Looking back at 2015 and planning for the year ahead – Mummascribbles

When I think back 18 months to when I decided to start this little blog, I honestly had no idea that I’d still be writing posts at the end of 2015.

This year has been a pretty big deal for me blog wise. I have worked with some fantastic brands including JD Sports, Jamie’s Italian, Little Passports, Primula and George at Asda.

I have been able to take my little family on some awesome trips including a week long holiday to France with eurocamp, to the theatre to see Stick Man and Dinosaur Zoo and to the premier of the new Teletubbies series.

To top that all off, I actually started to make money. Real money. It’s pretty amazing really because a year and a half ago I had no idea you could make money blogging.

In February I started the Twinkly Tuesday linky, in March I started my Mummascribbles meets series and in August I started my Working mums series.  I am so proud of all three of these things. Having so many people link up on a weekly basis,  introducing so many wonderful bloggers through my blog and discussing being a working mum with some amazing women has just been fantastic. 

In June I attended my first ever blogging conference in which the lovely people at Kidster were my sponsors. It was both nerve-wracking and exciting but I learnt so much and met up with an amazing bunch of people who are my blogging buddies.

In July I was selected as Netmums blog of the day with my post about the London bombings and in August, I had my first ever post published by The Huffington Post. Pretty exciting stuff.

2015 has been pretty epic so where do I go from here?

Finding time to blog can be quite difficult on top of my full time job and being a mum but I’m pretty sure that with my lovely new blog planner I can get myself a bit more organised and hopefully continue the success I’ve had this year.  There are a few things that I want to work on though so here is my plan for 2016.

Write
This may sound silly but I want to write more and spread posts out a bit better. I am one of those people who writes something and feels the need to publish it straight away. This means that sometimes the beginning of the week can be post heavy with less towards the end of the week. I need to schedule better so this is something I’ll be working on.

Photography
Working on my photography is something I want to focus on in 2016. It’s ok but it could definitely be improved. I got a Samsung phone a few months ago which has a fantastic camera on it. My main problem is that most of my photos are of Zach who sadly doesn’t get the concept of staying still for a photo which means lots of blurry images!

Instagram
I’m pretty good on social media I think, however I know I need to up my game on Instagram. It kind of ties in with the improving my photography so maybe you can all expect to see my photograph practice on instagram!

Technology
I am putting away all of the money I have earnt from my blog and I will be at some point in the new year treating myself to a laptop. At the moment I have to share the PC with the other half and it just doesn’t do what I need it to do. I need a laptop that has everything I require – I am still trying to figure out which one that is so feel free to tell me what you use! 

I am also in the process of redesigning my blog.  I already have a fab new theme and am currently trying to make it look better and navigate better. It’s not a quick task though when you have a million other things to do!

More blogging events
I am already booked up to attend the Blognix Retreat in February but there are more events that I want to attend next year.  I am deciding on Britmums but I’ll definitely be trying to go to Blogfest. These events aren’t only fantastic for learning but also for meeting up with my gorgeous blogging buddies!

Working with more brands
I love working with brands. There is nothing that makes you feel more professional as a blogger than working with companies who want you to advertise for them. It is also extremely flattering as well. I hope to team up with more wonderful products and hopefully run a few competitions for you.

So there are a few of my plans for the coming year. I cannot wait to get started. Thank you for all of your support over the last year. Thank you for all of your comments,  all of the time you taken to read my posts, all of the follows I’ve had on my social media. I may do the writing but if it wasn’t for you, it wouldn’t be anywhere near as fun.

Happy New Year – I wish you all a wonderful 2016.