You might know my life changed recently, in a really good way.
The change wasn’t fun at first – hunting down real estate in New York City is actually an energy draining pain in the #%& and a hard lesson in how to not get screwed over.
But when all the dust had settled, I had a new flat, and much more space I’m now converting into my first personal blogging studio.
I can’t wait to tell you about it in this post, and at the end, if you don’t mind, please share how “change” has affected your own blogging and line of work.
Sorry for the fuzzy pics, they come to you from my trusty Android – click to enlarge
Why I moved in the first place
My previous place was in a great neighborhood called the “Seaport” of Manhattan. It was a massive, tall building, with a roof (picture) that I loved blogging on.
I was super sad to lose that roof. What a gem.
But being it was a luxury building, I sort of got lazy. I would come home each day and just stay in, hit the gym (in building) then order food and lazily browse comments from the couch. Blogging from the couch is great – right Ramsay? – but you lose inspiration at some point.
Been there before?
I often found myself doing the same old pointless blog tasks, changing design only to reverse it back, instead of creating new experiences that could result in powerful new posts.
So that’s the first reason I moved, for a refreshing blast of the real world.
The second is that my roommate and I were basically living on top of eachother. In a rather hurried decision we decided to build a cheap wall and split a studio apartment. This got increasingly err, stressful as he constantly played loud music and smoked everything in sight.
What this means for me
Well, my move means a few neat things.
- I’m in Chinatown: New sights, sounds, and smells.
- Much more space: Time for a home-office! –>
- Peace of mind: Productivity up, stress down (I hope!)
And as you know, I’m not immune to stress and the usual internal struggles us bloggers go through.
So I’m expecting a lot of good things. I can start my day on the right note, without being loudly woken up. So far my mornings consist of brewing a cup of coffee and tending to comments from my posh living room, which is still a huge mess.
It also means I just am plain bored more, which I think will prove to be a good thing. Not having a roommate means you have to hunt down entertainment, make more plans, and make more to-do lists. I’ve already gotten more focused on exactly what I’m doing each day of the week, in both blogging and just self-maintenance.
And on the stress reduction topic, I’ve been playing tennis at the nearby slightly run-down but definitely beautiful in their own way tennis courts 3 times a week!
What it means for YOU
Any regular reader at this blog who’s enjoyed my first eBook will be as excited about my new blogging studio as I am.
“Why, Mr. Blogger?” Because I’m already at work on two brand new Dear Blogger eBooks for you.
- “Thanks, Google: A Blueprint to Ranking in Organic Search”
- “Starting Small: Getting Your First 250 Amazing Subscribers”
These two topics come at you as a result of – you guessed it – your questions.
I want to write on organic Google Search because it seems there’s a large gap between what Google tells us up and coming bloggers, and what we’re actually supposed to do to succeed online.
I talked about this with Ana in the comments of her recent Marketing Skinny – it’s just ridiculous how hard things have become for new blogs.
And I want to write on my 250 subscriber large list because I can’t stand those “How I Grew My Email List to 10,000 Subscribers Overnight” type of books (Sorry, Derek Halpern).
I just don’t think they are true, and those kind of number are overwhelming to beginners. It’s just a joke to tell someone they’ll read an eBook then somehow get that many subscribers.
So get ready for a couple new great downloads coming your way.
Note: Have not decided yet if I’ll give these away for free, or more likely, sell them for $5-10 each. Based on my first book, would you shell out $5-10 for one of my eBooks? Let me know!
How has change affected your blogging?
I’d really like to know how moves, job-changes, or major life-changes (expected or not) have affected your work as a blogger. Do you think that despite the initial setback that change has a good impact on things like blogging, writing, and productivity?
Post your thoughts in the comments, and hope you enjoyed reading about my move.
Greg,
Like I said over twitter moving is a pain, but living with people you cannot stand is worse. Especially when you live with negative people who are always down/ mad at life. They drain your energy and your stifle your imagination and creativity. Although that rooftop you had was one incredible place to write from, sanity is more important than just a view. Working from an office, I feel bogged down with the same surroundings all the time, and I am constantly looking to change up my atmosphere. This move is probably exactly what you need.
Hey Mike.
So well said. My roommate was uber negative, and being a natural introvert not willing to say “shut up’ it totally got me down.
Breathing fresh, fish market infused air now 🙂
What’s your office like? Home, corporate? Sounds like you’re escaping the cubicles a bit. Hope to hear more soon.
