... and thanks for the fish

I write about why I decided to move from Ghost to Writefreely.

My blog has been a curious fixture in my family.

I never think of myself as a “sales” man. I've seen many classmates sell more raffle tickets than me in school. Heck, I even thought that making partner was too much for me. Convincing people to hand over their cash? That's not me.

It's essential, though. One of my first lessons as an associate was that research and submissions count for nothing until the client pays the invoice. Being a law firm partner is not so much about being the sharpest knife in the firm but bringing in the dough. You have to network, you have to serve, and you've got to make people hand over the money.

Part of growing up (read: growing old) is being more comfortable with your skin. Lately, I have recognised other traits in me — tenacity, a willingness to try, and under all that unwillingness to socialise with others, gobs of empathy. I can think of some jobs I am uncomfortable with, but I must keep finding something that fits me.

That's what this blog is about, and it will stay that way for a while.

My blogging history is long and pretty fun:

Sometime last month, I reached a long-awaited milestone of 50 subscribers (and two paying subscribers).

I'm supposed to be pretty happy. It was great, given my nonchalant approach to promoting the subscriptions. If I worked harder, maybe I could continue on the path of growth.

But I think I've had enough. I have learnt a few things in this journey:

#Blogging takes time. I need to plan and sit down to write these things. Coming across anything in my life, I had to stop to consider whether I could use it for my #blog.

When blogging takes time, it takes time away from my other endeavours, such as programming, family, work or even other new things.

Nevertheless, there are essential benefits I gained from blogging. I did meet new people and share what I am good at with others. Blogging has always been an excellent way to spend some downtime, like when I am frustrated with my code. So, it's like some people game, and I write blogs.

So I decided to cut out the “commercial” aspects of my blogging. By not promising “customers” that I will post on a schedule or produce premium content, I hope I will spend more time doing other things and bring them back to this blog.

I suspect most people wouldn't notice a difference because I have already been compromising on my blogging time when I am busy coding. For example, nearly a month lapsed while I was furiously coding SG Law Cookies. I expect more delays in the near future.

Am I giving up on the “commercial” aspects of my blog? Of course, it's always nice to be recognised for your efforts. I do have to say that my #newsletter experience has given me some insight into pricing and conversions. It hasn't worked out so well this time, but I am sure I will apply it in my next adventure.

In the spirit of trying new things, I have decided to now host my blog on Write.as, the home of the ActivityPub software, #Writefreely. Being part of #ActivityPub means I have added a new way to follow this blog — Mastodon and other ActivityPub programs.

Like all things #Fediverse, the interface for following this blog is clunky. So, if you manage to look for the account @[email protected], you'd be able to click follow and be alerted whenever there are updates.

Still, I think I am drawn by the minimalist look and feel of WriteFreely blogs. I guess I am keeping in line with my new approach of focusing on the writing and the reading.

Let's keep writing! What will you be taking down today?

Author Portrait Love.Law.Robots. – A blog by Ang Hou Fu