It seems like each year around this time I’m posting something that changes the direction I take with this site and even my SEO career.  Once again i’m expecting some changes in 2012 starting with this site.  You may notice that my posts are becoming a little less frequent and that’s because I’m looking to get out of SEO consulting as a side gig.  I am already doing SEO 40 hours a week for my day job and have decided that my “off” time is better served playing with my new little boy and working on my own side projects I have a personal interest in.  Now that’s not to say that i’m never going to take up another client it’s just that I’m going to be extremely picky.  For the audit lovers out their have no fear as I’ll still be offering my SEO audits to clients.   I even have an idea that’s been rumbling through my head for the last 6 months to make them cheaper and more easily available to everyone.  Stay tuned!  The rest of this post is dedicated to 2012 goals, some SEO and other a little more personal.  See you guys in the New Year!

2012 Goals

• Post less on NickLeRoy.com and make sure that when I do post that the content is of the most quality.  No more feeling guilty when the site goes untouched for a couple weeks.  If I can’t offer you advice or tips to effectively change your SEO mindset then I won’t post.  I do plan on posting more weekly discussions but I don’t consider these traditional “posts” but more of an opportunity to share opinions and encourage discussions between other SEOs.

• Slowly remove myself from client work and make money off my other web properties. The “easy” money is in making money for my clients.  I want to go another direction and start building some more sites that are more to my interest.  Not only will I have more interest in the projects but I will have 100% control of the website and SEO.  No more excuses for why a site doesn’t rank or why something hasn’t been done.   I’m excited to get more serious in the Affiliate and Adsense scenes to generate some extra cash that I ordinarily would make from client work.

• No more bullshit SEO – Do what works and don’t worry about what anyone else says/thinks.  It’s taken me over 3 years to realize that I shouldn’t care what anyone thinks about SEO and trying to be “e-cool” doesn’t pay the bills.  You will see far more posts that MAKE YOU THINK and may even anger you (Like these types of posts for instance).  Expect a post around the new years that may cause some controversy.  No more “White Hat” or  “Black Hat” posts – simply posts, tips, and reports about what works in the SEO industry.

• No more Sphinn – As many of you know Sphinn is no longer around (which is unfortunate) so my responsibilities as an editor have gone away too.  While I enjoyed my time as an editor it was time I probably could have used for my own projects.  Working on other  sites so they can make money and hopefully build up little more online reputation is no longer a priority of mine.

• Streamline SEO Audits – As I mentioned above I have an idea to build some sort of e-book or process for people to create their own audits using the knowledge and techniques that I use for my custom audit services.   I realize that not everyone has a budget for a $500 audit and i’m a huge proponent of  do-it-yourself SEO.  Hopefully i’ll have the time to put this together and it will help do it your selfers at a fraction of the cost of what it takes to hire me to write up a report on their site.

• More Family Time – Getting out of client work will allow me to work on my projects on my time.  This means more time for my new baby boy and family as whole.  I refuse to be that guy tied to a computer and ignore my family.  If that means making a little less money then so be it.

• Lose Weight – Isn’t this everyone’s goal each year?  Sitting on the computer all day doesn’t exactly make the pounds fall off.  Time to utilize the gym membership and get back in shape.  I’ve even contemplated starting a weight loss blog simply to keep me motivated and on track… talk about integrating  a passion of SEO into becoming more healthy!

• Learn More About Motorcycles – A hobby I got into last summer was motorcycles.  I recently purchased a Harley Davidson Dyna Wide Glide and I want to know more about it, how to work on it and generally enjoy riding more.  Going for a nice long ride on a warm sunny day is a great way to “get away” from everything and just relax.

So just a couple goals for the next year off the top of my head.  Can’t wait to turn this blog into a more actionable and useful blog and try a whole new type of SEO role.  It will be exciting.  What goals do you have for 2012?