Ready for a new year
It’s that time of year again when people are setting New Year’s resolutions. There’s just something about a new year and the flip of the calendar that makes it feel like we have a fresh new start. Setting goals and creating a plan is a crucial step towards achieving success. But we also believe it’s important to look back and reflect on the year we’ve just completed.
It’s easy to want to skip this reflection stage if you don’t feel like you completed everything you wanted to get done. But remember, it’s okay not to be perfect or to cross everything off your list. In fact, it’s normal.
Don’t get caught up in the perfection game. Focus on the progress that you made and the areas that you improved. Celebrate the successes you had and your wins no matter how small they are.
When we take the time to reflect on the things that went well and the things that didn’t, it helps us gain clarity around the things we want, or need, to accomplish with this fresh new start we’ve been given.
How we did on our 2020 resolutions
2020 was an odd year, but we had a strong focus on our resolutions which propelled us forward and helped us accomplish a lot of what we set out to achieve. Here at .blog, we have a lot to celebrate!
Here’s a glimpse at how we did, what we accomplished, and what we didn’t.
Resolution #1: Be consistent publishing content
This is a resolution we succeeded at in 2020. While it’s tempting for bloggers to try to fill their blog with weekly or even daily blog posts, that’s not realistic for most people and companies. So what happens is they stick with their schedule for a few weeks (maybe a few months) and then they burn-out and quit creating new posts altogether.
In 2020, we focused on creating a few posts a month so we could stay consistent, and we’re celebrating that success!
Resolution #2: Focus on quality of quantity
This resolution is connected with the example shared above. It’s easy to fall into the trap of producing less-than-stellar work in order to keep up with the numbers game. When the focus is on quantity, it’s common for the quality to suffer. And that’s the last thing that a blogger wants.
If you produce content just to say that you hit a certain number, you might be turning your audience away. Quality is more important so that’s where we decided to focus.
In 2020, we succeeded in focusing on quality over quantity, which also helped us succeed at Resolution #1.
Resolution #3: Social Engagement
We had a good start on increasing our social engagement throughout last year. But there is still room for growth and improvement in this area. Blogs are all about building community and connecting with others. We’re going to continue to build on our progress in 2021, as you’ll see in our new resolutions below.
Resolution #4: Test and experiment
We believe in the importance of experimenting and testing ideas to discover what works and what doesn’t. We spent time last year doing just that. It helped us see what connects well with our audience and what falls flat.
The experimenting and testing that we did helped us to discover opportunities for different and new content types in 2021.
Resolution #5: Improve Readers’ Experience
There are few things that are as important as the experience that your readers have on your blog. If the experience is good, they’ll want to come back for more. But if the experience is bad, chances are good that they’ll click away and find another blog to read.
In 2020, we started focusing even more on our readers’ experience. An example of how we did this is adding social share buttons to the blog. But we’re still working to improve the experience. For example, we’re in the process of finding and fixing broken links.
Resolution #6: Believe in what we are doing
Our goal is to help everyone be able to tell their story, regardless of income, gender, politics, language, or where they live in the world. We believe in the power of sharing stories with the world. These beliefs are what keep us motivated.
.blog’s resolutions for the new year
Reflecting on the previous year helped reaffirm the importance of having goals and direction for the year. We shared our 2020 resolutions with you at the start of last year and we want to do the same for 2021.
After we carefully reflected on our resolutions from 2020, we used that information to help us set our 2021 resolutions. Some of them are continuations of the resolutions that we had in 2020. Others are new directions that we’re going to focus on.
We’re excited to share them with you so you can see where we’re headed and what to expect this year from .blog:
Resolution #1: Showcase people doing great work on .blog
There is an amazing variety of blogs that are using the .blog domain. Some are personal blogs and others are business blogs. We’re excited about the diversity that you’ll discover with .blog.
In 2021, we want to highlight the great work they’re doing. Not only do we want to help .blog bloggers grow, but we want to showcase blogs that can be inspirational to new bloggers who want to get started.
We’ve created a schedule that we’ll follow in order to make this happen in 2021.
Resolution #2: Start a .blog newsletter for registrars
We’re so excited about this resolution that it’s already in the works. Our newsletter will be just one more way that we can connect with our audience, share valuable tips, and announcements.
Resolution #3: Be more social
We want to increase our engagement and connect more with our audience in 2021. There are many ways that social channels are effective for marketing a blog. We’re intentionally planning on being more active with the management of our social channels.
Resolution #4: Be more global
We are committed to diversity and inclusion efforts and want to help everyone share their story. In 2021, we plan to identify a few target geographical areas to grow our presence and work towards being more global in our work.
Resolution #5: Equip .blog users with the tools to achieve their blogging goals
Our mission and goal is not just to sell .blog domains. That might be the product that we offer, but we’re in the business of sharing experiences, passing along expertise, and building community.
We don’t just want people to purchase a .blog domain, we want them to succeed in their blogging dreams. There is a lot that goes into growing and running a successful blog. That’s why in 2021, we’re going to focus even more on helping .blog users to be successful in their blogging efforts by sharing tools, tips, and advice to help them get there.
What are your resolutions?
Now that you’ve had a taste of our reflection and resolutions, how about you? Take time to reflect on your successes and lessons learned from 2020 while planning for 2021.
As you work on growing your blog throughout 2021, we’ll continue providing the latest tips, tricks, and trends to help. So, check back often. And don’t forget to look for our newsletter (remember it’s our 2021 resolution š).
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