As the single most chaotic, scary, and full of turmoil year I have experienced not just as a Mompreneur but also as a human, this is not going to be a year we forget! Despite it all Techie Mamma managed to grow a bit, and I am pleased with the results.
Last year, I did an Annual Review after reading an eBook from the Ultimate Bundles Productivity Bundle. I decided last year that 2020 was going to be a year of growth, moving from Techie Mamma as a hobby to Techie Mamma as a business with courses, digital products, multiple content streams, income streams and more! When I started Techie Mamma, I never thought it would grow like it did into a full business. Many of you might be in the same situation.
My blog is another year old but still fairly young, especially in time trying to make an income. This year, I am looking back at 2020 at all the efforts I made to grow and looking forward to 2021 and my new goals going forward.
I love doing this reflection and process for my business and myself but possibly even more powerful is to do this process as a family and together come up with its things to change.
Pro-Tip: Download my Annual Review Worksheet. I will highlight some things here but the Worksheet is a great way to look back and also plan for the future!
Year Review: Looking Back
Planning your year is a good habit. It can help you become more aware of your successes and sorrows and make you realize how much can happen just in a year. By learning from the past you can plan your future in a way that you don’t repeat the same patterns and feel more in control of your own life.
Go through last year’s calendar week by week. If you see an important event, family gathering, friendly get-together or a significant project, write it down. Find everything that happened positive and negative.
Last year, I just considered the previous year as my whole blogging journey. This year I will be more specific but with stats I still think it is fun to see the overall growth.
I uninstalled JetPack, as much as I think it is a great tool for some, on my site it was adding too much weight for what I was using. Google Analytics is the best resource for stats and I managed to do a quick infographic this year of some stats.
Techie Mamma Stats
I started the Techie Mamma blog in November 2016.
- 2016 – 119 Visitors
- 2017 – 701 Visitors
- 2018 – 817 Visitors
- 2019 – 4490 Visitors
Jetpack Statistics
- 2020 – 14,235 Users
- 2019 – 4,804 Users
- 2018 – 1,642 Users
- 2017 – 835 Users
- 2016 – 187 Users
Google Analytics Stats
Content, Content, Content
The number of posts has steadily increased up until last year, this year though I cut back to once per week, even though being the most consistent in all my years blogging I still published the most, to concentrate on other content avenues. I also concentrated this year on removing some old posts or combining posts where it made sense, for SEO.
| Year | Total Posts (Now Published) |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 7 |
| 2017 | 43 |
| 2018 | 4 |
| 2019 | 75 |
| 2020 | 113 |
This year I aimed to stay consistent but only publish once a week as publishing twice a week last year was really difficult. There were times when I had more than one post a week but for the most part it was just once a week.
My one major goal this year was to increase subscribers on my email list. I can confidently say this was successfully completed! I participated in a number of summits and bundles which added nicely to my email list.
I also wanted to start being more present on video with YouTube videos, courses, and Live Videos in my FB Group and on YouTube and other platforms. I created my YouTube Channel in April 2019, since then it has seen steady growth reaching 100 subscribers in the last quarter of this year and nearing 150 by the end of the year.
As far as financials, my concentration this year focused on setting up passive income and recurring income streams. I developed my membership program, developed courses and grew my audience. This year proved difficult for taking on larger freelance type web design projects. I have successfully limited endeavors that were more time-consuming and focused more on other streams of income. Transition years doubled with an international pandemic can be rough but with everything now in place, I am confident 2021 will be a year of income growth. My affiliate sales grew this year and I diversified making an additional $1500.
Year Review: Reflection
Next in a reflective pattern think about what you are most proud of in the past year. What new dream did you achieve? Then think about your unfinished business. What do you still need to resolve? Think about what brought you joy and excitement and what you would have done differently. Think about the people you met, the risks and challenges you faced and if there were times where fear held you back. Then reflect on what new things you want to learn in the new year.
Looking at 2020, I am proud of the authority building activities I have completed this year. My featured page shows all my aspirations being featured in multiple summits, the Genius Bloggers’ Toolkit, presenting at two WordCamps (a third was cancelled because of COVID) and developing several of my own products. In Mompreneur groups, you will see Techie Mamma recommended on a regular basis. My own DIY Mompreneur Life FB group has grown from just a couple dozen to over 100 and continues to grow daily. I have overcome my fear of video and still dislike but accept my voice :D, in 2022 my goal is to be even more consistent with other avenues of content and continue to up-level my video. In 2021, I want to be on several podcasts. This year I was featured on the Women in WP Podcast (coming out on the 28th of this month!) and that was such a wonderful experience I want to do more with podcasts, including maybe starting my own. This past year, I think the most influential and defining moment was my presentation about Mompreneurs Powered By WordPress. This presentation was so incredible for me and brought new light in combining my two incredible communities into my own flourishing community for all DIY Mompreneurs everywhere.
My dream is to build this even further and have a thriving community of DIY Mompreneurs, giving them all the resources they need for growing their business, managing the incredible Mompreneur Life, and more.
I am so thankful for this year of growth! Last year, I wrote, “this year I want Techie Mamma to grow! Grow in the outreach we do, grow in the influence we have and blossom!” Next year this will continue as we solidify various frameworks and provide a winning strategy to support the best DIY Mompreneur Life out there.
Now it is your turn what are your responses to the questions above? You have great things to contribute, take the time to think of the past year and look forward to this year and what you want to do.
Year Review: Planning the Year to Come
Think about values that are key to your life and some goals that match with each one. Some areas may include health, work/business, relationships. You might have others as well, such as financial, spirituality, travel, or life-long learning. This can be whatever is important to you. Define your areas, then identify strong motivational reasons to accomplish your goals.
Last year I read the 12-week year, although I was super excited about this method, things fell apart right around when the world started falling apart. I still think planning is super important, but in this busy, beautiful Mompreneur Life, plans don’t always follow through, with or without a worldwide pandemic, so take things in stride, make a flexible plan. Focus on the must dos, and have a list of nice-to-haves. This will ease the pain when suddenly all of your child-care is no longer available.
I continue to try to be more intentional with my time and talents. In addition to all the normal stuff, this year I attempted in various capacities to homeschool my four-year-old and two-year-old. We are currently in attempt 4 or 5 and so far so good (in week two)?! My four-year-old needs to be kinder ready by next August, and although he is super smart (proud mama), he does not have interest in just learning, he needs to figure things out. This means that I am challenged even more to have patience and grace with myself. My two-year-old will happily sing the alphabet while my four-year-old most times refuses. Setting work time to be just that productive work time and family time or time with the boys to be more present with them. I find this one of the hardest challenges of the Mompreneur Life. I feel constantly in this limbo. Yes, I work but yes I am at home with my kids. How do both happen? It is a balance that I am ever trying to achieve. Block scheduling has helped a lot and will be going forward, one of the things I try to utilize more and more. If you need help to focus on your goals and schedules check out the Ultimate Productivity Bundle. It has 47 resources to help you make the most of your time. A great value!
Lastly, come up with a phrase that defines your year based on your goals and reflections.
The year 2021 is the year of authority.
BY TECHIE MAMMA