While completing my year end review, I recalled that at the beginning of 2014, I adopted MAXIMIZE as my “one word” for the year. To be honest, I didn’t keep it foremost in mind, but despite that, I consider it to have been a successful year.

The highlight was definitely attending my first NAPO Conference in May. It was a fabulous opportunity to:

• share my knowledge by speaking about How to Write Blog Posts that Get Results
• learn about the sales process from Michael Charest
• see some unique organizing products on display at the Organizing Expo
• grow my network by meeting new people
• strengthen my existing network by meeting many of my online contacts face-to-face for the first time, as well as reconnecting with others I’ve met previously

(and yes, I had lots of fun while doing so!)

These benefits were supplemented by giving online presentations on Getting Started with Google Plus for Professional Organizers in Canada’s Cyber Chapter and NAPO’s Virtual Chapter and on Working with a Virtual Assistant for SOHO Tech Training.

In September I was honored to receive Career Professionals of Canada’s 2014 Award of Excellence for Outstanding Canadian Online Profile Developer.

Throughout the year, I enjoyed working with a variety of clients. Here are a couple of my projects from 2014:

Smart ~ Happy ~ Organized

Creating WordPress websites is always a pleasure for me, but this one for Autumn Leopold of Windfall Organizing was even more fun than others.

(Note: site is no longer online)

As you can see, the design is very colorful and up-to-date with large images. As someone who started blogging before the trend to larger images came into play (see this early post on Your Organizing Business for an example), I was pretty jealous!

Basic Organization

This project for Janet Schiesl was very similar to one I completed for Hazel Thornton a couple of years ago. It involved taking the content and basic design from Janet’s non-WordPress site,

importing the content of her WordPress.com blog,

and putting it all into a brand new WordPress site.

(Note: Site was redesigned in 2019 – read about the redesign project here)

Here’s what Janet said when it was all done:

All in all, 2014 was a great year, and it’s going to be hard to beat, but I’ll certainly try! I’ve already got some exciting projects in the works and some plans to keep me happy, healthy, and prosperous in 2015.

My “one word” for 2015 is FOCUS.

I intend to spend less time randomly reading blog posts and other online information that catches my eye. Instead, I’m creating a schedule of topics I want to learn about, either for my own professional development, or to blog about, or both.

As I described to Gresham Harkless of CEO Blog Nation for his article, 18 Entrepreneurs Explain Their New Year’s Resolutions, when I see something of interest, I’ll save it to Pocket and tag it so I can easily find the information when it’s time to study that topic. I’ll organize incoming newsletters and free downloads the same way, to be reviewed at the same time. Being more focused will help me to expand and share my knowledge more efficiently. I’ll be applying a similar strategy to my personal life.

What were the highlights of 2014 for your business? Do you have a word in mind for 2015?

2014-15 Image © Mishchenko / depositphotos

Focus Image © KenDrysdale / depositphotos