TGP by the numbers 2019

How’d we do this year?

2019 was a year filled with busyness. We were all so busy—but how productive were we?

If that’s as far as our curiosity takes us, we may never know. I feel like productivity is something we have to measure before we can make any claims around it. And what’s that famous saying about things being measured?

“What gets measured gets managed.” — “Peter Drucker”

I googled that quote and found this article. It’s from 2015, it’s excellent, and I highly recommend it.

Anyway, while I feel the following numbers are a better measure of busyness than productivity—at least in terms of the meaningful outcomes we want this business to deliver to our members—they’re a good start down that path. And they show me that, yes, we are getting shit done.

Here’s a look at The Gearhead Project by the numbers, 2019.

Existing Business: The Blog

The TGP blog started 2019 with three team members—Phil Hansford (aka: JDM Journeys), John Rimmer (aka: Middle Earth by Montero), and I. We doubled in size this year, with new additions, in order—Andrew Pascarella, Todd Sharp, and AJ Vega.

• New Posts Published in 2019: 188 (up from 149 in 2018)
• Total Pageviews: 13,041 (up from 3,797 in 2018)
• Total Unique Visitors: 4,715 (up from 962 in 2018)

Top 10 Most Popular Articles Published:

1. Peter Dunn’s AWD BRZ Rally Car
2. Gandalf the Delica – Upgrades!
3. Introducing Ward and a Delica Named Gandalf
4. The Evolution of Mitsubishi?
5. What to Expect When You’re Expecting
6. Pajero – Final Edition?
7. We Take It For Granted
8. TGP49: Ted Marquez Still Goes Fast With Class
9. New Mitsubishi Owner Interview: Outlander Jack
10. TGP35: Dawn of a New Dirt Sunrise

As you can see, our Mitsubishi roots run deep—#ICHIMAIIWA—but our most popular story this year was about a Subaru-powered Toyota platform, and it makes me so happy seeing my favorite overlanders (also in a Toyota) rounding out the top 10.

Existing Business: Brian’s Podcast

I say “Brian’s” podcast because there will be others. Todd, Phil, and AJ have been discussing additional show ideas behind the scenes. I already know these will fast become favorites and daily drivers for me.

• New Podcast Episodes: 22 (down from 31 in 2018)
• All-Time Downloads: 1,272 (switched carriers mid-year, though, and lost data)

As you can see, we’re not pulling in the biggest audience. Yet.

That’s partly because we haven’t done any formal promotion of our efforts yet. Look for that to change in the year ahead, as we dive deeper into more relevant topics and deliver more actionable content and products.

New Business: The Forum!

Live since August. Open to the public in beta for a month. The single biggest development of the year.

Yes, we’re charging $50 a year for membership. We’re also paying $50 a year for membership, ourselves. It’s how we roll ‘round these parts. It ain’t the biggest or the busiest forum on the web, but it’s sure been a lot of fun. Easily cut this gearhead’s Facebook time by 90% in the last month alone.

• New Members: 22
• New Topics Created: 273
• New Posts Created: 1,165

We’ve got build threads going for garages (yes, garages), race cars, restorations, and daily drivers. We’ve got conversations around new year’s resolutions. We’ve got a book club. We’re talking about podcast setups and building websites. We’ve even had a bit of drama here and there.

It’s all growing pains and it’s all good. Things are starting to move on this front. I can’t wait to be able to start articles like this one in the forum and work with our members to make them the best they can be before sharing things out here in the public.

Oh, and as we start working on our first real world events and special projects, you better believe the people we’ll be asking for advice and feedback will be our community members.

If you’ve been thinking about a membership, if you’d like to hang out with gearheads like us who talk about things like this, I hope to see you sign up soon. I’m happy to answer your questions. We can talk on the phone if you want—no podcast required! Just get in touch via this contact form.

2019 has been a hell of a year.

It’s also been a year of hell in many ways. As much as I’m looking forward to closing the book on this one and walking away, I know it’s been a year filled with valuable learning experiences. I’ve learned much this year. I have so much to be grateful for.

I hope your 2019 was rewarding in its own ways, too.

While Peter Drucker might not have actually said “What gets measured gets managed”, he did say…

“Working on the right things is what makes knowledge work effective. This is not capable of being measured by any of the yardsticks for manual work.” — Peter Drucker

Hindsight is 2020. I’m really looking forward to working on the RIGHT things—and measuring MEANINGFUL outcomes—in the year ahead. If that sounds like where you’d like to go, you know what to do.

Thanks for a great 2019.

Until next year, keep going fast with class and press on regardless!