A couple of days ago i linked to my ‘goals for 2010‘ post and i thought i should dedicate a post to them, to check in on how i’m doing with them all.
targets
goals for 2010
I realise we’re almost a week in to 2010, but i’ve just been so busy i haven’t had a chance to sit down and complete this long, important post which i started about a week before Christmas 2009. So here goes, my goals for 2010;
1. Get a Degree
This is my 3rd and final year in my current college course. Once i get confirmation i’ve passed all of last semester’s modules, it means i have just 6 more to pass. If all goes to plan i’ll pass them first time in June and pick up my degree in November 2010.
2. Start an Honors Degree
There’s no point in even thinking about leaving college this year once i’ve finished my current course, unless i were to set up my own business or get handed a dream job. I’ve always wanted a degree in IT management anyway, just to have, so it makes sense to follow through with that whilst i still have the time / lifestyle to do it.
3. Get a new car
photo credit: multisanti
My current car will be 10 years old this year. It has served me well but it’s days are numbered. A daily round trip of 70 miles to college means i can’t really afford to be driving something unreliable and if i leave it much longer, that’s what my current car will become. What will i upgrade to? Probably 2005 or newer. German or Japanese probably the sensible choice but beggars can’t be choosers. I’ll be doing well to upgrade to anything.
4. Blog daily on smemon.com
photo credit: pedrovisky
I’ve managed several 100+ streaks of consecutive days of blogging so far but can i go the full year without missing a day? It’ll be tough but that’s the next challenge. Note: i wrote this goal around about Christmas 2009 and failed immediately by missing a day of blogging on January 2nd 2010. Although i’m disappointed to have failed with a goal on the 2nd day of the new year 
i expect that to be a one off event from now on.
5. Increase traffic to smemon.com
photo credit: von Hedwig
In 2009, this blog received over 120,000 unique visits. It’s increased year on year, every year since i started this blog in 2006. I’m hoping to hit 200,000 in 2010 and that means an average of 548 unique visits per day. I’m losing ground day by day already in 2010 if i’m to hit that figure so it won’t be easy to increase and sustain growth this year. In short, it means i have to increase the quality of posts on this blog and make sure they’re seen too.
6. Double traffic to theleavingcert.com
photo credit: tlr3automaton
Yesterday i blogged about how i’d revamped theleavingcert.com and that’s justy the beginning. I’ll be making a big push this year on theleavingcert.com. I want more traffic and hopefully that will come alongside more content.
7. Launch BeerChief
This has been on my to do list for the past few years now & in my defence, i did launch it last January (2009), however i then decided to shut it down a few months later. This year it will be launched, it will stay up, and it will start to go places. I’ve been quiet on it recently but i have made a lot of progress with it and one of these days i’ll roll it out and surprise everyone.
8. Add to portfolio
photo credit: Chao, Hua-Chun (Joshua)
In 2009, i built & launched so many different websites that i lost count. Some are my own, some are joint projects, some are for clients. Ultimately, it means i’m learning, progressing, getting stuck in to things & mixing with different technologies and different people and that can only be a good thing.
It’s something i want to continue in 2010, but i’m eager to strike a balance between quality & quantity this year. It’s about time i ‘grew’ and improved some of my existing projects before starting anything new.
Because i have my eye on a car this year i also need to take on more paid work rather than spend 100% of my time working on my own pet projects. College is a big distraction too and finding a balance is tough. It’s only going to get tougher as i enter the last few months of my course, but i’ll complete it at all costs – temporarily sacraficing anything that gets in the way.
9. More networking
Last year i went to bizcamp which was interesting. I should have gotten to more but it’s tough finding time for everything. This year i hope to go to many more events. They’re generally free, they help connect you to like minded people and two heads are better than one. Even if it’s just to pick up one more contact or get a brainwave, it’s worth it.
10. Upload more pictures & video
photo credit: dimnikolov
This seems like an easy one… i’m always taking pictures & video wherever i am but i upload probably 1% of them. Videos take too much time to upload & edit (i’ll filter & edit them all because i want to upload quality stuff). Pictures take too much time to name, tag & categorise (when you’re uploading dozens) so i’ll usually just upload a select few once in a while. Last year i upgraded to a flickr pro account so i hope to upload more pictures in 2010 and also bring my youtube account to life! I also bought myself a new camera in late 2009, so the excuses are running thin.
blog goals for next 6 months
It’s pretty clear this blog is once again going to smash it’s own records in 2009.
From Jan 1st 2009 up until yesterday, smemon.com has had over 65,000 unique visits & 82,000 pageviews in 2009 (less than 6 months in).
In 2008 (over 12 months) smemon.com received just over 80,000 unique visits and 127,000 pageviews.
The blog ended 2008 with 125 feedburner subscribers. It’s now up to 300+ thanks largely to a change feedburner made a few days ago.
So stats are always on the rise. Traffic is averaging over 360 unique visits / day now which is incredible really for a small personal blog.
Anyway, i never just sit back and admire… i’m eager to get past the 100,000 unique visitor mark as quickly as possible and i’m also setting myself a target of 500 feedburner subscribers by the end of the year which means i need to get 200 from somewhere over the next 6 months.
Basically, it means i have to start producing better content and more lists, more personal stuff etc… there is no danger of me slacking off or getting fed up – the last day i didn’t publish a post was April 15th. Since, then i’ve blogged for 69 consecutive days and i’m setting myself another challenge of blogging daily for the rest of 2009.
It will require ‘cheating’ by scheduling the odd post here and there (for example when i’m in london next month) but 99% of my posts are written & published ‘live’.
So by the end of 2009, i want smemon.com to record;
- over 130,000 unique visits.
- over 500 feedburner subscribers.
- completed 260 days of consecutive blogging.
If i manage all that, i’ll be extremely happy and proud of 2009′s performance. It will move this blog in to another league all together… i’ll go in to 2010 owning one of the largest personal blogs in the country.
Yesterday i made some minor but essential changes to the blog and i’ll continue to make changes when i feel they’re needed. It is important though that i continue to set goals and targets for this blog and remind myself of them in posts like this.