As a beginner blogger, sometimes it is really difficult to map out goals for yourself and your platform. When I purchased the domain for the blog in July of 2019, I really just needed an outlet to express myself. I would write when I felt inspired but I was not motivated to learn the ins and outs of WordPress or other social media platforms. Since I had not established any goals or purpose for the blog, I didn’t post.

I began by creating an Instagram and securing a handle with Pinterest and Twitter. I wanted to be successful but truly had no idea what I was doing. Unfortunately, I spent a year “planning” and did not start posting more consistently until June of 2020.

In 2021, I want to put more effort into my blog. In order to ensure that I stay on track, I have created 5 practical beginner blogging goals that I will be working to achieve.

1. Create a Content Calendar and Post Accordingly to All Socials

This concept genuinely confused me for a long time. Like I previously mentioned, I tend to write when I am inspired. It could be a thought that comes to me after reading a book or listening to a podcast or even processing my feelings on a significant life event. How does one schedule that? I am not saying that I will do away with heartfelt posts, but I want to create content for my blog that is lighthearted, in addition to the posts that are heartfelt.

This year I will be creating a content calendar for each month so that I post AT LEAST 2 times per week on the blog. This will help me get organized on all of my social media platforms and allow me to coordinate my content to drive traffic to my blog.

I have found that networking with other bloggers helps me to be creative and active on social media. Group and weekly themed posts are fun to participate in and perform really well. Participating in these posts consistently has also worked to drive traffic to my blog and push me to create better content.

2. Take Photos for the Blog and Social Media Ahead of Time

This goal piggy backs off of #1. I want to focus on working smarter not harder in 2021. If I can establish a content calendar ahead of time it will give me the opportunity to shoot content ahead of time as well. This is really important because I will know how many images I need and what type of photos will work best with the posts that I have scheduled.

Another goal that I want to sneak into this one is to push myself to be in front of the camera more. A lot of the time I include images of everything but me. It is not always on purpose but I would love to be in more of my images in 2021.

3. Reach 150k Monthly Viewers on Pinterest

I have used Pinterest for years but had no idea how it worked to drive traffic to blogs until this year. In 2020, I have been working toward gaining followers on Pinterest and increasing my monthly viewers. When I focus on Pinterest I do well, but I cannot get myself to continue after reaching a plateau. I need to be much more consistent on Pinterest because it accounts for the most traffic that my blog receives.

I have gotten familiar with tools such as Canva and Tailwind, but I would love to make some money through affiliate links or campaigns that I can reinvest into these tools. The best resource that I have found for how to grow and gain monthly viewers on Pinterest comes from Cheyenne at babybumpsandmombuns.com . I have her post titled, How to Get to 1M+ Monthly Viewers On Pinterest Without Using Tailwind pinned and ready to use for 2021. She has tons of great resources on her blog, so I definitely recommend checking it out.

I want to dedicate a block of time each week to create pins, schedule and maintain my boards.

See my Pinterest HERE.

4. Reach 1.5k Monthly Visitors on the Blog

One of the first things I plan to do to achieve this goal is go back through all of my published posts and increase the SEO and add internal and external links. I also want to see which posts I can create new content for. I recently shared my top posts of 2020 HERE. I will be using those posts as templates to help my other posts perform better.

In December, I have more than doubled my monthly visitors on the blog. I attribute this to posting frequently and promoting my posts on Instagram and Pinterest. One major change that I made this month was adding a link to my newest blog post in my bio. Previously, I was linking to my blog but not to my newest content. The convenience of going directly to the newest content has made more people click the link.

I am hoping that by dedicating more time to Pinterest I will be able to achieve this goal.

5. Grow My Instagram Following to 5k

I know what you might be thinking, this sounds vain. But honestly, growing a community is a really important step to obtaining partnerships and campaigns. Of course the QUALITY is way more important to me than quantity. I love engaging with friends under my posts or on my stories. It inspires me to continue to create content.

In 2020 I have also gained many blogger friends that inspire me as well. I love seeing new content ideas and other motherhood/lifestyle bloggers be successful. Networking is really important and its a lot of fun. I want to work on identifying hashtags that I frequently use and identifying other content creators that inspire me. If you want to support me with this goal, check out my IG @_sexonaweekday and follow, share, comment and like.

Another point worth mentioning for this goal is that a lot of affiliate networks will not accept influencers to participate in their campaigns until they reach a certain threshold of followers across social media platforms. The best way to support your favorite blogger is absolutely free: comment, like, share and save their posts on Instagram. Pin their Pinterest pins and comment on their blog posts.

When people consistently engage with me it helps me learn what type of content they like. I also pay attention to my stats so that I can produce more content that my audience enjoys the most.

For this blog, I’ve connected with some amazing Bloggers to share some blogs featuring New Years Resolutions, Goals, Inspiration, Motivation and more! Head to each of their blogs to check out what they are sharing.

CHEYENNE | Overcoming Obstacles

AMY | Here’s to Thirty-Six

KIMMY | Making Resolutions in 2021

GRACE | Reflecting on 2020, the good the bad and everything in between.

LORI | My Word for 2021: Consistency (With free planner printable)

ANNIE | Things To Do in 2021

NOEMI | Welcoming The New Year With Intention