I had a thought the other day… yeah I have those occasionally. What if I were to stop blogging? OK, before you get crazy on me, I don’t intend to do so! But having that thought even for a moment, made me wonder what was missing. That is, am I missing the big picture in my business?
What Started This Conversation
I read a post a while back written by David Risley titled Are You On The Blogger Hamster Wheel? and it struck a chord with me. Let me just say, I didn’t take any significant actions based on his findings. I continued on my path, typing away for my site as well as guest posting on other sites.
But it’s been slowly festering in my mind for some time. Am I on the blogger hamster wheel? Hmmm…
Lets dive a bit deeper into why this question might even come up. Now, I recommend you look for yourself as well. If you are blogging for your business regularly and feel you are moving at a snail’s pace or not getting the return you expected (within a realistic time line), then this may be a good time to reevaluate your plan.
Some Boring Statistics
March 3, 2011 will mark my one year anniversary of writing on this blog. Does that really mean anything? Not really. But for many, a year is a type of milestone. It shows that you are in it for the long haul and have seen the value of blogging long enough to continue to stick it out.
In one year I’ve taken my site from zero visitors in the first month to well over 3,000 visits per month, with an average of 65-70% of that being unique visits (1st time visits). What does this number tell me really? In a nutshell it tells me that my reach continues to grow and that I’m the right path.
Or does it?
And So The Questions Begin!
Whether my reach was 200 or 10,000 people at this point, none of it would really matter if there wasn’t an end game involved.
That is, what is the purpose of my blogging?
What are my goals in doing so?
By continuing to publish content on my site and others am I moving closer to my desired outcome?
But is blogging at the same time taking time away from my business?
Am I focusing more on “business development” or just playing the game of visitor attraction and retention?
As you can see, I have lots of questions and little answers. I’m clear on one thing; a shift needs to be made. A shift of epic proportions… OK, got a little out of control there. But seriously, a game plan needs to be put in place, schedules need to be made and met and milestones need to be measured.
So here’s my game plan:
- Pick a blogging schedule and stick with it! Once, twice, five times a week… doesn’t matter. Just choose one and commit 100%.
- Pick a guest blogging schedule and stick with that as well.
- Write up clear, measurable blogging goals that lead me to my ultimate goals. For ex., getting more clients.
- Set up quarterly milestones to be met and track your progress. For example, if one of my milestones was to publish a new information product every 3 months, then I would schedule the creation process in my calendar and track it as I go along.
- Allocate preset times and durations for social networking and blog commenting.
- Make sure to schedule in one ‘business’ task daily and do it first thing in the morning. For example, using the example above, if my goal is to produce an manifesto to be completed in 3 months, then I would schedule in a minimum of ½ hour per day to work on it. This is what moves my business forward!
- Re-evaluate my homepage. Is having my blog on my homepage make “business” sense or will it be in my best interest to create a static page as my home page?
- With every new task or project I take on ask myself, am I moving one step closer to my ultimate goal?
It’s amazing how one simple question such as ‘are you on the blogger hamster wheel?’ can produce such intense internal conversations. But I’m committed to having a success blog and “business” and if that means turning my world upside-down and inside-out to set me on the path to success then so be it!