A Personal Message
This time it's for real.
It’s been a quiet couple of years, complete with false starts, but this time I think we are off to the races.
Why I Have Been Quiet
For those of you that don’t know, early last year I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. If you want to read some of the background, Dennis Pitocco published my story on BizCatalyst360. The good news is that I got my first-year clearance a couple of months ago and I started to plan my re-engagement with the world … just in time to get COVID! (This despite having four vaccinations and so much caution since having cancer put me in the ‘high-risk’ category). C’est la vie.
OK- so now that THAT is all behind me … we can get going because I’ve been thinking.
My Work
My book was published and became an Amazon bestseller despite not being able to promote it too much.
Meanwhile, this newsletter, my blog and my podcast have all been on hiatus, and are just now beginning to come back to life.
I had the blog redesigned to make it easier to find articles in the archive. I am still working through the new categories, but the search works and all is functioning as designed. The newsletter is next on the list and in about a month, the podcast will be up and running again.
The People First Newsletter
Some of you may have noticed that I turned on paid subscriptions for the newsletter. Again, no particular fanfare, but I am delighted to see that people are moving into the paid tier.
Thank you.
While it is true that I don’t think I will be retiring on the proceeds any time soon, it is nice to see that what I am putting out there is being recognized and that people are dipping into their pockets to support my work. The original plan was to keep everything the same and on an even keel across paid and free subscriptions. This is changing.
Two Newsletters
Going Forward, I will be publishing two newsletters …
‘Short Sharp Shock’ is a new image-led short form newsletter that will be delivered to both free and paid subscribers. You don’t need to do anything different, it will just happen. I am also experimenting with making ‘Short Sharp Shock’ available on LinkedIn.
Timing: Short Sharp Shock will appear in your inbox mid-week, every week.
‘People First’, the newsletter you have already been receiving, will remain ‘long form’ and going forward will only be delivered to paying subscribers. I will from time to time send a teaser to the free list and on occasions even send the entire newsletter to all.
Timing: People First will appear in your inbox most weekends when I hope you have more time to read and react.
I’ve not made this change lightly, but all advice has been to provide differentiation and be clear about the distinction.
But there’s more because the newsletter is only part of the story.
Sponsorship Opportunities
The Podcast
When I start up again, it will remain available to all. I am also exploring making it available on YouTube. Once it is up and running again, I intend to explore sponsorship, so if you know a business that wants to get its name out - please tell them about People First.
The Book
Similarly, I have discovered that my book is resonating. My publisher has suggested that we could repackage it and make it available to businesses in bulk. More of that is to come when we have thought through the exact offer.
That’s it for now. My thanks for your attention, do please share this newsletter with others and thank you again for being part of the journey.
