Choosing simple over complex
Here's a couple of random things that I've been thinking about lately:
Often when I talk to businesses, I highlight the importance of focus. However, when looking at my own business I can see how easy it is to become influenced through what everyone else is doing. It can be a good thing (like when I decided to write a book because I had enjoyed the books Paul Jarvis had written and self-published), but then there are cases when looking too hard at other's accomplishments can guide you away from your true passion. For example, I thought a while ago that along with my consulting and blog writing I should also sell products. In order to sell these products, I needed other things to support them like free email courses which then needed fancy email marketing tools where you can do automations and segmenting and sequencing and... phew. Just like that, having a simple course to share knowledge became a part-time job.
Almost exactly a year ago I was in a similar position and decided that taking a break was my best choice. Today I think it's time to rethink the purpose of all of this. I've already started the process of moving my newsletter from Convertkit to a free service with far less features, Buttondown. Much like when mobile phones turned into smartphones, I'm struggling to use just the basics. One perk of this move is that there's finally an option to archive (almost) all of my past newsletters! Here's what Frank Chimero said when I asked him about Buttondown:
It’s straight-up: type some markup and email it to people, which is what I need. Mailchimp was overkill.
So you can expect less A/B-tested subject lines sent on optimal times tailored directly to your preferences and more of these personal updates. Instead, I'll opt-in to the fact that I'm professional because I'm personal - something I wrote nearly four years ago and is still true today.
I want the newsletter, and my business, to be more personal. Less 'push' and more 'dialogue'.