2008 Blog Goals for Cash Money Life

I began Cash Money Life in March of 2007. I started it because I enjoyed reading personal finance blogs and I thought I might have something to offer to the community.

In the past 9 months, I have learned a lot about personal finance, blogging, networking, advertising, running a part time business, and more importantly, I have made some great friends.

When I first started my site, I had no expectations about how many subscribers or visitors I could receive. I knew very little about blogging, and it was mostly an experiment for me. I had a lot of growth and success with Cash Money Life in 2007, and I would like to share a few of my blog related (non-personal finance) goals for 2008.

I have a much better idea now of what it takes to successfully run a website, and based on my newfound knowledge, I have made the following goals:

• Continue to publish useful and quality content. This is the focus and goal of my blog. I love being able to give people useful information free of charge that can have an impact on their lives. I usually post Monday – Friday, and a round-up of other personal finance articles and other information on Saturdays. And on the 7th day… I rest.
• Continue working closely with the members of the M-Network. I have recently been added to the M-Network lineup and I love working with this group of bloggers. One of the great things about working with this group of bloggers is the group writing projects. It’s great to bring several perspectives to the same topic.
• Publish more guest posts on other blogs. This past year I published guest articles at Five Cent Nickel and Moolanomy. Ideally, I would like to do 1 guest post per month, but I will do them as my schedule allows, and as other bloggers are able to find the space for one of my articles.
• Improve the design and usability of my website. I have changed themes once before, and while I think it was a substantial improvement, I think my current version is a little cluttered. I will try to make this site easier on the eyes, easier to use, and less cluttered. I fully admit though – design is not my strong point!
• Increase daily subscribers. I truly appreciate everyone who subscribes to Cash Money Life. It is nice to know people want to read my site everyday. There are currently approximately 350 subscribers to Cash Money Life. I would like to reach 1,000 by the end of 2008. My stretch goal is 1,500.
• Increase daily visitors. Traffic started very slowly on this site. Lately, it has grown and I hope it continues to do so. In December, this site averaged just over 550 unique visitors per day. I would like to finish the year with an average of 1,000 unique visitors per day. That means I have to double my current traffic levels, but I think that is very possible. I had 42,000 visitors in 2007, in 2008, I would like to end the year with around 300,000.
• Increase blogging income. Making money on the side is a great benefit from running my own website. It took several months before I saw any income, but I have been able to earn a few hundred dollars per month. I have no designs on quitting my day job, but I enjoy having the opportunity to earn money on the side. My goal is to earn $500 per month in 2008. My stretch goal is to earn a total of $10,000. This will take a lot of work, and a lot of luck.

Thank you to everyone who helped me get Cash Money Life to where it is now. Without your help and support, none of this would have been possible. Happy New Year, and I hope you can accomplish all of your goals in the coming year!

Photo credit: claudia meyer.

Tagged as: blogging, Goals