25 content creator goals, from 30 posts in 30 days to your first 1,000 subscribers

Publishing goals

Publishing goals count what you put out, and they are the only content goals that are fully yours. If your content is mostly words, writing goals give you the daily count.

• Post 3 times a week for 12 weeks.
• Publish 30 posts in 30 days.
• Publish 100 pieces in 100 days.
• Publish one video a week for a year.
• Prepare 4 pieces every Sunday for 8 weeks.

Content craft goals

Craft goals make each piece a little better than the last. The skills underneath have their own lists, in photography goals and art goals.

• Write 5 versions of every title before you publish, for a month.
• Try one new editing technique a week for 8 weeks.
• Talk to the camera for 1 minute a day for 30 days.
• Study one post you admire each week and write down why it works.
• Publish your first 10 pieces without looking at the numbers.

Audience milestone goals

Audience goals are results. Keep them as the direction, and do not judge a week by them.

• Reach your first 100 followers.
• Reach 1,000 subscribers.
• Reach 4,000 watch hours in 12 months.
• Reach 1,000 email subscribers.
• Have one piece shared by someone you do not know.

Community goals

Community goals are activity you control, and they are where an audience turns into people.

• Reply to every comment within 24 hours for a month.
• Leave 5 thoughtful comments a day on other people's work for 30 days.
• Do one collaboration a month for 6 months.
• Ask your audience one question a week.
• Send a newsletter every week for 12 weeks.

Income and staying power goals

Income goals come last, and the goals that keep you publishing matter as much as the money.

• Earn your first 100 from your content.
• Pitch 10 brands or sponsors.
• Launch one small product.
• Keep 2 weeks of content scheduled ahead.
• Take one full day off a week for 3 months.

What is a good goal for a content creator?

A good creator goal is about output, not about the algorithm. A review of 35 years of goal research found that specific, hard goals lead to higher performance than being told to do your best. "Grow my channel" is neither specific nor yours to decide. "One video a week for a year" is both.

Milestones still give you a direction. YouTube, for example, opens its Partner Program at 1,000 subscribers plus either 4,000 watch hours in 12 months or 10 million Shorts views in 90 days. Those are useful targets to aim at, and none of them can be done on a Tuesday. A video can.

So write the milestone at the top and the publishing count under it. The research on goal tracking found that keeping a record of progress raises the odds of reaching a goal.

How to track content creator goals

Tick off each piece the day it goes out. A review of 138 studies found that people who monitored their progress reached their goals more often, and that the effect was larger when progress was reported in public.

That last part suits a creator. Your own count is content: post the picture of your challenge filling up, and you have something to publish on a slow day. Our guide to sharing your progress covers how to do it without being tiresome.

Posts published are an amount. Days you published are a day count. Follower graphs go up and down. A picture that fills up with every post only goes up.

Frequently asked questions

What are examples of content creator goals?

Post 3 times a week for 12 weeks. Publish 100 pieces in 100 days. Reply to every comment within 24 hours. Reach 1,000 subscribers. Earn your first 100 from your content.

Should my goal be followers or posts?

Posts. You decide how many you publish, and you cannot decide how many people follow. Keep a follower milestone as the direction and a publishing count as the goal you check every week.

What do you need to join the YouTube Partner Program?

YouTube lists 1,000 subscribers plus 4,000 watch hours in the last 12 months, or 1,000 subscribers plus 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days. Check its help page for the current rules, since they change.