Dear readers,
This is Simone, and I don’t have an IELTS update for you today, because… it’s a special day. Today is the day we say goodbye to 2014, and welcome 2015.
How was your 2014? Did you have a good year, or an average one? What was your highest moment, and your lowest? I’m not just asking you – these are the questions that I ask myself, too.
Over the years I got used to sitting down on the last day of December and thinking about everything that happened in the ending year. It gives me some sense of accomplishment, some perspective, another opportunity to remember things I am grateful for, or mistakes that I don’t want to repeat in the future 🙂
For me 2014 was anything but ordinary. A lot of good things happened. We won in People’s Choice round of Best Australian Blogs Competition, my books ‘Target Band 7’ and ‘Ace the IELTS’ made it again to the Top 10 IELTS Books list by TestStudyGuides.com. A new book series ‘IELTS Success Formula’ intended for people targeting Band 8, that Stephen Slater and I wrote together, became available this year (the Academic book was released to the general public in January, and the General Training e-book – in November). IELTS Success Formula has been gaining popularity day by day, and is already selling in several countries in print edition (Australia, UK, Singapore and Vietnam to name a few) – not to mention our clients all over the world who are buying it as e-book.
We migrated to a better server to ensure IELTS-Blog.com loads faster in your browser, because a website that receives over 4.2 million visits a year and gets over 13.7 million pages downloaded really needs a very fast, reliable server. Our Facebook page grew from 50,000 fans in the beginning of 2014 to over 318,000 and counting!
2014 saw us through tough times as well. Without going into too much detail, we had to save the website from some people with bad intentions. It wasn’t easy, it took time, skills and work, but we’re safe now – and I’m glad, because you need IELTS-Blog.com to be there, you are using it to prepare for your exams, aren’t you?
But enough about us and the website… let’s talk about YOU for a moment. I just wanted you to know that I am so grateful to all of you. From the bottom of my heart, I’d like to thank all the people who visited our website to get the latest IELTS updates, all the teachers who referred their students to IELTS-Blog.com, and everyone who sent their comments to help us improve this website and our IELTS books.
I wish all the test takers to pass their IELTS exams with a high score, and I wish all the teachers success in preparing their students to pass with great scores as well. If you need any help – we’re going to be right here, supporting all of you in 2015, just like we have been doing for the past 9 years.
May 2015 be kind to you and your families. Happy New Year!