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I almost met my 2009 financial goals. Almost.

Almost = My intent was to earn as much as I had with my Day Job, and I got 85% of the way there.

Almost = 97% of my earnings came from freelance work: ghostwriting, database & website development, video tutorials, and technical writing. Great experiences, all of them, but collectively, and as usual, that way of working seriously kicked my ass.

Even so, 2009′s Almost There income allowed me to spend on invest in my business for the first time ever, and I spent carefully with an eye to the future and a different kind of work. Here’s some of what I bought to make things more manageable, more fun, more portable, and (hopefully!) a bit more profitable—

Headway

If I wrote a love letter to Headway, it would go something like this:

My darling,

I shouldn’t bring up past relationships, but it’s been months and I can’t go on together any longer without saying this:

You do so much more for me than Thesis.

I had humongous hopes for a life with Thesis. It promised me a future that looked like anything I’d ever dreamed, and I believed in that. I believed! But ya know what? I never got around to making it happen. So many hooks, so much to learn, so little time. What a waste.

Yes, yes, I said it. What. A. Waste. And I’m not embarassed to say it, because I see it all over the Internets: bald and bare Thesis themes, installed and configured…but unadorned. All those bloggers invested money with an eye for something unique, but they didn’t follow through, and now they all look the same. So much for “unique”, eh?

So when you and I were introduced, I was ready for a change. You were so easy to get along with…and so like others I’d known before, it was like I’d known you forever. Right from the start, we did so much together. And it shows.

I dropped Thesis like a hot rock. And I don’t miss it. At all.

And then you changed! It was unexpected and so dramatic! You were like no premium theme I’d been with, and time with you since then has been even better than before. I can’t tell you how relieved I am to have finally found the one.

Forever yours,
Crystal

Heh. Yeah.

Like that.

WishList Member

Membership sites are all the rage, and we’ll talk about the Whys and Whats later. For now, let’s talk about the all-important How.

Last year I considered a subscriber access-only area, and went hunting for a way to do it. The expense and technical drama it would have involved were so horrifying that I trashed the whole idea. Six months later, Twitter was buzzing with Stu and Tracy’s wondrous membership site plugin: Wishlist Member.

It’s way better than anything I’d found earlier because it’s embedded in WordPress and does stuff that’s akin to magic. It’s intuitive to use, but they still thought to include stacks of video tutorials, responsive tech support folks (Hi, Greg!), and a six-week course on using it strategically—and profitably!—which is kicking big-time bootay.

And best of all, WishList Member is good for all kinds of stuff, from protecting downloadable content to managing consulting or coaching clients. Yes, it’s that flexible. So no matter which direction I want to go with BBB, it will roll with me. And it’s not even $100. Money well spent, eh?

MindMeister

I looked at at least five online mindmapping apps and they ranged from absolute suckage to laughably expensive to drop-the-glass superstar.

Mindmeister is that superstar.

I ignored most of the feature list because all mindmapping apps are identical at the core: non-linear list making for brainstorming and organizing ideas. Blah blah.

But MindMeister took it to a whole ‘nother level when they made mindmaps collaborative online in real-time. Crazy cool, right?

Because that means you and I can hunch over our separate computers, log into MindMeister and then imaginate together in color with nifty little symbols. We can add notes, insert links, and even assign tasks and due dates…and we’ll get email alerts when they’re due. And at anytime we can share it with other people (publicly or privately) and let them contribute (or not).

And when we’re done, the mindmap can live outside of MindMeister as a PDF, a JPG, a PNG, or a GIF. It can also be stripped down to pure text that drops nicely into Word and WordPress. It can even be exported to other mindmapping programs in their native tongue.

These days, MindMeister is my first stop for everything I create. I plotted this series of articles in it, and also my mad plans for BBB in 2010 (see image at right). I use it to breakdown overwhelmingly massive projects into teeny, tiny, unintimidating tasks. And on those days when I just need a place to unload my brain, I dump everything into it and see if I can tie my thoughts together. I still can’t believe it’s only $5 a month.

And did I mention MindMeister has an iPhone app?

Newer and heartier desktop apps

I’ve been working with outdated software for years, and really, it was fine. But it was incredibly cool to find new, affordable licenses for my old faves: Dreamweaver and Acrobat, and my two new friends: Camtasia and Photoshop. The fresh-out-the-factory versions were robust and feature-rich and supported by lots of 3rd-party stuff. And obsolete within six months. Dammit.

Anyway.

Two of the licenses came from eBay, and one of them was an unwelcome surprise: The CD was half-assed shrink-wrapped in an artfully bootlegged box and the license wasn’t exactly as described. Happily, the other two licenses came from SoftwareMedia. These were just as affordable as stuff on eBay and exactly what I expected. From now on, I’ll start my software shopping there. Harrumph.

That said, there’s no need for big spending when you have small projects and smaller tasks—

• Instead of Dreamweaver, try your website host’s built-in editor (I use HostGator’s Code Editor feature for quick  fixes)
• Instead of Acrobat for creating PDFs, try CutePDF
• Instead of Camtasia for making screencasts and screenshots, try Jing (from the same company)
• Instead of Photoshop for photo editing, try Picnik and edit your photos online (I still use it for BBB’s post images)

Whew! How about you?

Are you so super happy with software or webware or other digitools you bought in 2009 that you’d recommend something for 2010? Do tell in the comments, we’d love to hear about ‘em…

Photo credit: Bill Salek