I don’t do personal goals at the start of a new year. But I always like to start the year with business goals. It helps me to continue to grow as a freelance copywriter, to adjust when necessary and to pursue beautiful new dreams. And I’m really looking forward to that! In terms of work, 2024 was a very successful year. For example, I wrote for a magazine for the first time, I followed many fun courses and I was able to write many interesting interview and blog articles for clients. I did 100% what I liked. A successful entrepreneurial year! What are my plans for the year ahead?
A mini-retrospective on my writing year 2024
In terms of work, I absolutely had nothing to complain about in 2024. For those who don’t know: Penrunners is not my job (but it is a passion project that I lovingly invest my free time in). During the day, I work as a freelance copywriter. For over 5 years, the most fun job I could have imagined!
In 2024, I was also allowed to type texts for great clients with great pleasure . From interview articles with students for Prairie View A&M University to practical blogs about mortgages for Novex. And from fun toy tips for Studio Sunset to complete e-books about HR regulations for Top Web Solutions. And oh yes, a few articles of mine also made wild appearance on social media feeds: I was very proud of that.
Last year I only did what I like most and therefore said ‘no’ much more than I ever did. My focus was mainly on translating beautiful stories and valuable knowledge into stories worth telling for the web. I was allowed to interview a lot of people and I still learn a lot from that myself. That’s exactly what I like about my job: making knowledge understandable for a broad audience and gaining knowledge about the most diverse subjects while writing. Fortunately, I threw the “Hey, pick a niche!” advice overboard a few years ago.
Furthermore, this was the year in which I learned to take much better breaks during work time , to set boundaries and to really take a vacation (without still secretly keeping an eye on my phone). I noticed that that is also good for an entrepreneur. Even if you think your work is the best, it is good to sometimes distance yourself from it.
What was also nice about this entrepreneurial year:
- I made time to always keep learning . So I took courses on personal branding, finally learned how Pinterest works, attended a ChatGPT training and ended the year with a course on food photography.
- I ended the year with a higher turnover than the year before. And although that was not my goal, I was quite proud of it. I worked fewer hours than the year before (when I spent a lot of time on peripheral matters such as making quotes, answering a lot of phone calls and emails).
- I worked mainly for regular clients . For some I write an article once a month, for others 3 articles a week. I have discovered that I also enjoy working for regular clients the most. Clients sometimes almost feel like colleagues.
- My biggest highlight? The launch of my new website RomyVeul.nl . I gave it a completely new look (or rather: the amazing Kayleigh from Kayleigh’s Graphics did). Lamper Design built the site and Sandra Stokmans took the photos. I am over the moon with the result. The bright colours and cheerful photos make the site feel much more “me” now.
- And a final goal achieved that I am proud of: I finally fixed my pension . Not very exciting, but necessary. Since this year I have been investing a little bit every month via Brand New Day so that in about 37 years I can retire with a nice amount and a peace of mind (and not sit behind the geraniums).
What are my business goals for 2025?
For the new year I have also come up with a few goals that I want to work on. Here they are.
1. Attract new regular customers
My agenda is actually structurally quite full and I am very grateful for that. And no, not so full that I can never pick up something new. Fortunately, I also always have the flexibility to fit fun new assignments into my agenda. So yes, I feel lucky in that respect.
But okay, we’re talking about goals. And I think it would be nice to get one or a few more regular clients this year. Since last year, I’ve been focusing more on larger assignments where I get to do something for an organization more often. Then you get to know each other well and you really build something together, which works well for both the client and me. I always say: my agenda is pretty full, but I can always make room for nice regular assignments.
For example, I think it would be really cool to write a knowledge base full of articles for another great organization or to make interview articles for a non-profit organization. I find 1001 subjects interesting, so I can think of 100 things that I would find cool. If even one of those things would come my way, I would be very happy.
