A year in review
Technically speaking, Bloomsbury Digital began its life around October 2015, but it didn't really spring into action until July of this year, after a few weeks of stress. Six months on and things are looking strong for my little studio. This is the most successful freelance venture I've undertaken, and the success is partly due to having spent enough time building towards a stable cashflow.
This year I worked with my sister company Nymbol and the British Council on their Pakistan libraries website, recorded four audiobooks, launched websites for a radio station, a restaurant guide and Women in Film & TV, I started a weekly radio show, launched a successful podcast called The Mood Elevator and produced a vastly more successful project for Productivity Ninja Graham Allcott. I also created a podcasting course and a professionally-voiced screencasting service. I've helped organisations keep their websites and apps running, and consulted on podcast production with a theatre company.
That's a pretty big six months.
Next year I'll be launching a major podcasting product into the marketplace. It's being beta tested at the moment and seems to be exciting a few people. I'll talk more about that when we open up the beta to the general public, but the initial take-up is really exciting. I'll be putting a significant amount of energy into that, so I expect a lot of my work will be to bootstrap its development and marketing costs (which will rack up).
A sincere thank you to everyone I've worked with since Bloomsbury Digital sprang into life. It's been an exciting, rewarding, and sometimes stressful journey so far, but I'm excited about the future and for the first time in my zebra-striped career of freelance and employment, feel like I can make a pretty good fist of this.
However, I'm surprised at how happy I am to take a break. I've promised myself not to touch my computer for any kind of work - be that paid work, new developments or side projects - until my first day back on the Jan 4th. December has been surprisingly full-on, but as every freelancer knows, this usually bodes well for the bank balance so it's not something you begrudge. However I feel like I've earned a break, having not had a proper holiday since last Christmas. 10 days off should do the trick, and I'm hoping to come back refreshed and invigorated for the year ahead.
But for now, I'm engaging the autoresponder. See you in 2017!