Blogging goals and reading goals for 2022

Hey everyone and welcome to Owl Book World! Today I’m talking about my blogging goals and reading goals for 2022. I’m hoping to use this as a way to hold myself accountable with my blog. I’ve been blogging for three years now and there’s a part of me that feels like it’s going nowhere. Don’t get me wrong I do want blogging to be fun. But I also want to be able to grow and make money for it. Making money from book blogging is such a touchy subject within the community. I don’t get why making money with it is such an issue because we put so much work into it. Bloggers put a lot of work into what they do. And we basically promote things for free while others are paid for their work.

That’s beside the point though. I want to build a community with my blog. I also want to make friends with those who read the same thing as me. After all of these years, I still feel like I’m not really connecting with other bloggers. I just hope I can strive for it! Granted not really connecting with others is partly my fault. I struggle to find a good balance between working on my blog and spending time with my family. This hinders me actually connecting with others on social media. This year it’s time to do better and be better.

So, here are my blogging goals for 2022

Create a blogging/reading schedule

Creating a schedule is one blogging goal that I have to work on in 2022. Finding a schedule that works for me and that can work around my husband and son has been so hard. If I don’t try to keep up some sort of schedule then I end up doing too much in a little time frame. It doesn’t help that if I don’t stay on schedule then I lose focus on everything. Then I try doing way too many tasks at once and wind up overwhelming myself. I’m not even going to count how many times this has happened this year alone.

I want my tiny little book blog to succeed and to be better. When I started I had set out for this and it’s time to put my all into it.

Work smarter not harder

So I include work smarter not harder to my blogging goals because I have apparently been doing it wrong. Why do I think that? I’m pretty much always on my computer or my phone trying to figure out what blog post to do. Then I get distracted on figuring out what day should I post on. Or I’m trying to figure out how I get more views and a whole bunch of other stuff.

I have come to realize that I’m constantly on my electronics figuring out how to do better. Nine times out of ten I always end up getting distracted by a game or TikTok. It’s either me getting sidetracked or overloading myself with different types of information. When I do this I don’t know where to put my focus. This kind of focuses on creating a schedule as well. If I wrote down tasks to do each day then I probably wouldn’t be in this position. But I need to learn how to prioritize what I do and limit the number of tasks I do each day.

One of my blogging goals is to stop this and get my blog and tasks in order. This past year (maybe even two) I have felt really stretched. Trying to keep my blog up, reading, social media, and being a mom makes me feel like I’m trying to do too much in a small amount of time. At times I feel guilty putting the focus on my blog when I should be spending time with my son. Hopefully, I can find a schedule where I can accomplish my goals and do more with my son.

Work on getting views up to 4,000 per month

I have been stuck on the lower end of views for the past year. Now I’m scratching my head a bit on what exactly I’m doing wrong. Am I not posting enough? Are my posts not doing well with SEO? Or are my posts just not searched for that often? So in 2022, I want one of my blogging goals to be getting my views up to 4,000. I know everyone says to not worry about the numbers and in a way they are right.

If you want to earn money from then you kind of need to worry about the numbers a little bit. Just don’t obsess over it. I have seen so many bloggers obsess over their views and ultimately give up on it because they aren’t where they want to be. Instead, let it work in your favor. See what you can improve on. Learn from other successful people and actually try to put your best foot forward.

There has been a lot of self-doubts when it comes to blogging and I have been contemplating giving up. I know I know I should be doing it for fun and in a way I am. Being told to blog for fun is such a frustrating comment because blogging is expensive. Yes, I want blogging to be fun but I also want this to be my “business”. I’m a stay-at-home mom and I would love to earn a little bit of income since putting my son in daycare scares me.

So, my blogging goal is to work my way up to 4,000 views per month and get my name out there.

