First of all, I want to say a sincere thank you to everyone who responded to my post on Monday. Thank you for your support, ego-boosts, and suggestions. If you sent me a message but haven’t yet received a response, please check your junk mail folders to make sure my reply didn’t end up there. If you still can’t find it, feel free to send me a follow-up message so I can make sure you didn’t fall through the cracks.
Now, down to business. Bear with me through this presentation; it’s my Steve Jobs moment – except I don’t have a shiny gadget with a horrible name (iPad? Really?).
First, a little something for all you fellow bloggers out there – plus a new posting schedule.
Let’s start with the best part.
Each Friday, I’ll be opening up The Art of Great Things to guest posts from you, dear readers. Two reasons:
- Since we’re building a community here, it makes sense that everyone gets a chance to speak, instead of me hogging the mic the whole time.
- If you’re a blogger, guest posting is the single most effective way to get your name out there and find new readers. This is one way for me to say thank you for being such wonderful people.
I’ve already talked to a few of you about guest posting, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. If you’d like to contribute a post for The Art of Great Things, send me a quick message from the contact page. Make sure to leave a valid email address so we can set things up!
If you’d rather do an exchange of guest posts (where you write something for AOGT and I write something for your blog) or an interview, we can talk about that too.
Of course, this all depends on you, my friends. If there aren’t any guest posts ready one week, you’ll have to hear from me again that Friday. Reader beware ;-)
About the new posting schedule:
Currently, I post new, long-ish articles every Monday and Thursday, plus the fledgling Great Reads link post on weekends. Starting next week, however, I’ll be posting once a day, Monday through Friday. Not only will I be publishing more quality content per week, but I’ll also be providing a greater variety of content: long posts, short posts (Seth Godin style), perhaps even video posts. The sky’s the limit here.
Now let’s talk newsletter.
That’s right, The Art of Great Things is getting its very own weekly email newsletter.
Unlike many other blog newsletters, this one will NOT be a simple rehashing of content that’s already posted on the blog (although there will be a quick summary for people who only get the newsletter).
Instead, the AOGT newsletter will have more personal and experimental content than the main blog. This is your chance to go behind the scenes and get sneak previews of what I’m trying out and working on before it goes live on the blog.
Two quick points about the newsletter:
- No spam. I promise. No selling or distributing of your email address to anyone. Just one awesome newsletter delivered once a week.
- You’ll be able to unsubscribe at any time – but hopefully you’ll never want to.
- The newsletter needs a name, and I’m open to suggestions. Anyone?
And finally, we come to e-books.
I know what you’re thinking. “Everyone writes e-books!” Well yes, I agree. Pretty much everyone does. Which is why I plan on doing an extraordinary job to make reading them worth your while.
I haven’t locked in the exact topics of these two e-books yet, although I do know they’ll deal with the overall themes of work/life balance, simplicity, and being remarkable.
I’m a little hesitant to put an exact date on when each book will be finished, but I’m aiming to complete the first one by March or April, and the second some time in late summer. Either way, it’s an ambitious project for me. Stick around and see how it turns out.
Why am I announcing all this?
For three reasons. First, accountability. Now that I’ve made you a public promise, I have no choice but to deliver. No slacking off for me.
Second, authenticity. Sharing the plans and thought processes behind this blog is part of my commitment to being more honest and open with you.
Third, feedback. As I said at the beginning of this post, I want to know your opinion on all of this. If you think something’s a good idea, tell me. If you think something’s a terrible idea, stop me before someone gets hurt.
That’s it for today, my friends. A lot of big plans in this post, and a lot of small steps to get there. Look for the new posting schedule to start next week, and the newsletter to officially launch not long after that. I hope you’re as excited as I am, because January is almost over and it’s time to get started.
And don’t forget to help me name that newsletter.
Until next time …
14 Comments on “Great Things to Come: In Which I Announce a New Schedule, a Newsletter, and Other Exciting Plans”
says:
I'm very excited about all these announcements. Best of luck with everything, particularly the e-books! I'm looking forward to them. :)
says:
Great. Now I have expectations to live up to.
In all seriousness, thanks for the support.
says:
Like the direction you are taking things sound like you have a good i dea of what you want to do with the blog and how you want to accomplish it. The proses of writing something every day is very very rewarding in my experience.
i will admit that i am not a huge fan of newsletters but i will give yours a try it defiantly sounds different and interesting.
says:
Jeffrey, I love your approach to this. Opening up your planning and ideas to your community seems so right, but nobody really does it. It supports the environment of conversation and the close connections bloggers should be trying to create. Thanks!
says:
Don't feel pressured to sign up for the newsletter, Quinn. If you'd like to
give it a shot, please do; if newsletters aren't your thing, that's cool
too.
says:
Glad you're liking the direction this is going. It's a big step for me, but
I think it'll all be worth it.
says:
Hey Jeffrey, can't wait to read some more great stories. I will especially love seeing more posts as I love your content already.
says:
Thanks!
says:
Hey Jeffrey,
All of this sounds great and I'm looking forward to the upcoming posts and changes. Keep up the excellent work. And thank you for your valued insights.
says:
I'm glad you like it, Andrew. And thanks for making me feel like a genius
:-)
says:
Jeffrey. Congratulations. Your great heart has led you here. And your great writing. Here's to more greatness.
Lisa
says:
Hey man! Super stoked to hear about your success. I was just curious as to why you're going to post everyday. That's a lot of writing!
says:
Part of the reason is that I think it will help me grow as a writer. The
other part is because I think it would be more helpful for readers to get
content every day, even if that content comes in different formats and isn't
always over 1000 words.