2018 Blog Goals

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The 2018 blog goals post is the last of the end-of-year/beginning-of-year posts. But this is one you helped write. 

Seriously….thank you to everyone who filled out the 2017 Reader Survey! Here are all the things you told me, and all the things I learned:

• What topic(s) do you enjoy reading about most on sarahkayhoffman.com? The top 3+ were:
  1. Gut Health and Healing
  2. General Wellness
  3. Adoption
  4. Following close behind were: everyday life, fitness and workouts, and safer skincare 
• What NEW topics would you like to see? Various responses included: Chronic Illness / Autoimmune, Fitness, More gut-related blog posts, but recipe blog posts and more blog posts related to what “I’m loving lately,” or what ” I’m eating lately,” Do you Garden?, Hormones, Business, More on foster care process and tips, More specific diet recipes (AIP, low FODMAP, etc), how your habits change once your stomach issues are in control and are able to keep them in control, Journaling, How do you do a process of food elimination to find out what ails your body?, Healthy family recipes, Anything health and hormone healing!, product reviews, work-life balance, Safer cleaning products, Safer cookwear, and Life after foster care. 
• Would you enjoy a series on 101-days of change? 95% of you said, “Yes.”
• What EXISTING topics would you like to see more of? Various responses included: Everyday…How you have so much energy, Faith, Adventures with kids, Home, adoption, raising kids, Natural supplements/ideas for daily detox lifestyle, Food, recipes, snapshots, More info on what owning your own online business is like, Low FODMAP combined with egg-free recipes, Family and parenting, How you manage life, true ways you struggle as a foster mom and how you overcome, Gut health and healing, low fodmap meals :), Feeding kids!, Recipes, homemade products, Fitness, food, topics on eating better for your gut, Workouts, everyday recipes – quick and easy, gut healing without taking drugs, Hormones, General Wellness, Gluten and dairy free recipe ideas, foster adoption, Raising multiple children, SIBO, Everyday life with kids, and skincare. 
• Do you enjoy recipes? 93% of you said, “Yes.”
• If you enjoy recipes, what kind of recipes are you most interested in for 2018? The top 3+ were:
  1. Paleo
  2. Low-FODMAP
  3. Gluten Free
  4. Following close behind were: Instant Pot, Whole30, Vegetarian/Vegan, and sugar-free 
• Are you interested in workout-related posts? If so, what types of information/content as it relates to workouts and fitness? Various responses included: General workout plans/safe workouts for joint health, etc., What is working vs. what didn’t for you, Workout plans (right touch mix of cardio/strength/yoga) to maintain proper cortisol, etc., Working out while managing IBS, Strength Training, Gut health & working out when you have tummy conditions, What are some of the workouts you do or other plans you follow? I know you just did a post on one of the plans, but do you use any others or watch youtube channels or anything like that?, Weight workouts are always great, Workout routines/schedules, Yoga, Balancing fitness/family life, Balancing cardio and strength, I am interested in workouts for people with limitations; such as, bad knees/back areas, Getting and staying motivated, Getting the most out of short workouts, WOD and form cues, Sample workouts from time to time; fitness trends and related products…., Quick workouts for new moms, How YOU workout and how to workout while healing adrenal fatigue, Cardio alternatives, Apartment-friendly workouts, The balance between balancing hormones and staying fit, Ways to get started working out in a consistent way that doesn’t get me discouraged too quickly, How did you build up to your fitness level? For those of us still sick and starting out. 

So, with that, here are my 2018 blog goals.

2018 Blog Goals 

1. New E-Books. There are so many e-books I’d love to produce, but for this year I am only focused on getting two released: The Gutsy Girl’s Bible: an approach to healing the gut 3.0 and How to Make Bone Broth in the Instant Pot.
2. Broken Links. I began doing this some in 2016 and continued doing it in 2017, but the project is still not complete because there are so many posts on my blog at this point. To date, I have published 1,546 posts, and yet there are about 500 of those that are still not on good terms with Google. My goal is to continue working on them in order to finish up the project.
3. 101 Days of Blogging. The last time I did this challenge was in 2015 towards the end of the year. My intentions were good in wanting to do it in 2016 and 2017, but it never happened. The timing was never right, and I never felt like I had a good topic/theme for a 101-day series. But now I do. Now I definitely do. Change. It’s something I’m experiencing hardcore, and I’d guess you are, too, since 95% of you said you’d love a series on it. It starts this upcoming Monday, and I’ll be here on Sunday to share more about the series with you. Stay tuned! This goal will be accomplished by end of April.
4. Update old posts that have value, but are buried. Because this blog has over 1,500 posts now, so many of the posts are completely buried. Many of those posts are still relevant and could have value for your life now. In fact, so many of your comments on things you’d love to see in 2018 have already been addressed, but again, they are buried. I’d like to update those posts and bring them to life again.
5. Gravel Roads. I will continue working on my book, Gravel Roads. In 2017, I sort of laid out how I wanted the book to be structured. You can see it HERE. Truth be told, I have no idea when or how this will be published, but I really enjoy working on it…..the full, real and raw stories that have made up my life.
6. Continue the blog’s financial growth. In her New Year’s Resolutions list this week on Facebook, a friend listed one of her resolutions to, “Unfollow those that are primarily on social media to sell me something.” (I agree with her, and am going to do the same.) I have been thinking about this so much because I never want to be that person who is “selling something,” and yet, the reality is that my blog is a part of my business and I do make money from it. I have always been transparent with you about all the ways this blog makes money, and in 2017 the ways the blog made money grew exponentially with the addition of new brand partnerships and Beautycounter namely. I have no intentions of slowing the growth down in 2018 and here’s why. The more money this blog brings in, the more I am able to give back (yes, I am currently looking for a new cause to partner with – thoughts?!) and the more content and information I am able to deliver to you – for free. I have spent hundreds and thousands of hours researching, writing, and producing content that I think will help you in some way, shape, or form. If all you ever did was consume information on my blog vs. spending a single penny with me, that would be okay. Honestly. And while I would write for free because it’s my passion, having the income to go above and beyond is that cherry on top.
7. Your topics. And finally, I have all the topics you said you’d like to read about written down now on my “future content planning calendar.” My goal is to hit as many as possible and/or re-surface old posts that address the needs. 

2018 is my year to Embrace Change and because I opted to not create a huge “goals” list, I truly want to spend the year writing here and creating all the things for you.

In return, all I ask is that you continue sending me requests and ideas for things you’d love to see me write about and/or create (HERE). I’d also ask that you share this blog with anyone and everyone you think might enjoy it. You can click HERE to share it on Facebook with family and friends.

And finally, I’d ask that you simply enjoy this blog for anything and everything it might be to you. I have truly enjoyed getting to know more of you this past year, and am looking forward to even more in 2018.

p.s. Congrats to Carrie, who was contacted, for winning (from the 2017 Reader Survey) the Beautycounter item of her choice (up to $35 value). I should do more giveaways like this in 2018, yes?!

Xox,
SKH