I’m very close to formally launching my new project, The Writer’s Plan!! I’ve taken all my notes and prior blogs about writer business plans and built a dedicated site, including templates and an online guidebook. I’m very exciting about putting the word out next week, after finishing off a few odds and ends this weekend.
For some who may wonder… yes, I do have my own Writer’s Plan. I formalized it just last week, in fact. One of my tactics, was to set up video blogging for my The Writer’s Plan website. I imagined all the great content I come across on a regular basis, and thought that sharing it on that site would be the perfect thing to do. My deadline for that tactic is today. It was a reasonable deadline (one week), since I had no equipment to buy. It didn’t take long to start up a Youtube account under The Writer’s Plan brand.
But here’s the thing. I imagined that recording a video blog would be faster and easier than writing. Not true. There is no backspace in video. Multiple ‘takes’ are required. Then, there’s the lighting, the sound and whether there’s a decent background.
After my initial attempts, my daughter wondered out loud why I would bother with a blog – she thinks they’re a waste of time. “Develop more content,” she said. “Who cares about your online journal?” What about extra ideas I may have, I wondered. “Don’t put it in a blog,” she replied.
At first I was shocked. Isn’t blogging and other social media the way to draw people in? Doesn’t it keep a website dynamic? “If the information was good, I’d go back when I wanted it,” was her response. And you know, that makes sense to me.
I don’t have time to be a mega blogger. I tweet occasionally and even more rarely visit my Facebook and LinkedIn profiles. It’s simply too much to keep on top of. When I want real, tangible content, I go to a solid resource, online or not. If I want The Writer’s Plan to be a solid resource, I should concentrate on enhancing the content, not the commentary.
As a result of my wise 14-year old daughter’s comments, my revised plan will, for now, veer away from starting up a whole separate blog for The Writer’s Plan. Instead, I’ll focus on adding valuable content to that site. For those wanting to read a blog, they can come on over here.