Not All Goals Are Created Equal

This is day 3 in our journey through the “Building A More Successful Blog In 30 Days” series.  Before we dive off into the more fun things you can do to build a better blog, I want to really impress upon you the importance of setting those blog goals we talked about on day 1.  In fact, I want you to focus on them so bad, that I asked Mathew Ringer of SmallBizBee.com to write a more in depth article on setting your blog goals.  So here it is:

Steven talked on day 1 about the importance of setting goals for your blog, and he couldn’t have been more right on with his suggestions. Focusing your efforts on a daily basis towards a goal, whether it be long or short term, will put you on the right path for achieving it. I made a note in the comments section of that post, and mentioned using SMART goals – Steven asked me to elaborate, so here goes.

Are All Goals Good Goals?

The short answer is no. Some goals will naturally be more productive than others. All goals are not created equal. The right kind of goals will have you achieving more than you ever thought possible, the wrong kind of goals will have you spinning your wheels while you feel like you’re working.

But how do you know when you begin setting goals for yourself and your blog that you are setting the right type of goals – goals that will help put you take your blog to the next level?  It’s easy actually, just make sure they’re SMART!

What Are Smart Goals?

I use, and suggest you use, SMART goals when you go about the goal setting process. SMART goals are a way to systematically set goals for yourself, provide a framework in which to critically think about what you want to accomplish, how you will go about accomplishing it, and most importantly how you will know when you’ve reached or exceeded your goal.

Smart Goals Are:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Realistic
• Time Sensitive

Let’s look at each, one by one, so you can get an idea of what we’re talking about here.

Specific

To be most effective you need to ensure your goals are very specific. The more specific you are in defining your goal, the better chance you will have in getting it done. At the very least your goal should define the following:

• What are you going to do exactly
• When are you going to do it
• How will it get done

In other words, what is it specifically that you want to accomplish and what are the details. Let’s look at a couple examples:

Bad Example: “I’m going to get more traffic to my blog in 2009”

This is a goal, but not a very specific one to say the least. It leaves a lot of room for interpretation, and does not set the framework for what I want to accomplish. If I get one more visitor this year than last, did I succeed?

Good Example: “I’m going to get 25% more traffic to my blog  in 2009 by posting at least 4 times a week and using Twitter to promote those posts”

See the difference?  I know exactly what it will take to reach my goal, and I’ve given myself a road map to achieving it.

Measurable

For you to have any chance at meeting and exceeding your goals they have to be measurable.  Think about what it is you want to accomplish with each goal you set, and then come up with a quantifiable metric that will tell you if you have met or exceeded the goal. Let’s look at some good and bad examples of measurable goals so you can get a sense of what this looks like.

Bad Examples:

• I want to grow my visitors
• I want more RSS subscribers
• I want to network more

Good Examples:

• I want to grow visitors by 25% year over year
• I want to increase my RSS subscribers by 50% in 2009
• I want to create profiles on the major social networking sites

Attainable and Realistic

These two go hand in hand when using the SMART formula for goal setting.

What you’re asking yourself is “Are my goals stretching me enough, while being realistic in what I can accomplish?”.  This is the hardest step in the goal setting process.

Set your goal too high (unrealistic) and you will be kicking yourself on a daily basis for being a failure. Set a goal that is too low and you may reach it, but at what opportunity cost? You’ll be constantly wondering if you could have done more.

Questions to ask:

Attainable:

Are you setting a goal that is enough of a stretch to actually act as a goal?  It needs to be far enough out of your comfort zone to push you, but not so far that it becomes a discouragement.

Realistic:

Given your knowledge, skills, and abilities have you set a goal that is realistic?  If it isn’t realistic, can you set another goal to get the additional skills/resources/training so that it becomes realistic?

Time Sensitive

Yep, you’ve got to have a time frame or it’s not a SMART goal – it’s just a statement.  When exactly will you achieve what you have put down on paper in the previous four steps?

Without a specific time frame by which to complete your goal it becomes much too easy to “get to it tomorrow”. If you don’t know exactly when something will need to get done, your goals will lack a sense of urgency, and I don’t think I need to tell you how that will end. Without a deadline procrastination is liable to rear it’s ugly head and keep you from achieving success.

In Summary

Setting goals is definitely a worth while endeavor. Without them you’re like a rudderless ship, sailing along but without a sense of direction. However to get the most out of the goal setting process I would encourage you to make sure your goals are SMART.

By using the SMART process you will be setting goals that are clear, concise, and well thought out.  Above all, I think you will find that by using SMART goals your follow through and completion rate will increase and what you once thought of as a dream you’ll find yourself achieving.

You can find Matthew Ringer hanging out at his small business website Smallbizbee.com – a website dedicated to providing small businesses and entrepreneurs the information they need in order to be successful. He is also the owner of an event management company in South Florida and provides small business, social media, and human resource consulting services. If you’d like to keep up with all that Matt’s doing follow him on Twitter.