Every blog needs a post that talks about future plans and goals for the new year, so here’s mine. I’ve compiled a list of some key things I’d like to accomplish with my web business next year, from the minor upgrades to the brand spanking new projects. I’ll be keeping a lid on a few of the more rough ideas I have in my head as to not give too much away, but hopefully there’ll be enough described to give you a vague clue as to where I’m headed.

Finish Wii Play
WiiPlay.net is my top priority right now. Not only because the Wii just recently launched, but more because I’m actually building a reusable architecture behind the site that I should be able to use for any number of future projects. I don’t want to give too much away just yet, but hopefully I’ll be able to quickly build some fun new websites using the new architecture once it’s been tested and launched with WiiPlay. I hope to have a private beta release of the site sometime in February.

New SIAB GEAR Products and Categories
Like I mentioned in a previous post, the holidays proved to be good for SIAB GEAR. I hope to continue to add new products to the existing sections (poker, television, and office humor) as well as add a few brand new sections. I have a big list of product design ideas, so it’s just a matter of finding the time to implement them. You should start to see some new products soon and hopefully a new section or two within a few months.

Almost True News Overhaul
I never really was able to fully invest the time and effort that I wanted into Almost True News. I still love the concept and the name, I just need to work on the presentation a little as well as find the time to constantly add new content. I have a few ideas on how to better present the site, one would just be a change in layout while the other option would be to actually do a complete overhaul and perhaps use the architecture I’m building for WiiPlay.net. It’s a project that I definitely want to get to next year, but it’s not a priority so I have no idea when I might get around to it.

Squirrelinabox Overhaul
I plan on doing an overhaul of this site. I’d like to have a site setup that would include some more in-depth features such as feeds for all network sites, progress bars on future projects, advertising information, etc. I may choose to do all that on a new domain and website and keep this site more of a blog. This will likely be my next step after WiiPlay.net, so hopefully I’ll have word on what I plan on doing sometime during the Summer.

Register Company / New Name
I really should register my company, likely set up an LLC. I have a new name that’s derived from Squirrelinabox that I’ll probably use, but that’s still undecided in my mind. I love using Squirrelinabox, but as a company name it’s a bit lacking in my opinion. Like I said though, I’ve yet to decide on something concrete.

1 New Blog
I have an idea for a new blog that’d be a little different from anything I’ve seen out there. Since it is quite different, I don’t want to spill the beans just yet. I have a pretty good domain name for it as well as the beginnings of a design, so it’s really just a matter of sitting down and getting it done. Since blogs require constant time and effort to keep them updated with content, I’ve decided to push back launching the blog until after WiiPlay and a few other projects are done.

2 Brand New Projects
Like I’ve mentioned before, I have a list of over 30 projects that are all pretty unique. Some of them are small, some of them are pretty big. I really would like to launch at least 2 of those unique projects next year with at least one of them being a fairly large one. I’d obviously like to push out more than that, but 2 is a realistic goal that I think I should be able to meet. Again, I don’t want to give anything away by saying what these projects entail, but they will hopefully blow some people away.

I guess that’s all I want to divulge right now. Right there you’ve got at least 4 new sites that I hope to launch next year. In all honesty, it’ll probably be closer to double that number, but again, I’m trying to set realistic goals that I should be able to meet even with a full time job.

People spend a ton more money during the holidays - it’s just that simple. I won’t get into the details too much, but my store has already made 1000% more than the average month (that’s 10 times more for those that hate math). Some of it’s probably due to the new design and format of the site, but that’s still an incredible amount of growth. It’ll be interesting to see how much of a dropoff there will be come January.

I do plan on continually adding new designs, products, and eventually entire new catagories to the store so be sure to keep checking it out. I’ll also be putting up some sort of holiday recap over at the store that’ll show what the popular designs and products were.

If you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, be sure you do soon since the free shipping sale ends December 20.

So I’ve had the Wii for a little over a week now (wasn’t able to get it at launch, though I did get it within a week after), and I must say that it’s just damn fun. I only picked up The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess with the system since I was unable to buy any extra controllers for multiplayer games. Zelda, as always, is incredible (even though it’s really just a gimmickified Gamecube port). The pack-in WiiSports is also amazing for what it is, a fun multiplayer tech demo. It’s not really a full fledged game in my opinion, but it’s close enough and is still incredibly fun if you’ve got people to play it with. Since I don’t have any extra controllers yet, I’ve had to deal with just passing the controller around for each game.

As for getting extra controllers and more games, luckily my parents, like the Wii, rock. They called me today and told me that they were able to pick up 2 remotes and 2 nunchucks at a mall in Northern California for me. Good thing too since I’ve had a hell of a time finding any down here in Southern California. Once I get those controllers in, I’ll likely be pickingup Rayman Raving Rabbids and probably Marvel Ultimate Alliance as well.

Ok, so what does this all have to do with building websites and all that? Well, I honestly took a bit of a risk putting all the time and effort into developing WiiPlay.net when I wasn’t sure I’d really enjoy the Wii. Worst case scenario, I could have spent many months developing the site to realize the system I built it for sucked. Luckily, that isn’t the case and the system appears to be a definite winner. Obviously it’s far too soon to be sure of it’s greatness, but from what I see right now, I’m definitely glad I’m making the accompanying site.

As for my Wii site, it’s still chugging along. I’m always incredible excited about it every time I think about it and all the features I want to throw in there. This is also a problem since I sometimes get overwhelmed by all the possibilities that I don’t take the time to just sit down and get some things accomplished. While I don’t have any dates set in stone, I am hoping to be able to get it ready for a private beta test by January or February of 2007.

Of course, once I know more, I’ll post it here.