2022 Report & Year in Review

Making New Year’s Resolutions hasn’t typically been my favorite thing. Don’t get me wrong – I love making goals as much as the next gal. Looking back to see how I did, compared to those goals (and realizing that I’m an over-planner) can be disheartening. Thankfully, I’m human – and I learned to change how I plan, set goals, and evaluate them.

So while looking back (and realizing that setting goals only not to achieve them) is disheartening, I think that 2022 still ended at a pretty good place for me and my business. I’m still no (insert your favorite author, YouTuber, or blogger here), and that’s okay. I won’t ever be them, and that’s okay. I get to be me – and I’ve got a lot of plans for 2023 to make it a fantastic year.

2022: Year in Review

For a good chunk of 2022, I spent a lot of time apologizing for failing to meet my personal publishing goals. I had ambitious goals that perhaps were north of the border into audacious.

I wanted to write and/or publish 318+ articles (after I reevaluated mid-year and decided my original goal of 720 was probably too much too soon, as I was still working out my system).

I also had an overly complicated system that needed to be rehauled. This included multiple monthly reports that, while pretty, didn’t give me the information I needed, even if they did give me some cool charts I wanted.

Translation: 2022’s word of the year (REFINE) was an awesome pick. And I really focused on it, which helped improve things a ton.

So here’s how things ended in 2022. This is a portfolio-wide look.

• Total sites: 9
• New articles published in 2022: 234
• Total posts: 626
• Earnings: 5 figures (before expenses)
• Page views: Over 1 million (a new personal milestone reached!)

The year ended with earnings up 130% from 2021 to 2022, with a 23% increase in published articles and a 59% increase in visits (page views).

For my systems, I also simplified things in regard to my team, my spreadsheets, and how I track things.

My reports and systems have been influenced by April of bloggersontherise.com, Anne Moss of yeys.com, and Renee of datadrivenoperation.com.

You want a peek at it, don’t you? In the words of the 8-year-old Kevin left home alone, “Merry Christmas.”

Yes, there is information missing. It’s the personal stuff. Thanks for noticing. This is where I get to use the other Home Alone quote: “Keep the change, you filthy animals.”

2022 Report

TLDR: There’s a slight dip in traffic again, but the biggest sites have a seasonality to them, so I’m not crying (too much) about that. The lower-than-usual ad rates aren’t my favorite, though.

So the sites are still up and growing, even if they are down for their slow seasons.

Obligatory data recap:

• Going from $0 to $1000 monthly took me 24 months 26 months from when I first implemented this Income School style website strategy. I’ve been blogging since 2013 and had never hit the $1,000/month mark until this point.
• Going from $1000 to $2000 for the first time took 4 months.
• Getting to above $2000 monthly consistently took another few 3 months.
• Months since I first hit $2,000/month: 12

TLDR: if you expect to use web publishing as a “get rich quick” scheme, you will be a sad panda.

There is nothing quick about publishing results, and it’s certainly not passive income. It’s more of a slow, building crescendo with an asynchronous, not-guaranteed payment plan. It works differently for everyone based on a metric buttload of factors.

So your mileage will vary from mine. That’s probably the only thing I can guarantee!

Site Reports for January 1st

Speaking of the portfolio, here’s the progress.

Again, all the sites are growing. There are other plans in the works to help support and expand things.

2023 Plans and Goals

Before you can set goals, it’s important to look back and see what you’ve learned (and how far you’ve come). Now that we’ve done that, let’s look ahead, shall we?

My goal for 2023 is to continue to make the best content possible, whether we’re talking articles, videos (yes, there’s a YouTube plan!), or stories (there’s a story plan, too, shocker!).

I’ve also tried to keep those goals realistic, because my sanity is important to me. Not meeting goals for months on end is depressing, while soaring past token goals is a surefire way to develop some sort of complex. I’m aiming for the middle road, where I can keep improving as a content creator, keep putting out the best content possible, and not lose myself (in either direction towards crazytown) while keeping a healthy work-life balance because burnout sucks (and I love my family).

So here are some insights into my goals for 2023, along with the word of the year.

• 2023 word of the year: Perseverance
• Publishing goal: 270 articles
• Video goal: Not making one beyond “as many great videos as I can.”
• Story goal: Not making one beyond “as many great stories as I can.”
• Financial goals: I have them. I’m not sharing any numbers, but I will share this financial goal – use all the money earned to create more great content.
• Team goals: I’ve got a great team. I plan to treat them well, keep them around, and keep the excellent content flowing.
• There is one last big 2023 goal coming up next. It’s to diversify.

My last big 2023 goal is to acknowledge that diversification is important. Folks who put all of their eggs in one basket are doomed to trip and break all those eggs (it happens frequently at our house when we’re collecting eggs from the henhouse).

What does this mean as a content creator? It means I need new ways to get my content in front of new eyeballs (hopefully, those eyeballs are connected to actual people, and aren’t just creepy disembodied eyeballs). It also means that income streams need to be diversified – so that I have more money to spend to create more great content!

Does that make me sound a little too much like a big-name YouTuber? Perhaps. But that particular dude’s got a great team behind him, he makes great content, and he’s going places. I’d be remiss if I weren’t to learn from what he’s got going on.

All of my diversification goals are long-term. They’re also works in progress, so I don’t think sharing specific goals will help at this time. I could be wrong. I’m wrong a lot. But that’s okay, because sometimes the best way forward is to get going already.

Speaking of getting going, I need to get back to work. My content isn’t going to publish itself. So if you want to know which tools I use and recommend, here you go. If not, no worries. I’ll see you next time – or sooner, if you’re in the newsletter club.