blogging goals

As my blog continues to grow, I've decided that it's time to step my game up. I've been thinking a lot lately about the direction I'm headed with my blog, and I've set some goals for myself in the process.

::post five days a week:: I try to post at least three times a week around here, and I usually do more than that. But the past two weeks, I've been trying to publish a post Monday-Friday and it has been pretty successful so far. So from now on, I'm going to try to consistently post each day of the week and take the weekends off, except for the occasional sponsored post.

::at least one good picture per post:: Well if you haven't heard, I got this nice fancy camera that I absolutely love. I'm making it a goal to have at least one good and pinable picture in every post. Pinterest is a huge source of traffic for me, so I want to utilize it much more efficiently.

::schedule my posts ahead of time:: I get stressed out really easily. I want to have my posts scheduled at least a few days in advance. Ideally, I'd love if I could be an entire week ahead, just so I don't have to stress as much. But that probably won't happen. I also want to have a good amount of drafts written up, so I can pull from there when I need something to publish.

::highlight my sponsors in a unique way:: I'm trying to make my sponsorship posts more fun, so I'm trying to present the bloggers in a creative way. If you haven't seen sponsor mad libs yet, you should definitely check it out. If anyone has a suggestion on a fun way to introduce a sponsor, I'd love some ideas!

::quality, quality, quality:: Some of my posts are shit. I'm the first to admit that. Some of them are really good (or at least I'm proud of them). I want to feel that way about every post. I never want to publish a post that I think isn't worthy of this blog. I work really hard to make this something special, and as I continue to grow, I need to focus on keeping the quality of my posts up.

::grow:: This one applies both for the blog and the design site. I really want to focus on connecting with other bloggers and growing my readership. I'm excited to take on more design clients and sponsors. I'm excited to reach 1,000 followers on Bloglovin (my next big milestone). Seeing how much this blog has grown in the past six months (whoa its been six months already?!) has been amazing and I cannot wait to see where it is after a year!

What're your blogging goals?

2014 goals!

2013 was an amazing year. It was life changing in so many ways! But I just have a little feeling that 2014 might be even better. I have so much to look forward to next year! This summer will be my last summer as a college student which is so crazy to think about. The best part is that I get to spend the whole summer in Montana with Dj. I actually get to spend more time with him in 2014 than I did this year (hopefully). Spring break, 3 months of summer, and hopefully next Christmas he can come home. I can't wait to see how much closer we are after another year! Every time we're together we have such a good time and we become even closer than we ever though possible, so after another year, I can't even imagine how amazing our relationship will be!

We had a good New Years. We didn't go out, but we just stayed in and hung out with his roommates. I was so happy that we got to spend it together, it was perfect! And now that its finally 2014, I've been thinking about some goals to set. I don't like making 'resolutions' per se, but I do have a few things I need to work on this year.

School. I'm really bad about skipping class. Like really bad. I'm lazy and it's so much easier and less boring to stay at home than to go to class right? But this semester, I'm going to try not skip at all. I'm taking business classes which I've never taken before, so I really have to try hard this semester!

Money. I have a wonderful job, and I also make some money through my blog doing sponsorships and designs. So I make a decent amount of money. Here's the problem...I really like Starbucks....and Chipotle...and In-N-Out. I'm terrible at saving my money. This year I want to start saving much better. No more spending all of my money on food. I want to try to save a good chunk of money this year, so when I graduate next May I'll have a decent amount of money saved up!

My diet. Now, when I say 'diet', I don't mean I'm eating healthy to lose weight. I can't do that- I like Hot Cheetos and chocolate way too much. But you probably already know that I'm lactose intolerant and gluten intolerant, and I've been trying to be good about it. I was doing really well- until I came to Montana (oops). But I would love if I could go a whole year being virtually gluten and dairy free. I feel so much better when I don't eat it (but it's hard because I loooove quesadillas and grilled cheese and macaroni and pizza).

That pretty much sums it up! I hope you all had an amazing new year and I would love to hear your goals if you'd like to share! I also wanted to remind you to enter the giveaway if you haven't yet, and to get your posts ready for the link up on Monday! Have a good week loves!