Cheers,
Greg
I recently put my daily reading schedule on hold.
I blog for my company, and my professional development consists of reading blogs (like yours) and keeping up with Google+, Twitter feeds. I’m the only person on my team that does what I do–content strategy, writing, heavy editing. So reading on a daily basis is my only form of training.
But I started to feel water-boarded with information, and I stopped all that reading for a couple weeks. It’s a breath of fresh air. All the content I’ve consumed in the past few months has proven beneficial, but taking a mini sabbatical has decreased my anxiety about whether I’m becoming a better blogger.
I’m now picking up that schedule again, and I’m glad I took some time off from reading. Making that temporary change re-motivated me to improve the content I publish.
Hey Sarah,
Glad I’m part of your reading list!
Sounds like a great refresher. You should try reading for highly specific reasons, like to improve ______ instead of just diving in. Many resources are so powerful they overwhelm (me at least) right away.
But still, reading as you then experimenting in your writing IS the best training.
Cheers,
The Blogger
Hope you do great in your new town, Greg. Ya know I’m always in a lookout for great things from you.
Can’t wait to grab your new eBooks, looking forward to it.
Hey Ehsan.
Always awesome have you here. They should be good, I hope!
Can you find my new squeeze page here…? 😀
Best,
Greg
Love it Greg, wow! How did you remove sidebar from that page? Is there a plugin for that?
I think you should remove sidebar from the community page as well, because I believe It distracts readers and reduces the number of opt-ins.
Now tell me how to do it, so I should do it too haha.
BTW, love the new menu color. Looks neat! 😉
Thanks, Ehsan! Community page…great point.
In new page editor Page Attributes set Template to Full Width.
Still can’t get it working on posts….but try this plugin.
Sounds like your productivity should, in theory, shoot through the roof, Greg. 🙂
Enjoy the freedom and we look forward to great things from you.
Included you in my new Skinny, by the way.
Thanks Ana! Really appreciate that.
I hope things go sky high. Just need to actually setup my espresso machine – it’s a Euro model and I need a power converter – then also maybe add a cat to the equation.
Work hard today!
I think this is the first blog post where I’ve been mentioned for working on the couch as opposed to the content I write.
AWESOME! 🙂
Thanks for the shout out bro.
Ramsay
You must have a really nice couch… oh, and your posts are not that bad either… lol
lol! yeah i’m guessing red corduroy with creme colored pillows
you’re welcome m8 😉
Hi Greg,
My sudden life change has been transforming from a fit and active person to someone with difficulty walking due to an illness. Not exactly a butterfly metamorphosis I would have liked!
After throwing a few lemons, I’ve headed back to my cocoon to plan a better entrance next time. While I’m in here recovering, I want to make this an opportunity to finally start blogging.
I think it’s inspiring if a blog becomes a successful business. When you offer such useful material free to get started, I don’t think charging for material as well would be a barrier. Maybe start with the lower price to trial?
CC
Hey CC.
Awesome to hear from you. That sounds like a less than ideal situation, but try to find some light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, start blogging! How can I help?
Thanks for the advice on pricing too. I’ve heard a lot of folks say “wow, you offer so much for free!” or similar things so a fair priced eBook might be the ticket!
Cheers,
The Blogger
Hi Greg I am happy to post a first comment 🙂
I wish I live in NYC 🙁 ;( ;(
Instead I live in Europe on Balkan it is not nice place to live 🙁
But I am where I am.
I dont think you should sell these new e-books at first I think you shoild give away like 100 free or 150? 🙂
My blog is getting better slowly. I have now 30-40 daily page views.
Architecture
Great stuff with the page views, Tigrasa.
It’s so true in life, sometimes we are where we are. Are there adventures to be had there? Friendly people? How is the Balkan?
More soon,
The Blogger
Hi Greg 🙂
Balkan is nice place, weather is nice 250+ really sunny days! But the economic system sucks so as the politics. I have constant money problems. But it is up to me to take that problem and solve it! I am not an architect yet but a architect student 😛
It is my passion that is why I started the blog about it! 🙂
I think one day I will live in NYC!
I know that NYC differs a lot from my city by other things like there is always rush hour or millions of people on the streets, the things I did not get used to but I would like to live there even so!
I am sorry Greg for bad English! I try to write best as I can 😀