Well…it’s finally here! 2008 is in the books and we are moving on and up (hopefully). I don’t know about you guys, but I was sick and tired of 2008 and all of the bad news it brought along with it. The news of the markets crashing, home values dropping and the handout of 700 billion dollars to every greedy corporation in America were just a few of the terrible issues in 2008. However, I for one didn’t have a bad year overall. I started this GrandmasterB in March of last year and it has brought me a fair amount of success, friends and even taught me a few things that I didn’t know before. If it wasn’t for GrandmasterB dot com, I would probably be wasting hours upon hours on video games and watching TV; instead of honing my design skills and trying to build my blogging empire. Last year I also left my crappy job at Verizon Business for greener pastures with the MountainWest Sports Network. The network has really grown in the year that I have been there and it will continue to be successful in the future with all of the success the conference has seen this bowl season. 2009 is looking to be a fantastic and very busy year for GrandmasterB!

WEB DESIGN AND BUILDING A BUSINESS

Since the inception of GrandmasterB dot com, I have constantly pushed myself to develope and fine tune my design skills and used them to create some really good work (in my opinion). I created a new blog for a Reggae DJ, a clothing company in Vail, Colorado called Arriesgado Clothing, I revamped Cuzoogle, brought in a fresh new look for SteadyBurn (with the help of my new business partner…more on that later) and created a stunning header design for The Blaze of Love. All of that I did towards the end of the year…and trust me there’s more on the way! I am really pushing to take this site and my design work to new heights in 2009 and I’m already working out ideas and concepts for an upgrade of the site.

In regards to the future Jeff and I are back in the swing after the conclusion of the holidays. We are hard at work putting together a few choice sites for some big names in the blogging world and cannot wait to unveil them to the public. Currently, we are working on finishing up the new design for YepYep and it’s really coming along quite nicely. I’m hoping that I’ll find the time to finish it up this weekend, so we can launch the new look on Monday…I’ll keep you up to date. We are also working on a fresh new look for Don Chavez’s site and we’re putting a lot of really great features into the design/development of the site. It’s going to be a HUGE improvement that we hope launches his site to the next level.

With all of this work, it does mean that we have had to put some other stuff of for the time being. For one, still haven’t put up our own site yet! Most of the work we are getting is coming from referrals and my site, so we’ve decided to use GrandmasterB dot com as a central point of contact for the business. We have already registered the domain, but that’s about as far as it’s gone. Hopefully, we can find the time to get at least a placeholder page online to direct potential clients to our portfolio and allow them to email us.

BLOGWELL CONFERENCE: How Big Companies use Social Media

At the end of January, I will be going to the Blogwell Conference being held in Chicago by GasPedal. The conference discusses the power of social media and how large companies use it to improve their online marketing. I am going for work; however, I am sure that there will be plenty of useful information even for a small fry like myself to pickup. There are going to be some great case studies for some really big companies from many different industries. I’m very excited for this opportunity and cannot wait to attend the conference. If you’re in the Chicago area on January 22nd and are interested in attending the conference, there is still room and it’s only $200 for the event.

WHAT DOES 2009 HOLD FOR GRANDMASTERB?

I really couldn’t tell you the answer to that question. I have never been one for making resolutions for the New Year, but one thing I can tell you is that I plan on being around for a long time to come and building a successful place on the Internet. With the network of friends that I’ve built up, I think I can take this site to new heights and build a great name for myself. I’m confident that Jeff and I are going to continue to build on our early success and continue to WOW people with the work we are doing. Stay tuned folks…2009 is going to be a big year for GrandmasterB and the BlogFixers!

~ GrandmasterB