It’s that time of the year again where everyone starts to reflect on the year just gone and starts to set goals for the year ahead, hoping that the next one will top the last. At the beginning of this year I wrote my annual goals blog post (which you can read here) and as I’m definitely one of those people that over thinks the new year and resolutions and what have you, I thought I would reflect on the good things of this year, rather than the bad things. I hope you enjoy this one.
1. Only upload content that I’m 100% happy with and proud of.
This was one of those goals that I had set in the previous year but didn’t quite achieve it, as I still found myself uploading just to keep to my schedule, rather than genuinely loving what I’ve written. However, this year I really tried to stick to this by not stressing myself out with a fixed schedule but still trying to upload often and content that I really loved and was proud of and I can say wholeheartedly that I am very pleased with every post I’ve put out this year and how far my blog has come.
2. Upload more often.
If you count the times I uploaded every month this year, this doesn’t look like it’s been achieved. However, the year did start off well with 10 posts in January and throughout some of the other months I did slack due to getting a new job and training but I did do Blogtober and am currently doing Blogcember (which I really wanted to plan properly and do this year) so I’m very happy with this one too.
3. Branch out of Beauty a bit more.
I think my Blog is always going to be mainly beauty but I did try and branch out a little bit more this year with more lifestyle and travel posts including my trip to India back in February and more personal posts that I did. Having said this, I am planning on switching things up in 2020 so keep your eyes peeled for a whole revamp of lucibarker.co.uk, both content and the look of my site.
4. Pitch more often.
This one was one of those that didn’t really get completed because I just found time slipped away from me this year (not a good excuse I know) and also I really need to work on my pitches for next year because I’m stumped in how to approach brands. But, I did contact a couple of brands and they did turn out really well because I managed to get onto a PR list (which was short lived but still cool) and received a parcel of goodies to write a post on too. I was also contacted recently by quite a big brand to collab with, but this didn’t really work out on my end so I had to pull out unfortunately.
5. Improve my Photos / Flat Lays.
Throughout the Spring and Summer I was so pleased with how my blog photos looked, but when the nights started draw in, it made it so difficult for me to get the right lighting so they weren’t great for a few posts. I did however, decide to get one of those hollywood makeup mirrors so the lighting will no longer be an issue!
6. Mix with more Bloggers.
Last, but not least, my goal was to mix with more bloggers and online I have very much done this and I try to connect more with other bloggers. However, meeting with more bloggers in person didn’t end up happening, again due to finding time and also some of them live quite far from me. But as usual I did get to see one of my closest blogger friends a number of times and if you haven’t already checked out her YouTube channel it’s makeupwithalixkate. (p.s she’s approaching 2.5k)
I just want to say a quick thank you for all your support this year on each and every post. I started this year on just over 59,000 page views and I remember this because my end of 2018 goal was to hit 60,000 views … but didn’t quite achieve that. Not that I was too caught up in views anyway so I didn’t mind too much however to be finishing this year with nearly 90,000 views I am so shocked. My third Blogiversary is coming up in January and I can’t quite believe I am still just as in love with writing today as I was the day I started … probably even more so now!
Anyway, thank you so much for taking the time to read this post I really hope you enjoyed hearing about my goals and whether I managed to achieve them or not and I will see you tomorrow with a new post.
