Expected Losses, Unexpected Gains
Every year teaches you something if you’re paying attention. This year taught me that the systems I’d been building for years actually work, and that the margin I’d maintained would matter exactly when I needed it to.
Early this year, one of my businesses lost 45% of its revenue when a major client relationship ended. It was mutual, and I saw it coming. For years, my recommendations, rooted in hard data, went unimplemented. Rather than prolonging the inevitable, we made a clean break. What could have been a crisis became a confirmation: the diversification I’d built over the years wasn’t just theoretical preparation. It was the real thing, tested and proven.
We didn’t scramble. We didn’t panic. We adjusted. Because I’d never let us live at 100% of what we were bringing in, and because I’d built multiple income streams across photography, video, online education, and digital marketing, that loss became manageable rather than devastating.
That realization, that the margin and systems I’d built years ago held when tested, became the through-line of my entire year.
Online Courses
I started the year strong, releasing a new course and updating several others. Then reality hit: software and platform changes made many of my existing videos obsolete. Instead of creating new content, I spent significant time rebuilding what I’d already built.
New students: 1,278
Revenue: $11,724.50
Website traffic: 25,700 unique visitors
YouTube
This was the year I fell out of love with reviewing new tech and cameras. Nothing feels new or exciting anymore; incremental updates marketed as revolutionary don’t inspire me to create. So I scaled back and got inconsistent. For the first time, I didn’t feel obligated to post just to maintain consistency.
Instead, I’ve been thinking through what value I can actually bring to this space. The answer isn’t more reviews. It’s something else; I’m still figuring out what.
Photography Channel
Subscribers: 96,630 (+5,141 this year)
New content: 16 videos, 17 Shorts
Views: 971,870
Revenue: $4,311.83
Top videos: How to Set Up a Multi-Cam Livestream, Sony a7 IV Beginners Guide, Top 12 Settings to Change on the Sony RX100 VII
Tech Channel
Subscribers: 133,987 (+7,784 this year)
New content: 29 videos, 59 Shorts
Views: 2,414,977
Revenue: $13,956.06
Top videos: Best iPhone 17 Pro Max Cases, Best iPhone Air Cases, How I Use Apple Reminders to Manage Tasks
Writing
If video lost some of its appeal this year, writing found new life. I wrote more content than ever before: 65 newsletter posts, 25 articles for Hill Media Group, and expanded content across my photography site.
AI tools helped me develop ideas faster so I could focus on the actual writing. Grammarly handled structure and grammar. The combination freed me to think and create rather than getting stuck on mechanics.
The results speak for themselves: 678% traffic increase to my photography website over the past 90 days after I started posting written content, camera-specific galleries, and follow-ups on cameras over time. Hill Media Group saw a 530% traffic increase after 25 new articles and a site redesign. I’ve even started seeing my content appear as sources in AI-generated results.
I really enjoy writing. I plan to do more in 2026.
Substack
Subscribers: 4,717
Posts published: 65
Average open rate: 26%
Top post: “To My Son”
That top post wasn’t about business or productivity. It was personal, a letter to my son. Sometimes the content that matters most has nothing to do with metrics.
https://jeradhill.substack.com
Business
Hill Media Group
Despite losing my largest client early in the year, I gained 12 new clients and 10 on managed services. The transition reinforced something I already believed: relationships built on aligned expectations outlast those built on convenience.
I haven’t fully replaced that income yet. But I’m not scrambling, and that matters more than the numbers.
Site Nitro
This is the new venture I’ve been building, a productized service based on work I’ve done for clients for years. Small businesses struggle with outdated websites because they lack time and trustworthy help. It shouldn’t cost $120+ per hour to make simple updates.
The site is live at SiteNitro.com and ready to accept signups. I’m already serving a small handful of clients. December was tough; end-of-year client demands and life circumstances I didn’t anticipate slowed my content strategy progress. But the foundation is built.
Photography & Video
I didn’t push this area commercially this year. Instead, I used these skills to give back and add value to causes I care about.
I captured school portraits for a local private school; it was financially worthwhile with excellent feedback. I filmed and livestreamed their Christmas performances across three evenings, working alongside faculty, volunteers, my son, and several students. The output wasn’t perfect, but it was significantly better than previous years.
More importantly, it was fulfilling on a level beyond the work itself. Providing experience to others while serving a community I care about; that’s the kind of work that energizes rather than depletes.
Physical
Cycling
I hit my 3,000-mile goal on December 26th. Most of those miles were inside on the trainer, but I reached the target despite being sick through much of November and cracking a rib (or two) earlier in the year.
Total miles: 3,038.7
Goal: 3,000 ✓
Running
I didn’t hit my running goal of 500 miles. Between injury and illness, I finished at 261 miles across 67 runs. Some years you hit the goal. Some years life has other plans. The important thing is I kept moving.
Total miles: 260.8
Total runs: 67
Goal: 500 (not met)
Overall Activity
Activity streak: 76 weeks (broken in November due to illness)
Days active: 193
Hours active: 220
Mental
Reading
I jumped around a lot this year. Completed 8 physical books and 16 audiobooks, with many more in progress. The number matters less than the habit, consistently feeding my mind with ideas worth wrestling with.
Physical books completed: 8
Audiobooks completed: 16
Listening
The typical 2025 Recapped stats
Music: 11,916 minutes listened
Top song: “Lonely God” by Fit For A King
Top artist: Bleed From Within
Top podcast: The Diary of a CEO
Scripture Audio: 1,210 minutes listened
Spiritual
I spent more time in the Bible this year than ever before. That investment showed up in unexpected ways: conversations that led to deeper connections, situations where wisdom surfaced that could only have come from time in God’s Word and the steadfastness and endurance that develop over years of walking with Him.
There’s no metric for spiritual growth. But I know I’m different than I was in January, and I know where that difference came from.
Family
My wife and I struggled to find consistency in spending time together this year. But despite that struggle, this has been a year of positive growth for us, growth that came directly from the flexibility I’ve built into how I work.
I coached my oldest son’s baseball team after taking last year off. I’d stepped back because I felt Liam needed to be coached by someone else. After that experience, he asked me to come back. Coaching teenagers, some as old as 16, was a different dynamic than younger kids. I could talk to them like young men, hold them to real expectations.
There was no point this year where I had to choose between business and family, and I’m thankful for that. The diversification that felt like careful planning in previous years proved itself when tested. Losing a major client didn’t put me in emergency mode; it reinforced the importance of living realistically and not taking on so much risk that any single change sends you scrambling.
The client situation consumed more mental bandwidth than I’d like. But I’d rather battle that while being present than be gone completely.
Looking Forward
The big awareness this year was understanding why I have so many things going on. Diversification has always been intentional, a way to ensure that no single client or income stream could disappear and upend everything. This year, that intention met its test. The system held.
Now the question becomes: what do I build from here?
I know I want to write more. I know I want to figure out what value I can bring to the tech and camera space beyond reviews. I know Site Nitro needs my attention. I know my family needs my presence more than my productivity.
The numbers in this report tell part of the story. The lessons underneath them tell the rest. The preparation was intentional. What comes next will be too.