10 of our 2019 achievements we’re most proud of
Where did 2019 go? No, wait. Where did that decade go?!
It seems to be a weekly comment in our house, that time appears to be speeding up every year (!) Do you agree?
We think it could be explained in part by the ever increasing proportion of our lives that is devoted to the digital world. But that's a blog post for another time…
With the turn of the decade and the fast paced 'go, go, go' world we live in now, we believe it becomes ever more important to take a step back, take a breath, observe your achievements as a family, couple or solo and to show appreciation, celebrate them. It's something we’re quite bad at doing as a couple but this needs to change.
So this is it. We’re celebrating the year.
Here at Fifi towers, 2019 has been our strongest year yet. Our break from renovation work meant that we had time to double down on our efforts with building and engaging with you, this blog, our audience.
There are so many things we feel truly grateful for this year…
We launched a new product line
First and foremost, the thing that will define our 2019 year is the launch of our new products. This all started following a bit of analysis in our Google Analytics when we realised that our story was really connecting with readers.
We started asking the question “how can we deliver more value to our readers?” The answer was releasing some of the resources that helped and guided us through our renovation. We launched our Home Renovation Budget Planner first and then the other products followed.
The biggest product to date was building and releasing our house renovation course which we launched in June and were taken aback with how well it was received. Since that time we’ve been experimenting with different ways to expose it to new audiences and will continue to do so into 2020. A big part of the pleasure this course gave us, aside from being able to help more UK renovators build their homes was being able to donate a % of every sale to charity (more on that below).
2. Fifi McGee and Farrow & Ball
If you’re already following Fifi McGee on Instagram, chances are that you spotted our moment of the year! It really did delight us!
In September we shared a picture of our living room on Instagram that was the result of an afternoon’s work after a little walk collecting leaves in our nearby woods…
When we shared the image, our followers loved it which we were elated about. Then we got a message from none other than Farrow & Ball – one of our absolute favourite interior brands – asking if they could share it. Yep, the high-five levels in maison de la Fifi went through the roof!
It might sound like such a silly, minor thing to get excited about, a simple picture being shared on Instagram but what this represents to home and interior enthusiasts is an endorsement from one of the biggest names in the interior industry and one that we love. As it stands our photo has over 12K likes on the F&B feed alone.
As a side note, and in a personal twist, the first company Neil ever worked for back in the late 90’s early 2000’s was Farrow & Ball in Dorset (he worked there with his mum!) and he used to deal with their website. Twenty years later, and they are sharing his photography on their Instagram…strange how the world works sometimes.
3. We worked with Martlets Hospice
This past year we’ve been fortunate enough to work closely with our local charity the Martlets Hospice helping to makeover some of their patients rooms.
Back in April 2019, they launched a hugely successful campaign called the Cuddle Up Appeal, to raise funds for one important mission: To invest in their patient’s rooms so that they feel like home, and can comfortably cuddle up with their families at such precious times in their lives.
It has meant an enormous amount to Fi to be able to work with the Martlets on this project. She lost a sister and father to terminal illnesses, and remembers during those precious hours gathering around their bedsides, talking to them about how one day she’d win the lottery and work with the NHS to redecorate their hospitals to be as comfortable and uplifting as they can be. Just a few years later and she’s been able to live her dream – albeit there’s much more she wants to do for charity :)
We have felt so fortunate to be able to give £3 for every online course sale to the Martlets’ appeal. It felt like an achievement providing them with our very first cheque this December.
4. We became brand ambassadors for 2 brands
For us, as home, interior and renovation bloggers, getting approached by brands to help with their campaigns can mean a whole lot more than just highlighting products to potential customers. We believe that the resulting content can help inspire others with ideas for their own homes and lives. We try to pour everything we’ve got into our content to inspire you.
Our work with Portmeirion in the #gettogether campaign was one we could really get behind. The message of creating more meaningful dining experiences has instilled a sense of being more mindful, purposeful and communal around dining. In an age whereby those truly ‘together’ moments are becoming ever rarer, the importance of this thrown into sharp relief.
For bloggers, having a regular content schedule and a motivation behind it is really important and so we celebrate our work this year with our brands. Here are just a few posts from the collaborations…
5. We more than doubled our audience
This year we hit a milestone that is at risk of seeming like ‘just a number’ but we are so excited about it because you are real people actually reading our blog and our story! In October we were seeing more than double the website traffic we had in the same month last year.
It’s such a promising sign that we are in a period of growth and that our positive messages are getting to even more people. How can you help even more than following this blog? Talk to your friends, forward them a link to the Happy Home Club to sign up and you will be supporting us big time. Thank you <3
6. We launched The Happy Home Club
We think that sometimes the ideas we love best come out when we’re either walking in the countryside or indeed enjoying a light refreshment in our local watering hole. At the start of a long walk in Spring, the idea of launching the Happy Home Club came up.
Our mailing list and emails were always quite active but the thing that was missing was purpose. On this somewhat pivotal walk we realised that the purpose of Fifi McGee was to help others build a happy home life.
In July we launched the Happy Home Club and focused on providing a round up of home ideas + hacks, giveaways and ways that we have been making our home life better. Now the Happy Home Club is 1500 members strong and growing. If you’re not part of it, you can join now for free.
8. …then another pinch us moment. Fifi McGee and John Lewis… at Christmas!
In a lovely last hurrah for 2019, one of our Portmeirion Christmas shots got shared on Instagram by none other than John Lewis. Again, a HUGE brand, and for us to be given the opportunity at Christmas time when their marketing has a narrow bandwidth, focusing on their Christmas campaign is a real achievement for a humble interior blog like ours. We still can’t believe it.
9. We went on the trip of a lifetime
This post wouldn’t be complete without saying a little piece about our South American trip in September which makes us smile every time we think or talk about it. We hiked mountains, sand-boarded through the desert, walked through the jungle, waded through anaconda swamps. It was a trip we will truly never forget and has built us as people more than we even imagined.
10. We reached 10,000 Instagram followers
When we originally published this post, we hadn’t achieved this milestone but as we sit here reflecting on the year on New Years Eve we thought it would be rude not to include it. Woohoo!
What’s next for Fifi McGee?
Some of our plans for 2020 are top secret and will only be able to be shared closer to the time. The rest of our plans for 2020 deserve a post on their own and we’ll share that in the coming weeks. But to briefly describe what our 2020 looks like, there’s a few things on our radar:
1. Launch a new product
We’re already working on The Colour Swatch and this will be ready for launch in January
2. Finish our renovation
We had our bay windows replaced now which means we can begin work on our master bedroom (the very last room of the house)
3. Expand the Fifi McGee brand
Continue experimenting, growing our audience and our customers is so important to us. We want to help more and more home-builders!
4. Work with new brands
There are a couple of irons in the fire and we’re always looking for new ways to work with brands to produce meaningful, thoughtful content. It gets us excited to share new inspiring brands with you especially when they are purpose-driven.
5. Learn to snowboard
Yep this is happening, in January. We’ll write our wills before we go ;)
A big thank you
We’d just like to say a really big thank you to everyone that has followed us, worked with us or used our resources this year. Without our audience, many of the opportunities we have had would not have been possible.
Good luck and best wishes for 2020.
Neil + Fi
