2016: Setting Myself Some Blogging Goals

I only started blogging in August this year – and only transferred to a self-hosted platform in September, so it’s fair to say that I’m new to this game!  I’ve absolutely loved writing, taking photographs and creating my own website from scratch.  I take great pride in how my blog comes across and appreciate every single page view I get.  So if you’re reading this, thank you!

2016 is going to be a busy year – I am going to New York to pick up my wedding dress, I’m getting married, I’m going on my honeymoon and I’m turning 30 – so it’s going to be a good idea to set myself some blogging goals to stay motivated whilst there is so much else going on in my life.

I’m new to this whole setting myself goals malarkey so I have literally *no idea* if what I’m about to say is crazy low, crazy high or just about right.  I guess only this time next year will tell, eh?

Twitter

I love Twitter!  You have to be quick, witty and totally up to date.  It keeps me on my toes and it’s constantly updating, which is great for someone like me who is super impatient.  When I started my blog I had about 600 followers and now I’m just over 900 four months later.  Based on the fact I probably got a bigger influx of followers when I first started, a reasonable target for the end of 2016 seems to be 1,500.  Eek that seems like such a big number!

If you want to help me out, I’m on Twitter here: @HelloJenniferH

Instagram

I also love a bit of Instagram but I am a lot less slower at gaining followers on there for some reason.  I’ve been reading a lot of tips on other bloggers pages and a lot of them recommended coming up with a recognisable theme.  I can see why this is a great piece of advice and I love following bloggers that have a clear theme, but I just can’t seem to pull it off for myself.

My style is a mix of lots of bright colours and I like to be fairly honest in my Insta photos.  That means taking pictures of things I actually see and not editing the life out of my selfies.  Yes I like a good filter and spot removal as much as the rest of them but I try not to stage things too much.  Maybe that’s to the detriment of my follower count but I’m cool with that for now.

I’m currently on 283 followers – no great shakes in the Insta world – so how about we aim for the stars and gun for 500 by the end of 2016?!  Why not eh!

If you want to help me out – I’m here: @HelloJenniferHelen

Bloglovin

Since entering the big bad world of blogging I saw loads of people posting and sharing on Bloglovin and I thought to myself, how do I host my blog on there?!  Ha ha poor naive me.  But now I understand just how awesome Bloglovin is – it’s the easiest way to find other bloggers, regardless of what platform they’re on, and it’s a super cool way of saving down the blog posts that I totally love.

I value my collections as much as I value the chance to put my own posts out there and I actually have more followers (just) on my personal page than my blog page!  I’ve got 147 on my personal page and 143 on my blog page.  Pretty close but hey ho.  So what is a reasonable goal for the end of 2016?

I’m going to aim for 500.  Wish me luck!  And if you want to help me get there I’m here: Hello Jennifer Helen

Other Platforms

I love a load of other social media platforms but for 2016, I’m going to focus on Twitter, Instagram and Bloglovin.  I use Pinterest mainly for personal uses and I don’t have a blog Facebook page yet.  Maybe 2017 for that one!

Design

I am going to treat myself to a new blog layout and header design this year – the job I did drawing bunnies doesn’t quite seem to cut it any more!  If anyone can recommend a good template designer then I’m all ears – let me know links in the comments.

What are your blogging goals for 2016?  I’d love for you to share some!

♥ JH

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