In this episode of the Above The Fold podcast show, I share valuable tips for getting your blog ready for the brand new year, 2021! Yep, I know we have a good few months before this year is even over, but now is the best time to start planning and strategizing!
Hey, what is going on, guys? Fabrizio Van Marciano from Magnet4Blogging dot net coming to you with another episode of the Above The Fold podcast show for bloggers, marketers, and solopreneurs.
This is episode 11 of the podcast, and if you've just found this show by complete accident, a BIG warm welcome to you, and it's great to have you here. I hope that you stick around.
This show is all about me sharing practical and actionable tips and ideas for growing your blog; From creating content to monetization to doing marketing and promotion to growing your audience and a whole lot more. So, here's what I'm going to be talking about in this episode -
How to get your blog ready for 2021, plan, strategize, and execute - so let's get to it.
Music source: SoundStripe (Affiliate link)
Hey, guys, welcome to the show, so we're fast approaching the brand new year. Well, OK, we still have like 12 weeks left of 2020, but I'm pretty sure most of you folks listening in can't wait for this year to be over and done with, and what a year it's been. And if you're listening in the future, well, I hope things are a lot better.
Anyhow, 2020 is not over yet, we can still finish this year off on a high, and more importantly, if you're a blogger, you should be using the time left to get your blog ready for 2021. Hopefully, you're tuning into this around October or November time; that's the best time, in my opinion, to get your blog ready for the new year.
And when I say ready, I mean to plan your strategy for growing your blog, reaching your goals, and taking a step close to becoming successful, or more successful.
I want to share with you some of the things I'm doing to plan for next year. As you can imagine, I'm already thinking about what I want to achieve next year with my blog. So, yeah, I'll start with planning, then I'll talk a little bit about strategizing, and then execution or taking action if you will.
So planning is a pretty important step, and sadly not enough bloggers take the time to plan. Don't get me wrong, guys, when I say planning, I don't mean to have a New Years' resolution. That won't work. I mean to proper plan!
You don't need anything to start planning, a notepad, pen, and a few hours dedicated to figuring out what you want to achieve in the next three, six, or twelve months. So I begin my planning around about now, in October, and before I plan anything, I usually like to take a step back and see where my blog is.
So, I consider the current state of my existing content, my blog design, my traffic numbers, number of email subscribers, conversion rates, revenue, etc. And using all of this data, I then I try to figure out where I can make improvements, firstly, you know? What do I already have in place that I can make better?
So the podcast, for example, was something that was already set up on my blog. But I hadn't paid much attention to it for some time. I decided this year, 2020, was the year that I would resurrect it start putting out more content, more shows.
Right then, so once I've made a list of what I want to improve, I then decide on what new things I'd like to create and introduce in the future, be it a new type of content, new products, etc.
Just assessing my blog, there are still many blog posts that need updating, and this has been an ongoing process since the beginning of the year, so this is one of the things I would want to add to my plan.
Of course, when you're planning for your blog, in addition to making improvements and deciding what new things you want to introduce, you may have other goals in mind. In this case, I would highly recommend that you document everything.
Don't leave anything in your head. Because it's OK to tell yourself, well, next year I want to increase my traffic or sell x amounts of my digital products or write X amounts of blog posts, but if you keep all of this in your head and don't have a plan, you're going to struggle to reach your goals, period.
Write your plan and goals down in a notepad. Or if you have something like Evernote on your computer or smartphone, use that. A better strategy, use a blog planner like my Ultimate Pro Blog Planner Workbook. I'll talk more about this towards the end of the show.
So the next step is to strategize. Strategizing is one of my favorite things to do; it's also a critical, critical step. I have my plans - 'how' and 'when' am I going to implement these?
I use a couple of tools to help me strategize and schedule my workload. The first one is CoSchedule (Affiliate link), which I'm pretty sure you've seen. I've mentioned this tool several times in my blog posts and videos. I've been using CoSchedule now for the last two years, and so this is a tool that I can't live without.
One of the things I hate doing is bouncing from site to site and using multiple apps, having multiple tabs open in my browser, etc. when planning, scheduling, and promoting my blog and content. So CoSchedule lets' me do all of those things in one place.
I use CoSchedule to create email newsletters using MailChimp or Convertkit. I also use it to organize my blog posts, create social media campaigns, to-do lists, and more.
For me, this app has always been a game-changer. It has helped me to become more organized and productive in my business. There are several other apps that I like to use, Todoist on my iPhone and also my Mac, and the other one is called BeFocused, which is a productivity timer.
Right then, so with the planning done, the strategizing out of the way, the next step is probably the hardest, and that's executing what you set out to do.
Let me tell you why planning and strategizing is so crucial in blogging. When the time comes for taking action, you should be ready to start without hesitation.
I've said this before; there's little point in waiting until January to start planning. When January comes, you want to be hitting the ground running, getting straight to work on your goals, not preparing them.
The planning is done and dusted, and so that means you can get ahead by executing. And that's always been my strategy when planning for the New Year. And also, you're going to be a lot more motivated and focused, knowing that you can get on and not wait around until you have a plan.
Right then, that is it, that's my strategy for getting my blog, my goals, my plans ready for 2021. I now want to talk a little bit about my Ultimate Pro Blog Planner workbook, which I've recently fully revised and updated.
It now comes with 70 printable templates, including planners, organizers, schedulers, trackers, checklists, cheat sheets, and more, including a full suite of complete social media planners and trackers.
If you're super serious about making 2021 your best blogging year yet, I encourage you to check out my blog planner; over 1,000 bloggers used the planner in 2020, which is incredible. And so I'll have a link to it in the show notes if you want to check it out.
The planner comes in downloadable and printable PDF format; each template can be printed in whatever size you want from, A5, A4, A3, etc. It's also printer-friendly and eco-friendly and won't use up an extortionate amount of ink.
I'll also have a video coming up very soon where I'll show you how to use some of the templates to help you set goals, plan your content, organize your social media, and more. So lots of good things to come.
OK, folks, so that is it from me for another episode. I hope you found this one just as valuable. If you want to leave me a comment, you can do so if you're tuning in via my blog over at Magnet4Blogging.
If you enjoyed listening to the podcast, please consider leaving me a short review on iTunes and not forgetting to subscribe for future episodes.
That is it from me, don't forget, if you want to stay connected and follow my antics online, I'm on Instagram and YouTube. Until the next episode, take it easy and peace!
