End-Of-Year Review

After the first end-of-year review at the end of 2010, I decided to write another one for 2011.

There are two reasons for that:

• I can wrap up the year and summarize what was happening here during 2011 for myself but also for you
• It helps me to set goals for 2012. We all need goals, don't we? 🙂

Some Personal Thoughts

Before I start with the summary, I would like to write down some personal thoughts about Shuffle Projects The Blog (Shuffle Projects is actually the head label for all my activities in the swing world, that's why I mention here «blog» specifically).

When I started it in March 2010 I didn't have a proper idea where to go, I just took action on an idea that stuck in my head for a long time. I'm really glad that I did! I made so many new connections both online and in real life, it's quite rewarding and that is something I never have thought about at the beginning.

Initially, I wanted to write articles both in German and in English, what I did in the first months. But my readership is so international that I decided to write everything in English. It doesn't make it easier for me since English is not my mother tongue, but it just makes much more sense for the blog.

On avarage, I spend between 5-10 hours per week on the blog. My goal is to publish at least two articles per week. One «Song of the Week» on Monday and another post about swing dance culture and/or music during the week. Looking back, I can say that most of the times I could stick with that schedule.

During the last 20 months, I learned so much about blogging, internet marketing, SEO (search engine optimization) and social media that I'm seriously thinking about starting a new business beside my dance life (which currently takes around 30% of my time). It's still in an early stage so I'll let you know if this won't be only an idea.

However, if you have any questions about blogging or related topics, just drop me a line and I'm glad to help you.

Now, let's start with the summary.

End-Of-Year Review 2011

General statistics:

• Published posts: 108 (2010: 94)
• Unique visitors per month (peek November):  1780 (2010: peak ca. 500)
• Page views in 2011: 34'900 (2010: 13'200)

Most Popular Posts about Dance

• Dance Teaching Idea: Ask & Tell
• Swing Dance Competition: Relative Placement Scoring System
• Swing Dance Competition: Jack & Jill
• Random Clips on Friday: Collegiate Shag

Most Popular Posts about Events

Obviously, event reviews are popular. So I'll keep posting them.

• The Big Swing Night @ Leapin’ Lindy ’11 Bern – What a great Night!
• A Day At The Balboa Experiment
• Competing at ABW and ESDC
• Swing Summer in Europe: Studio Hop Summer Camp in Eauze France

Most Popular Posts about History/Culture

• Tribute to Frankie Manning (Video)
• Documentary “The Unforgettable Hampton Family” on YouTube

Most Popular Posts about DJ'ing

• Launch Of DJ Chrisbe’s Swing DJ Resources Email List. This email list is kind of an experiment like this blog was at the beginning. It's actually not only for swing DJs but also for anybody who is interested in swing music. So far, more than 90 people have signed up. I send a newsletter once or twice a month.
• Staff DJ at Herräng Dance Camp 2011
• How to Organize Music in iTunes. Part 1: Tagging A topic requested by the swing DJ newsletter recipients.
• How to Organize Music in iTunes. Part 2: BPM & Rating
• How to Organize Music in iTunes. Part 3: Smart Playlists

Most Popular Posts about music

• Series DJ Chrisbe's Song of The Week: Every Monday, I'm featuring a new song of the week. We are at #95 right now. Like I wrote in my first «Song of the Week» I didn't invent this, I took up the idea from another (now inactive) blog. But it seems that I can't stop the series anymore. I get a lot of feedback which motivates me to keep it going.

Goals for 2012

Since I started Shuffle Projects The Blog, many new blogs about Swing dancing and especially Lindy Hop appeared in the webspace. There is a lot of discussion going on which is really interesting!

My focus however will be more on Balboa and on Swing music, since these are the topics where I'm mostly into.

Further, I have these goals:

• Grow the readership to 3000 unique visitors per month
• I would love to get more comments and interactions/discussions with my readers
• New post types: interviews and portraits

But, my main goal certainly is to provide excellent content which is either interesting, entertaining or educating.

Thank You!

I really appreciate having you on the blog and taking the time to read and comment and share my posts!

Thank you for being a part of my community!

What You Could Do

What subjects are you interested in? About what topics would you love to read more?

Please let me know! Leave a comment below or send me a message!