(Note: This article was originally published to JamieMcSloy.co.uk on April 26th, 2019. I’m going through an old backup of the site, which has hundreds of posts that aren’t currently uploaded. As I’m working hard on updating the site – and releasing The Vault, letting these old posts be the daily posts for a while. We’re getting very close now, so bear with me. Soon I’ll resume regular posting and then just upload these archives in one go.)
ReCalibrate
We’re getting towards the end of April. When I envisioned this topic, we were a quarter-way through the year. Now we’re almost a third of the way through the year. That means another opportunity to take stock of what’s going on and to right the course of your ship, should it need righting.
A little update: I’ve been not-so-well physically. Mysterious dizzy spells persist and I feel lightheaded from standing up. The worst of it is that I get tunnel vision if I sit still or stare at a computer screen long enough. This means productivity has dropped screen-wise and I’ve returned to the trusty pen and paper thing for getting work done.
Incidentally, this has meant that the next issue of the Direct Response Newsletter is going to be awesome. That’s all planned and mostly written; and I’m just typing it up at a snail’s pace before the deadline next week.
If you’re not a subscriber, then you might want to rectify that problem in your life.
But let’s get to the topic of the day.
Not being able to do all that much except be lazy as hell has given me a lot of time to think about the project moving forward, and to recalibrate what I’m doing (outside of dicking around on Twitter, I suppose.)
On A Failed Experiment
At the end of 2018, I decided to stop posting every day.
This, ultimately, has been a failed experiment.
Not because traffic has gone down on the blog, (it hasn’t all that much; a slight drop I guess,) or because everyone’s stopped leaving comments (because let’s face it, only four of you ever do that anyway,) nor because I’m losing piles of money.
Mostly because the blog was a hyper-efficient way for me to experiment and get on with breaking new ground whilst satisfying my need to feel like I’m communicating information with the world, which is likely some important part of my cognitive make up.
The upshot of this section: I will be resuming posting on a regular (read: if not every day, then every week day) schedule starting (hopefully) in May, or otherwise when I can look at a screen for a reasonable length of time.
This will be good for readers and for the guys who have gone a lot quieter with sharing their “observations” since I stopped posting mine. Hmm on that front, and you’re probably better off getting your own ideas, but whatever.
Off The Wall
Let’s talk content for a second.
Looking back through the archives, I’ve covered most things. Sure, I can optimise and improve, but that’s pretty boring.
“How I’ve incrementally improved my conversion rates over the course of the last six months of tinkering” isn’t sexy for writing.
But really, the systems are all in place, steadily improving and the blog is filled with archives on basically everything.
Besides, upgrades in the form of more in depth content should go in the books I keep promising to write.
For the blog, that leaves more experiments and off the wall stuff. And not just because I’m in need of content, but also…
Somewhere Along The Line…
Somewhere along the line, the steady stream of emails, DMs and comments I get changed in nature. Instead of just being about how to increase conversions or get freelance clients, people ask me about my opinion on other stuff.
Like overcoming mental issues. Like dealing with relationship stuff, working while travelling, online security, personal finance and other, more esoteric things.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to turn into a relationship guru because that’s not my forte and it’s also not a market I’m interested in, and I’m not going to stop writing about business in order to talk about overcoming stress…
That said…
It’s worth pointing out – in order to avoid this post being a complete “Dear Diary” episode – that if you put out content and help people out, something weird happens.
You build an audience, sure. People come to you because of what you’re selling, be that a product, service or identity.
But as your niche narrows, your audience matures and suddenly you’re at that point where you’re solving that elusive, “Give your people what they want!” dilemma.
This blog; ostensibly for the online pirates looking to make money, stick it in a treasure chest and hide it among their various online shores.
And all of those other things; the “How do I overcome this mental flunk?” and the, “Jamie… I’m making money and need a plan as to what to do with it?” start to make sense.
Becoming self-styled pirate kings isn’t just about acquiring loot. You’ve got to get the eye-patch and parrot as well.
So that’s what the blog is about.
If you’re thinking, “Jamie… what the hell are you on about?” then don’t worry – I’m not sure either.