First of all, I want to use this opportunity and specially wish you all a Happy and fulfilled 2013. I’ve really missed you all indeed as I’ve not been active online for this few weeks, although it wasn’t as if I intentionally became inactive, but it was due to where I celebrated my Christmas. I traveled to the village to celebrate with my family but to my utmost surprise, there is no internet connection in my village so that really kept me away from you guys.
If you noticed, this is my first post since I traveled on the 21st Dec, but I thank God I’m back now for good. The truth is that, I’m not really sad about the unavailable internet stuff at all because it also gave me some time to celebrate and enjoyed with my family.
Now, I know you may be wondering about the travelling to celebrate with my family, it’s not as if I’m yet totally independent and therefore living on my own. I’m not living with them actually because I’m still a student and I’m schooling outside my town which resulted to my staying in school. In case you never know before, I’m studying Electrical and Electronics Engineering in one institution and also studying Information Technology in another institution. The formal is full time while the later is a part time program.
Looking back at my 2012 Goals.
The truth is that I never set a goal in 2012; I know this may surprise you but it’s the truth. I registered my domain on 17th January 2012 and published my first post on early March. So as of then, I never knew anything about setting of goals until I started visiting other blogs.
But that notwithstanding, I really thanked God for the little I achieved in 2012 especially for the wonderful people I met which I will talk about in a moment. One thing I’m so happy that I did last year was the starting of this blog. I’ve wanted to start a blog back since 2008, but I was waiting for the right time..haha. It was after I read one of Robert Kiyosaki’s books that I decided to start. Robert quotes that……
Sometimes the most prudent thing to do is to take action even when you do not have all the facts…!
Just getting started is your best course of action. Pick a target and shoot! If you miss the target, you move on to the next one.
I guarantee you one thing: doing nothing will get you one thing: NOTHING.
Taking action toward what you want will always win… even if you start wrong, it’s better than sitting still.
The Sad Experience.
After thinking about those quotes, I decided to register my first domain www.yourguidepost.com which I registered in 2011.
But that domain really gave me some heart attack, why? When I registered and installed wordpress on it with some plugins, after few days of the installation, the site was hacked. I couldn’t believe it as I don’t even know what hacking is all about then. I had to contact a friend who then explained everything to me and advised me to contact my hosting provider and ask him to change my control panel login details.
Did that solve the problem? Of cause no. They hacked it again the second time, this time, the guy told me to purchase original Internet Security that the trait is from my pc, of cause I want a solution to my problem so I did what he suggested but that didn’t solve the issue.
They still hacked it again which now made me to abandon the domain and register the one I’m using now. Men, it was really a very bitter experience and the worst of it all is that I never knew anything about backing up of wordpress then.
My Little Achievements so far.
I really did not achieve much for my blog in 2012. But I’m happy for the little ones so far. Below are the things I’ve achieved so far.
- My facebook fans: As I’m talking to you now, I only have 84 likes on my fan page. This is not big though but I’m still happy for it although I wasn’t very active on facebook last year.
- Twitter Followers: I have 645 followers on twitter, not bad at all so, I’m happy for that.
- Mailing list Subscribers: Few months after I started blogging, I purchased some information products materials with master resale right. I advertised them on one our national dailies for $150/month. But I didn’t advertise the sale page directly, when you click on the link to view the products, you will see a squeeze page where I offered a free ebook for download after submitting your name and email address. That gave me 721 subscribers in one month coupled with the 45 I got from my blog totaling to 766 subscribers.
- Daily Visitors: I now receives about 70-80 visitors per day.
- Alexa ranking: 586932 as of today.
That’s all for now.
My Shout outs
I can’t end this post without mentioning some wonderful friends I’ve met in my blogging journey so far. You know what they say that……. When you see any successful man, there are always some people behind it. So below are a few of them.
- Adrienne Smith: Adrienne is the brain behind www.adriennesmith.net. I’ve really learnt a lot of things from her, one thing she taught me that I really appreciate is Relationship Marketing.
- Pat Flynn: Pat is the founder of the almighty and popular www.smartpassiveincome.com. He is one blogger that I really liked a lot because he made me to believe that it is actually possible to make money from a blog.
- Neil Petal: He is one of the most successful blogger out there with so many experiences in the field. I really enjoyed his infographics. You can check out his informative blog at www.quicksprout.com
- Michael Chibuzor: Mike is a freelance writer and the master of Guest Blogging. He is the man behind www.contentmarketingup.com where he writes all there is about content marketing. It was through him that I learnt what Guest Posting really is and how to do it for an effective result.