Learn how to grow my Facebook

Facebook has been a struggle ever since I started my blog. I refuse to pay to promote my Facebook page because I’ve done a free promotion through them and it didn’t get me anywhere. So, I’m hoping to grow my Facebook to around 300 or 400 follows. I just need to figure out a way to accomplish that. I’m just hoping that if I do grow it to that amount then the people who follow me will be more active. It’s so hard to get any sort of interaction on there.

If you’re wanting to follow me on Facebook you can find me here.

Start YouTube channel (and grow to 500)

Starting a YouTube channel is something I’m kind of debating on. So I guess I should say that my blogging goals for this is to actually start it. I have never been good in front of a camera. On top of that there are way too many mean people out there in the world. I’m hoping in the next couple of weeks to start doing a little bit of research as to what videos to make, work on my facial expressions, and work on talking in front of a camera.

I know I could potentially just throw myself in and learn as I go but that’s also what I did with blogging and that’s not exactly going very well. Over the years I have accomplished a lot but I’m nowhere near where I want to be. I expected to be much further along and making a little bit of income. I’m going to use 2022 to track my growth and if I’m not down the path where I want to be towards this time next year then I may throw in the towel.

Hopefully, I can use YouTube to actually grow and make new connections! I’ve already created the channel but haven’t posted anything on it. If you’d like to follow me then you can find me here.

Increase Twitter to 4,000

Growing to 4,000 on Twitter isn’t that much of a stretch. At least not for all of 2022. I’m just a little over a thousand away from that. At some point, I’m going to look into doing automatic tweets randomly throughout the day just to make things easier on myself. This way I can put more focus into other things and still make a contribution to my social media. If you want to follow me on Twitter you can follow me here.

Increase Instagram to 1,500

So I’m debating if I’m going to work on my following on Instagram or not. Instagram is the one social media I completely hate and seems to drain a lot out of me. I don’t exactly know why but I think a part of it has to do with so many accounts following just to unfollow. On top of that, I don’t really know how to sit back and relax with it. I’ve become a perfectionist and feel like I’m not good enough on that particular social media. If I can get my mindset to shift a little then I might try working on it again.

You can find me here if you’re want to follow me on Instagram.

Increase TikTok to 1,500

TikTok is another thing I’m debating on. I’m not great at coming up with skits. That’s a weak point for me so I don’t know if I’ll stick with it at all. I might do some research on what I can do and grow with it. I also need to figure out what kind of videos to make.

So why are a few of my blogging goals to grow on social media? No, we really shouldn’t depend on social media to get views in on the blog but why bother growing it? A lot of companies actually look at your social media in order to figure out if they want to work with you. Why? I’m not exactly sure because the focus should really be about your blog, your views, and if readers are reading your posts. Even though Social Media doesn’t always help with your blog a lot of companies seem to rely on them more than your blog itself. So I’m hoping to grow my social media presence and hopefully look into companies I can work with.

Make money off of my blog

When I first started my book blog I had hopes of making money off of it. I was pregnant with my son and accepted that I was going to be a stay-at-home mom. But the idea made me unhappy in a way. Don’t get me wrong I want to be home with my son. I love him and I like being here with him. What makes me unhappy is not having an income coming in. Which is why I started my blog. When I started I didn’t realize how taboo making money with book blogging actually was. You know what though, we deserve to make money with this. Unless you’re treating it as a hobby blogging winds up being a full-time job and takes up so much time. With book blogging, it can at times be a lot longer because we have to actually read the books.

So, I’m adding this to my blogging goals so I can keep track of it. Hopefully, by the end of the year, I’ll be making more than mere cents off of it.

Write a book(s)

Ever since I was in school I have always wanted to write. AT that point I loved doing it. When I was younger I was able to come up with some great ideas. But I lacked confidence in finishing what I started. Unfortunately, I did a lot of writing and then self-doubt popped up and wound up making me not want to finish the book at all. I want to nip that in the bud and finally accomplish something that I have always wanted to do. I don’t want to wind up being in my sixties or seventies and regret not doing the things I wanted because I was afraid of failure. By then it will ultimately be my fault because I suck at pushing myself. In 2022 I want that to change. I want to be happy and gain confidence in the things that I do.

