I don’t normally write posts like this but as it’s new years day of course, like we all are, I’m feeling reflective. I feel excited to say my blog has stepped up a gear this year in 2017, I had so much more time to work on it being on maternity leave, plus having a baby that loves being photographed is a bonus too! So, as I’m hoping to continue on this roll, it would be good to set some goals to look back on next year and see how I did. One day I wonder if I could make this my career, that would be my ultimate goal and it’s looking more and more possible. This year I took my blog from a hobby to a small business, which makes me feel amazingly proud. I worked on some big campaigns with brands like American Express, Marks & Spencer and Aviva, just to name a few, as well as documenting life becoming a mother and Violet’s progress so far. I know that a lot of bloggers and ‘insta-mums’ have been slammed in 2017 for their participation in sponsored posts, ads and such like this year. I also realise I’m not anywhere near their league but I have included more content like that too this year too in between my personal posts. So, I just wanted to highlight other side of the coin to these posts – as by doing this I have also managed to fund my way through my maternity leave and support my family over the past year. Every post has still been as honest and genuine as before, trust me, I’ve also said NO to a lot of paid posts too, if they don’t fit my blog or I don’t like the product! So i hope when readers see ‘#ad’ on mine or other bloggers posts, they know they are still as down to earth and honest as before but like all people in the world, we have to put food on the table for our little ones (and me, mama gotta eat!), so it’s something to be proud of, rather than a negative.
Anyway, I slightly digress! My blogging goals this year are all with taking my blog to the next level over 2018. I will be returning to work in March but only part time and funding childcare too and oh-my-goodness if you’ve seen the rates of nurseries, you’ll understand why a girl needs to hustle hard this year. It’s going to be a tough year, returning to work, looking after Violet and blogging, but I’m determined to make it work!
Here are my goals for 2018:
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- Write more personal posts – I started my blog as a journal of my life and its easy to loose track of why I started it in the first place! I want to document all those little moments to create something I’ll look back on over the years and treasure. Look out for my new fortnightly ‘Life is Peachy’ post which will be a big round up of all our news, plus lots more opinions and personal moments.
- Share more experiences – I’m always chatting to people on Instagram about parenting topics like weaning, sleep regressions and such like. I’m not an expert but I want to share more of my experiences as hopefully it’ll help new mums, or even if I can’t help, maybe it’ll be something you can relate to. It’s good to talk.
- Sort my finances – bit of a boring one but I’ve just finished my second tax return and I always leave it until the last minute, then have to cobble everything together right before the deadline. This year I’m going to get on top of everything as we go along, keeping track of my invoices, payments and expenses before the mad January rush. I’m not doing it in a panic again!
- Grow my Instagram – isn’t this every bloggers goal? I’ll keep plodding on and hoping for the best! I really want to make my insta Stories more creative and vlog-style this year too, so watch out for that.
- Pinterest – as my largest social media following and the biggest driver of traffic to my blog I really don’t spend enough time on Pinterest. I really need to get back into the habit of using Tailwind and Tailwind tribes. I need to remember to make a pinnable image for all my posts too.
- Accept I don’t have much time and write on the hop! I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to blogging, I always try to sit down with my laptop in perfect silence, I don’t think in 2018 with a one year old (!!) running about that is going to happen. I’ve got myself a diary, notepad to scribble notes on the run and downloaded an app to turn speech to text. Just gotta get those ideas down there and then if I want to continue at the pace I’m currently at.
- Make more videos! This goes hand in hand with the one above. I think I get put off making videos as I’m always feeling self conscious, like my hair or make up isn’t perfect or it’s not light enough, etc. This year I’ve just got to grab the camera and get on with it, let’s see what I can come up with!
- Continue to work on my photography and finally learn to use Lightroom. I edit my photos (poorly) by muddling through the settings, I have no idea what I’m doing I just try and make them look nice. So to be sure I’m not missing a trick I’m going to sit and teach myself (via YouTube I’m sure!) and see how my photography evolves in 2018.
Wow, it looks like it’s going to be a busy year, but I hope my goals are something I can aim for and hopefully make a difference! So, as a final thought for 2017, I just wanted to say I really appreciate everyone who reads my blog, follows me on social media and supports the little world of Fizzy Peaches. It sounds cheesy but none of these goals would be possible without you, so a massive thank you for all your support in 2017, it does mean the world to me and I hope you continue to enjoy our adventures into 2018!
Good Luck with your goals! I would love to be better at instagram it’s my hardest platform! xx
Some really great goals and sounds like you had an amazing 2017! Congratulations on your little arrival too, but like you said, it could definitely be a bit harder to concentrate with them in the house hehe! I’m routing for you! Xxx
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