2015 Year in Review

Reflecting on 2015 in the rearview mirror

Wow 2015 disappeared quickly, didn't it? It seems like it was just a few days ago that I decided to kick off the blog and try to get 250 posts under my belt. The number came just from thinking I might try to write every weekday for a year, giving myself a couple of weeks off. As the year went by, I realized that the post-a-day was quite a challenge for me (some weeks) and an inbox flooder for some of you.

2015 was a year that definitely had some challenges for me, but as the year ended, I thought I would take a look at what great things did happen, though, as I started this fun journey with all of you. So here are a few highlights for you.

Started the blog. 
March 23 of last year was my first post, basically just outlining the plan and what I wanted to do. Still, we're less than one year in and I've learned quite a bit.
Set up Facebook.
I already had a personal Facebook account, but I did manage to set up (and get a few followers on) a Facebook page tied to the blog here.
Grew to 1864 Twitter Followers.
I don't have the best records about when I started trying to grow my Twitter followers, but I think I had around 200 or so. 1864 is quite an improvement. In December, I had over 15,900 Tweet impressions, as opposed to 1,259 in January.
Outlined two books.
Writing them may take time, and I may or may not scrap one of the ideas, but that's further along than I have been since I started down the non-fiction path. Some of the Stealing Scrum blog posts may make a modified appearance in one of the books.
Wrote a few blog posts.
Actually in 2015, I published 165 blog posts. I expect that number to actually decrease in 2016, as I try to consistently publish a couple every week, but to create a steady trend.
Started some traditions.
I hope this year in review thing becomes a tradition. I also did a fun 48-plus hours of tweets with my favorite Christmas songs, which I did once before in 2013 but much less structured.
Automated some stuff.
I haven't fully utilized as much as I could from an automation perspective, which is something to make adjustments to in the new year, but between Buffer and Hootsuite and scheduling blog posts, I have managed to get some automation in the pipeline.
Connected with great people.
Over the year, I've actually traded emails with some great bloggers, created conversations with some friends that read the blog and chat or email with me about it, and engaged on Twitter with people of all different strata. I've also got a few really great subscribers to the email list (if you aren't on it, you should be, of course) with whom I have managed to trade some thoughts on various topics.

When I list it out like that, there's definitely been some great progress over the past year, but there is more to come. 2016 offers promise and hope, not just for me but for you. Let me know what you've got going on and if I can help, I'd love to.

For me in the next year, I certainly want to do more of the same (more blog posts, more audience and followers, etc.), but also some new things (finish the book, get a speaking engagement or two lined up, etc.). What about you?