Grow mailing list

Why am I adding growing my mailing list as a part of blogging goals for 2022? Growing my mailing list is essential to growing my blog. This is something I didn’t really include when I first started my blog and I kind of want to kick myself for that. Why is a mailing list so important? It’s because updating posts and tweaking them a little is a necessity when it comes to blogging.

When you do this then how are your readers going to know when you update something? Yes, there are your social medias but if you’ve been doing this a while you will realize that social media isn’t that reliable. Not only are they not reliable you don’t really want to depend on them to get your views. If you do your posts will get lost in the loads of other posts that go up. So, mailing lists (along with SEO) are a much more reliable thing to depend on in order to get the views.

Learn how to make affiliate sales

It seems like affiliate sales are a really taboo subject for some and for others they just really don’t know what they are. I’m adding this to my blogging goals because this could be a good way to get a little bit of income in. If you don’t really know what affiliate sales are here is a brief explanation of it. A lot of bloggers are a part of the Amazon affiliate program (including myself) and when we include links through Amazon we will get a small portion of the sale at no extra cost to you. There’s no extra fee in there that you’ll have to pay or anything. But a small amount of what you do pay will go towards the blogger.

Affiliate sales are a part of making money through my blog. Affiliate marketing is something I really really struggle with. I am an affiliate with Amazon and Bookshop. If you’re not sure what bookshop is then make sure to check out my post about it here. I know you don’t exactly make a lot through affiliate links especially when it comes to books but it’s something. Not only is it something but once you figure out exactly what you’re doing then it’s an easy way to get a little bit of income in and every little bit helps.

I’m hoping that this will be a way to improve my writing, improve what I talk about, therefore improving my views and affiliate sales.

Guest Post

When I first started blogging I didn’t think that you would technically have to work with others. Part of the reason I wanted to start a book blog is so I could eventually make money, but I also didn’t really want to work with others. Why? I use to love making new friends and did so pretty easily. Now as an adult I don’t have such an easy time with it.

With my last job and half the people there being really catty and petty has made me not really want to work with others. It’s not that I don’t work well with others but more or less worried about how others think of me. I think if those I worked with at my last job wouldn’t have been so cruel then things would have been a little different. Now I just need to work on myself and how that affected me.

I have noticed that a lot of people in the book blogging community are a lot nicer and would be nicer to work with.

Create Patreon

Can book bloggers really even create a Patreon? I’m adding this as a part of my blogging goals even though I’m not fully sure if I’ll get to it this year or what I would even include.

This depends on if I can get much of a following through my blog and some of my social media. This is another way to earn a little bit of money since there are some who like reading (or looking at pictures) behind the scenes of what we do and how we prepare. Some like getting a sneak peek of what’s going to happen within the next week or the next month. So I’m hoping I can create a community in the horror community for this sort of thing. It’s something I want to work on but I have always found it hard to fit in a community. Something I want to work on personally this year.

Stop procrastinating

Procrastinating is something I have struggled with since I was in school. Now a little over ten years later nothing has really changed. I still procrastinate and then blame my surroundings for things I’m not able to get done. A bad habit that I really want to change. I not only want to instill better habits in myself but I want to be a better example for my son. I do not want him to go through what I did in high school and wait until the last minute to do major projects only to cry it out until I was able to get it completed. It starts with me and I only want to make things better for him.

Plan out blog posts

I’m including planning out posts as one of my blogging goals because, in the end, it helps.

Since I do have a three-year-old that I don’t put in daycare I want to be more organized. I want to be able to get out blog posts, read, and treat this like a job. But I also want to have family time with my son because that’s obviously important. So in 2022, I want to be more organized and make things easier on myself, and still have a bit of family life.

