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.