Those Christmas Elves may be well and truly back in The North Pole (stuffed in the back of a cupboard/shoved up in the loft) by now, but it’s time for me to put my sarky self up on the shelf in their place, because rather than write something with a sharpness this chilly New Year’s Day, I wanted to show a rare softer side by writing this blog to send a message of thanks to each and every one of you who stuck around to support me in some way in 2023.

Becoming an author was something I’d always wanted to to achieve, and although all the sales in the world would still make me very little in the way of cold hard cash, knowing that people have bought it, read it, talked about it, and loved it confirms to me that I was right to write something of book-based proportions.

You’ve helped me pay my bills, pay things forward, and build a lovely little life around something I’m really quite good at (as well as very much love). My clients have continued to become my dear friends this year. They don’t get a say in that. It’s in the smallprint.

That platform has become at times even more insufferable than ever in 2023, but knowing I had people who enjoyed and got something out of the stuff I’d write, share, or pass comment on over there has kept me sane.

I’m a big believer in being able to reach, support, and help as many people as possible with my words and limited associated knowledge, and having a resource ready to dish out with ease has really helped me do that. I hope it’s helped you, too.

I say – ‘Come for the copy support, stay for everything else’. They say – ‘Come for Jo Watson, stay for everyone else’. What a community that place is.

The cost of living crisis and the quite frankly shite economy has made everyone think more seriously about building a passive product into their business in 2023, and through our Optimise programme, me and JB continue to be here for you in 2024, too.

Writing for that publication has been an absolute joy over the past few years, because I’m writing precisely for my peers – and that’s an honour I never take for granted. It helps that our legendary Editor, Sophie Cross, lets me get away with murder in there, too.

I write to be read, so when people take time out of their day to reply, I not only enjoy it – I appreciate it.

I actually hate email marketing as a consumer, so email marketing as a creator is never going to be fun for me. But you stuck around, and I’m so thankful that you keep the faith that one day I may write and send something that makes a difference in your day.

If I could only be recognised for one thing, I’d like to always be known as someone who could write stuff (of some substance) that people actually wanted to read, and stuff that would in a five minute window let in some kind of shard or shower of emotion. That’s it.

Thank you to all of you – because you’re all on at least one of those lists above.

And if you want to be on more of those lists when I next dish out the praise, go right ahead and tell me what you need.

All the best for 2024, lovely people.

May the year of 2023 either be a beautiful montage for you – or a chapter of a book you never have to read again.