Blog goals - Evaluating the Swiss audience in the UK
Darren, at ProBloggers, invites bloggers to share their blog goals on his website this week. This is the occasion for me to reveal a short list of the goals I would like to achieve with A Swiss in the UK.
Defining the goals of some project is a very difficult exercise in my opinion, but it is also crucial, as is sticking to those aims; in making my list as short as possible, I believe I can make sure I keep my few points in mind, as well as avoid confusing my readers.
1. Get familiar with blogging
You've got to start somewhere, haven't you? I thought I would give a go at my first blog recently, and couldn't think of a better subject to start with than my personal experience of moving country; there really is some material there, and various fields I would like to express myself about.
Besides, while my subject is quite specific because it is based on a single immigration experience, choosing a subject that I know very well and that has connections with my past, present and future, seems to be a relevant way to get started, and avoid the symptom of the white page.
2. Keep track of my steps while giving useful information
Talking about my personal experience wouldn't mean anything to me if it wasn't useful to at least one person. I have been through some legal, administration and emotional challenges since I moved in the UK (as you would expect), and I hope that sharing how I saw myself through those can be of some help for other people. I believe that hints and tips based on someone's personal experience is sometimes more useful than professional advice.
3. Evaluate the Swiss audience in the UK
Get feedback from people about social and cultural integration is something that highly interests me; I believe that there really is some effort to make when settling down in a foreign country, in order to create one's social network. I can imagine that some people find it easier than others, and one of the goals of this blog is to provide you with an overview of the immigration process from a social and personal point of view.
I also aim to introduce some reflexions about some ideas I have about the process of getting fluent in a second language, complying to social codes, or day to day communication.
By gathering comments from people who, I hope, will share their experience, I aim to be able to evaluate the Swiss audience in the UK.
4. Create the basis for future projects
I have some business project in mind I don't want to reveal quite yet, but for which I need to evaluate whether there is a demand for. This is actually the most technical purpose of my blog from my point of view, but I really can't wait to develop my own network and take my next step.
posted by kimson @ 3:34 pm
8 Comments:
"Talking about my personal experience wouldn't mean anything to me if it wasn't useful to at least one person."
You are absolutely right. Many times, in the blogging world, I come accorss with too many blogs in which writers only talk about their own personal experience that can have little interest to another person. They put a lot of effort for writing but unfortuately it goes without any feedback.
I have just one advice for you. Please allow posting annonymous comments. There are now many bloggers who do not have blogspot account and you will just miss their comments.
SouthAsiaBiz
Thank you for the advice Razib, very good point. I didn't realise I had this option... and made sure everyone can post comments!
How do you like the UK? Have you ever lived in Amsterdam? I'd like to go there some day. Canada, Amsterdam and Aussieland are places I would consider living outside the US.
Looks like you've got a niche audience. Might I suggest this tool www.nichebot.com and wordtracker to fine tune your niche. It will display what your potential customers are looking for (what they actually type in the search engine).
Hi elamb, thank you for suggesting me those links. I already use WordTracker, but I didn't know about nichebot.
No, I have never lived in Amsterdam, but I've been there twice and as far as I could see it looks like a very open-minded city (it is actually well known for that) and a nice place to live. It is also a place that attracts a lot of young European people, as far as I know.
I first came to the UK to learn English and because I was attracted by the culture, and ended up staying for two years now, and have no plans to move back to Switzerland, so I suppose I can say I like it! But I won't say too much about it, because I was planning to develop this point in a new post...
Why would you consider living outside the US?
Good idea for a blog. Since immigration is so common, it can be helpful to a lot of people.
In regards to elamb's comment: the US has a lot of different climates and the people in each part of the country are different. I've lived in Illinois, Colorado, Florida, and Pennsylvania. But looking at movies, the web, or listening to people talk, I still sometimes would like to see other parts of the world, especially Australia. After all, they have Crocodile Dundee, great post-apocalyptic movies like Mad Max, and Frodo lives in New Zealand.
Tongue out of cheek, it just looks pretty down there. I also wouldn't mind seeing Egypt and India.
It is joy to see such clear-headed goals. What is especially positive is to see that you don't have money as the main motivator. Although strong engine, money tends to run out and then you are at the mercy of passion and spirit. Hope you enjoy blogging.
Hi jarkko, thank you very much for your comment. I am glad you find my goals clear-headed, as I made a point of explaining myself as well as I could, and I don't find it easy...
Anyway, I haven't posted anything for a few days because I was off sick yesterday and don't have a computer at home, so my apologies for not comming back to you earlier.
I am going to post something new very quickly, as I've just ralised I forgot an essential point in my post about blog goals.
It seems to me that setting goals is extremely important, as you should know precisely what you want. Thus, motivation is always of great importance.
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