Find ways to improve

One of my major blogging goals for 2022 is to improve. Always improve. Do better with life, family, and blogging. I want to make the most out of everything. I’m also tired of the negative self-talk I have been doing for years. It’s time to stop being disappointed with the outcome of things and take matters into my own hands. Instead of complaining about things I can control I want to take matters into my own hands. I’m setting myself up for failure because I already think I’m going to fail.

I’m tired of setting myself up for failure because a part of me is scared of succeeding. Why? I feel like if I do succeed with blogging then it’s not going to live up to my expectation which in turn leaves me disappointed. Yes, I know. I need to slap myself in the face for that. It’s time to become a better me and a better blogger.

Reading Goals:

Read 100 books

Every year I make my goal to read 100 books. I actually accomplished that this year but I have also been listening to a lot of audiobooks. They help out A LOT because I can listen to them doing some of the most mundane things and I can listen while I’m working on certain things. It helps out a lot but I do need to start reading some of my physical books. They have accumulated up so much since I’ve started book blogging because you know readers have to try and read everything. I want to get that narrowed down by a lot because it’s really bothering me.

lower TBR

As I stated in the last goal I have accumulated a lot of books and I’m tired of it. I’m hoping this year will be the year I get it down by a lot. It’s overwhelming and I feel like I have little time for anything else.

Stop requesting ARCs and get ARC TBR down

In 2021 I request A LOT of ARCS (advanced reading copies) of books that I really wanted to read. I still really want to read them but for this past year, I’ve been in a rut. A rut with reading, a rut with my blog, a rut with everything in life. I’m really hoping I can change within these last few days of 2021 and into 2022. It’s going to be a struggle I know because I’m bad at motivating myself and pushing myself. Because of that, I end up being one of the statistics of those who give up on their goal within the first month. Hopefully, I can make my goals a little bit more manageable and work through them.

Learn to speed read

I have always wanted to learn to speed read. My husband always says that I’m already a fast reader but really I’m not. He just doesn’t read (I know I know how dare he) so the fact that I’m able to get done with a book in less than a week to him is a fast reader. But lately, it has been taking me weeks to actually get done with a physical or ebook. I blame that with me being in a rut and ultimately being unorganized. I suck at prioritizing so when I’m reading I realize that there are other things or books I really need to get to. This leads me to get distracted and not pick the book up very much.

So, where does speed reading come into play? Speed reading will help me get to all of the ARCS I have accumulated and will lead me to get to my physical books and ebooks.

Read a book out of my comfort zone

Most of the books that I read are thrillers and horror. I love them and there’s nothing wrong with reading them. But I also want to start reading books that are a bit out of my comfort zone. I’m hoping this will lead to me finding another genre I actually might like but have been putting on the back burner. Life is too short to limit yourself to the books you read.

Read a book on self-improvement

Reading books on self-improvement is pretty self-explanatory. I want to work on myself and grow. This is going to be my way of gaining confidence in what I do. I want to feel confident in myself and stop doubting the things that I do and how I do them. I’m tired of questioning myself, then trying to do better only to halfway do things because a part of me is scared of succeeding.

I’m not only wanting to do better about self-confidence though. I want to organize my life and my priorities. Since I can’t seem to stay on top of things I feel like this is the reason why I start procrastinating. Granted it’s not only my organization skills but I try to do big projects in one big go. I’m hoping in 2022 I can learn to break things down into smaller projects so I’m not constantly trying to do things with my blog. I desperately need that to change.

Create reading journal

I’m actually in the process of creating a reading journal. Goodreads is a hassle on the mobile app and I want to create something that a bit descriptive. I’m hoping in 2022 and eventually 2023 to create more book-related lists that I think others would enjoy as well. As long as I can stick with it I’m hoping this will be my way of keeping track in more descriptive detail of what I’ve read and what subgenres they belong in. This will especially help considering I have a tendency to forget what I’ve read.

I hope this post helps anyone who is wanting to create blogging goals for 2022. I know creating them can sometimes be hard. In a way it was hard for me as well. If you’re creating blogging goals let me know in the comments because maybe we can use this to help push each other in accomplishing what we want!