What I did
A non-exhaustive list:
- I spent a big chunk of the year working with one client to define and then roll out a new content strategy framework. Spending a day a week in the office working with them was a change from my remote-work norm, but a good one. It was also great that the project could move at a realistic pace — and that I could stick around to support the team with the rollout. Operationalising a content strategy takes time, and it’s probably harder than coming up with the strategy itself.
- Another big chunk of the year was dedicated to a project that looked like a simple, content-led website redesign. A stakeholder cautioned us at the start: ‘You’re going to have a lot of trouble with this little website’. And they were correct. It turned out to be a very complex sensemaking project – encompassing information architecture, messaging, content modelling and more. It made me reflect on the challenge of sensemaking. It can be so hard for agile organisations, who have been working at speed and growing fast, to pause and define the answers to big questions about who they are and what they do.
- Ruth Oliver and I have collaborated on a couple of content design projects. These both got me thinking about processes a lot, and the never-ending challenges of getting content signed off. I use rough outlines as a feedback tool to try and minimise revisions on drafts. It helps, but pair writing really is the best option. It’s just hard to coordinate, and there’s often some reticence (from me, as well as clients, tbh!). I need to find a way around this in 2025 to make pair writing feel the like the pleasant, productive option it really is.
- My coaching and mentoring offer took off this year in a way I really didn’t expect. I got to work with 9 brilliant clients, all of whom have genuinely been a joy to work with.
- I wrote a lot, mostly for my email, 10 Things. This year, a lot of my writing was about going back to basics, or capturing models and tools that I use a lot in my own work.
Reflections
Looking back now, 2023 looks like a big, glowing, shining year of success. In comparison, 2024 feels like a fight from end-to-end (in terms of overall business, not the work I’ve been doing).
My turnover is down by 25% and profit by 16% compared to 2023. I put a lot of effort into new business, with my worst ever success rate:
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- I lost out on 2 projects in competitive processes
- 3 projects didn’t go ahead after circumstances changed for the client
- 4 organisations didn’t reply to me after I submitted the proposal they asked for
- I won 7 projects — a c. 40% success rate, which is very low for me
It’s not very #girlboss #killingit to admit this, but I try to be transparent as so much bullshitting goes on. And I’m hearing similar stories from many self-employed folk and agencies. It’s tough out there.
I had a lot of downtime over the summer, which I put into writing, designing, and building my new website. Things picked up in the second half of the year, and I ran out of time to finish it. So it’s just sitting there on my staging site, gathering digital dust. And I have no real plan for how I’m going to rectify this in 2025 yet.
The light at the end of the tunnel this year was moving into my own office. Not to get too Virginia Woolf about it, but having a room of my own has been an ambition for a long, long time. I didn’t have any idea how difficult it would be to find somewhere. There’s a real lack of affordable workspaces for small businesses and creatives in Brighton. There’s plenty of coworking, but the price for a permanent desk is ridiculous, given that you get such a tiny space and no privacy. After looking for about a year, I finally found somewhere within my budget. It’s a tiny basement room, but it’s cosy, it’s mine, and I can actually concentrate.
I know you’re supposed to have some kind of amazing reflection or realisation in these sorts of posts. But I don’t have one this year. Not every year can be a barnstorming success, or a year of huge professional growth. This year was about just getting on with it. And with that, I am off to get on with celebrating the return of the sun, longer days, and all the promise of a new year.
