A year ago in this space I set out my goals for 2011 and to close the loop I thought I’d review the results 12 months on. I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions anymore but I’m a big fan of setting and achieving goals since I believe that creating the life we want is a process that takes commitment and an action plan. And I’ve become comfortable with both.

How did I do? Let’s take a look:

1. SEO and SMM. I started 2011 with a goal of “learning more” about both search engine optimization and social media marketing and technically I should have quantified at the beginning what success would look like to me. I lost track of how many hours of training I put in on each topic (probably upwards of 75) but well before the end of the year I had figured out how to Google well and was able to place my company in the top three spots for my preferred keywords.My expertise earned me some professional attention as well and I was asked to make a presentation to the Professional Independent Communicators (PIC) group of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) in October and to write a guest blog on social media for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s website (cbc.ca). I’m pleased with my progress on this one.
2. Fiction writing and book publishing. I set out at the beginning of last year to master the conventions in these areas and I dedicated a great deal of time and energy to my education. I spent dozens of hours reviewing online webinars and attending creative writing classes. The results were gratifying: the first short story I ever wrote placed me in the top 12 of the prestigious John Kenneth Galbraith Literary Award and “Shades of Teale,” the novel I spent 12 years writing, was published by Manor House Publishing.
3. Video. I set out to create some writing-related videos and managed to complete five before the end of the year.
4. Write my non-fiction book on writing. This one didn’t get off the ground but it was so gratifying to see my fiction book published that I really can’t complain.
5. Efficiencies. I set out to become more efficient last year and that worked reasonably well. I incorporated some new processes into my work and hired some part-time help and the results was that I accomplished a great deal more in 2011 than in previous years.
6. Smell more roses. This was an important one! I enjoyed two family holidays in 2011 and had a wonderful time puttering in my backyard vegetable garden. The new family canine forced me to get outside for many aimless walks and I managed to do some skiing and sailing. We all need balance!

And what’s up for 2012? Details in my next blog!

All the best for a productive, profitable and enjoyable 2011, everyone!

Care to share your writing-related goals for the New Year? I’d love your input – just type your comments in the “Comments” box below!