2. Achieve the same turnover in less time (by tackling peripheral issues more intelligently)
My goal has never necessarily been to earn more every year. I am completely happy with the annual turnover that I now achieve, and I am also very proud that we were able to buy this house , partly thanks to my freelance income of the past years. I would never have dared to dream of that 5 years ago. However, I do like to challenge myself to achieve the same turnover in the new year and to need less time for it. That way you give yourself the assignment to work smarter instead of harder. I succeeded in doing that last year and I want to do a little extra this year.
The past years I have always worked very hard. This year I would like to work a maximum of 36 hours a week on freelance, so that there is more time left for courses, my blog and other fun side projects that make me happy.
How do I want to achieve that? By mainly tackling peripheral matters and red tape more intelligently. I don’t really believe in automating everything. My work is so much fun because of the personal contact with clients. But there are some things I can still arrange a bit more efficiently, such as:
- I want to create email formats for questions or requests that I send frequently. For example, if I ask for feedback from an interviewee, send my media kit for a blog collaboration, or send a payment reminder if an invoice has not been paid. I still type all those types of emails manually, but I can definitely create smart formats for this.
- I will, just like the past six months, look more strictly at things that I do for fun for my work. Think of drinks, press events, etc. that I don’t necessarily have to attend. It is often a lot of fun, but I prefer to spend that time on fun work assignments, courses or cool free-time things.
- Merge my mailboxes. Because I work for multiple clients, I also work with all kinds of different systems and I now have 5 different mailboxes that I have to check daily. A bit overwhelming sometimes! This year I want to find a bit more practicality in that. I believe you can have emails forwarded to one mailbox in Gmail, so high on my list of goals is to arrange that.
- And most importantly: I want to organize my bookkeeping smarter . What I already do well is use the Quickbooks bookkeeping program. I have been a customer of Quickbooks since my first years as a business person and I could not do without it anymore. It saves you a lot of – cough – hassle. With this program I create all my invoices and I also store customer data in it. This makes it very easy for me to always create an invoice without having to use PDF creators myself. But Rompslomp has many more smart options that can save me a lot of time.
With Quickbooks you can also have invoices sent automatically , so you don’t have to type an email yourself. The tool can also check whether an invoice has already been paid or whether you need to send a reminder (and yup, Quickbooks also sends that reminder). What I like is that you can adjust all the texts yourself. So an automatic email doesn’t just go out; you can decide for yourself what text you want to put on it. Also handy: with Quickbooks you can even unleash complete analyses on your accounting figures . No accountant needed!
Just as nice: did you know that an accounting program doesn’t have to be expensive at all? Quickbooks saves me at least a few hours per month, but only costs a few tens of euros. That way you’ll earn back the costs in no time.
3. Appear in a magazine
For years I have dreamed of writing an article for one of the few magazines that I like to read the most: Men’s Health, GQ, AskMen, Mens Journal or Maxim. In 2024 I was allowed to write multiple articles for some companies, which felt like a huge honor. This year I want to pitch ideas more often to other magazines that I also think are great and with which I have a lot in common. I have plenty of topic ideas. Now I just have to delve into how I can sell such an idea well to a magazine.
An article with my name on it in one of my favorite magazines about psychology and taboo-breaking topics is definitely a bucket list thing . Or no, not a bucket list thing – just a thing for this year. That’s what I’m going for. Either way, I’m going to pitch until I drop.
Or as a business coach once called it before I started my business: “If you don’t know if it will work, go for the pitbull strategy”. Persevere and persevere until you achieve what you wanted to achieve. Who knows where it will lead if I let the inner pitbull in me loose on this goal.
4. Publish an e-book
The goal of writing a book has been on hold for me for a few years now. Who knows, maybe it will come out of the fridge someday, when the book idea takes on more concrete forms than just some loose writings that I have collected in computer folders. But what I do think would be really fun to work on this year is an e-book.
I even have plans for a few e-books. For my blog, an e-book with vegan recipes would be great fun to make. For my company, I would love to make an e-book with tips on how to write good texts yourself. Over the past 5.5 years, I have helped many people write texts. Lately, I have hardly done this for freelancers, because I believe that as a freelancer you often already have a good idea of what you want to say. Only some concrete writing tips can help to put this into the right words. I would like to bundle my own writing experience in an e-book, so that I can help people to start writing themselves.
