This article is, in a way, a newsletter pertaining to me and pertaining to this blog, as well as being a discussion of online retail to some extent. – A post ‘for the sake of posting’, if you like. – That was going to be the title; but, maybe wisely, I changed it having written this piece.

Having now said that I’ve probably set some of you thinking something like: “She’s off on more of her demented ramblings again. – I suppose she expects us to actually read these reams of drivel – ?”

- Don’t worry. – I’m putting the drivel to shrivel, whilst, as always, attempting to keep the flannel off this channel. This is, obviously, a blog mainly dealing with tech and computer-help; getting the very best from your computer in as many ways as is possible – which will always remain the main-thrust of this online-marvel. – But this is also my blog; so I fully intend to interact with you, my readers, through it, in addition to helping you solve technical and computer-related issues of various natures. In doing so; as well as and along with presenting said tech and computer-help + all that ‘geek-ism’, I’m going to be presenting me: Well look if I’m trying to interact with you then you’re not going to want to be interacting with a faceless figure of sterility and logical-excellence only are you?

OK so having cleared that one up let’s get on with the show: Coming up is a short piece on how I envision the next 12-months or so to ensue in relation to this publication; including the more-foreseeable-future: Umm; well that’s what I was intending anyway. Let’s see how this turns out: -

(I’ll just warn you that this post is a bit on the large size; so I hope you like reading.)

Recently – ish…

Earlier this year I tried running a regular newsletter on this blog; ‘The Horizon’. I managed about 3 editions; but in addition to a seeming lack of interest, there wasn’t really enough going on to justify producing it on a regular basis, and it quickly started to get rather lame as far as content was concerned. I think April’s was the last edition, following which I was all but working “off-blog” for most of the British Summer; producing a few small complimentary articles now and then.

That’s all very well; but ‘not really the best way to run an online business: There is only me, Shazzalive, running this blog, this business, still; and that appears to be the way it’s going to stay for the foreseeable future. While I now have a new partner, Kim is an outdoor-girl who loves the countryside, as well as a bit of an eccentric individual into theories of alien life and extra-terrestrial entities, rather than being a geek and a writer/editor; therefore it would be unfair of me to expect her to assist me in running this blog in a similar manner to the way I myself do. – I did even build her a blog so that she could have a go at blogging, but she didn’t appear to take to it at all. – But don’t get me wrong here: Kim is my angel and supports me in so many other ways; ‘just that blogging and geeking aren’t her thing and therefore aren’t included in that list.

Summertime, And The Livin’s Not Easy…

So I’m doing this all on my tod, and can only be in one place at one time: In the Winter that place is usually indoors in front of a keyboard and monitor; editing, writing, creating, designing, and all things productive. That covers things until March 2012-time, which may appear to be a long way off, but will, no doubt, creep up upon us and become a distant memory in no-time-flat. So after that? – What then?

Well it’s British Summertime again, quite obviously, and I’m intending to be doing a few things off-blog again. –As I mentioned earlier, though, almost totally abandoning the blog except for a few randomly-sparsely-scattered articles to prove that the blog’s still running isn’t really the best way to run an online business. (Maybe hence the reason why my income from this blog has dropped recently.) – So with that in mind I need to think about ways that I can be physically working off-blog whilst at the same time maintaining a decent and reasonable level of content-creation along with continued interaction with my readers.

Now the thing with that is; to become fully aware of how things are currently so that I can use that information as a ‘snapshot’, of you like, and adapt accordingly I need to ask you readers for opinions. – I mean yes this is my blog, but unless I’m giving you readers what you want in regard to content of said blog, you’re not going to read it: Simples. Let’s face the facts: I’m one blogger among millions with an audience of a few more millions maybe. (Obviously I don’t think millions of you read my blog: I really don’t flatter myself to that extent! ) – So if I’m not presenting good material herein; then where are you going to read items? Answer = somewhere else, not here. – It’s a fact.

Therefore I intend to let you all get a good feel of this blog as it is, and form a solid and honest opinion of it. Having done that; after the festivities, in the New Year, I’m going to be launching a few polls in order to gauge public opinion so that I can get that ‘snapshot’ and focus upon it.

A Bit About Automation

Now at this point I want to say that I’ve noticed of late that there are a large number of marketers offering “the ultimate blogging solution” to making vast amounts of money online; using fully-automated systems which generate multiple blogs on any number of domains and are supposedly “guaranteed to boost your online income potential with only a couple of hours of work per day”…

Before we talk about this any further I don’t intend to sit here and slag this method off, nor do I intend to tell you that the system doesn’t work. – Clearly it does; but to a limited extent.

