Today I’m continuing the series on blogging by sharing why and how I decided to create a mission statement and values for my blog.
I believe that as a blogger, particularly in the coupon/frugal living niche, it can become incredibly easy to just get carried along by what everyone else is posting and getting caught up in the daily grind of finding deals. It occurred to me late last year I didn’t want to become a passive blogger. Instead, I wanted to proactively chart my course as to what I wanted to be about. Ideally though, I should have taken this step much sooner.
My Mission Statement
When I started this series last week, I encouraged you to answer some questions about your blog, such as who is your audience and what you want to be about. If you’ve done this, creating a mission statement will be much less daunting.
Here’s mine:
The Coupon Project is a Pacific Northwest based coupon blog that aims to help everyday families save substantially on their groceries and household items by teaching them to combine coupons with sales and other promotions, both in store and online.
My mission statement is simple and clear. It states what I am (a Pacific Northwest based coupon blog), my goal (help everyday families save), and how I intend to do it (teaching them how to combine coupons with sales).
A mission statement does not need to be fancy or use big words. It just needs to state your purpose in the clearest terms possible.
My Values
I also decided to come up with a series of values that would complement my mission statement.
Let me share a couple of them with you.
Content that provides value to the readers first. Each post will be carefully evaluated as to its usefulness to the reader’s interest. Is it worth their time? Their attention? Their money (where appropriate)? Additionally, the site shall remain free for readers’ use, including as many features and tools as possible.
This value has helped me decide which content ends up on this blog, and which does not. Just last week, I had the opportunity to write a sponsored post about a free smartphone application. While the money was certainly tempting, I don’t own a smartphone and the app didn’t sound like anything I’d ordinarily post here. I didn’t feel writing the post would’ve provided value to you, so I had no issue in declining it. Had I not taken the time to clarify this value, I might have struggled more with wanting to accept the money and proceed.
Here’s another value I came up with:
Content that is uplifting and inviting. The Coupon Project is accepting of couponers regardless of skill level or experience. Additionally, the site makes every effort to attract a male readership as well as a female one.
I am working to create an inclusive blog. For example, this means I need to be sure I’m using gender-neutral terms to describe my readers and avoiding the use of acronyms wherever possible for my newbie followers.
All in all, I wrote five values for my blog. My Mission Statement and values are the first part of my business plan. The rest of my business plan focuses on my current statistics and where I hope to grow them for both short and long-term.
My Challenge to You
Whether you have been blogging for a long time, a short time, or are just thinking of launching a blog, I challenge you to write a mission statement and a set of values!
Blog with purpose, not passivity.
For previous posts in this series, please see:
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Just wanted to say I love your blog. I came to your blog for savings, but I am getting so much more. Truly enjoy reading what you have to say and it’s nice to read something other than how to score a really good deal;-)
A lot of your fruit adventures made me laugh and took me back to my childhood since I grew up with my family eating a lot of that stuff. I WILL NOT eat durian! lol. Thank you so much for all you do and you are doing an AMAZING job!
Wow…I really, really appreciate your kind words today! Thank you so much for taking time out to leave this comment.
Have a blessed day!
So are you changing your mission statement now that you’ve expanded your postings beyond frugal living? Why exactly are you venturing into the tutorials on blogging?
I’m not changing my mission statement, but these tutorials absolutely DO fit in line with the values I’ve set for myself (and not all of them have been shared here). If you look at the overarching theme of this blog, it’s deals and how to do them.
So am I morphing into something different? No. This is a post series ONLY, in honor of my 2nd bloggy anniversary. Once it’s over, these tutorials will be put to bed.
Please note that my mission statement does not mean that I’m limited to only posting deals! That’s the overall goal I want to achieve, absolutely, but I know I have more to offer.
If you read my intro post, I decided to tackle this topic because I do get MANY emails from readers and bloggers both about some of the very topics I’ve covered. I have decided to listen and respond as well as share my own personal journey as a blogger.
Ang, I just had to say that your tagline at the end could be substituted with the word “live”: Live with purpose, not passivity. I know this post is about blogging, but it reminded me of a marriage seminar I once attended about creating a mission statement for your family. It was all about the kind of legacy you wanted to leave, and making goals and value statments for your family. Of course, that could be taken too far, but I thought it was a great idea, especially in the realm of faith.
I don’t have a mission statement for my blog. But, I def need one now that I’ve read this post! This is a great series, Ang!
You know I was sort of thinking as I was writing this post, heck writing a mission statement/vales for my life in general would not be a bad idea. I think this is what Stephen Covey advocates? Hmmm.
I’m glad you’re enjoying this series, Keri! Thanks!
Nice job! I read every part of this series! Can’t wait to read the next part. I found you through another blogger and even though I don’t live in your area of the country, I plan to follow your blog!
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