New Years Blogging Resolutions - 2014

Happy New Year!

I did this last year as a spur-of-the-moment thing, but it's actually a good way to track how your blog is doing. New Years Resolutions; the blogging edition! I'm the kind of person who loves lists - if we're going shopping I'll make a list. If I've got a lot to do, I make a list. If I'm stressed, I'll make a list of the things making me feel this way and find ways to eliminate or ease them. Not all the time, to be fair, but I like to have things organised and laid out in an easy way. I'm also quite motivated and love setting mini-goals; and my blog is no exception. Like most New Years resolutions, there's no certainty that these things will happen, but it's cool to look back on anyway! Which is what I'll be doing first - reviewing last year's resolutions.

1. Reach 150,000 page views (dreaming big here!).

Well that happened! I'm now just over 332,000 so that worked out better than expected.

2. Get better at painting on fine lines.

I think this was achieved as well, I have definitely improved, and am quite proud of some of the more intricate nail art I've done this year, such as my Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella and Catching Fire nails. Still more to improve on though.

3. Take better care of my brushes.

Failed this one miserably. I'm terrible at cleaning them reguarly.

4. Take more consistent photos - new light box, same hand position each time etc... just make it more professional.

Hmm, didn't really do this either. I've gotten a new light box and have a plan for the backgrounds and that, but it hasn't really happened yet.

5. Review more NZ and Aussie polishes. I just like the closer to home stuff!

I guess, a bit? I reviewed a few things for Picture Polish and took part in the Blog Fest, so that was cool. I also reviewed a bunch of polishes that are easily found in New Zealand on my YouTube channel, here.

6. Try out more Indie polishes - I barely have any :o

 I've managed to collect a good number of Indies now, but most I haven't bought brand new - I got them from blog sales and the like. The problem is that I really just don't have much money to splash around and it's cheaper for me to just get Jordana nail polish for the colors I use most - I rarely use up my other bottles.

7. Be as original as I can.
I think I'm pretty good at originality. If I think of a design I'd like to do, I Google it first to see if it's already been done. If it has, I try to put my own twist on it. It can be hard when it comes to the ones that everyone has done - who can you claim "invented" leopard print?

8. YouTube YouTube YouTube!
Yup, did this pretty well! I now have 50 videos up on my YouTube channel. It was a bit slow going for the first half of the year but it picked up in the later half - I got most my videos up then. I'm heading on 2100 subscribers at the moment, which I'm pretty happy with! I also bought my own (cheap) video camera, lighting set up and microphone this year, plus finally got my own tripod for Christmas.

Right, and these are the ones that I've come up with for 2014. Basically, these are the things I'd love to achieve by this time next year.

1. Reach 500,000 page views.

2. Reach 10,000 YouTube subscribers.

3. Complete (and do well) in my nail technician course (starts February!). I want to be the BEST.

4. Do something to organise my reviews. They pile up and sometimes I feel like all I'm doing is them!

5. Get a job in a nail salon. This is underway! I've got several salons interested.

6. Do more media-related stuff. 2014 has a tough act to follow - 2013 was incredible. On TV, in the newspaper, on the radio... And I got to do the most amazing things! I did enter The Amazing Race Australia - but I doubt anything will come of that.

7. Get to know other bloggers better! There are several who I'd love to get to know properly but life just gets in the way, plus it's a bit weird saying "hey, wanna be blogging BFFs?"

8. Maintain a good work/life balance. My blog, my YouTube, and my hopefully soon-to-be job in a salon is my career, and I love it! However I love it so much I can quite happily forget about the rest of the world, including friends and my husband. So I'll make sure that doesn't happen too much this year!

And that's it! I'll be doing a "favourite manis of 2013" and a post about the 12 days of Christmas soon too, so keep an eye out for those :).