Five years ago I had a mohawk. (I’ve had a lot of fun hair over the years.)
Oh, here’s a picture of it:
Like it? I did, it was fun.
Anyway, not long after I had gotten the mohawk, I was having a super-punk, damn-the-man, oh-what-a-rebel-am-I kind of day. I painted my fingernails black, laced up my favourite 8-hole Doc Martens, put on my most attitude-y shirt and radiating don’t-mess-with-me vibes I rocked my way out the door. Ooh, I was dangerous.
At the bus stop, a little old lady. She looks up at me from stompy boots to oh-so-spiky mohawk and says, “I like your hair, dear.”
Moral of the story: I suck at Attitude.
Thus I’m not surprised that, despite my best intentions, this last month has had almost no real heresy in it. (It had one controversy, but that was kind of anxious and sobering so I don’t think I want to do too much of it.) You lovely people keep agreeing with me, you fiends! It’s very nice but it hasn’t stirred up the vigorous debate I had hoped for.
However! It has accomplished something better, which is Action. There is nothing better than reading a comment or email from one of you where you’ve made significant improvements in your websites because of one of these articles. I will be trying my hardest to produce action from you in future. (You can help, tell me where you’re getting stuck or confuzzled and I’ll see what I can do.)
The plan, going forward
I like these longer posts with a five-minute mission at the end, but they do take a much longer time to write. Since I only have a limited number of hours in the day (due to the Day Job and my desire to eat, sleep and see my loved ones occasionally), if I write these longer posts I don’t get very much else done. So starting tomorrow I’m going to mix it up a bit.
Each week will feature:
- one video post
- one guest post (let me know if you want to guest post!)
- one recommendation/review post
- two or three longer heresy-style posts
- the occasional five-minute mission
That might be on a daily schedule, but I’m not sure. What do you think?
Jump on board
I’ve extended the Short Thought video collaboration until Saturday (probably your Friday). There are already some lovely contributions… if you want to have a bit of fun, join in and send your thought.
Also on Saturday, I’ll be sending out emails to the Awesome Chat participants to organise a time for the first chat that suits them. If you want in for the very first session, sign up! I expect riotous chat and many awesome insights.
Your five-minute mission, should you choose to accept it…
Spend five minutes walking somewhere pleasant, reflecting on how you are making the world more awesome with your contribution. Because you are, you know.
Feedback!
I spend a lot of time guessing what you will enjoy and find useful. Tell anecdotes or stick to just-the-facts-ma’am? Long posts or short posts? Video: oui or non? A whole series of post with photos of my hair and the moral of the story for each? (I could seriously do that.) More of my personality, less of my personality, daily posts, weekly posts, weekly newsletter with a summary, daily newsletter with the feed? More about how to get unstuck and start producing awesome stuff, more copywriting, more technical how-tos, more cussing?
Help! In the comments, tell me what has really worked for you. Tell me questions you want answered. Tell me what you need and want me to help with!