Last December when I was planning for 2011, I focused almost entirely on the year ahead. From a professional standpoint, there wasn’t much to reflect on in 2010. From a personal standpoint however, it was a year of new beginnings. Among other things, we had wrapped up our backpacking trip, scrapped plans to move to Guadalajara and bought our first apartment in Mexico City. It was also the year I started this website, Go Mexico Guide, fully intending for it to be a place for me to practice my writing, get feedback and showcase my work as I pursued a career in freelance travel writing.
At the time, I really didn’t know what to expect heading into 2011. Looking back on it now, if 2010 was a year of new beginnings — and it definitely was — then 2011 was a year of learning, preparation and a whole lot of trial and error, not to mention that I never did get around to writing that insider’s guide to Mexico City.
Freelance writing continued to be my main priority throughout the first half of 2011 and I landed a few steady assignments. Meanwhile, I continued to write and publish articles on Go Mexico Guide. I wasn’t earning a lot, maybe a few hundred dollars a month, and we were still partially living off our savings, but I enjoyed the work I was doing.
About halfway through the year advertising and sponsorship requests began to trickle in and I realized that the website was not only a portfolio of my writing, but there was a chance that maybe it could become a small business in and of itself. It was also around this time that I was invited to write for México Today, and I decided to shift my focus from seeking out freelance work to building up the website.
We still weren’t going to be getting rich anytime soon, but I was finally earning just about enough to cover our living expenses in Mexico and the real reward was getting to be self-employed while working on my own projects rather than someone else’s.
Needless to say, I spent a big chunk of my time in 2011 teaching myself the business of travel blogging and online publishing. All of the effort paid off and I’ve built up a strong foundation of knowledge heading into 2012. Going forward, I’ll be approaching the work that I do online with greater consistency and purpose. I’ll be showing up every day and doing the work. I have a better idea of what to expect heading into 2012, and if all goes as planned, it’ll be a year of taking action and getting results.
I’m planning to work hard in 2012, but maintaining a healthy work/life balance, keeping up a regular running routine, traveling and continuing to improve my Spanish will still be among my top priorities. Now that Carlos is back in school we’ll definitely be keeping a close eye on our spending, but having the flexibility in my schedule to build my daily routine around the things that are important to us makes it all worth it.
What are you working toward in 2012?
Photo credit: via flickr
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I love your blog and that you are learning as you go. AND I love that it’s positive information about the great country of Mexico. Keep up the good work and Happy New Year!
Thanks Anne! I’m so glad to hear you’re enjoying my blog and I hope you’ll continue to stop by in 2012. Happy New Year!
Hi, just discovered you through Runaway Jane’s “Travel Blogs To Watch” post and thought I’d say hello! I started as a full time freelance writer/editor back in 1995, so for us 2011 was all about learning the technical side of running our site: basic design coding, SEO maximization, how to best use social media, etc. Now that we’re going through a pretty cool growth spurt, 2012 will be about growing bigger and better, working smarter to expand our audience, and hopefully announcing a pretty big partnership in the next few weeks. Hope you have a great 2012!
That sounds fantastic Bret! I’m looking forward to hearing more about the partnership. All the best in 2012!