I was a bit bored today so I sent an SMS to my friend asking him if he was up for some exercise. I gave him two options:

• Tennis
• Mountain Climbing

He chose mountain climbing, and we decided climb Mount Tibrogargan and arrived at the foot of the mountain at 1:45pm. With a recommended climb time of 3 hours we knew for sure we would be back down before dark – so we set off.

As we climbed and we struggled against things like the scorching heat and poor fitness I started thinking about how much climbing a mountain has in common with accomplishing our goals. So I decided to share them with you – and include a few pictures from our climb (using my new Sanyo Xacti Camera)

1. Know Your Target
   
   When we were deciding which mountain to climb, I told Cody (my friend) that I wanted a challenge, so he decided to suggest Mount Tibrogargan which as you can read on the sign above ‘Is for experience climbers only’.Knowing that this climb would challenge me, I decided to do a bit of research before we left. I found out how high the mountain was and how long the climb was estimated to take. I needed to know these facts to make sure that we would have enough time to complete the climb – I needed to know what we were up against.

   It is exactly the same with blogging. As each new challenge or goal comes our way, the first thing we need to do is ‘Know Our Opponent’ – just like we had to know the mountain we were climbing and a sportsman or team needs to study their opponents. We need to know our goals and where we are heading.

   Do you know your target? read this entry »

If you read ‘My Goals For StandOutBlogger In 2009‘ post, you would have noticed that one of my goals was:

I will redesign SOB by the end of July 2009, to increase conversion and monetization, while making it easier for visitors to find and read information.

Well I capped out our broadband internet for the month yesterday so I’m currently on 56k til the 1st of January – so I decided to make a start on achieving my first goal before the year even starts (is that cheating? :P).

I have currently designed the majority of the index page and the individual post page, and a very select few have already had a preview – but now I want to open it up to a little bit larger of a focus group to help me fine tune the design so that it has everything that a ‘Stand Out’ blog needs.

But I’m Not Posting Pictures Here

I have a couple of reason for not wanting to show everyone at the moment, and here are the main reason:

• To Many People, Too Many Opinions
  If I post pictures here, I will get a lot of people looking at my initial concepts and each will have their own opinions. I would rather have a select few regular readers – who I know will give me feedback that is in the best interest of StandOutBlogger.
• Preview Now, No Buzz Later
  If I show everyone the design now, when it is finally completed (which could be another month or so) there will be no surprise and no buzz regarding the new design.

So How Do You Get A Preview?

Well sometime tomorrow (Sunday), I will be emailing the design concepts to the subscribers of StandOutBlogger Underground. Currently 50 people will be getting a preview of my new blog design – as well as my reasoning and thoughts on designing a blog theme that ‘stands out’.

Would You Give Me Your Feedback?

If you would like to preview my new blog concept for StandOutBlogger, and give me your highly valued feedback, then please subscribe to StandOutBlogger Underground before Sunday!

What’s Your Favourite Blog Theme Feature?

I absolutely love looking at blog designs, and the different features that each of them have! I have seen a whole heap of creative ideas (some of which I have tried to impliment into the new design), and I think it would be great if you could comment with your favourite blog design feature on a blog that you have seen.

Let me give you an example:

One thing I think is an extremely good idea for converting new readers into RSS or email list subscribers is to have a reminder to subscribe at the bottom of each post. This way they have just read your great content and are more likely to subscribe that just by seeing a button in your sidebar.

Check out the following blogs posts page to see some great examples:

• Jim Kukral – Subscribe to my dads rss feed image
• Caroline Middlebrook – Offering Bloggers Bible for email address
• Yoast.com – What More WordPress Tips?

Anyway, feel free to share your favourite blog theme feature…

If you have read my last post: SMART Goal Setting For 2009, where I look at SMART as an anagram that provides you with the keys to creating goals that will motivate you, then you may have also noticed the comment left by BE Folks:

This is first post i read regarding new year’s resolution and goals. hope u have set up your goals already. wish you successes!!!

Well to be completely honest – No I hadn’t!

