2021 in Review

Hello loyal readers (mom & dad)-

As 2021 comes to a close, I want to take the opportunity to thank all of you for checking out my blog this year, and for staying supportive of me.

I’d say that I couldn’t do it without you guys, but in all honesty, I could. I could easily do it without you guys. But, it is much more enjoyable to do it with you guys.

So thank you.

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Reflecting on Last Year’s Writing Goals

Average 1 Blog Post Per Month

I published 12 blog posts in 2021, meeting my goal.

Technically, I published one on New Year’s Eve of 2020, but that was after I set the goal, and if we’re going off of the India Standard Timezone (where most of my readers are based out of), then it would have been published Jan. 1, 2021.

Unfortunately, this achievement is less impressive than it sounds.

I published my 11th blog post of the year on July 15, and have only posted once since then. I was on pace for 1.5 posts per month and then let my foot off the gas.

I have learned a lesson, and will be setting a more challenging goal for myself in 2022.

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Get Paid to Write Something

Goal achieved.

In March 2021, I joined Medium, a website where you can submit articles to various publications, and get paid based on the amount of time that readers spent on your article.

Below, you can see my cumulative revenue, month over month.

Not too shabby.

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“Come Out” as a Writer

Although Cornelius’ true identity has yet to be revealed, this year I created an Instagram page for Cornelius, and became much more open about sharing posts.

I am much less self-conscious about what people think, because no offense – but its way weirder for you to be reading this than it is for me to be writing this.

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Be More Honest

Back up for a second, two goals ago, to the one about getting paid to write in 2021.

I played a little trick on you guys.

I graphed out my cumulative income in Indian Rupees (INR) so that it would seem higher. Although it would make perfect sense to my readers in India, I’ll admit it was done out of deception.

Here is the same chart but in dollars.

I made nearly $3.50 in 2021 writing on medium. Of course, that is pre-tax, so it will likely be closer to $2.75. Still, it felt good to receive any sort of payment for my words.

I, of course, think they are worth more than $3.50/year, but time will tell.

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Looking Ahead

WordPress just automatically processed my payment for another year of this domain name, so the website will be staying in business, at least for the next 11 months and 16 days, taking it through November of 2022.

So, what can we expect from this site between now and then?

Official Cornelius Schmeckelman 2022 Goals:

I will publish 22 blog posts in 2022.

I will earn >$20.22 on medium in 2022.

I will have >2,022 site views in 2022.

I will sell a Cornelius Schmeckelman NFT in 2022.

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Other Future Endeavors

• Currently, I am attempting to turn a story that I’ve written into a children’s book. The illustrations are proving to be far more difficult to execute on that I had originally thought, so I likely will be enlisting outside help. If you know any artists who enjoy poop jokes, please send them my way.

• The possibility of recording and producing a semi-regular podcast has been discussed between my brain and I. However, this may be a tad ambitious and we are hesitant to commit at this point.

• Additionally, my brain and I are collaborating to assemble bits of my existing portfolio into one coherent piece that can be published as a legit book at some point in the future. There will be work done on this in 2022, but will likely take longer to complete.

• Lastly, I will be producing and selling Schmeckelman “merch” (T-shirts, hats, etc.). Stay tuned for more to come.

If you want to be sure you don’t miss out on anything, make sure to subscribe by entering your email below. I promise, it’ll be worth it in 2022 and beyond.

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Thanks again!

I could do it without you guys, but its definitely more fun to do it with you.

Have a great Christmas and New Years!

Love,