I just have no idea yet how to make sure that such an e-book actually ends up with people (and that it is not just something that remains on my own digital shelf), whether people buy something like that, for what amount, etc. In short: first a lot to figure out before I start writing. But the plan is there and so is the desire.
5. Stretch every hour
This isn’t necessarily a radical change that I’ve implemented since January 1st. I started doing this last year, but I definitely don’t want to let it go to waste this year. I love my desk job, but I’ve been told that sitting behind a desk all day isn’t ideal for your body. In addition to starting my sit-stand desk this year, I also want to continue stretching every hour.
I have a set of exercises that I do every hour to stretch my muscles, stay flexible and continue behind the PC with new energy. It helps me (in addition to sports) enormously to stay fit and less stiff. I also notice that I suffer less from an afternoon dip if I walk or stretch my body after lunch.
Furthermore, I want to continue my every-day-walking-streak this year. Rain or shine, I make sure to go outside with my walking shoes every day. Sometimes it’s just to the end of the street and back, sometimes a complete walk through the park. But either way, it always helps me shake off some stress and then continue with more energy.
6. Devoting blogs to my new-hobby-try-quest
For my blog I recently spontaneously came up with a new project: trying out different creative hobbies and blogging about them. Last year I discovered that many of my hobbies have something to do with a screen. That needs to change. I also want to do something again that doesn’t involve a screen (not even a camera screen). Preferably a creative hobby where the bar is set low.
That’s why I’ve come up with a few hobbies that I want to try this year. The first one is making earrings from fimo clay; after that I’m planning on learning how to make vegan cheesecake bites ( nice and specific… ). I think it would be fun to dedicate blogs to that as well. Who knows, it might give others new hobby ideas.
7. Start working with Tailwind for Pinterest
Last year I followed a super interesting Pinterest workshop with Jody from De Pin Academie. I learned a lot of tips and tricks that I also apply to give my blogs a place on Pinterest. So far it is paying off: I reach 25% more people on Pinterest than at the beginning of last year. Very cool to notice! Instagram often takes a lot of time, but Pinterest is super accessible. Pins that you create now can still generate click-throughs in a year. In short: Pinterest is here to stay in 2025.
What I do want to do differently in 2025 is that I finally start working seriously with Tailwind. It is a handy tool that allows you to schedule pins. For example, I can schedule a Christmas recipe from last year for November 20, so that it appears on Pinterest again at a convenient time. Very handy: I don’t have to create and upload each pin individually, but can just sit down for half an hour once a week.
Brilliant tool! A bit of a shame that I do have a subscription, but have done very little with it. Dusting off this tool and no longer ignoring the “Hey, we miss you, Romy!” emails from Tailwind is therefore high on my to-do list for this year.
8. Complete at least 6 courses and a coaching trajectory
And I’ll end with my most fun business goal for this year: taking new courses. I love learning new things, developing myself and sometimes taking totally random courses that don’t even necessarily have anything to do with my writing. This year I hope to join the digital lecture halls again. In any case, I want to take another photography course to learn even more about it. Now that I’ve got a mega tripod, I can’t avoid it anymore: photos have to be taken.
Furthermore, I want to follow a short business coaching trajectory again this year. I don’t know exactly with whom yet. I follow all kinds of coaches on Instagram and often just see who fits in with what I want to work on at that moment. The same applies here: I don’t have grand “Double your turnover” goals. I do believe that it is good to have someone look at what you do and how you do it. A coach always helps me not to get stuck in tunnel vision, to look more critically at my own vision of work and to change things. I am already extremely curious about what I will learn from this as yet unknown coach.
I am really looking forward to this new working year, which has already been underway for a few weeks. I am already looking forward to all the great new writing projects, cool assignments, fun collaborations, cool opportunities and great lessons that are coming.
