Well, 2019 is drawing to a close, and I thought it would be good to give a recap to what I've worked on with The Digital Apothecary this year. Overall, I would say it's been one of my most successful years, with over 40,000 visitors - which as a blog that puts out only a few articles a week - I am quite happy about it. Surprisingly, I have found LinkedIn to be one of my most abundant sources of engagements this year, and I think I will start pushing more content on that side. 

Outputs

Now, one thing I did differently this year was trying to push myself in alternative aspects of content generation, including video and podcasting. Thus far, I am not sure what to make of it, but I think I'll keep doing them for a bit to see how an entire year of doing them turns out, as they are still only a few months of content.

• Ebook - I wrote my first free ebook, "Digital Health Primer for Pharmacists," which took about a month's worth of time putting together. I am happy to see it has had a few thousand downloads, and I've gotten some good responses. I may update it this year or for 2021, depending on several time schedules.

• Youtube - I started my own channel at "The Digital Apothecary" and had 100 subscribers by the end of this year, which I am really excited about! Hoping to do more on this channel.

• Podcasting - Teamed up with the Pharmacy Podcast Network, though really hasn't been a huge push for me, most of my Youtube Videos are now just being turned into podcasts as well for listeners choice.

Best Articles

Probably no surprise, but my articles that highlight startups in the pharmacy space are one of my best articles this year, followed by adherence companies. My other content gets decent hits, but still not a huge amount of traction that I'd like. I recognize my content is geared towards a small subset of readers, so seeing this continual growth of visitors for such a niche content area is great in my regard.

Technology Tried

• Time tracking with Timeular was great, has really helped my productivity.

• Got a Yeti microphone and Logitech webcam for youtube videos, though I may upgrade the camera for a better resolution this year.

• Started using Canva for graphics and really love it, has been working really well.

• I tried playing with some moviemakers but still haven't found anything that is worth stick with, I think.

National Talks

A very busy year for me, about a month total spent traveling and speaking at meetings across the US and in Ireland. I am really enjoying being invited as a content expert and hope to see this grow more in the future.

Highs and Lows

• Invitations for talks and writing engagements based on my work here and videos are really awesome. I think blogging over the years has really panned out as it allows a different avenue to brand myself outside of traditional academic outlets.

• Been seeing more contact points regarding health start ups aiming to get into the pharmacy space, which is quite enjoyful from my perspective.

• Time to write, I need to work on. Often times I find I want to write an article but find the time to dump writing it isn't available, and then the article is past 'its prime' for readership interest.

Looking forward

• I am hoping that 2020 will give me an opportunity to highlight more companies entering the pharmacy digital health space. I really liked writing about what companies are doing and feel that this platform can give them an outlet.

• I will endeavor to do more videos and look towards expanding such content. Will need to get a better camera.

• I would like to make more content like ebooks or such that can be used by those interested in this space.