Why I Don't Believe in Resolutions and The Cool Stuff I Did Last Year (Part 2)

Around this time a year ago I looked back on all the cool stuff I did in 2018 (and why I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions which is all still true).

Feeling nostalgic, I had another read through that earlier.

And it slapped me in the face that somehow, in 2019, I managed to top all that.

I went through that 2018 list and it hit home that I'd improved on a large % of it without even consciously trying to do so. It's also been purely organic growth, I haven't forced it by taking on debt/expenses or anything I wasn't comfortable with.

Some people/influencers/'mentors' try to justify their existence (and the money you are paying them) by pressing you to always be driving things forward, making you feel like unless you are constantly hustling, throwing money at things and working 12+ hours a day even on Christmas Day, you are doing it wrong.

That's bullsh*t. No journey is linear and on long trips it's especially important to take regular breaks to rest and refuel. Go at your own pace, it's not always a race and whilst pushing out of your comfort zone occasionally is a good thing, constantly trying to live outside it is unhealthy and leads to stress you don't need. 

Could I have progressed faster? Probably. Would there have been an almost-equal chance of me getting burnt out and sacking it all off for the security and comfort of a 9-6 agency job? Almost certainly.

If I was 10 years younger I might be doing things differently but as you get older, priorities change. At 37, I'm not trying to make £10m a year and take over the world. Enjoying my work, growing the business and having enough for my family to be financially secure for life, a nice car and house and continuing to make a difference by building brands and helping people run their ads better, that will do me.

As with anything in life, balance is key. And it's something I'm still trying to get better at myself but some of the things I've done in the last 12 months tell me I'm going in the right direction. Now, onto the cool stuff...

• I've worked on projects for brands like Kaspersky, Ford, Toyota, Mous, Telefonica, and through my work with Facebook for clients in places like Italy, Sweden & Turkey and even Russia as well as my usual US, UK & Ireland
• In 6 months we were able to bring in $2.8 million in revenue (63% growth) for a real estate coach selling products ranging from 5K to 20K
• Consulted on accounts that hit their first ever 6 and 7-figure months, one of the most rewarding parts of my job is helping businesses literally transform and go to new heights
• Back in my 2018 post I was happy just to be playing American Football again and contributing to the team but we finished 3rd that season; a few months back we went all the way and won the Shamrock Bowl (Irish League championship) and I got a nice shiny ring too
• Generated more in revenue over the Black Friday weekend for the Canadian store of a major US streetwear brand than they did in the whole of Q1
• Added another $500k in revenue over the last 6 months for the most crowdfunded fitness product in history ($3.9m backed in total)
• Ran my first political campaign which was a massive success and our candidate stormed home with a result that far exceeded everyone's expectations
• Ran my first major book launch which went straight into numerous bestseller lists as well as making Fortune's Top 10 Best Business Books of 2019
• Amongst being fortunate enough to travel to several different countries last year, I took off last minute to Madrid and saw my beloved Liverpool win the Champions League. Although I didn't get tickets to the game, the atmosphere was incredible and the fanzone with 50,000 other Liverpool fans the day of the final (and the party after) is something I'll never forget
• Was recognised for my achievements and won 'Social Media Freelancer of the Year' at the NI Social Media Awards and one of my campaigns was a runner up for Best Campaign

(this reminds me again, I really need to pull my finger out and write some case studies up)

Value section coming up :-)

So, how did I make 2019 even better than 2018?

a) Really thought hard about what type of clients I wanted to work with, said 'no' a lot more and referred on numerous smaller clients to other people. Taking on anything and everything is something everyone does at the start but it's also one of the first things you need to change in order to grow

b) Increased my rates in line with a) which instantly eliminated a lot of the 'wrong' kind of clients. The sort of person I am means I'd love to help everyone out but this physically isn't possible and makes zero sense when one retainer for a bigger client covers 4-5 smaller ones as well as being less intensive from a communications point of view

c) Gave up constantly regurgitating other people's work just to fill my social media calendars and started posting more in my own voice. I can't remember who said 'being yourself is the biggest USP you have because no-one else can copy it' but it really is true. Occasionally sharing relevant news/blogs is fine but at least give your own opinion or something to personalize it a tiny bit at least

d) Stopped being a control freak and finally started finding people to delegate to which frees me up to do higher-level stuff, work on the business and spend less time in the weeds of ad accounts even though I still love doing it

e) Improved my relationship with Facebook which has led to a lot of more varied work (and far less stressful than eCommerce ad buying) with clients all over Europe

f) Although I was a lot busier, I still made time to engage in the top Facebook ads groups daily which are a constant source of knowledge for me as well as being another way for me to help others out. Making time to continue to learn and get better is vital in any job, you can't get complacent

It wasn't all rosy last year though.

• I got fired by one client just before BFCM (won't go into detail for professional reasons but all I'll say is it was ultimately a relief and freed up a ton of my time)
• Because of a simple miscommunication earlier in the year, I missed out on a huge opportunity with a great brand it would have been a dream to run ads for (which actually annoyed me more than missing out on the 5-figure monthly retainer)

Anyway, enough negativity/'balance'... I've got a business goal in mind for 2020 to top all the above that will be another serious challenge and I'll write up when I've had more of a chance to think about it. All being well, another 'little challenge' will be coming along this summer too but more on that another time!

Until then, Happy New Year and I hope 2020 is a great one for all the good people that deserve it.