But over the last couple of days, I have taken the time to think about where I see SOB heading over the next 12 months and what I want to acheive. So I have decided to list them here for a couple of reason:

1. So You Know What To Expect
   I don’t treat my visitors as customers that I just try and flog any product to in the hope of snagging myself a commission. I value the relationships I have built through this blog and I’d prefer to think of you all as part of the StandOutBlogger family!

   So, since you are now part of the family, I wanted to let you know where we are heading so you can know what to expect over the coming 12 months -and hopefully if you havn’t already, it will encourage you to subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of it! Because it will be exciting!!!

2. To Keep Me Accountable
   I could easily write up some goals and keep them to myself, but where is the accountability? I have found when I have done this I will get to the end of the period of time, not be anywhere near meeting my goals and when somebody would ask me how my goals went, I’d reply, ‘Yea good, I think I hit most of them’. (Just being honest)

   Putting my goals out in the open, where you all can see – and check back on when I post my results at the end of next year, will make sure there is no, ‘Yea good, I think I hit most of them’. Instead I will have to give exact answers.

3. To Keep Me Motivated
   Some people don’t seem to get motivated by written goals, but this is usually because they are not written in the right way. If you stick to the SMART goal setting formula you are sure to come away with goals that will keep you pumped all year long!

   I am the type of person that gets sidetracked really (i mean REALLY) easily, and I lose drive for a project just as quick – so staying motivated is always one of my biggest challenges, but I am sure these goals will have me excited :D (You will be too when you read them!)

StandOutBlogger Goals For 2009

I have categorise my goals into 4 categories:

• Statistics
  This will be were I set goals for all the typical ways bloggers seem to measure themselves by. Including RSS, Technorati, Alexa and unique visitors.
• Product
  This will look at goals I set that are ways to piggyback off the blogs success. So I will look at StandOutBlogger Underground and product creation.
• Profit
  While I havn’t really focused on making money from SOB in the last 6 months (I still have though), I think it’s about time I get a little bit more serious about it. I will not only set a monetary figure, but also be creating goals on the methods I will use to make that money.

So I’ll stop stalling and get straight into my goals for 2009…

Statistic Goals

• RSS Subscribers (Current 718) Goal: 2,500
• Alexa (Current 110,050) Goal: 60,000
• Technorati (18,103) Goal: 10,000
• Unique Visitors (Between 280-380/day) Goal: 1,000

I will increase my statistics to the goals I have set above by the end of 2009 by the following techniques:

• Creating At Least 3 Quality Posts Per Week
• Continually Adding To The Feeds In My Feed Reader When I Find Blogs That I Enjoy Reading – And Commenting Each Of Their New Posts That I Believe I Can Add Value Too.
• Focus on SEO, and building search engine traffic by having SE friendly titles, and keyword density.
• Providing a unique voice that visitors cannot find elsewhere.

I Aim To Build My Statistics To Meet The Above Goals For The Purpose Of:

• Increasing my influence and reach by expanding my my daily reader base.
• Build my credibility as a blogger
• Creating a community of bloggers that are focused on developing blogs that ‘Stand Out’ from the crowd.
• Create a strong platform to launch exclusive products for bloggers.

Product Goals

• StandOutBlogger Underground
  StandOutBlogger Underground is the email newsletter for this blog. This is linked quite closely to my new Information Product, as I will be creating the info product and sending it piece by piece (as I create it) to SOB Underground Subscribers. I am aiming to have 500 Underground Subscribers by the end of 2009 – I currently have 41.

  I will gain new readers using the following methods:

  • My Aweber Lightbox Popup
  • Promoting Underground and It’s Benefits In My Posts
  • Providing  Fantastic Incentives To New Subscribers
• Blog Redesign
  You blog design needs to do so much more than just look pretty, it needs to be a converting, selling and SEO machine. While this design has served very well, there are a lot of features that I would love to see included as well make it more efficient.

  I will redesign SOB by the end of July 2009, to increase conversion and monetization, while making it easier for visitors to find and read information.
  

• Information Product
  I am currently in the process of starting the creation of my first comprehensive information product. This product will be a course on ‘How To  Successfully Launch A Blog’.  If you are a member of SOB Underground, you would have already started to receive initial drafts of it.

