Among other things, Snake certainly had the best year ever.

With two days remaining in 2008, it’s time to go back and see what worked and what didn’t, and what 2009 will bring. There were a lot more posts published than they were in launch year 2007. Traffic is up by 21%, and more people are joining in on conversations. ^_^

The Outlook for 2009

Things will pretty much be the same as this year, but with less empathize on content as I plan to find a job soon…if I can find one. There is one thing I wish I could have done this year is to attend more anime conventions, but I was only able to go to one due to the shortage of funds.

With the outlook bright for everyone 2009, I hope to attend more than one convention. Well, not every convention, unlike Anime Expo in Los Angeles. If I can attend these events, It would be a great addition to the Gallery which will undergo further improvements next year once I get the hang of the Gallery2 software. Aren’t conventions fun?

Top 10 Posts of 2008:

1. Win Tickets to Death Note: The Last Name!
2. Second Death Note Movie in US Theaters in October
3. The Mini-Guide for New Shitajiki Collectors
4. Death Note Movie to Premiere in US Theaters in May
5. Gurren Lagann Debuts on SciFi
6. Viz Releases Box Sets of Popular Shonen Jump Manga
7. Create a Manga Avatar with FaceYourManga
8. Luffy Fuses With Goku–as an Figurine
9. Hulu and Joost Adds Anime to Online Lineup
10. A New Fullmetal Alchemist Anime: FINALLY!

Top 5 Most Commented Posts of 2008:

1. My First Article (aka Guest Post) on VGPro.com
2. The Mini-Guide for New Shitajiki Collectors
3. [Preview] Dragon Ball Online
4. Talk About an Epic Hamburger…
5. The 2008 Anime Convention Season

Milestones

• In late March, I attended JAMPcon, which was the first convention covered in full for the blog, including the first additions for the gallery–and the first convention I’ve attended for a full weekend. ^^
• In April, I was approached by the administrator of VGPro to write for the website. I accepted the offer and began writing. The first original article was on the possible effect of the release of Metal Gear Solid 4 would have on the general public as with Grand Theft Auto IV.
• In September, Ignite Social Media contacted me with an great idea for my readers: giving away free tickets to see the second Death Note movie, “The Last Name”. The contest was a success as a winner was selected just in time for the premier.
• In November, the guys over at Total Assault showed me something that would interest the readers: The latest Heavy Metal act, Black Tide‘s “Bastard vs. Bots” animated short featuring their hit song, “Warriors of Time”.
• Several days later, my feed was approved for Featured Feed status on Danny Choo‘s Otaku.fm. It currently makes up 2.91% of traffic to the blog.
• On December 19th, the blog hit the 50 Subscribers mark!

  

Final Thoughts

2008 was an awesome year for blogging. 50 subscribers, networking with other bloggers, more comments, being contacted for offers an A-list blogger would get. This is a great way to start off 2009 with more of the same.

There’s not many goals I can think of as a few of them have been unexpectedly accomplished already, but why not debate on it now? ^_^

1. Get 150 Subscribers
2. Optimizing the Gallery for others who may want to upload their own [Cosplay] photos
3. Focus on SEO than Social Media (pretty much fulfilled, but more can be done)

This is the last post of 2008. No worries; I’ll be back in a few days with the first posts of 2009. Thanks to everyone from Otaku.fm, Entrecard, and from the other ends of the Internet for reading, and have a very happy New Year! ^_^