1000 True Fans – Static Front Page?

Joynell Schultz, ,

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April’s focus in the 1000 “True” Fan blog series is SMALL CHANGES.

This Weeks Mission: STATIC FRONT PAGE FOR BLOG?

I’ve been debating for quite some time what would be better for my website/blog. I’ve gone back and forth between a static first page vs. my blog feed.

When I search most full-time writer’s websites, I find a static home page. Also, I think a consistent message, ease of use, and prevention of information overload is a better experience for visitors. (This is different for each individual. For book bloggers, a blog roll is probably the better choice. Again, it comes down to knowing your audience.) So, if a static home page is the norm, what’s holding me back?

I’ve read that search engines are less likely to find you with a static home page. That’s minor though, what’s really held me back is I didn’t know what to put on a static home page.

Well, I bit the bullet and threw something together today. You can check it out HERE.

So…a summary of how last week went, for those of you who are following this journey on a week-to-week basis.

Review of Past Week (Mission 12: Readability): Great! I’m keeping these blog posts short because of it.

This past week, I’ve been busy planning my book launch and am not participating in any mailing list growth promotions…but, how’d I do?

Drum Roll…Ready?

Current Mailing List Subscriptions: 1466 fans / 1000 true fans (Up 66 people since last week.)

Again, I’m over my goal of 1000 subscribers, but they’re not all fans. I’m continuing my journey this year, trying to find 1000 readers that truly support me. At some point, we’ll discuss finding the subscribers that are engaged. Here’s the data so far:

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Next Week: We’ll continue to focus on our website/blog.

If you want to get caught up on 2017’s journey to find 1000 fans, check out the 1000 “True” Fan Landing Page.

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts. What type of first page do you use on your website/blog?

9 Comments

  1. I’ve been publishing new fiction every day since January 15 so it works for me to just have my latest posts. I think if you have something to sell and aren’t posting as regularly, a static front page makes sense. I’d hate for people to visit and think it’s just been left there though, so I think it’s important to keep it fresh, even if it’s static. In my limited experience, anyway 🙂

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  2. Interesting post…I think, since as of right now, I’m not published, I like having the blog instead of a static front page. I like seeing all the covers on your front page! And I also like that you have a link to the blog section of the site rather than making the reader have to look through the header options to find it. Thanks as always for sharing! 🙂

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  3. I just found your blog and I am really enjoying it. I’ve had a blog for a while but I am trying to be more productive with it. I also like your books. I’m definitely going to have order, “Love, Lies & Clones” With a title like that, how can one not read it?

    I’ve heard about getting 1,000 true fans the other day. I believe it read it in an article from James Altucher. Here’s a link to a podcast(http://www.jamesaltucher.com/2014/07/ep-23-go-0-40000-month-writing-home/) Steve Scott is an Amazon author who makes $40,000+/month with his books.

    Steve Scott also has a website called Authority Pub on writing and publishing and making money. I just found it yesterday, so this is serendipitous. I hope it’s useful. Here’s an article called, “17 Steps to Earn Your First $1,000 with Self-Publishing” (http://authority.pub/your-first-1000/)

    Good luck with your novels. Wish much success!

    P.S. I love your blog design!

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    1. Ha! I’m glad you like my title, “Love, Lies & Clones” I debated changing it for months, but couldn’t think of anything better.

      I’m happy you found my blog. Those two references are awesome and I’ll definitely be studying them over the next few days. I wasn’t thinking of making my first $1000…I’m just trying to break even! (Though, pricing my books at 99 cents won’t help with that.)

      You’re a wealth of information, I hope you stick around and share more wisdom.

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