With next week being 2008 I figured it was about time to start talking about setting goals for next year.

There are two type of goals you can set:

• SMART goals
• Dumb goals

Here is an example of some dumb goals!

1. I will make more money than last year from my blog
2. I will regularly post on my blog
3. I will make a million dollars online next year
4. I want to grow the traffic to my blog
5. I will spend time working on the SEO of my blog

Why are these goals dumb?

Before I can show you why these goals are dumb (if you haven\’t worked it out already), I have to show you exactly what makes up a smart goal. As you may have guessed SMART is an acronym that shows you the integral parts of a smart goal.

SMART Goals

S - Specific

M - Measurable

A - Attainable

R - Relevan

T - Time Bound

Lets take a look at each of these essential building blocks individually:

1. Specific

To make a goal specific we have to look at the 5 ‘W\’s

Why?

What?

Where?

When?

Why?

There is more chance of you being motivated by a goal that is specific as it gives you steps to achieve them not just a pie in the sky statement.

Lets look at the first of our dumb goals:

I will make more money than last year from my blog

A SMART version of this goal would be:

I will make an extra $100 a month from my blog through direct sales, affiliate promotion and Google Adsense

Now you have set a specific amount you will make which allows you to track your progress as well as the way you aim to achieve it.

2. Measurable

You have to make sure that you can measure your goals to make sure that you have reached them, or just to keep tabs on how you are traveling with them.

If you cannot measure your goal, you cannot manage your goal

To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as……How much? How many? How will I know when it is accomplished?

3. Attainable

The reason I threw in the following dumb goal:

I will make a million dollars online next year

Is because I see a lot of new bloggers make statements like this - maybe not as big, but that is just it. They just pluck a number out of the air that they would like to make but we all know there is no chance that they will make it. Not because they can’t, but because of they way they have set their goal.

If you can explain how you will make the million dollars they maybe I will give you the benefit of the doubt. If you can make it specific and measurable, then maybeI will think you have a small chance of making it. Just don’t set goals that just pluck a figure out of the air just for the sake of having a goal.

4. Relevant

When you are looking at planning your long and short term goals is there a link between the two? Do your goals parallel each other? Make sure each goal is consistent with other goals you have established and fits with your immediate and long-term range plans.

5. Time Bound

It is no use having a specific and attainable goals if you do not give yourself a time frame to complete them within.

I will spend time working on the SEO of my blog

Looking at this goal it doesn’t really motivate you at all. I would change it to something similar to this:

I will write 1 keyword targeted articles and comment at least 2 new blogs each day for the next 30 days

This type of goal is so much easier to attain because each day you can go ‘Ok, I need to write one article and comment at least 2 new blogs each day’ and it gives you something to do to complete your goal. Instead of just an airy statement about spending time on working on your SEO.

So when you start looking at setting goals for 2008, make the SMART choice and set SMART goals!

Seriously. Do you really want to succeed online or are you just happy to glide on by and be an average blogger or average internet marketer?

I finally had the chance to watch Will Smiths ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ last night. It has been a movie that I have been wanting to see for ages because I am a big Will Smith fan, plus I love any movie that is based around investing. While I had been told it was good and expected just as much - I was blown away by the story that unfolded.

To see a person not only give up everything that he has, but also bring his son through the whole thing as well - with the hope of a better opportunity at the other end. I mean he wasn’t getting paid for 6 months and at the end of it he wasn’t guaranteed a job, yet he saw it as an way out of his current situation - and he had the determination to do whatever it would take to be the one at the end with a job at the stock broking firm.

To see how hard he worked, and everything he had to go through it made me think about how serious I was to succeed online. I mean, I have enough trouble focusing for a whole day to get all the things I need done for that day - let alone 6 months.

This movie really motivated me to really really pursue my dreams and goals with everything that I have. If you have not seen ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ then I highly recommend that you watch it as soon as possible. You will thank me for it.

How Would you like to be abel to get a heap of quality ebooks on subjects such as:

• Blogging
• List Building
• Search Engine Optimisation
• Make Money Online
• Traffic Building
• Other Must Read Ebooks

Well now you can!

I have complied a list of free money making ebooks (over 80 currently). all free, however some do require email addresses.

You can view the list here:

FREE MONEY MAKING EBOOKS 

I really hope that you are able to save yourself a heap of money that you can put into actually making money online! If I have missed your ebook, or you know of one that I have forgotten. Let me know, and I will make sure that it is added to the list.

1. You Have Customers
Your visitors are you walk in traffic, and your subscribers are your regulars. What are you doing to make sure that both of these groups of people are being attended to, and how are you making sure that they will return?

Just like in a bricks and mortar business it is your customers that keep your blog alive and kicking. So you focus should not be on writing writing nice and fluffy posts that get a few ‘Good Posts’ but your focus should be on providing meaty posts that will leave your customers wanting more.

2. You Sell A Product
You are your product. What are you doing to sell yourself and your blog?

Let’s have a look at what some offline business’ do to sell their product:

• They Have Promotions
• They Advertise
• They Use Word Of Mouth
• They Have Quality Product

How many of these have you been implementing for your blog? If it isn’t many here is the list again but with a few ideas from a bloggers perspective.

• Have Promotions
  • Hold A Contest
  • Give Something Away
• Advertise
  • On Other Blogs
  • On Comparable Websites
  • Create A Mailing List
• Use Word Of Mouth
  • Get People Talking About Your Blog
  • Be Active In Your Niche
• Have Quality Product
  • Make Your Blogs Information Packed
  • Post Unique Content
  • Post Wanted Content
    

3. Your Reputation Is On The Line
Just like when an offline company creates a bad product that is faulty or when they promote a company or product that turns out to be a flop, it is the same with blogging. If your content is poorly researched, or you start promoting products just because everyone else seems to be and they turn out to be rubbish (not naming names here), you are actually tainting your reputation and lowering your credibility.

4. Your Competitors Do
Take a look at the major players in your niche. Do they just blog sporadically and throw an adsense block in here and there? I bet they have focused on their blogging voice and tested and tried traffic building strategies and monetization ideas. This is why they are the best in your niche - because they treat their blog as a business. And guess what, it probably pays them like a business should too!

5. Why Waste Your Time If You’re Not?
I mean seriously. Why even bother if you are going to post every day for a week, get tired don’t post for a month and then take it back up again (with a never ending vicious cycle)? You can never expect to be successful at blogging if you do not take it seriously. It takes a lot time and effort to run and grow a successful blog and without proper planning and

You probably think I am going to go on about how ours words have power and that what we say has an impact on others, so we should watch what we say so that we do not offend or hurt others.

Well you would be true - about the first part. I read this quote the other day and it really made me stop what I was doing and think about what I was doing. It went like this:

If the people around you were dependent on your words for nourishment, would they die of malnourishment?

Don’t just glance over it. If I were you, I would do exactly what I did and that is read over the quote a couple of times and get a grasp of what it is actually saying.

I thought about this blog. I thought about whether people relied on me to provide advice, support, encouragement, expertise or maybe even a dash of dry humour. I know a blog isn’t the end of the world but if I am not helping people or encouraging people to become better bloggers or to help them believe that they can be successful, then what is the point of me blogging.

So I guess all this Saturday night post is here to say is be the oasis in the middle of the desert. When a fellow blogger is dry and ready to give up, be the one who’s post brings refreshment.