Friday Favorites – Goals for Year 4
Happy Friday friends! It’s our last weekend before school starts and wouldn’t you know it, instead of heading out for one last hoorah we are going to be hunkered down riding out a hurricane. We are about 150 miles from the coast and will probably only see heavy rain but if the predictions are correct there will be lots of flooding in Texas and many people displaced. If you are a regular here then you know Riley is living in Corpus Christi right now but thankfully his organization has moved them inland. My mom, brother and Mamaw all live about 60 miles inland from Matagorda and they will be on the “dirty” side of the storm if you are familiar with hurricanes. All this being said, Texas could use some prayers!
If you haven’t stopped by this week, I’m celebrating my 3rd Blogiversary! On Wednesday I shared the blog milestones from year 3 along with a giveaway so hop back over and register to win!
Today I thought I’d share my blogging goals for moving forward in year 4!
Blog Schedule
For three years this space has been consistently inconsistent! Some weeks I have managed to post 6 posts and some weeks I’ve struggled to post 2. I do love joining other bloggers for prompt led posts so I am not positive it’s realistic for me to ever consistently post on a Monday/Wednesday/Friday type schedule but I do think it is realistic for me to pick X number of posts per week and stick to it. Now to figure out the perfect equation to identify that X!
Another thing I have never done is schedule breaks. The pressure to post is so real and I think we all need the opportunity to step away and let the blog totally leave our mind a bit. When we do we can come back with a fresh outlook and new ideas. In year four I’m going to attempt to schedule 4 weeks a year to be “off” on a blogcation! I think being able to look forward to this will give me some peace of mind.
I have a running list of posts I’m ready to write but there always seems to be something else pop up. Moving forward with writing these posts and having them edited and ready to schedule at some point in the future will also give me some relief on those weeks I may not be fully feeling it if you know what I mean. If I could have 4-5 posts ready to go at all times that would be amazing.
Blog Conference
Attending the Thrive Creative Conference was such a great experience for me not only as a blogger but just as a women who strives to be inspiring to others. The only negative was going alone! I would really love to attend a conference with a few of my blogging buddies who I’ve come to know both in real life and online. Having a squad along would definitely make me feel more confident and I know it would be so much more fun.
Blog Meetup
I have built so many relationships through following along with others and celebrating their successes and praying over their struggles and we have built online relationships through comments and emails. Last March I was even able to meet one of my readers (Hi Kim) on her trip through Texas! I really hope to have a chance for more “in real life” encounters in year four. Maybe even stepping out of my comfort zone and inviting myself to some meetups in the Houston or Austin area or hosting one locally. Evidently we have quite the little blogging community right here in this sleepy town and I just need to round everyone up!
Blog Photos
I upped my photo game in year 3 and have gotten so much better with finding different locations for taking photos. This year I would really like to learn to use Lightroom and really give my photos a really professional feel.
Photography has always been fun to me but I lack some of the creative side and it would really help in creating more still shot photography to use for my posts. Learning to style objects for photos and to create flatlays is really something I’d like to master.
Blog Traffic
My numbers held fairly steady on the blog in year 3 and while I’d be thrilled if views increased, I’m good if they stay the same. Increasing followers on other social media outlets has also improved and I hope to continue to add numbers on both Instagram and Facebook in year 4. The biggest thing for me is I want to continue to gain followers who identify with me and gain something from stopping by. I’m never going to be the trendiest girl on the block but I hope by showing a middle aged girl who still cares about putting outfits together and is concerned with taking care of herself and her family there will be someone out there who can identify with me.
I need to make these goals a little more concrete and set timelines, budgets and really measure the success or failure of my goals in year 4! Cheers to taking one more step forward!
Booties | Jeans (similar) | Top (Solid, Animal Print) + Extra 25% off at Macys this weekend!
You have ALL seen me carrying the Taj clutch and loving it right? No? Well here are a few pictures to jog your memory!
Well the fall version is available and lucky you, I’m giving one away today! Such a fun way to add a little flare to fall.
