December is a time for reflection
December is that time of year we reflect on our accomplishments during the year. What goals did we meet and what goals are we going to need to carry over into the new year? What did we do right and what can we do better next year? What did we enjoy this year and what do we not want to repeat next year?
Me? I enjoyed the shiny.
My 2014 Goals
I set one goal for myself in 2014 and I failed miserably. My plan was to get my digitized documents named properly and filed in the appropriate electronic folder in Dropbox. Needless to say, my digital documents are still patiently waiting for me. No harm done, the documents will be there when I get to them.
Instead of focusing on that goal, I chased various forms of shiny throughout the year. Not intentionally, but you know, shiny just happens sometimes. For example, I finally "got" Pinterest and I love it. I mean I knew what it was and have had boards but I didn't truly understand the power of Pinterest referrals for blog traffic.
That was shiny number one, getting my Pinterest boards in order. I'm still working through them, optimizing my titles and pin descriptions, and they are in much better shape today. Take a look at my boards here and you will see that Pinerest is a very beautiful shiny.
Also, this year, I decided it was time to purchase my own domain name, which I did. This blog address is now www.desperatelyseekingsurnames.com. No more Blogspot in the address. My blog is all grown up!
This little adventure pushed me to consider updating the look of my blog. You don't see anything different? Well, that's because another shiny took hold of me when I started researching staying with Blogger or moving to WordPress. This, in turn, led me to learning more about Google Analytics so I could determine what pages were getting consistent traffic on my site.
Through my research on blogging platforms and learning how to use Google Analytics, I found a couple of great G+ communities and several new podcasts that I enjoy listening to very much. Shiny can be very educational.
Yes, this blog still looks the same. However, I have made the decision to stay with Blogger and have the complete vision of what I want the blog to look like and the message I want to convey. I am excited to get to work on that and plan to have the update completed by February. That is, of course, dependent upon no shiny grabbing my attention and distracting me. Shiny can be naughty at times.
I appreciate those that read, share and comment on my posts. It is always nice to have feedback to know I'm not just typing to myself here. I am trying to post more consistently, but I still consider myself and "occasional" blogger.
I am focusing on getting my surnames out "there" to be found by other researchers and hopefully cousins. Hence the Surnames I Seek series of posts along with adding more details and interesting information on my surnames page here. Maybe my surnames will be someone else's shiny.
I hope each and everyone of you met your 2014 goals. If you didn't, I hope you enjoyed the shiny along the way.
That was shiny number one, getting my Pinterest boards in order. I'm still working through them, optimizing my titles and pin descriptions, and they are in much better shape today. Take a look at my boards here and you will see that Pinerest is a very beautiful shiny.
My own domain name
Also, this year, I decided it was time to purchase my own domain name, which I did. This blog address is now www.desperatelyseekingsurnames.com. No more Blogspot in the address. My blog is all grown up!
This little adventure pushed me to consider updating the look of my blog. You don't see anything different? Well, that's because another shiny took hold of me when I started researching staying with Blogger or moving to WordPress. This, in turn, led me to learning more about Google Analytics so I could determine what pages were getting consistent traffic on my site.
Through my research on blogging platforms and learning how to use Google Analytics, I found a couple of great G+ communities and several new podcasts that I enjoy listening to very much. Shiny can be very educational.
Yes, this blog still looks the same. However, I have made the decision to stay with Blogger and have the complete vision of what I want the blog to look like and the message I want to convey. I am excited to get to work on that and plan to have the update completed by February. That is, of course, dependent upon no shiny grabbing my attention and distracting me. Shiny can be naughty at times.
Thank you to my blog followers
I am focusing on getting my surnames out "there" to be found by other researchers and hopefully cousins. Hence the Surnames I Seek series of posts along with adding more details and interesting information on my surnames page here. Maybe my surnames will be someone else's shiny.
I hope each and everyone of you met your 2014 goals. If you didn't, I hope you enjoyed the shiny along the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment