New year, new priorities: what do you think?

So there are a handful of priorities we have this year for FunAdvice, which is fast becomming more than a hobby for me and more like my full time obsession (which it can't be, because I do have a day job...so, this is something I, personally, am resolved to figure out in the next 7 months).

Priority #1: scale

Reach, visitors, uniques, pageviews, volume...it all adds up to one thing: a better experience for members. When was the last time you heard somebody say a site was too crowded? They don't, usually. Do people like the busy restaurants where you have to make a reservation, OR do they prefer those where they are one of two customers in a single day? Which one is more likely to give you better service? Usually, the busy one...simply because it has more to lose, and there is more value, to providing a lot of people great service than only a few people great service.

Priority #2: categorization and personalization

Fact is, we could do a lot more about the category structure, the tagging, the overall way in which you interact with questions and answers...but, we don't. No one in our category does. This changes in 2009 and while it's been a long time coming, it will make our site the definitive, enjoyable and truly fun Q&A site.

Priority #3: privacy

Sure, we have some controls and dials...but we need more. So, we aim to figure out how to get you the easy to use controls, dials and knobs to make FunAdvice as private (or public) as you want, down to each profile widget on your home page.

Priority #4: mobility

We know, we know, not everybody is on their computer but they still want access to FunAdvice. By the end of March, we'll have in place a first step towards the more lofty goal of replicating our experience on mobile devices. ;) I'd say something cheesy like "stay tuned" but, well, if you're reading this now odds are, you'll read it later.

Priority #5: photos

Yes, we've had photos for a while but we want to make our photo section fun. One of the best, if not the best. So this is an area we'll be expanding, updating, making better and improving TONS over the next year as well.

Naturally, there are more (isn't there always more?) but those are the top 5 priorities we have for 2009 for FunAdvice.

To recap:
2008 was a banner year for us. We started out at 1.3 million visitors per month and by year's end, finished with a solid 2.3 million visitors per month. The team grew, expenses grew and revenue growth slowed dramatically, however, it's never been our primary goal (eg, revenue generation has always taken a back seat to making FunAdvice better). This isn't going to change this year, or any year, as the primary goal for FunAdvice is to quite literally, help make the world a better place. From the stories we've shared to the question we've asked to the advice I've seen, I know that in some small way, we have definitely made the world better.

Last, a huge debt of gratitude to those two non profit partners who believed in us enough to let us help them, I'm honored to have helped them each deliver over 5 million ads to people about their noble causes in the last nine months.