(Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes)
I love my email.
Email gets such a bad rap, and I get that, I really do. But I’m in that sweet spot where I’m getting a lot of email, but not too much. Getting too much email seems like a high-quality (aka “champagne”) problem to me. I hope to stay involved with my email, at some level, no matter how big Website In A Weekend gets.
In any case, it’s been a while, so let’s take a look and what Website In A Weekend readers have to say.
Abby Kerr wants to know…
Reader Abby Kerr (vision. love. phraseologie. {for niche-y enterprise}) answered back to my query about what readers want to read with:
Here’s what I’d love to see in your e-newsletter:
Small, quick, actionable bites that DIY people can do to enhance their site immediately. Similar to your Tech Tuesday or DIY WordPress posts. Thanks, Dave!
Well, I can say one thing for sure: Abby has been lurking reading along for quite some time!
Small, quick, actionable bites… something you can do in 1 minute, right now?
That’s a good idea. I’ll put some more work in it. And I’ll get these out to the newsletter, too.
Carlo Velez tiene ojes de lince
Carlos drops me a short note:
yo, you have a typo or something in the description of your Blog Post Engineering description…sidebar of your site. It says “&c.” at the end of the sentence. Browser issue possibly? I’m using Windows Starter 7 for my tiny netbook.
My reply:
“&c.” is archaic for “et cetera.”
Thank you for noticing!
I read a little too much Dr. Johnson.
Have I mentioned breadcrumbs?
Seriously, we all need to depend on each other to keep our websites working properly. Browser, screen size, screen resolution, operating systems, it all matters. If you ever see anything here on Website In A Weekend that seems messed up, please send me an email, or a DM on Twitter.
I’ll be helping Carlos launch the Pre-writing Challenge ebook with some custom plugin work from the Affiliate KISS Kit. Thanks for noticing Carlos.
Stay on Typepad? Or move to self-hosting…
I got this late Thursday evening from Silicon Valley entrepreneur Greg Lynn in reference to a blog his wife is operating:
What is your opinion of running the domain from typepad vs self host?
That’s a really good question. There’s pros and cons to both hosted and self-hosted. As a first cut, here’s…
My answer.
Two things to consider:
- Will typepad support what she wants to do technically in terms of design and function?
- Does typepad terms of service support her business model?
If both answers are yes, stay with Typepad. If either are no, consider very seriously what the deficiency is (are), and consider tweaking her model to fit typepad’s capability.
Otherwise self-hosting.
Blog Post Engineering readers take note: this could well be the start of a story line. There is at least one potential followup (did the sender stay on Typepad or move, and why), and possibly several (sender moves to WordPress).
Naomi contends, it’s a beautiful thing
Here’s something from the ittybiz newsletter:
It is my contention that you know exactly what you should be doing for your business. You know if you should be fixing your copy or getting off your ass when it comes to social media or running ads. You know if you should be printing flyers or actually using your email list or sending out some invoices. (Invoice non-senders, you know who you are.)
Panic! Alarm! “Crap! Do I owe Naomi an invoice!?”
Not that I would of course, but I took that one right between eyes. I’m a horrible non-invoice sender. It’s the next thing I’m going to outsource.
And Naomi’s right. I have at least 40 hours work to do on Website In A Weekend myself. Boring, grunt work. Sales copy and sales funnels. Testing. More testing. Right.
I’m on it!
What are you on?
What’s your story?
Got anything you need to talk about? Send me an email, let’s figure it out: david.doolin@gmail.com.
And sign up for the newsletter (below).
Your ping back to the piece about Gary – thank you :) – hit my email right about the time that “we all need to depend on each other to keep our websites working properly” was actioning itself in my kitchen.
I’m meant to be getting breakfast. I am doing it. Honest. But I also have the laptop on my counter top allowing me to tweak and fiddle a little.
Thanks to Antti (and indirectly you because I first ‘met’ him here) I have code type things working their magic to add accent colours to my blog. Not a big deal for you clever clogs but, like I said to him, a pretty massive deal for me. I did a little happy dance in my kitchen when the page refreshed and it worked :)
But right now I’m on the toast, it’s about to burn. Have an awesome day (and great job on the 1 Minute Now thing. I was wondering which part of WiaW you were going to make it’s own thing ever since you asked in that post ages ago.)
Eleanor Edwards´s last post ..Moving & Teeny Steps Forward
Heh… 1 Minute Now was a side project from last year.
What I was referring back then hasn’t spun off yet. Waiting on WP 3.0 for the MU benefits.
Dave Doolin´s last post ..Quest for the perfect post: Empathize, Entertain, Educate!
Sweet, new website to read!
Determined not to make this a long comment since I have other work I need to do now, though it’s interesting to see the sort of things you’re asked. May need to step up my nit-picking quota again… hm.
Anyway, enjoy your day – I have work to do :)
Heather´s last post ..Semester Scramble: Aftermath
Dave, I’m a strong believer in self-hosted blogs (ideally WordPress).
Here’s why:
1. You look like a serious blogger/person to other bloggers.
2. You get much better SEO benefits.
If it’s a hobby, or you don’t have much time to put into it, or you have very low goals for the blog, then hosting on Typepad or WordPress.com or the others is fine.
John Soares´s last post ..The Importance of Free Time Alone
Thanks John. Your observations definitely apply to our niche. Not yet sure which niche she is in. Certainly, Seth Godin and Jeff Atwood (codinghorror.com, stackoverflow.com) seem to be doing fairly well on Typepad.
Woo! Glad to help if help it was. Thanks!
Carlos Velez´s last post ..It’s How You Use It (Understanding) That Counts