Round-Up & Comment Awards - 1st December
1 December, 2008 - Misc - 14 Comments
I haven’t done a round-up post for a while so I gathered it was time for a quick recap of the week on this blog as well as a little goal setting for the upcoming final month of the year.
Notable Points
300% Traffic Increase
In just two short months this small community of ours has seen a 300% increase in visits and page views. I’m not entirely sure where the huge jump has come from, other than a few more incoming links than usual, but whatever the traffic source I’m certainly very happy.
RSS Subscriber High
The blog hit another subscriber high this month. (Just a couple days ago, actually). 190 eager movers and shakers are now subscribed to the blog, all looking to make some change in the world through their blogs, businesses and self improvement. Hopefully, as I continue to write more quality posts here and guest posts elsewhere, we’ll continue to see this number rise.
(Another) Guest Post at JohnChow.com
John Chow just published my second guest post of the week. How to Increase Your Blog Post Quality does exactly what it says on the tin. I discuss five ways I use to take my blog posts beyond words.
Goals for December
I haven’t done any monthly goal setting on this blog in quite a while. So without further ado, here are my goals for December.
- Reach 200 subscribers - I’m already at 190, so this should be quite an easy goal to achieve. In fact, I’ll probably go past this goal without much challenge at all. However, I want to set it just to ensure we go in to 2009 with at least 200 friends.
- Write 10 Guest Posts - As guest posting has become more and more popular in the blogosphere, so has the need to take guest posting beyond the one, occasional post and extend it in to a series. It’s only by continually targeting a blog with your guest posts that you really start to connect with the audience. That’s why I intend to write ten guest posts this month. I’ll likely keep these posts to one blog in order to maximise the exposure to one audience. So far, guest posting has shown to bring in an average of five new subscribers per post. Simple math shows us I could be looking at 50 new subscribers from those guest posts alone.
Those are the only two goals I want to set this month. It’s the end of the year and the end of this month will be spent eating and drinking far too much, so I want to ensure it’s a nice, relaxing but structured plan.
Comment of the Week - Each week I try and repay my best commentators by sharing their comments and linking to their blogs. This week I’ve chosen just one comment that I think qualifies as the best.
The comment comes from Emmet Gibney from, Helmsley Media. Here is Emmet’s comment, in response to my post “One Thing That Separates You and the Pro Blogger“.
“I totally agree, and I think the biggest part of having a plan is having something outside of yourself that holds you accountable, even if it’s something as simple as a plan written on a piece of paper.
This topic also makes me think about Peter Drucker’s famous quote that “what get’s measured, get’s managed”. So by tracking different metrics and trying to analyze that data you can see your results and try to figure out what it is that provides you with your successes.”
Thanks for that excellent comment, Emmet!
If you want to see your name and link in this spot next week, be sure to come out of the woodwork and join the conversation. I appreciate every single comment I get. It makes this blog so much more. It really wouldn’t be half of what it is without you.
Welcome to my New Commentators - Each week I intend to thank the people who have wrote a comment on my blog for the first time. Here is this weeks list:
Krisztina - Krisztina found my motivational songs post and shared her favourite music.
Dian - Dian asked about blog post scheduling when I spoke about the need for a blogging plan.
Tom - StandOutBlogger
Angel Cuala
Terence Chang
Rowell Dionicio
Emmet Gibney
Cindy King
Wendi Kelly
Rowell Dionicio
Darren
John Chow
Erwin Tan
I want to thank all my commentators, new and old. It’s your opinions that make this blog what it is, and it wouldn’t be the same without you.
Thanks for reading folks. I hope you have a great Monday afternoon/evening. Look out for more posts from me over the course of this week, both here and elsewhere in the blogosphere.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
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Posted on 1 December, 2008 by Jamie Harrop
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I really like the way you think. You’ve gone out, set some goals and achieved them. You’ve set some more goals and even posted it so we can hold you accountable for reaching them.
Thanks for thanking me!
One question I wanted to ask you is: Are you a full-time blogger?
Hey Rowell,
Please do keep my accountable for those goals. If I don’t report on my progress at the end of the month, please give me a virtual kick.
Right now I am a full time blogger, but not by choice. I’m in the middle of a little career shift after doing some travelling. I’m looking for a job at the moment, but while I’m unemployed I’m a full time blogger.
I’ll take pleasure in bugging you about your goals as long as you can do the same for me ;] once I get some goals written up.
Were you ever blogging while working a full-time job? If so, what kind of obstacles would run into?
Hey Rowell,
Once your goals are in place, I’ll happily email you twice a minute, every minute to ensure you’re still on course to achieve them.
I’ve been very lucky, because although I have blogged while having a full time blog, that full time blog has always been self employment working from home. Up until September this year I worked for myself as a Web developer. It took up a lot of time, but working from home always meant I was able to find the time to write (or at least, most of the time).
Once I get a full time blog as an employee, rather than being self employed, I’m sure I’ll face some new and interesting challenges, and I’m sure I’ll write about it on here.
Jamie
I failed to set up goals when I first started my blog. My recommendation to any blogger is to follow Jamie’s steps here and create goals for your blog.
As you can see, Jamie set goals for himself and achieved them. Plus he’s telling us about them which we can come back and say “Hey Jamie, how did you achieve that goal you set back in December?”
New year is coming around and it’s time for a change over at my blog ;]
Rowells last blog post..A Bloggers Guide to Surviving A Recession
ChrisG taught you well grasshopper. Stumbled & Sphunn.
Richards last blog post..Virtual-Team Management
Thanks Richard!
Great to see your goals achieved while setting out new goals.
Thanks for the linkback Jamie!
Erwin Tans last blog post..Secrets To Success Is To Fail
Wow! I never thought you’ll include me here in your list. Thanks for that. I agree with your idea about guest posting. I made four guest posts for Kevin of Blogging Tips, and the result was very positive.
By the way, we experienced the same situation about being a full-time blogger. I became a full time blogger because my former employer offered an Early Retirement Program due to very low production.
However, I don’t have any plan to work for any company now. I think I can do better in blogging.
Thanks!
Angel Cualas last blog post..Loving a long lost Child
Hi Jamie, I just visit to say thank you for visiting Stories of Picture.
I don’t have much time to read your article, but I see you have a good blog here. I’ll catching it up later.
Aldhiss last blog post..A comment from my Blogger friend
[...] spent today, this second day of December, actively working towards my goals for this month. It’s going well, with another guest post almost completed and a new subscriber high of [...]
[...] On Monday I set myself two goals. [...]
Hey Jamie, thanks for the link love : ) Good luck on the job search too!
Emmet Gibneys last blog post..Jeff Zucker Says NBC Universal Is Really A Cable Company
[...] at the start of December, I set myself a goal to reach 200 subscribers. It only took me three days to reach that goal, so I set myself a new and revised goal for December [...]