The 31 Day Challenge

Starting next week, I'm going to be taking part in the "31 Days to Build a Better Blog" Challenge. This means I'll probably be posting much more often than usual, and I don't know how relevant the posts will be to my normal format, but we'll see. I wanted to go ahead and let my readers know that, and take this opportunity to do the pre-challenge checklist.

The first thing that needed to be done was installing a metrics program. I already have Google Analytics on both of my blogs, so that was already done.

The second was to invite a friend to join me in participating, for accountability purposes. My husband and I are both participating (he'll be launching a new blog through this program, so stay tuned). Check.

The third one is a little more work. It asks me to perform a SWOT analysis of my blog (I am using this one and not my other one, just for clarification). SWOT has 7 steps, so here we go.

1) Define your Mission/Goals. Well, this is an entertainment blog. There's an emphasis on television (evidenced by Mondays) and fun webtools (Fridays), and I also cover other things that amuse me.

2) Blog Strengths. Well, the fact that I dedicate certain days to continuing series is a strength. That way, if you only want to read about television, you can count on a new entry every Monday. Another strength (which I've been slacking on lately) is the inclusion of images and videoclips to illustrate entries. I really think that I'm offering interesting tidbits not found elsewhere on a single websource. I also have a lot of suggested blogs for others to read, helping promote blog traffic.

3) Blog Weaknesses. Well, sometimes my mid-week posts are too random to be entertaining to everyone. I don't always publish at the same time of day. I have a difficult time gaining a steady readership since I don't focus on one thing... perhaps I'd have more loyal readers if I focused on television OR internet antics, since many people don't have interest in both. My title is kinda lame, and it was only meant as a placeholder when I started, but I never updated it.

4) My Blog's Opportunities. I do have a couple friends who list my blog in their "blog list" and I think I've gotten a few hits from those. My other blog references this one from time to time, most recently about my airport entry. When I comment on other blogs, I include a link back to his blog. Wow, I guess I need to find more opportunities.

5) My Blog's Threats. I don't know of another blog covering my television series (past or future), but there are many, many blogs out there that review webtools and programs. I do not use AdSense or AdWords because of a conflict of interest, which could be holding my blog back a little. I don't use a lot of technologically-advanced tools on this blog, mostly because other blogs I read don't, so I'm not too familiar with them. Television has a season, which is coming to an end... so while I don't often discuss "current television," I am probably preparing to take a hit in readers because television is not at the forefront of interest during the late Spring and Summer months.

6) Reflections and Strategies. Well, I can utilize my strengths by using images and videos more often, and I should par down my "blog roll" because people are more likely to click on a few links instead of a dozen. I can help fix my weaknesses by changing the blog's name, publishing more regularly, and considering focusing on a more specific topics as a whole. I can make more out of my opportunities by asking the authors of other blogs I read to include a link to mine. I can fend off a few threats by continuing to write in a niche that is not frequently covered elsewhere, and reviewing some of the latest eye-catching things in other blogs and figure out how to incorporate them into mine.

7) Make an Action Plan. Okay, let's see. First off, I could make an improvement by changing the title. Since I generally just do whatever I want on Fridays, I should stop that and write more about television. Maybe Fridays I can write about that week's shows, since I do watch a lot of tv. Stepping away from three focuses is a great idea, although I'm not sure I could write 3+ blogs per week on it, so that will have to be worked on. I'll make it a point to include at least one image or videoclip per entry. And that's good for now. :)