- Tim Burner: Tim is my very good friend whom I like a lot because of his transparency in writing. One thing I love about him is the way he writes about himself thereby creating more trust from his readers. Check him out at www.tim-bonner.com.
- Matt Wolfe: Matt is the owner of www.businessandblogs.com. If you want to learn how to write and publish your own kindle book, then visit his blog.
- Ana Hoffman: She is a very wonderful lady that doesn’t joke with building trust. If you want to learn more about driving search engine traffic to your blog, then visit her at www.trafficgenerationcafe.com.
- Chadrack Irobogo: He is the founder of www.webincomejournal.com where I’ve learnt a lot of things about blogging.
- Steve Scott: Steve is a blogger and the author of many kindle books. One of his kindle books I really learnt a lot from recently is his Internet Lifestyle Productivity. You really have to check out that book on Amazon because there are lots of things to learn from it. You can as well check out his blog at www.stevescottsite.com to learn more about his numerous books.
Others I can’t forget are…….
- John Chow: www.johnchow.com
- Sunil: www.extramoneyblog.com
- Sue Neal: www.writeclever.com
- Sapna: www.h4hitech.com
- Felicia: www.bankrollmob.com
- Lisa: www.inspiretothrive.com
- Pauline Bennett: www.pauline-bennett.com
- David Walker: www.davidwalker.im
- Steve Watson: www.stevewatsononline.com
- Akos Fintor: www.akosfintor.net
- Khaja Moin: www.capturedbloggingtips.com
- Stacy Clafflin: www.growwithstacy.com
- Sergio Felix: www.marketingwithsergio.com
- Enstine Muki: www.emfastincome.com
- Marcel Spitz: www.empowerfriend.com
- Vince: www.popularblogsite.com
- Jon: www.authoritywebsiteincome.com
- Cubicle: www.cubiclefree.com
- Marcie: www.marciewrites.com
- Vineet Saxena: www.makemoneyonlinefastplans.com
- Jan Bierens: www.janbierens.com
- Ben Troy: www.my4hrworkweek.com
- Eric: www.my4hrworkweek.com
- Ehasn Ullah: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
- Yeremy Akpan: www.probloggertips.com
- Chimezirim Odimkpa: www.iteachcash.com
I really appreciate you all. Thanks for all your comments, retweets and words of encouragements. I couldn’t have done it at all without your wonderful supports. Imagine Top Blogging Coach without you guys. Please if don’t already know those guys, I advice you visit their blog today as you will learn more than you already know.
I pray we continue to learn more from each other in 2013 and the coming years. I know there are many other people I did not mention here but you all are also amazing. I’m very sorry for the long post.
I have already compiled my 2013 goal and will publish it on Thursday by the grace of God.
Let’s all succeed together friends.
Thanks all and wishing us tremendous and unmerited favours this year and always.
Your Turn
How did you celebrate your Christmas? Do you already know any of the bloggers I mentioned above and what is your own say about them? Were you able to complete your 2012 goals and what are your plans for 2013?
Your comments and retweets are highly appreciated.
Photo Credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Adrienne says
Happy New Year Theodore! Welcome back and glad you enjoyed your holiday.
Man, you are one busy young man. Studying at two universities and keeping up with this blog. Wow, that’s a lot of work.
I did enjoy my holiday as well, spent it with family. Just chillin and enjoy each other’s company along with wonderful food.
Thank you so much for the mention, I’m so glad we had an opportunity to meet this past year and I have a feeling we’ll see each other a lot this year too.
I know quite a few on your list but some I still haven’t visited. May have to check them out.
Thanks again and you have a fabulous year.
~Adrienne
Theodore Nwangene says
Thanks Adrienne,
It not easy for me at all, but i have no other choice than to keep to it. I’m also happy to meet you indeed and i believe we still have a lot to learn from each other.
Thanks and may we achieve more in 2013.
Sapna says
HI Theodore
Great you took some time off and enjoyed with your family, the photograph says it all. Another feature to your cap, getting 2 degrees at a time, both related to Digital electronics.
I am really thankful and feeling honored to be mentioned on to your list, thanks for giving me an opportunity.
The list comprising of all the great bloggers, I know most of them very well.
Wishing you a Happy and prosperous New year 2013.
Sapna
Theodore Nwangene says
Hey Sapna,
Thanks for the wonderful compliments. I have to mention you because you deserve it. I’m enjoying your infographics, keep it up
Enstine Muki says
Hey bro,
Welcome back and happy new year!
Looks like we were in the same boat this season. I went to village too where I was completely offline. The good side of it was time spent with family (off the computer screen). i returned earlier though and continued from where I stopped
Thanks for mentioning me and some very cool guys on this post. I’m sure this year has better things in stock. All we have to do is to work harder.
