My 2021 End of Year Review
It’s crazy to think that I’ve been in business full time for 3.5 years and I’ve never really done an end of year review.
I think I might have guessed that no one really cares too much about hearing my personal thoughts, but then again when I was just starting out on my web design journey, I very much looked up to business owners a few years ahead of me.
And I figured it was about time I jumped on this end of year review train.
So here goes my end of year review for 2021…
My personal life
For more than 4 years, I was obsessed with the idea of being a digital nomad. I dreamed of working from Selina in Lisbon or a chic coliving house in Barcelona.
After being introduced to the Bucketlist Bombshells in June 2017, it was all I could think about. But with Covid at an all time high last Christmas, I felt like my digital nomad adventures had to remain state-side.
Having grown up in Albany, NY and spent 5 years in Central NY (living in the #1 snowiest city in the US - thanks Syracuse), I knew I did not want to start off the year living in an arctic environment and feeling stuck indoors.
So I looked up coliving options down south and out west, and landed on St. Petersburg, FL - one of the very few cities that had a true coliving housing system and organized community efforts.
When I tell you this decision was random, it really was. I had vacationed 45 minutes north in Clearwater Beach and 45 minutes south in Bradenton. But I had never been to St. Pete.
I packed 2 suitcases and a backpack, and boarded a plane. All I knew was that I was going to have 7 new roommates - people I had never met before in my life.
I did a trial run of sorts in Austin, TX for 3 weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas last year, so I had an idea of what I was walking into.
But what I thought was a 3.5 month stay before jet setting off to Europe or Bali turned into a semi permanent stay. One night (close to when I needed to give my final notice at the coliving house), I couldn’t sleep and had an epiphany - I should stay in St. Pete.
There were so many reasons, but #1 - St. Pete is amazeballs. The parks are gorgeous, downtown is incredible, and the beach is 15 minutes away. The people are so friendly and the entrepreneurial community is seriously thriving. It seems like every few months, I find out about a new coworking space.
I realized I had put so much of my life on hold for this obsessive dream to be in Bali and sippin on coconuts while typing away on a laptop in a pool…like c’mon! Anyone that is an entrepreneur knows that’s not a real depiction of being a business owner.
But I still dreamed of going somewhere far away near the beach…in hindsight, I guess that did happen with moving. So now it’s official - my web design business is now based out of St. Pete, FL. I got my LLC transferred from NY to FL (what a fun process that was) and business address set up.
What changed this year
There’s quite a bit that changed this year from last…
Added time/space between web design projects
If you’re a website designer, you understand the amount of time and energy (both mental and physical) that goes into a website. There’s a good deal of pressure to bring your client’s vision to life, and frankly there’s so many nitty gritty details that can be difficult to keep track of at every step of the way.
I only work with one client at a time to keep my sanity.
I decided that after doing a few back-to-back 2 week website projects in 2020, it was time to add in some time between projects. So I introduced 1-2 week breaks between website design clients. That gives me time to focus on my course or take on smaller SEO projects.
I plan to continue this in 2022.
Raised my rates
2021 saw my biggest jump in package rates - from $5K to $7K. I had no desire to raise my rates (mainly because I thought no one would hire me), but I was told at a business retreat in September that I needed to double my rates.
Yikes. Cue the nervous sweating.
I decided on a $2K jump, which felt more aligned. And funny enough, now I can’t imagine doing a $5K website now that my mentality on my prices has changed.
I also raised my rates for SEO by a decent percentage.
I’m happy to say that getting clients has not been an issue with these price increases.
Stopped obsessing about working 8 hours every single day
To be honest, I think I took off only 2 days in 2020 (for my birthday). I’ve always hated the absurdity of working on holidays (specifically Thanksgiving/Christmas) so I’ve been good every year about boundaries in that context and truly soaking up family time.
But for personal days, it was a measly 2 days off that I can remember. Maybeee there were a couple other random days in there. Covid was partially to blame for that.
2021 was different.
I took a full week off for a family vacation and I’ve taken countless days here and there for family or just because I felt like it. I finally let go of the obsession of hitting an 8 hour work day, and listened to my body more.
My business revenue and income grew, so it was great to get more validation that my business will not fall apart if I’m not working 24/7.
Goals for next year
Grow my SEO course student base
I love seeing students and clients getting so much out of my course, SEO Strategy Simplified (psttt watch the free SEO webinar here). My goal for 2022 is to definitely grow this community and increase awareness of the program.
With that, I’m hoping to make more sales from passive income, instead of always relying on trading time for money.
One program that has helped a lot is Mariah Coz’s Accelerator program that I joined in 2020 and left in mid 2021. It immensely helped me build and market my course.
Take on more SEO projects
I love website design (it was the creative aspect missing from my 9-5 job), but as mentioned above, sometimes it can be a lot. Mainly because I put pressure on myself to blow my clients’ socks off.
I love the idea of doing 1-2 websites every couple months, and having more space to take on SEO projects. I love helping business owners craft a blog strategy so they have a clear idea of what kinds of content to write and having a roadmap for how to best optimize it.
Especially since I see business owners blogging without a strategy SO often.
Create more partnerships
Entrepreneurship can be lonely. And trying to hustle for each and every client can become exhausting real quick.
I already have existing partnerships with a few copywriters (who can help with web design clients) and a podcast manager/funnel strategist. All of these have been amazing and so beneficial for both parties - getting referrals and also supporting my clients with strong recommendations. I’m excited to see how this expands in 2022.
There ya have it! That’s my 2021 end of year review. Hope you enjoyed this personal post :) See ya on the other side!
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