Merry Christmas week everyone! I will not be posting regularly until the new year as I spend time with all our family in town. Since I’m assuming most of you will also be doing the same, I wanted to take just a little time to reflect back on this past year.
Home Maid Simple has grown so amazingly this year, thanks to some wonderful bloggers who have encouraged and supported me, and because of you my readers for continuing to come by and interact with me here and on the different social media outlets. If you’re not following on any social media yet, I would love to have you check us out on facebook, pinterest, twitter, and Google Plus. Just pick your favorite way over there to the right —->
As an fyi, I do most of my random talking and interacting on Facebook.
2013 began with switching out of a blogspot url to my own .com (which I should check and update with GoDaddy <–affiliate before I disappear). It caused a sudden drop from a Google Page Rank of 3 down to N/A, but through tirelessly updating old posts, I’m happy to say we’re back up to a PR 2. This just means it’s easier to find me in google searches, and fingers crossed I’m following all of the FTC and Google rules so this will just go up from here.
When changing to a .com I decided I needed to branch out of my posts that were mostly just for me, and really make this more a business that is beneficial to you. I was already a part of some Facebook blogger groups, so I tried to become more active with them in learning about blogging as a business. I need to give a huge shout out to some of these special women who encouraged me to grow – I hope you’ll all go say hi.
We are so very different from each other, but I find you so amazing and witty. Thanks for helping me grow this year.
You and Kayla are so adorable. Thanks goes to you as well for encouraging me to be better and value myself and my time more.
Your honest feedback, and constructive criticism has made Home Maid Simple look better. I value all the advice you’ve given me this year.
Thank you for being my friend both in the blog world and online. Crossing my fingers we get to meet up this year! Your enthusiasm and craftiness is inspiring.
I’ve also partnered with some amazing people to promote some pretty awesome products. Landing a promotion with McCormick was one of my favorite promo’s this year – check out the
Gingerbread Cookies and Mulling Spice Sachets – but working with Eric to promote their
Kickstarter Campaign for the EcoQube has got to be my favorite non-review post of the year. I can’t wait for these desktop ecosystems to hit production in 2014!!
Pinterest has become the number one site referrer for most blogs out there. This is how you all have helped me grow the most. When you share my content it is then shared by your friends and their friends, and out of those I get new readers. Although there is no good way to gauge which post is the most popular on pinterest with you all, I did my best to find some of the most pinned posts. We have a good variety between food, crafts and home organizing being pinned.
What can you expect to see next year? Well let me tell you my biggest goal for the new year is to write and publish a recipe book. It’s a big undertaking, but I’m so pumped about it. It will be a Cheesecake book, with different crusts, fillings, and toppings. I’ll keep you updated on the progress, along with sneak peeks of some of the recipes.
I also hope to bring you more tips for living a simple life – from crafting on a budget, cooking meals from food storage, home cleaning advice, and decorating. I also hope to bring you some fashion posts as well, since my closet needs a complete makeover this year.
What has been your favorite thing to see on Home Maid Simple?
What would you like to see in 2014?
