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| By FullyFunctnlPhil via Creative Commons |
Before I left for Mom 2.0 Summit, I had a little blog envy. My social media friends were invited to awesome events in cool places across the country. Others snagged a cool sponsorship or a brand ambassador program.
While I was happy for my friends, I was feeling a bit left out.
I started having a pity party. Why didn’t I get offered any cool trips? How do I get connected to brand ambassador programs? And the biggie: why wasn’t I making more money from my blog?
In my Passion Parties training, we have a rule about pity parties. They can only last 10 minutes. Yep. My colleague and girlfriend would give me 5-10 minutes to go into the “Woe is me” talk. Once my time was up, I wasn’t allowed to pity myself anymore. I think it’s a good rule for everyone for everything in life.
Focus on the positive right? My bloggy pity party was all in my head. I took a step back. Why was I upset? Why was I comparing myself to these other bloggers, whose niches were different from mine?
That’s when I realized that I have no idea what my social media goals are. Not specific ones anyway. Out came my Passion Parties small business training. It has more uses than you think. Instead of pity parties, I needed a plan.
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| By happy via via Creative Commons |
How do I know if I’m on the right track?
- Set specific measurable goals. This is simple, but so many of us skip this step. By setting specific, measurable goals, you can track your progress. If you’re like me and have a hard time thinking long term, start with a 30 day or 90 day goal. Then build to 1 year and 5 year goals.
- Think of your goal as a target. If you don’t hit the bulls eye, it’s still okay. So aim big, but give yourself permission to hit the outside target as well. The fact that you hit the target is major props!
- Goals are not written in stone. It’s okay to adjust your goals as you grow. Sometimes your vision changes or you realize that your original goal wasn’t really what you wanted. That’s okay too. Just make sure you’re not changing your goal because you’re feeling lazy.
- Define what success means to you. Maybe you really don’t want a brand ambassadorship because you don’t have time. However you wouldn’t mind if a brand wanted to sponsor you for a conference. This goes right back to setting goals. Then you won’t be comparing your achievements to others (see next bullet point)
- Don’t try to keep up with the Joneses. I was really jealous that my friend was sent to a sunny warm location for her trip. Who wouldn’t want a break from some crazy kids and be pampered by some PR folks? Reality check: the product was not a fit for my blog. I would not have written about that topic on my blog anyway. Comparing yourself to other is a sure way to make you feel like a failure.
- Find a mentor or accountability buddy. When there’s someone you can chat with about your goals or call for a pity party, it makes you feel better. Social media might be full of people online, but in the end, it’s just and your computer, pounding out the blog posts.