Spontaneity is a wonderful quality to have. But not for your blog.
Everyone loves the idea of throwing caution to the wind and letting themselves go, captive only to the currents or the breeze or the next train.
To which I say, super.
That’s a lovely dream and a fun way to live, for about 6 months. Eventually you wake up one morning and say to yourself, “Self, why am I here and where am I going?”
Your very intuitive self will usually have one of two answers.
Number 1. Crickets – chirp, chirp, chirp…….
Or number 2. “Don’t ask me, Freebird. You’re the one who decided to go off without a plan or a map or a change of clothes.”
Ah, helpful Self.
Guess what? This applies to your blog too.
You may have started out blogging by the seat of your pants, writing about this and that. You may even still be blogging like that. Hey, that’s cool. But, at some point you might want to come up with a plan.
If and when you want to take your blogging to the next level the first thing you must do is write a quality mission statement.
Now don’t get all freaked out on me. This isn’t like writing a mission statement for a Fortune 500 company. You don’t even need to show it to anyone.
You do, however, need to have one written (or typed out, for you literal folks) so that you can refer to it when your stats are so low they don’t even register on analytics or when you know you should be writing a post but you’re dawdling on Pinterest.
This is the practical importance of having a quality mission statement. You need to know where you are going and why. And you need to have a plan for reaching your blogging goals.
A mission statement is a clear, concise sentence, or two, that defines why you write and who you write for.
That’s it. Simple.
HOW you write your mission statement is up to you – maybe you need a piece of notebook paper and a pen. Perhaps you need some magazines and glue to make a vision board. Mind mapping might even be your way of coming up with something cohesive for your blog.
However you create your mission statement, just make sure it has 3 things
Your vision
You have a vision for your blog as you move towards the next level. Money, comments, a platform, a book, a community, a creative outlet – all these things are valuable and important. Make sure you put them in your statement somewhere. This is just for you, no one else. Go big or go home. That’s my feeling.
Your passion
Take a look at your blog so far – what do you write about most? What have you written about that gave you the most joy or fulfillment? Grab that thing and run with it.
Listen, I’ve mentioned this before, just because you start out in one “niche” doesn’t mean you have to stay there forever. But if you are like an everything bagel and write about anything that pops into your mind you aren’t going to build a very big audience. Plus, you’re going to go crazy. Crazy and lonely. “That’s always fun,” said no one ever.
Just pick a few things that you really like and go with them, for now. As you gain steam and readers and start to get feedback, you can add more topics. For now your mission statement should include what you are most passionate about.
Your audience
Figure out who you are writing for. Be honest. You may want to gather women together from across the globe, but right now it’s only a select group that is reading your blog regularly. That’s your audience. You are mandated to write for them and to do it well. Use your mission statement to tell yourself who you are writing for, then go write with all your might for them.
There are a lot of great articles and blog posts out there about writing a mission statement. You can read some of them on my Mission Statement board on Pinterest. Check it out, you’ll gain more insight into how to get started on this.
Writing you own mission statement
The next step is to get started. Set aside some time to ask yourself, “Do I have a mission statement for my blog?” Then figure out what that is and tuck it away in your blog planner so that you can refer to it time and time again.
Don’t leave this to chance. You are on a great journey. Like any good traveler you need a plan, a map, a destination, a goal. Your mission statement will keep you on track. It will be your guide through the storms and the distractions and it’s imperative to your success.
Don’t be shy about your statement. Make it daring. Make it count. Your success depends on it.
Are you ready to write your own quality mission statement?
Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash
Photo by David Travis on Unsplash
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