How to create a 12-month blog plan and crush it

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If you’re reading this, you’re probably curious about how to make money blogging. Or, you already have one, but you’re stuck and have no idea what your next move is. No blog plan whatsoever.

Back then, blogging was just a hobby, an online diary. As time goes, it has become a lucrative business. If you provide information and solve other people’s problems, that’s where the money comes in. 

If you choose this path as a career/business, a 12-month blog plan is a great way to start. The idea is:

To create your ultimate goal and divide it into actionable and realistic chunks.

Here are things you need to consider in creating your 12-month blog plan.

1. What is your WHY?

Why do you want to start a blog that makes money?

Mine is: 

I want to help aspiring and new bloggers monetize their website, and work from home in my pajamas. 

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I have two dogs, Kuya and Bunso bringing joy and chaos into my home. They are clingy, especially Kuya. They have a short life span compared to ours. So if there’s a way for me to work and be with them all the time, I’d do it.

I provide content writing services since late 2015. It’s been my bread and butter ever since. But the essence of becoming a freelancer doesn’t start and end with offering services with clients. 

That was my wake-up call. 

I don’t want to be 100% service-based.

So, I gave birth to The Greatest (figuratively speaking). I want to create a blog that will help burnout freelance writers and income-seeking bloggers.

Therefore, do not start your 12-month blog plan, unless you are sure about your WHY?

Here are 3 questions to guide you:

What’s your purpose?

What do you want to achieve? 

What do you want to get in return?

Once you’re through answering these questions, that’s the only time you proceed with the How?

This step is crucial because you are going through a mindset shift. It will help you get through some tough times in your blogging journey.

2. Know how much money you need to run a blog

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I recently shared a diagram about paid and free tools that I use to run my blog. 

Obviously, when you’re starting out, investing in paid tools is something you will have to think twice.

It’s normal to place your bet if you’re 100% sure that the odds are in your favor. 

But your mind is playing tricks with you.

What if nobody wants to read my work?  

What if blogging is not art. I want to make art. Therefore, blogging is not for me.

What if my friends and family don’t support me? 

I cannot force myself to write consistently. 

I have a full-time job. I’m not sure if I still have time to blog.

These what-ifs are roadblocks for you to start blogging to make money. 

And if these roadblocks are stopping you to think clearly and focus on your goals, it means you’re not 100% committed yet. 

But if you think you’re ready to take your 12-month blog plan very seriously, find a way to monitor your business expenses. You can try these free apps:

Spendee

Wally

Seedly

Money Lover

Or you can use the oldie but the goodie Google sheet like mine. 

Having an expenses tracker in your blog plan allows you to:

• monitor the money that’s coming in and out of your blog
• be aware of how much money you need to invest per month/year
• know if you’re ready to hire people to scale your business
• know if you’re ready to register your blog as a stand-alone business and pay taxes

Start by Investing in basic needs. And by basic, I mean a domain name, and web hosting. 

That’s it. 

I got my domain name from Namecheap for just $8.88/year.

Meanwhile, my web hosting is from Interserver at $5/month. You can use my code Cherriebalictar when placing an order to get the first month of hosting for only 1 penny.

3. Divide your 12-month blog plan into actionable, realistic, and specific mini-goals

Sharing with you my 2020 goals for The Greatest. My IT-goal is to make at least $1000 per month by September. To achieve this, I used the Eisenhower matrix of Suzi Whitford of Start a Mom Blog to set priorities and action plans.

Now that my annual goal is set, it’s time to divide it into quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily goals.

4. STOP

Okay, number 3 is a lot of work already.

But the advantage of going through this process is for you to identify:

1. How much work needs to be done
2. How much time you need to accomplish every goal
3. To know if your goals are realistic enough 

In a recent blog post on my self-care blog, I mentioned a few career goals which have something to do with The Greatest. 

One is to revive my LinkedIn account. Turns out, my website is not really benefitting from it. So, I decided to set aside LinkedIn for now and focus on Pinterest instead.

5. Task management

For my 12-month blog plan, my weapons of choice are:

1. Notebooks
2. Whiteboard
3. Post-its 
4. Google drive
5. Trello

These tools allow me to monitor:

• Personal deadlines
• Expenses
• Scheduling of social media posts
• Review my analytics
• My progress and areas of improvement

Conclusion

Success comes with a price. So, if you’re 100% committed, this is the perfect time to manifest your goals and start shifting gears.

A 12-month blog plan is a road map for you to have a blog that makes money. Without it, you will be prone to disaster. You will lose interest, hope, and eventually, give up. 

But if you want to get jiggy with it, create a blog plan which will build a solid foundation. A skeleton that is solid as a rock. 

Lastly, do not fly too close to the sun, like Icarus. It’s okay to be ambitious. I don’t think it’s greed nor pride. But ones you get there, stay low. Be humble.