You see, with this type of system, that type of auto-generated blog can only be geared to one thing at present: Sales. Artificial-intelligence is to this point still not competent enough to be able to produce a valuable component of a realistic blog; that component being content.

I’ve seen articles written by artificial intelligences in the recent past: They start off reasonably well; although you can clearly tell that they have been written by a pre-programmed author, and then they tend to lose the plot – up to a point where the AI has some sort of brain-fart and produces streams of utter gibberish. – So there is, basically, only one single form of content that AI or indeed any form of automated system can competently produce; and that is content-listings and sales listings. – Notice: Only listings.

Shop – Talk

Such listings are fine in a shop: Content listings in a content-shop, and sales-listings in any shop. – Which is great if your blog is a shop… Ok – level-with-you-time: Yes this blog is, in part at least, a shop: It’s a professional blog… At least it’s supposed to be. – and there’s a main-reason for blogging as a profession: ‘Anyone like to take a stab at a wild guess?… Money – that’s right. One of the main reasons I run this blog is to make money. – Of course I love being a geek and I enjoy talking tech. Of course I love sharing ideas and being known on the internet. Of course I enjoy helping people to find a solution to their problems… But let’s face it: If, at the end of the day I make no money doing so then I can’t feed myself, can’t afford to maintain either my computer or this domain, and I cease to exist as does this blog. – End of story.

The thing is; this blog is not a shop in the traditional sense: I’d say it’s more a boutique in fact: -

‘Right; ‘standard idea of a shop: You go in, get a trolley or cart maybe, walk around selecting items you need to buy, go to the checkout, pay, leave. – End of. – The only human interaction is with the staff at the checkout. Robots would do the job almost as well in my opinion. (Better in quite a few cases.) : Overall dominant emotion = stress.

‘Standard idea of a boutique: You’re ushered in and made to feel welcome. The decor is tasteful but not extravagant. You can relax at any time you want to in the homely-atmosphere. There are reading materials on hand and constantly available, and now and again a staff-member asks you if there is any way that they can assist you. Refreshments are offered occasionally, and various offers are displayed in certain places, which you can browse at your leisure and purchase if you like them. On exit you’re reminded that you’re welcome back at any time and asked to come again. : Overall dominant emotion = enjoyment.

Cut to the chase: Fully-automated blogs are shops: People find them in search-engines, go there, look, buy what they want, and leave: -

Human interaction factor = 0 out of 10, Overall impression = 0 to 2, Likelihood of return visits/recommendations = 0 to 6 depending on price and level of service and reliability.

Blogs, if done right, are boutiques: Regular customers recommend them, people find them thru search engines also. People go there, enjoy their experience, and do so to such an extent that, whether or not they made a purchase, will return there and will recommend that blog to their friends too: -

Human interaction factor = 5 to 10 out of 10, Overall impression = 2 to 10, Likelihood of return visits/recommendations = 1 to 10; depending on how well and boutique-y the blog performs in terms of many factors.

Where’s the Money At?

I’ll be perfectly frank here: If your only goal is money then start up a series of automated online shops. If your goal is to become an internet personality and make money too then start a blog.

One last word of advice on this topic: -

• If you start an online shop and run it badly then the outcome will be that you make no money and end up with no customers.
• If you start a blog and run it badly then the outcome could be that you end up doing more harm than good: Maybe that’s another post’s worth?

No Big Plans – Yet

Until I get that ‘snapshot’ which I was talking about earlier, I can only ‘carry-on-regardless’, as it were.

- So I don’t have any big plans for the future yet. – ‘Sorry if I disappointed you. Overnight-success-stories are as rare as rocking-horse-poo’, and I don’t intend to try to become an overnight-success-story; therefore, by that intention, lessening my chances of almost certain failure at achieving my goal. Having said that: This blog is going to continue, and it’s going to be something and get somewhere. I still intend to become a success-story; just that I don’t have the unrealistic dream of doing it overnight.

‘More coming soon. – Until then enjoy your week – and stay geeky!

*Note: I’m still currently, at time of posting, working on the example-theme-files which I intend to include with the next installment in the current series “Designing Your WordPress Front Page” that I’m running. The final installment will be produced in due course.