Well it’s that time of year again. Time to take stock of what’s been accomplished this year and plan for the next big thing.
This has been an exciting year for me. I officially started my own business and began blogging about my experiences. These were two big milestones in my life and I’m glad I was able to share them with you all and the world.
I thought I’d let you all in on what I have planned for next year and then ask for your input as to what you’d like to see here at Y.F.N.C.G. in the future.
First off, let me give you a little taste of what I have planned for this blog’s future:
Coming soon…
- More Focused Posts – I got off to a good start with this blog. My primary objective was to build a chronicle of my experiences starting and running a computer business, hoping to educate and entertain those who chose to read it. I was able to do that for the first couple of months, but unfortunately, because of paperwork issues and personal setbacks, lately things have been slow going as far as my business is concerned. However, I should be set to start taking on my first customers (as a business owner) in January. Once that gets started, I’ll be able to write posts with advice “from the trenches” as an active computer consulting business owner. This will result in articles that really fit into the theme I originally laid out in my About page.
- More Guest Postings – I’m very excited to have some guest-posting opportunities lined up for myself next year. I hope to start contributing articles regularly to a few popular blogs centered around small business and entrepreneurship. This will be a great way for me to write about more broad issues relating to my experiences starting and running a business, while keeping this blog focused on things more specific to computer consulting. On the flip side, I am also going to be opening this blog up to guest posters from around the web. In fact, let me make this my official request for guest posts! If you’d like to contribute an article about your experiences as a computer tech, whether you own your own business or work for someone else, contact me and I’ll be happy to feature you!
- Less Frequent Posts – As a result of the two points above, I’m going to remove the imaginary 3-posts-a-week quota that I was giving myself. Over the last couple months I’ve felt obligated to post on a regular schedule and because of that I’ve been forced to write “filler” posts that didn’t really fit any of my primary objectives for this blog. I’m not a full-time blogger, and I’m not relying on this blog for primary income, so I feel I can get away with more of a relaxed approach to my posting schedule. I think that in the long run this will allow me to write better, well rounded, more useful posts.
- Facelift – As this blog grows and evolves I’m going to plan on redesigning it sometime next year. Although I’m really happy with the unique, fresh, and fun design I have now, it’s proven to be a little too restrictive for the kind of tweaking I’d like to do in the future.
I want this blog to continue to be a hybrid of autobiographical accounts of the ins and outs of my experiences staring a computer support business along with useful practical information that others can apply to their own experiences. Y.F.N.C.G. will always be my personal baby, where I can vent frustrations and go off on geeky tangents as I see fit. But I also want my readership to continue to stick around, to grow, and to evolve with me. That’s where you come in. I have two questions (with subquestions) for you, my readers:
Why Do You Read “Your Friendly Neighborhood Computer Guy”?
…was it a particular article that caught your attention?
…do you hope to learn something?
…are you looking for opportunities to contribute your experiences and opinions?
And
What Kind Of Posts Do You Want To See More Of?
…more business-centric stuff?
…more computer geek-centric stuff?
…lists? reviews? interviews? personal accounts?
…what about series like “My Inspirations” and “Computer Guy’s Corner”?
Feel free to answer these questions in the comments below, or send me a personal message. I’m taking a break for the holidays and will be back with new blog posts in the new year. So you have plenty of time between now and then to leave a comment below and let me know what you’d like to see from Y.F.N.C.G. Even if you’ve never commented before, please stop by and say hi over this next week and a half…we’d all love to meet you!
Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, and see you all next year!!
Dava says
HAHA, Well Matt, you know I’m not a computer person. So, I think you know that I’m not looking to start my own computer business or anything related to that…I read this blog because you are one of my best friends, I support you in your goal, and I like staying up to date on your progress.
As for what I’d like to see more off. I always find the more personal enrties to be the most enoyable…particularly the My Inspiration series and reviews, (I am a critic, after all.) Hope this helps. Merry Christmas!
Matt R. says
Thanks for your support, as always, and thanks for your input! Merry Christmas to you too!
Tim says
To answer a few questions:
– No particular posts drew me in. I just enjoy the voice, topic, and journey!
– I’m always looking to learn something new from new people!
– I wouldn’t mind contributing in any way that would be edifying.
– All four post type that you have listed I think work great for this blog’s theme! I particularly like the business and computer centric topics but also enjoy the personal updates of your persuits.
I hope you enjoy the Holiday break!
Matt R. says
Awesome input Tim, thank you.
Happy Holidays to you as well!
bosborne says
Matt, I have enjoyed reading your blog this past year. Even though I am not interested in starting a small business, I find many of your articles pertinent to life in general. I have especially enjoyed the my inspirations, the recommendations for products, and your writings about what you have experienced. As to the future, I wish you good luck with the start up of your business and look forward to reading about your journey.
Matt R. says
I’m glad you’ve found articles that you can relate to here. Thank you for the encouragement and I look forward to sharing my journey!
Thomas Swift says
Hi Matt.
I forgot what led me to your site, I open and closed so many tabs of your articles I lost track of my initial one – I think the business checking post.
I just like to say thanks for chronicling your business venture. I run a small web design business, but since people know me as a ‘computer guy’ I end up doing some side computer repair for some of my clients.
From my experience you are spot on in your pros/cons of full-time/part-time business post, as well as in-house vs clients-house repair post.
Since I usually do web design work, I am more confident in pricing things out, but computer repair pricing is very difficult for me. The repair work I’ve done for people has been based on trust, those same things you wrote about on the don’t mess with computer people post. I charge a decent rate, which is lower then the Nerd Herds out there(I’m a one man shop), and don’t try to upsell like they do. After building a rapport with people and winning thier trust you can charge them what you want(reasonably), but still don’t work for free.
Now that I’ve read all your posts, I can’t wait to see what you have in store for next year.
Best of luck in 2009,
Tom
Matt R. says
Hi Tom!
Thanks so much for leaving feeback, it’s VERY appreciated and helpful.
Isn’t it funny that if your work involves a computer in any way, you’re suddenly the “computer guy”? But I think that’s a good thing because it opens you up to opportunities to help people and possibly make a little money on the side.
I’m excited about the road ahead and I’m honored that you’ve chosen to tag along for the ride! Hope to hear from you again in the future!
Vince says
I started following this site because you are you the same shoes as me. I enjoy articles pertaining to the business aspect, what going on in the economy; just anything in general that you feel will help the “start-up”.
I think having more interaction and allowing posts from your guests is a great idea and I would gladly contribute myself.
I do like the design that you are utilizing now, but I also agree you could use an updated, more professional look.
Keep em posts coming!!
Vince
Matt R. says
HI Vince,
Nice to meet you and thanks so much for the input!
Yeah, I plan to keep on writing about business topics with a focus on computer consulting start-ups. As I mentioned above, I will also write about more general and broad business topics, but those will be as guest posts on other blogs. I will, however, be sure to let all my readers know when I have a guest posts so you can check them out.
Thanks for your support and I look forward to hearing from you in the future!
David says
Hey Matt,
Its good to see another blog post. I started reading awhile ago as I to am getting into the business and looked forward to reading about your experiences. Good luck in the next year and I hope to read about all your success.
Matt R. says
Hey David,
Welcome and thanks for reading! This is a great business to get into, but it’s not easy, that’s for sure. Hopefully we can all help each other along the way to make the learning curve a little less steep!