Newsletters, Hip Diggs, and a Bunch of Other Stuff I’m Working On

I’m spending the weekend working on blogs. I hate that name: Blogs. I’m a writer, not a blogger. Blogging is secondary. Let me rephrase: I’m spending the weekend working on my websites.

Recently, I had some technical trouble with my theme. My paid theme was causing two of my blogs to have some issues. It happened over at Hip Diggs months back, and last week it happened here. It locked me out from viewing my own sites. See if I ever pay for another theme.

I went back to using a simple free WordPress theme. I still have some bugs to work out, but at least I can see what I’m doing again.

All this trouble led me to want to swear off blogging. And in a way I am. I’m getting rid of many of the things that bloggers claim are necessities.

First, I’m Killing All Newsletters

That’s right, I’m going back against all the advice I was given as a beginning blogger. I’m doing this for several reasons:

  1. I hate newsletters: I don’t sign up for others’ newsletters. When I get added to one randomly, I get pissed off. My inbox gets cluttered with a bunch of unwanted crap. So I don’t want to add to other people’s unwanted crap.
  2. Their primary goal is to sell you something: 95% of newsletters that I’ve received have been an effort to sell me something: books, programs, products, etc. If you don’t want to buy my stuff, I’m not going to push it.
  3. I suck at getting them out consistently: I’m pretty good at getting posts out regularly. But I’ve never got into the habit of getting out the newsletters. So I get one out every 6-8 months. Then most people ignore, delete, or remove themselves from my list. I can’t say I blame them.
  4. MailChimp and other email services suck: I used MailChimp for my email list. I was never happy with them. Their site and their system is very clunky and hard to maneuver. So recently, I tried out a couple other email services. Same thing. I don’t have time for it.
  5. I’m a writer not a marketer: In the future I might go with a metered section on my site and offer paid content. If people want it, they can sign up. If they don’t, so be it. I’m not going to use a newsletter to try to sell it. Furthermore, the newsletter has not increased my sites’ traffic or sales at all.

Hipp Diggs Is Retired but Not Forgotten

Back in October, when I stopped posting at Hip Diggs, the site was a little bit of a mess. So this weekend, I’m cleaning things up. There are several issues I’m fixing:

  1. Getting rid of prompts for newsletters: I’ll probably miss a few of these prompts, but I’m eliminating the big ones at the bottom of each post.
  2. Getting rid of social links at the bottom of each page: Each post on Hip Diggs had links to my social media. They’ll be gone after this weekend. I will keep the share buttons.
  3. Getting rid of marketing language: I followed the crowd and added “call to action” language at the bottom of each post. Most of that is going away.
  4. Getting rid of font inconsistencies: The old theme at Hip Diggs allowed me to use different font sizes. The free theme doesn’t. Other than headings and subheads, I’ve decided to edit most fonts back to a single size for consistency. Check it out.

The fact that I’m cleaning up Hip Diggs is important. It suggests, that although I’m currently retired from posting there, that I still care about the site. Who knows. I might write there again one day. Time will tell.

After I get done cleaning Hip Diggs up, I’ll be doing a little work on this site. For now, just know that if you hit a link to get a newsletter, you’ll get this:

Truth be told, I suck at getting newsletters out, so I’m quitting the signup thing. Sorry if you like an inbox full of stuff. You won’t get it from me.

Here’s what else you won’t get:

  • A free download of my eBook, The Happiness Of Simple: Making Connections Between Happiness, Simplicity & Productivity. Don’t be cheap! It’s only 99 cents at Amazon.
  • Regular newsletters with tips and links to simple lifestyle habits that will help you kick ass in life. I believe in you. You can do it without a newsletter!
  • Early insights to my work; first looks at new projects and books. Don’t worry, you’ll get access as soon as anyone else does.

I share freely here. I’m not trying hard to sell you. That makes me feel icky. So what’s the point in a newsletter and an email list? Just enjoy the blog.

Sorry.

No Newsletters.

de