Help Me Improve Series Shakedown
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The first thing that’s in order is a big thank you to everyone who took the time to leave a comment or send me an email in response to my “Help Me Improve” series and my quest to become an A-List blogger.
A Big Lesson Learned
With the right attitude a blog can be much more than a presentation of information by a blogger to his audience.
By soliciting feedback from this site’s users I realized what a blog really was: a community of like minded folks…that’s a lot more exciting than my previous [mistaken] concept of an online content aggregation.
Not sure why I didn’t get that sooner, but better late than never.
As I mentioned in my newsletter, I realized that Art of Money belongs to its readers and asking you guys to shape its future is an entirely appropriate thing to do.
My fear was that there would be no response [and I guess that would be a response that would shape the future too] but that didn’t happen. Now I didn’t set any records for comments by a blogger and I did bribe y’all with prizes but I still set a new record for comments on a post [12] and it was clear to me that some people really do value the site and care enough to want to help
improve it.
Inspiring
As a result of the series I have quite a few new idea for the site, and even a new business idea that I am really [as Tiger Williams would say] ‘thused about.
A Summary of the Feeback
Design & Layout
Layout can be improved. Some featured articles and main categories on the top of the site.
A proper logo would be nice, and lead to improve branding.
Color scheme could be improved.
Newsletter
People seem to like it. No-one suggested that it should come precisely every week…which is a relief to me. Irregularly offering something of value will work.
The newsletter could be promoted and if the numbers were built up it could be a profit center in itself…by running paid ads and/or affiliate links.
I still didn’t really hear or think of a way to differentiate content in the newsletter between content on the site.
Posting Style, Writing & Voice
It surprised me that this one had the most feedback. I thought that the overall look and the layout were the most deserving of attention.
Typos and errors are a turnoff, but forgivable if the content is good…now I do write my posts in Ecto, which is supposed to have a spell checker, but it is a little low tech compared to Word.
I think that typos and the odd error is acceptable on a blog, where the emphasis is on personality rather than corporate image.
Just like the newsletter, readers seem to prefer posts be meaningful rather than just for the sake of posting every day. I do know that increase posting frequency almost always translates to more readers. For example the “help me improve” series was 5 posts in 2 days and they were 2 of my highest traffic days ever, even without any social bookmarking or out side references.
Affiliate Links & Tip Jar
Personally I usually have one of two reactions to affiliate links:
- I like the blogger and am happy to click the affiliate link, so that they receive the commission.
- I resent the affiliate link and have the thought “oh, they’re just trying to make a buck off of me” when I see them.
As Nneka said, considering my audience it is probably best just to disclose that the links are affiliate links and hope that people will fall into camp number 1.
David [and a couple others] found my tip jar and not only used it, but encouraged me to put it at the bottom of each post. I’m pretty shy about it, but it is worth an experiment to see how it flies to put it out there.
In general I think I like the idea of monetizing the site through capitalistic, rather than charitable methods, but I know that I have wished some blogs had tips jars, so that I could express my appreciation for great information provided.
Overall Concept
The site needs a clearer focus…I agree completely and it was this lack that caused my feedback series in the first place. It creates confusion and probably restricts my chances of making it to the A-List.
Markinjapan offers the suggestion that the site should focus on tips that can earn readers money. I like it and will definitely through that into the mix when I am brainstorming the new concept.
In general the rest of the comments seemed to urge me to focus on the achievement of getting out of the rat race and how to create freedom from work.
Kimber suggests that getting free from having a job is a pretty major accomplishment…thanks K, I was undervaluing it, which is kind of a bad habit of mine. Also I feel that my escape from the rat race is still a bit tentative so I may not be able to declare myself a expert just yet.
As I think if it some more, I think that the common thread to all the comments is the creation of passive income.
What I love the most about my life right now, is that I make the same amount of money whether I’m sipping on my Vente mocha at Starbucks, or pounding away on my computer. I think that is a very worthy goal I think that sharing what got me there and encouraging others to work in the same manner is a worthy goal for this site.
Thank You All Very Much
I really was touched by the comments and encouragement. They all were heartfelt and sincere and I was surprised by the support.
I’ve decided markinjapan had the one that I liked the best and is the winner of the grand prize. I’ll contact you via email Mark.
In the next couple days I’ll begin to attempt to implement the changes and probably early next week I’ll have a draft of a document that I can send to a designer to create the new site.
You know Jon, I wasn’t even thinking about the prize when I wrote the comment. I am just struggling with the same issues and my site is about something totally different. I even struggling with the focus issue. I can’t wait to see the changes around here.
BTW, Kimber is right about the achievement of getting out of the rat race. A series on how you did it exactly would be a great draw (now and in the future). And that’s coming from someone who’s been reading you since you asked if you could use your other site’s name because of copyright issues on the RD forums
Gee, that was a long while, at least in Internet time, ago. Thanks for sticking around!
A lot of what provided my income in the past has been “niche” sites that are not really worthy or wise [competition reasons] to talk about. To put the whole process into three words it would be “consistant focused effort.”
I’ll put my thinking hat on and see if I can find a series or an ebook about the whole process.
I understand your shyness about posting your rat race exit due to nervousness it won’t stick but Jon, that’s exactly why you should be posting about it.
So many of us are going through the exact same issues, struggling through the transition stage (or getting ready to).
If you wait until you’re 100% comfortable, you’ll have forgotten most of the fears.
And it isn’t about the nuts and bolts (each of us will have our own big ideas), its about the general issues. Getting your monthly costs down so you don’t have to earn as much, having a safety cache of cash to smooth less than fab months, the reaction of friends and family (often negative, so very, very negative), the skills you need to develop, that sort of thing.
Hey Kimber,
Wow! Are you telepathic?
How can I stop you reading my puny wee mind
Anyways, since Jon awarded the prize to little ol me (and I am chuffed he did!) I will take the opportunity to chat with him about the final months of transitioning out of an employee role.
Such knowledge could come in useful…
regards
Mark and Kimber said it. Perhaps my statement, “A series on how you did it exactly” was not what I wanted to convey.
We all have our own ways of making the money. It’s the timing, the reserves, the gumption, the leave of absence negotiation, the getting the job done after without the routine of the job. Those are the things I am interested in, but in detail. Everyone has their own method of making the cash.
Having watched you and only one other blogger (Trisha with REI) make it out, is really inspirational. Hearing the story of the transition would be really cool.
These are interesting comments to me. So you want the real story as opposed to the sanitized, let’s make Jon look good story….mmmm.
I thought that’s what I was trying to write about, maybe I’m forcing y’all to read between the lines tomorrow.
When I chat with mark, I’ll get a better idea I guess.
Thanks for the great feedback,
Jon
Making yourself look great?
Geez, that isn’t fooling anyone, at least no one truly in the trenches.
I screw up on a daily basis.
Some day when my mistakes slow down, I’m going to start Kimber’s Mistake Of The Day blog.
Telling the good, the bad, and the ugly makes a blog credible.
I did indeed read your mind.
Oh, and Jon’s too.
Scary, scary stuff.
: )
[...] On Friday I had a very enjoyable chat with markinjapan as the prize winner of my “improve my blog” contest. During the conversation I came to a realization about something that happened while I was still working, but was on the way to becoming a full-time entrepreneur. [...]