What Are Your Goals For 2018? (Part 4)

Welcome to the final post in the series that sees Richard, Nick, Yassir and myself talk about our goals for the coming year. These kind of lists are everywhere in January – why should we miss out on the fun? Plus, there’s nothing wrong with a little accountability to hold our feet to the fire and start as we mean to go on. So, here’s some of what I’d like to get done before 2019 rolls around…

1) Read more, Write more

You’ll hear over and over again that if you want to be a writer, the two things you’ve got to do consistently are read and write.

I’ve written before about active reading, and this is still something I want to implement with greater effect into my own schedule.

To that end, Richard and myself decided to join the Bowie book club on Twitter, where Duncan Jones (David Bowie’s son) shares a monthly recommendation from his sadly late father’s gargantuan reading list for anyone who wants to read along. I also attend a local book club with my friend Kate.

That covers the reading. What about the writing?

Well, I’ve got a number of things in mind for the coming year that’ll force me to become a better writer, and write with more frequency. Things like: 

2) Finish the book I started 5 years ago

Yeah, I know. It’s shocking – a writer with an unfinished novel. Who’d have thought it? But it’s true, I do have one.

in 2013 I entered a book competition called search for a bestseller and sent in a synopsis and the first 10,000 words.

I didn’t get through to the next round of the competition, and didn’t write any more of the book.

But I still have the entire thing planned out and plotted (I did that just in case I won and had to write the rest of it) and I really want to make 2018 the year I crank it out and get it finished.

3) Exercise my creativity

One of the main reasons I decided to go into copywriting is because a lot of great lyricists and songwriters started out as copywriters.

I’m a little bit obsessed with the so-called ‘golden era’ of popular songwriting, which for all practical purposes I define as the 30 years between 1930 and 1960.

Songwriting is closely related to copywriting in a lot of ways – you’ve got to hook your audience, tell a compelling story, take them on an emotional journey and be as economic as possible while you do it.

It’s a very enriching and rewarding form of writing, and I’d like to seriously explore it as a creative outlet.

I’ve entered the UK Songwriting Contest in the past, but this year I plan to do so with a mind to making solid connections and immersing myself in the community.

4) Launch my niche website, my podcast, and my email list

That’s three things, but I’m counting it as one goal because it relates to the same thing – positioning.

Positioning is incredibly important because it helps you stand out from the crowd.

And in an age where the crowd is getting bigger every day, it’s no longer an option to simply do things in the same way as everyone else.

If you want to truly experience success, you need to spend time figuring out how to differentiate yourself – and then use that skill to develop your own audience.

That’s what I want to do this year, both with my niche website and upcoming podcast.

Out of that, I’d like to then develop an email list as a way to attract new clients and provide greater value.

I love the idea of connecting with an audience that’s unique to me and interested in what I have to say, and all the possibilities that holds. It’ll be a creative and challenging task for me to do pull off, but I’m more than ready to see how far I can take it.

5) Go to a networking event – in person

When so many things can be done remotely and online, it’s easy to forget that people exist in 3D in the real world, outside of the internet.

That’s why in 2018 I’d like to go to at least one offline networking event to meet other marketers and writers.

It could be the thing that leads to landing a huge client project or the start of a fruitful business relationship with somebody down the line.

Alternatively, I could find it really uncomfortable and never want to do it again but whichever it is, I’m committed to finding out.

6) Get my first white paper client

This one’s pretty straightforward. Ever since I decided to write professionally I’ve been convinced that white papers are the the kind of project that would suit me the most.

I know people go after them because you can charge more than standard blogging and content jobs, but I’m also interested in the long-form, persuasive, journalistic aspect involved in putting together a white paper.

That style of writing has always come naturally me, so it’d be great to get some client work in that area and see if my instincts about whether I’d enjoy and excel at it are correct. So, this year I’m going to pitch more companies that might need a white paper and work on a sample to show potential prospects.

And there you have it – my six goals for 2018, along with, of course, continuing to grow WriteWorldwide with Richard, Nick, and Yassir.

It’ll be interesting for us all to look back at the end of the year and see how we did!