SMART Goals, But For Creators 🎯

Setting goals as a creator is obviously important AND here's the best way.

Author

Phillip DeRenzo
October 13, 2022

Hey there. Creating is hard. Have some fun while doing it and don't take yourself too seriously. No one likes the person that takes themselves too seriously. Now, let's get into the good stuff! 👇

SMART Goals, But For Creators 🎯

The “SMART" acronym is a common, simple starting place for setting goals. You might've heard of this framework in school or in a corporate job. If you haven't heard of SMART goals, don't fret because - you guessed it - they're about to be explained.

The "SMART" acronym stands for:

  • Specific: What exactly will be accomplished? (think actions)

  • Measurable: What data will measure the goal? (make it quantifiable)

  • Achievable: Is the goal doable? (be reasonable)

  • Relevant: Does the goal align with broader goals? (make it fit into the big picture)

  • Time-bound: What is the time frame for accomplishing the goal? (be realistic)

You might be thinking "setting SMART goals as a creator is silly. I just want to create when I feel like it and not stick to a silly framework." I get it - trust me. BUT working with a fundamental approach builds a foundation for your content creation journey. So, let's discuss how you can use SMART goals as a content creator.

Creator SMART Goals Framework

  • Specific: What is your goal? Views? Subscribers? Followers? Conversions?

  • Measurable: If you can’t measure it, it’s not specific enough and you need to go back to step 1.

  • Achievable: You’re not getting to a million followers overnight. Be realistic. Start with 1,000 and then go to 10,000 and then 50,000 and beyond.

  • Relevant: Your content goals should fit into your 5-10 year goals as a creator. Do you want to be a thought leader in the productivity space? Awesome! No need to waste time on that Minecraft video series.

  • Time-bound: Know when you’re checking in on your goals. Weekly? Monthly? Quarterly? Annually?

An example might be "Get 10,000 subscribers by June 1, 2023" or "Publish 30 videos by the end of 2022." These goals are specific, quantifiable, have a target date of completion, are relevant to your overall goals as a creator, and are achievable because many people have achieved these exact goals (in a similar time-frame).

You can have multiple goals set at a time. You will just need an organized system to keep track of your goals and check in on them consistently.

You got this!

Millie's Advice 🎙

You might be thinking, "who the h*ll is Millie?" Good question.

"Millie" is a term coined by The Viral Post meaning any creator who has 1M+ followers across all social media accounts. Today's "Millie" is Ali Abdaal who had this extremely valuable tweet about 10 lessons he would teach himself as a YouTube beginner.

  1. Focus on uploading - as a beginner, it's extremely important to get in the habit of uploading on a consistent schedule

  2. Gear doesn't matter - you just need to get started (Casey Neistat filmed a lot of his vlogs with millions of views on his phone)

  3. Stack the deck in your favor - make one small improvement every time you hit publish and you will become an exponentially better creator in as little as a year

  4. Don't worry about analytics - analytics are important, but as a beginner just focus on creating content that people actually want to watch

  5. Don't worry about your niche - again, create content that people actually want to watch rather than getting hung up on whether or not your videos fit into some specific box

  6. Use your unfair advantages - your unfair advantage is whatever is unique about you - use it

  7. Quantity over quality - publish, publish, and publish more in the beginning until you have a large enough sample size (usually 30 videos published) to determine what is working and what isn't

  8. Think about systems - figure out a system that works for you and stick to it

  9. Enjoy the process - the amount of work necessary for success on YouTube is not worth it if you don't find enjoyment in the process

  10. Be patient and consistent - you'll have to upload tens to hundreds of videos before you get any real traction, so patience and consistency are key to success on YouTube

Quick Clicks 💻

Content Idea of the Day 💭

Calling all food content creators. Starbucks recently released their Fall flavors, and you guessed it, they cost more than 2 gallons of gas. We're talking Pumpkin Spiced Lattes, Apple Crisp Macchiatos, Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew, etc.

For each new drink and/or snack, figure out how it's made. You could probably find it online or just go into your nearest Starbucks and ask one of the baristas. Then, create content showing people how they can save $6 - $8 per drink.

YouTube: Make an 8 - 10 minute video showing the entire process from A - Z. Film yourself going into Starbucks to ask, buying one of the drinks (emphasize how expensive it is), buying ingredients from the store to make it, and then actually making the drink at home. Repeat for each different item. Repeat with Dunkin' and other popular coffee chains. Be creative.

TikTok: Take the most exciting 30 - 60 second clips from the YouTube video and post them on TikTok. You should be able to get 2 - 3 pieces of short-form content from this.

Instagram: Take your most successful TikTok and repurpose it as an Instagram Reel. Take a picture of your finished coffee and Starbucks original and post them on your main IG page.

Twitter: Create a Twitter thread with the first tweet, "I'm saving Starbucks lovers $8/day by making the EXACT SAME Pumpkin Spiced Latte at home. Here's how: 🧵" and then make a 10 - 15 tweet thread detailing the recipe with photos and/or videos.

If you have a Facebook page, blog, Pinterest, Myspace, whatever, you can take this idea and repurpose it for that platform.

Meme Of The Day 🤣

What every YouTube creator dreams of...

Feel free to hit reply and let us know!