So how did I do in Q1?
1) I’d like to get 350 RSS. B- I did come close however. I had 322 subscribers on April 1. My origainl goal was 300 and I went with 350 at the last minute. I guess this is a comprimise.
2) I’d like to get at least 3 mentions from either major media outlets or Technorati Top 100. B. Technically, I did come close. I had an Entecard ad run on JohnChow.com and a link from Problogger.com. 2 for 3.
3) Get above 1,000 unique IPs per day. Fail. This was an unreasonable goal in comparison to my other ones. I ended up with about 500, which is in line with how everything else grew.
4) Get into the technorati top 60,000 A+. I crushed this. I’m actually in the top 15,000
5) Have the photo sites I listed previously up and running and bringing in some amount of AdSense revenue. C- I got the Goolge Earth site up and am working on a Smugmug site to sell prints.
6) Be at least the first two pages of search results for “Travel Blog” on Google. A- I did get on page 2, but it fluxuates. Sometimes it is on page 4 or 3.
7) Widen my lead on the Bloggers Choice Awards. C I actually lost my lead. However, I am still close. I think I’m behind by 4. It is just me and this guy running the Hostel from Buenos Aires.
I got a lot of attention from other travel blog awards which I didn’t set as goals, but is still pretty nice.
My goals for Q2 are going to be much more focused. Things like Google Rank I can’t do much about anymore. I’m not even sure that is the best keyword to focus on. Technorati rank will move on its own. I don’t need to focus on it.
1) 700 RSS subscribers to my blog. This is a bit more than a doubling, and wont be easy, but I think with a few spikes, it is doable.
2) 750 daily users on average. This is more realistic.
3) 500 Subscribers on iTunes. This would imply I actually get the podcast out the door.
4) Work on marketing and joint projects with other bloggers. This is sort of vague, but I think this can help me in many ways. I’ve only recently started talking to other travel bloggers. Most of them are in the business travel or travel industry niche, not the adventure and travelogue niche. For such a big industry, the community seems very fractured and small online. It is dominated by big corporate players.
5) Get written up in some non-internet source. I have no clue to make this happen. It is more a wish than anything else. I think this is necessary in the travel world, however.
Really, I just need to keep plugging away and keep doign what I’m doing. Find ways to improve and get better.
