When I first launched the blog I published three times a week, almost without fail. After a while that reduced to two times a week, then one. These days my writing is somewhat sporadic.
So what gives?
In this post I want to explain where I am with my business, what that means for Leaving Work Behind, and what my plans are for the future.
My Business Today
Yesterday I had a day-long ‘alignment’ session with my business coach brother. We covered a lot of ground, but one of the most important realizations I came to was that in order to truly succeed in business, I needed to focus on just one business.
I certainly haven’t been doing that – not since I actually started down this road in 2011. Over the past few months, my attention has been split between:
- My writing business
- Leaving Work Behind
- Paid to Blog
- Paid to Blog Jobs
- The LWB Blogging Mentorship Program
Although I’ve known it for a long time, yesterday I ‘officially’ made the decision to focus down on just one business. In reality, my focus has mainly been on this business for some time (hence my absence here), but I just hadn’t committed to the idea fully.
That business is my writing business. I chose it, quite simply, because it makes the most money. I also believe that there is a lot of room for growth.
From now on I will be spending the vast majority of my time on that business. I don’t want to be overly distracted by my other endeavors, so I will be putting them into a semi-hibernation of sorts.
What This Means for You
If you are involved in any of my other endeavors (such as the LWB BMP or Paid to Blog Jobs), you might reasonably wonder what this means for you.
But fear not – you probably won’t notice any change at all. Paid to Blog Jobs will continue to operate as normal, as will the Blogging Mentorship Program. I will still be involved as necessary in both parts. As for Paid to Blog, I will still be available to offer help and assistance to those who are working through the course.
It is only fair that I do all of the above, and from a business perspective, I need to do that so that I can return to these endeavors when the time is right (which I will). The key is that I am clearly labelling what my efforts will be in my head, which will give me the mental ‘room’ to focus the majority of my time on my writing business.
But what about Leaving Work Behind? Writing posts for the blog is a big time suck, and not something I can sustain if I truly want to dedicate the vast majority of my time to my writing business. But at the same time, I don’t want to lose my personal connection with you guys.
The solution I’ve come up with is pretty simple: I will publish one short post by me per week, focusing on a single, highly actionable topic.
My posts will be short and sweet; focusing on what I know best, and thus what I can write quickly and effectively on. I’ll hire an editor to ensure that it actually makes sense (so I don’t have to worry about spelling, grammar, etc.).
A recent survey of my email subscribers actually showed that the majority would prefer this to longer pieces.
This means that I will be able to keep in touch with you guys and continue offering value (through my own posts and through posts written by others), while limiting my time involvement in the blog.
So What Next?
For all intents and purposes, nothing will really change for you. In fact, my publishing schedule will increase (as I haven’t been publishing once per week recently). You may notice that my posts are shorter and more actionable, but that shouldn’t be a bad thing!
Small differences aside, I felt it was only right to tell you where I stand at the moment, and the reasons behind my actions. That’s historically been my modus operandi here on LWB, and I have no intention of changing that!
In terms of the longer term future, I do intend to come back to my other projects. The writing business is something I’m passionate about developing, but it’s not something intend to be deeply involved in forever. I’ve got lots of interesting plans, but I’m just getting started, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves…
Anyways, it’s always a pleasure hearing from you, so if you have any questions or comments, please fire away below!
Photo Credit: Cillian Storm