What a wild ride. When Mario brought me in to take over editorial duties on this blog in March, I had no idea what I was in for. But getting to work with some amazing writers, being afforded the opportunity appear weekly on Mario’s radio show, and getting to play with the latest tech has made it a completely rewarding experience. And we’re just getting started: if you thought 2011 was a big year for us, just wait until you see what we’ve got in store for 2012.
Today marks Small Biz Go Mobile’s last day of publication this year, and we’re all looking forward to taking a couple of weeks to spend time with our family and loved ones. But until we resume on January 2nd (before quickly scuttling off to Las Vegas for International CES 2012!), I thought it would be a good time to recap some of our top posts of the year for any visitors over the holiday break.
Whether you’re a small business or even a solo entrepreneur, you’re bound to find a great tip you missed this year.
Top Post of 2011
Not-So Odd Couple by @BrothaTech. With thousands of uniques, Terrance’s post on why you should consider the WiFi-only iPad 2 because of it’s synergy with the iPhone proved to be our most popular. The second biggest post of 2011? A related post he wrote about sharing your GPS data with your iPad 2 when creating a hotspot on your iPhone 4. I guess that settles the whole iPhone vs. Android debate *wink* Really though, what other blog is actively telling you to buy the CHEAPER iPad 2 without 3G? Only Small Biz Go Mobile would dare.
Runner-up: Rise of the Smartpen
Terrance pushes hard on his own blog and social media, so I’m not surprised he took top honors but let’s not forget @JustinAlcon who poured tons of sweat & blood into this blog this year. His top story was also a revelation for him about how to be more productive when on the go (which is what this blog is all about!): the Livescribe Echo Smartpen. Not content to rest on his laurels, Justin changed jobs and kept on writing, killing it again with his followup on the Livescribe a few weeks later. Both stories generated tons of hits & discussion on our social media for good reason: these pens are awesome.
Honorable Mention
With only his second blog post in his career, staff writer Nick Muntean knocked it out of the park with his piece on two crucial Android apps for managing your tasks: Astrid and Gtasks. This was one of our biggest stories for a good reason: people love finding out about new apps and new ways to use them. As well, productivity was a big focus of a lot of our coverage in 2011, and new ways to manage your tasks from the field turned out to be a hit for the blog.
Why Are People Still Reading This?
Digging through the Google analytics, one post in particular has been bugging me: Cameroid cool site to snap webcam photos by Mario Armstrong from 2008. Yeah, you read that right—2008. It has broken images, there’s no link and really no info, and yet it was one of our most read pieces this year. Go figure.
Year of The App
Terrance and I have been appearing almost-weekly on Mario’s SiriusXM radio show since May to bring you the hottest apps every Monday. If you’re struggling to be productive or more social on your mobile device, then you owe it to yourself to hit up Mario’s SiriusXM radio archive and listen to past episodes of the “App Roundtable.”
Tragedies
Mario Armstrong Media isn’t some huge organization, it’s really just a handful of us keeping this ship afloat, so we’re all still reeling from the fact that not one but two of our team members lost parents this year. First, SBGM writer Nick Muntean had to take a leave of absence from the blog when his father unexpectedly passed away. Nick is now living in Ohio running Muntean Health Care, the new incarnation of his dad’s medical practice. More recently, as listeners of our radio show already know, Mario’s co-host Adelle Coleman’s mother was brutally murdered. Adell’s fans were quick to respond, raising funds to cover the funeral expenses in a number of hours. It was an amazing show of generosity from her fans and the Mario Armstrong family, and we’re all grateful for the support.
Huge Thanks to AT&T
We couldn’t have done any of it without our amazing sponsor, AT&T. From the great deals they’ve brought all readers all year long, to their sponsorship of our Innovation Nation webcast and the new content deal we have with their Networking Exchange blog, none of this wouldn’t have been possible without them. Thanks, AT&T!