Happy New Year!
Theodore Nwangene says
Thanks for the comment Enstine and welcome back too,
Yea, you can say that again, it wasn’t easy at all looking at the computer screen all this while, so i really enjoyed my moment in the villa.
Thanks and Happy new year.
Sue Neal says
Hi Theodore,
You make me realise I really do need to take some time off – I’ve been working, apart from the bank holidays, on my day job AND online and I must admit I could do with a break.
This post is very inspiring – you’ve overcome some difficult hurdles, particularly your hacking nightmares, proving that even the most terrible setbacks can be overcome – you’ve shown great strength of character and determination to get through that. And the progress you’ve made with this blog and your list is amazing – you’re an inspiration to us all.
One of my main objectives for the start of this year is to begin building my list – I’ve been struggling to find time to finish my eBook giveaway, but I’m determined to have it done by the end of January.
So pleased to have met you, and I feel very honoured to be included in your list of shouts – I’m grateful for all your other recommendations, too, which I will add to my list of blogs to explore. I know quite a few of the bloggers on your list, but not all of them – there are some really special ones there, like Adrienne and Tim, whom I also feel lucky to know.
Thanks, Theodore – a great post to kick off the New Year!
Sue
Theodore Nwangene says
Thanks for the compliments Sue,
I’m really glad i could help. The hacking issue was really a very bitter experience but i learnt so many things from it.
I also thanked God i met you because I’ve actually learnt so many valuable things from you which i couldn’t have learnt if i didn’t met you.
Thanks for this wonderful comment of yours.
Lets all succeed together.
Aditya says
Regardless of what all has happened (even my blog was hacked recently and luckily I had it backed up, so brought it back online easily), may 2013 be one of your best years in blogging, I can see that you’re connecting with some really good bloggers here, so you needn’t worry much.
Good luck to you and thanks for sharing some wonderful blogs here.
Aditya
Theodore Nwangene says
Hmmmmmmmm Aditya,
Thanks for that wonderful prayer of yours, i claim it in Jesus name, Amen. And i also wish you the same my brother. Its really very sad for your blog to be hacked after much effort.
Prayer is that they will never see us again.
Thanks again.
Android App Development says
Good advice. I’ll take it into account.
Theodore Nwangene says
Thanks
Ehsan Ullah says
Some of the great achievements so far Theodore. I know that It feels very sad when your a rookie hacker got his hand on your blog (I had that experience as well).
Thanks so much for the shout out Theodore, I appreciate it.
Happy new year to you!
Theodore Nwangene says
Indeed Ehsan,
You can say that again, sad to hear that you’ve also had such an ugly experience. Thank God we were able to overcome it anyway.
Michael Chibuzor says
Thanks for the mention my humble bro. What an amazing journey great friend. I envy you ooo.
Theodore Nwangene says
Haha Mike,
What are you envying me for? Anyway thanks
Sergio Felix says
Hey Theodore, thank you for the awesome shout out and for opening out to let us know a little bit more about yourself.
I’m actually a fellow graduate Computer Systems Engineer with a few Microsoft Certifications under my arm so I’m really happy that you are studying Engineering and are involved with IT right now, those are wonderful career choices!
I think you have come a long way in a very short amount of time even if you’ve got hacked in the beginning of your IM career.
You are offering services for the tasks you are already knowledgeable about and I know many people are scared to monetize their skill set so this is a major step towards success online.
I hope 2013 brings all the best out of you and I have a lot of faith that you are capable of scaling your achievements even a lot further man so let’s crush this new year, are you with me?
Sergio
PS. Thanks for positioning me in #13, I started working with computers at that age and given that I’ve finally decided to achieve everything I can on this year, I think the 13 will be my lucky number. 😉
Theodore Nwangene says
You bet Sergio,
I’m with you. And thanks for the compliments man, really appreciate.
Good luck.
Belinda says
Hope your holidays were great. Just so sad to know about the hacking issues you’ve had.
That’s quite annoying.
Theodore Nwangene says
Thanks for your concern Belinda
Khaja moin says
Hey Theodore,
Thanks mate for adding me to this awesome list.
Now I`m going to bookmark this list to start networking with new bloggers 😉
~@Khajamoin1
Theodore Nwangene says
Your’re most welcome Khaja
Robin J Emdon says
Cool article! “Doing nothing – gets you nothing!” – So true – but it does get you a result of a kind – the result you get – when you do nothing! Not good! Thanks for a good read! 🙂 ~Robin~
Theodore Nwangene says
Thanks a lot Robin,
I’m happy you like the post
Kelly Orange says
Thank you very much for sharing this post and information. my friend