, like this delightful Prickly Pear and Meyer Lemon Syrup.

Goal #4: Support others via social media.

I’ve spent a lot more time on Twitter in the last year, mostly tweeting links to other bloggers’ work. Even though it sounds counterintuitive, spending less time promoting my own work and more time promoting others has actually helped me grow my readership here at She Dwells. I can only assume this is because other writers are helping to share my work the same way I’m directing readers to others’ blogs.

Goal #5: Develop a stronger social media presence.

One specific thing I’ve done in this area is to share positive messages and images on the She Dwells Facebook page, in addition to sharing links to new blog posts. I’ve also learned how to use Buffer as a way of keeping my Twitter stream active. This is probably the area in which I have the most work to do–I definitely need to develop a more specific social media strategy. Perhaps that’s a good goal for my 2017 list?

 

All in all, I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished via She Dwells in this last year. The blog is still relatively new, but there are good signs that people are finding things to read here (and sticking around to read more, once they arrive.) My primary focus has always been to make this a positive place on the Internet–and that will never change, no matter what other goals I set for myself.