  As part of this information product I will be launching a brand new blog from scratch and journalling the strategies and results – so subscribe to SOB Underground to get this product for free.

  I will have this product ready to launch in the second half of 2009!

Profit Goals

• Private Ad Sales And Paid Reviews
  I will be making over $500 a month from both private ad sales and paid reviews by the end of 2009. This will be achieved by:
  • Having increased statistic = higher valued adspace
  • Actively marketing my free adspots and paid reviews on my blog
  • Contacting potential advertisers inviting them to advertise on SOB
  • Frequently use Sponsored Reviews to find potential paid reviews.
• Affiliate Sales
  Including affliate income from both the SOB blog and SOB Underground, I will be making over $300 a month from affiliate sales, using a range of affiliate programs such as:
  • More Niche (Free $20 for each new affiliate signup)
  • Pepperjam Network – Sign Up for Pepperjam Network and Get a $10 Sign On Bonus
  • Clickbank
  • PayDotCom
  • Elegant Themes (17 Amazing Premium WordPress Themes For Only $19.95)
• New Blog Income
  I will create a new blog that will have a monthly income of $500 by the end of 2009, using list building, affiliate marketing and Google adsense for monetization.
• Information Product Sales
  The above mentioned blog launch information product will be making over $1000 in sales a month by the end of 2009.
  • This income will include affiliate commissions.
• Total Income Goal by End 2009
  I will be making a minimum of $2,300 a month from blogging and blogging related products by the end of 2009, using the methods listed above.

I have a whole lot of stuff install for StandOutBlogger in 2009, so make sure you subscribe, and become active – and let’s grow our blogs together this coming year!

If you have posted about your goals for 2009, I’d love for you to leave a link to them in the comments below!

I’ve Taken A Few Detours

I remember growing up and all through high school, not knowing what I wanted to do with my life. There were so many choices, and so many possibilities. One week I was set on becoming a scientist, the next I was sure the career path I would follow would be that of an optometrist – then it change to business.

When I finished high school I enrolled in a Bachelor of Biomedical Science – which I did one year of before decided that science wasn’t for me. The next year I completed the first year of a Bachelor of Business, but got frustrated with the fact that all they taught me to do was work for someone else – when I wanted to learn how to start my own business.

After that I started a Diploma of Financial Services with the intent of getting into stock broking, but before I could finish that course I was offered a Traineeship in Real Estate Sales – which I took. At the end of the traineeship I decided that sales wasn’t for me and started working for my dad, building houses – which is what I have been doing for the last 12 months.

Why Am I telling You This?

Because not everyone is able to slip straight into their lifelong career right from high school, sometimes we take detours and other times we have things to learn before we are ready.

It takes a while for us to find out who we are, what we are meant to do and how we are meant to go about doing it. The funny thing is that we never usually end up where we think we will!

I remember when I was growing up, EVERYONE I knew thought I was going to be a scientist, doctor or in some other medical related field. I was smart, I read nonstop, I was interested in it and studied it in my personal time – but as I got older I started to grow and develop. To search and to learn. And I ended up in a totally different (not right or wrong – just different) spot than myself and everyone watching my life had expected.

It Is The Same With Our Blogs

When ever I start a blog, I have it all planned out. The theme, the content, the style. I have a mental picture of how I expect it to look in 6-12 months time. But just like with our lives – it never turns out like we expect!

Looking back at the last 6 months of this blog, I have seen it go through stages of growth as well as times of staleness. I have watched myself change the way I blog and tweak the way I convey my thoughts.

I have tried:

• List Posts
• Tutorials
• Motivational Posts
• Competitions
• Video Blogging

And I am sure some of you would by now be thinking ‘ just go ahead and choose your blogging style already.’

But what I am doing now is exactly what I did as I was growing up – I am finding myself and my blogging style. I am seeing what works and what doesn’t in the purpose of finding myself in the midst of millions of other bloggers, and in the process – setting myself apart.

In the last 6 months I have noticed a few things that I have learnt about finding your own unique blogging style that I hope will help you in the pursuit of finding yours. read this entry »