It’s Been a Crazy Year On the Blog Achievements & Aims 

It really hard to imagine that 12 months ago I was a fairly anonymous dad blogger plodding away, writing about my kids and family with actually no real plan or aim where the blog was going to go. I’m actually not sure I was that bothered either. It was for me, an online diary for my children to read one day. In fact that is still my intention for my blog. 

I’m not usually a person to brag about my achievements, but I thought this was a good opportunity to write down what I have achieved over the last 12 months. I am still in shock at all the things that have happened to my little old blog. 

The turning point came in June when I was named in the top 10 dad bloggers with vuelio. It was the biggest shock of my life. When I recieved the email I had actually never heard of them and genuinely thought so what, but then reaslised it was actually a big deal!

Things instantly changed. I was approached by big brands within days and that I have to admit was an awesome feeling. If I don’t get in that top 10 next year, yes I would be disappointed, but at the same time I will always have that one year where I was. 

I have always been in the top 50 on rise parent blogger network, but one Monday morning I recieved an email in November to say I was number 1. It was an incredible feeling. 

I have been published by the huffpost three times in the last six months and actually on one occasion I made the front page, something I never thought was possible. The post that made the front page was 21 years of parenting.

I have been asked by the blended parent network to contribute and have written two posts for them and feel very humbled that they thought I was good enough to write for them. It is also I think the best parent network out there today. 

I have been featured on a number of other parent bloggers blogs this year, but one in particular was John at dad blog uk, who featured me as a dad blogger to follow. This coming from who I consider to be the best dad blogger in the UK so it was a huge compliment. 

I have also been astounded at the number of bloggers who have commented on anything I have written and the kind words that people say, it’s incredibly humbling. 

There have been a number of posts that I have written that I am particularly proud of and the views they recieved still amazes me. There is one particular post that I am personally proud of this year. It didn’t have the biggest views, but did very well and that is Superhero v Princess, which is all about my four year old twins. And another post that had an amazing positive result was when is a blog no longer a blog, and finally my most read post of the year was Gender Stereotyping in schools. 

My first ever radio debut happened just a couple of weeks ago. I was very nervous, but what a  buzz! A major highlight this year, it’s really given me a taste for some more. I spoke about a subject which I have very strong views about teachers and presents. You can read the post here. 

Another big thing to happen was that I made the transition from blogger to WordPress which means I now own all my own material, and I had a completly new design on the blog. which I love. 

2017 will hold some challenges, that’s for sure, but I have a set of aims where I would like to see the blog by the end of 2017. I have an opportunity to write for an online parenting magazine in America which is very exciting. 

This year I have been lucky enough to work with some very well known big brands and 2017 is the year I would like to develop that a little bit more.

The truth is though, I want to carry on producing quality, engaging material. I love reading other people’s posts and their views on parenting and engaging with other bloggers via social media and just writing because ultimately that’s what I love more than anything, writing on a spectrum of topics that interests me. 

Happy new year to everybody and I truly hope all your dreams come true in 2017. Share the love