If you are an avid reader you probably would have noticed several changes to the site design of getButterflied over the past week.
From the landing page (or Home) page (with an image that forms part of the header), to the colour scheme (which is now black), to various other subtle changes (such as the typography).
Aside from general design changes, I am also adjusting my posting schedule. Previously I published 2-3 posts a week, with the third posts generally being a special Feature On a Friday. In the future I plan to publish 1-2 posts a week, one on a Tuesday and a special Feature on a Friday as and when I have a story available for that Friday.
“Why the changes?”, you may be asking.
Well firstly with regard to my design, I just felt that the current look and feel was a little bland. Further, I felt that the general design did not re-enforce my title, tagline and the general theme of transformation that runs through my writing. I wanted to create a happier, more positive look and feel.
Aside from logical reasons, the change just felt right and I had a gut feeling that this is what I needed to do.
Secondly I am adjusting my posting schedule for a wide variety of reasons.
Following, the first edition of Feature Fridays (which was a huge success as is evident through the traffic on the website on that day), I committed to a feature each and every Friday.
It has been challenging to ensure a steady flow of these features each Friday as the blog is in its growth stages and doesn’t have a huge amount of exposure at this point. The difficulty in acquiring stories is evident through missing a feature last Friday.
I felt like I let my readers down as a result. Aside from letting the readers down I also felt that I had been putting unnecessary pressure on myself to produce 3 posts a week which have had an adverse effect not only on the quality of the content but also on the enjoyment of what I was doing.
My posting schedule will be adjusted then to take some pressure off. By committing to fewer posts it should:
- Instil greater enjoyment in the project, as I will be worrying less about merely meeting those posting deadlines.
- Get rid of guilt I may feel for not meeting a feature on a Friday.
- Ensure I deliver on exactly what is promised to my readers.
- Lead to greater quality content as I will be focusing on fewer posts.
I believe it is a win-win situation for everyone, my readers and myself. I have also been working on a Manifesto for getButterflied that I will be publishing next week. A Manifesto is:
a declaration of an organisations beliefs, opinions, motives and intentions. An organisation will write the document to declare what is important to them. It may sometimes even include a call-to-action.
This will hopefully provide greater clarity regarding who we are, what we write about and what we stand for. Personally, this also assists with clarity regarding the ‘offering’ over at getButterflied.
There are various other changes to come. All these changes re-enforce a simple truth and that is the following:
If you are not happy with something or if you feel something is missing, you need to take action to address it. You need to take action to change it. If you merely worry about it and take no action, nothing will happen.
I feel then that this is exactly what I have done here. I am by no means promising that I won’t make changes in the future because I will, but right now this feels right.
YOUR THOUGHTS?
How do you feel about the changes I have made? Is there something that you are currently working on that you feel has a missing ingredient, something you want to change?
