Saturday 20 December 2014

Reviewing the 2014 Bucket List - Was It A Load of Bollocks?

Hi Goddesses





Today we're going to review what my blogging goals for 2014 were back in January, and whether they came to pass.  At this point, I honestly can't remember what I wanted to achieve.  Usually, that would be unthinkable, but after I took my break in Spring, I decided goals weren't what it was about, so this could be interesting!




Instagram!  I've dabbled, but I want to get more engaged with it, and use it for sneak peeks, fun, mistakes - behind the scenes type of stuff.
I'm setting my goal to finish on 5k followers (I'm on 1035 or something now).

Lol, I am CRAP at IG.  It just doesn't fit with my lifestyle AT ALL.  At the moment I am just shy of 2k followers, and can't decide whether to ditch it or not.  I'd be better at it if you could schedule posts :(






Facebook - I think this is the platform that will continue to be most follower's choice, as it redirects you to the blog, and it's also a great way to link to brands.  I am currently on 4231 followers, and I'd like to believe I could get to 10k in 2014 .... yes!  We can do that!

Oh, did I not understand Facebook algorithms!   Whilst some blogs have soared to 3m followers overnight, others of us are stuck or trundling along.  I am currently at 8k and adding about 10 followers a day.  I am well happy with that.



Golden Oldies.   It's always about the new, so I am determined in 2014 to find a way to use my older polishes that I love, but never use!  This is going to be by way of a weekly challenge in Crumpet's Nail Tarts called GOT Polish (Golden Oldie Thursdays).  (I'll explain the rules shortly in a separate post).


This was a great success, and the principle of GOT is still part of the 52WPNMC, altho I need to be better at going back to my boxes, instead of just what's on the nail desk.

image sourced from http://dailysomething.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/041812-nonkonad.jpg

Find non-stamping polishes that stamp awesomely.  I hate always feeling I have to stamp in black or white, or silver and gold lol, even though I own a whole Konad rainbow.  I am sure I must own 100 polishes that stamp - surely?


Nope, crap at this one lol.   Haven't tackled this AT ALL.  Instead, I just bought All The Stamping Polishes!



The Digit-al Dozen blog - for those of you who don't know, the DD now has its own website - HERE.   We have a lot of plans for it in 2014 (which I won't go into here) and I am absolutely committed to making those happen.


Ah, yes, the DD blog.  Do you know what, this is one of my real sadnesses of the year.  In setting it up, we lost of 2 of the DD's best members, and then keeping it going was like pushing treacle uphill.  It was too ambitious and too hard to fit into daily blogging life.  Eventually I called time on it in the summer because it was just Too Hard.  Ain't nobody got time for dat.



Content I Love.  This is a big one for me.   I've been in a semi-slump recently, and partly it's been because I feel I've been posting stuff I've "had to", and which has left me feeling uninspired.   So, this may mean fewer posts.  It may mean fewer challenges, or just being less uptight about doing every day of every challenge.  It may mean being more selective about what products I choose to review.  To be honest, it's probably ALL those things lol.  But I know when I'm writing a post, that if I don't love it, there's less chance you will, and that's not good.


I actually think this happened, albeit not the way I planned.  My break / breakdown was a huge wake up call, and I do think the blog has been looser and more "me" since then.  Be prepared for that to continue.



Behind The Scenes - something I've been meaning to do for ages, but I'd like to show you all the other things that go into being a blogger.  It's not all about swatches and nail art, and I think we can have a lot of fun together if I show you how I go about deciding on content, piecing it together, my frustrations.  And yes, tutorials.  Undoubtedly this will involve YouTube.


Nah.  This was ambitious, and in a perfect world where I had lots of money and all day to blog, this would definitely happen.  There have been tippy-toes in this direction, but not immersion.  We'll see.




More Bluebelle and Baby Crumpet - lol.  Sometimes, it's the little things that make a difference.  I've already spoken to Beth about her future role and she is very excited.  Bluebelle, not so much.  


Er, no.  Beth's interest in polish waned dramatically with no warning!  However, she seems to be getting her groove back, so stay tuned.  Bluebelle, still not so much.



And finally ... how I present my swatches.   I hate just churning out plain photos of a polish, so I want to find a way to bring those more to life.  NO IDEA how I'm going to do that yet, but hey, I've got a whole year to figure it out, right?

??? WTF did this mean? I have no idea.  



And .. yes, the finally wasn't finally haha.  My good friend Sheila of Pointless Cafe has just hit 2million blog views.  What is interesting is that she hit 1million just back in April, so she has achieved her 2nd million in 9 months - an amazing achievement.

So ... my blog is due to hit the magic million in February, so I am setting the BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) of 2million page views before the end of 2014.  I am not honestly sure it's doable, but I am intrigued to see how far I can get :)


Nope.  Big fat no.  I think blogging has changed.  Blog READING is in the minority, and my page views have shrunk by about 1/3 this year.  I am currently at 1.4m.  Not too shabby, but not the world domination I expected hahah.


FYI - there is no Bucket List for 2015.  For once in my life, I am just going to live in the moment.  Eeeeeeek!



Er, yes?


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