Update: I've decided to extend my vacation until Monday, January 7th to spend some more post-holiday downtime with family. I will not be back to regular posting here until that week, but our other contributors will continue to post on their usual schedules.
This week was my last work week in 2012. I'm now on vacation until January 2nd. I hope you're all enjoying a bit of downtime to recharge before the New Year too.
In the meantime I thought I'd look back on 2012 and to some plans for the future.
Looking Back on 2012
This year wasn't a great one for me. In fact, it was one of my worst, at least work-wise. I lost a lot of work time early this year while I was planning my wedding (which was the best part of the year). Then I was sick for several months over the summer, where I was lucky to stay awake most of the day, nonetheless work productively. After minor surgery to fix the problem, things got better. Then one major client cut back because their business was suffering. And I had to walk away from another major client (which knocked a nice chunk of my yearly income out).
That said, things weren't all bad this year. I was planning to cut back on client work anyway. So even though it happened a bit more suddenly than intended, it pushed me to make other business changes that I'd been putting off. For example, I've nearly finished prepping five new sites for launch early in 2013. And I've had more time to work on e-books which will mostly be launched here.
Some of my older sites are also doing better now than they were a while back -- including All Freelance Writing and BizAmmo.com. I've decided against filling the larger client time with new clients, and will instead be pushing more aggressively into the publishing and Web development side of my business.
Looking Forward to 2013
My plan for 2013 is more of the same. New sites will launch. I'll continue the audits and improvements on bigger existing sites. And I'll spend more time on manuscripts and my e-books under The Query-Free Freelancer brand. I already covered my specific goals and 2013 resolutions, so I won't get into that here. But here are a few of the biggest things I'm looking forward to:
- Finishing edits and rewrites on The Query-Free Freelancer, which has taken me much longer than expected;
- Being excited about my work again -- things were starting to feel monotonous, so this shake-up is incredibly invigorating;
- Helping my hubby build his new business, which he officially formed late this year. It will largely involve contract work and WordPress development, putting me in an ideal position to help him market his services and come up with new development ideas for the platform.
What about you? How was your 2012, and what are you expecting in 2013? Are you planning to enjoy some time off this month or in early January before you dive into the New Year?
Jennifer Mattern is a professional blogger, freelance business writer, and indie author. Through her company, 3 Beat Media, she operates All Indie Writers, NakedPR.com, BizAmmo.com, and numerous other blogs.
Jenn has over 15 years experience writing for others, over 11 years experience in blogging, and 9 years experience in indie e-book publishing. She is an Active member of the Horror Writers Association.
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