You’ll like what Ignite Living has planned for 2008

party hat I’m sure I’m supposed to whip out some fancy metaphors here about it being a new year. That’s what writers do. Unfortunately all I can think of to say is that 2007 was good and 2008 will be even more gooder.

But that doesn’t do much good for you readers does it? You probably just want to know if this site will be helpful to you over the next twelve months or if it will continue to be a complete waste of your time. It’d be easier to go with the latter. Then I could write all those fancy posts I’ve been thinking about, like my series on 1001 craft ideas for elbow macaroni.

As much fun as that might be, the one thing I’ve liked the most since starting this here blog is the people. Every new comment makes me smile; every time the RSS subscriber numbers rise I feel like I’m doing something to impact the world around me. I’ve made some great friends in the very short time Ignite Living has been breathing, and that has inspired me to make sure it breathes on.
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Thank you

“In which Charlie waxes sentimental”

About one month ago this site was brand new and had one subscriber. There are many more subscribers now, although at the moment I can’t tell you exactly how many as it appears the gremlins have gotten into something. Either way, there are way more of you than I ever ever expected.

But the numbers aren’t really what’s important at the moment. Right now it’s all about you.

Over the past thirty days or so, I’ve made some great friends and received more kind emails and comments than I ever expected to get. I’ve even spoken with a couple of you on the phone, and thus have come to learn that the divide between “stranger” and “friend” is a thin one.

I want to tell you all with deepest gratitude that you have made this endeavor very much worth the effort. You have made designing and running this site a pleasure and a dream come true for me.

This would just be another website amongst the millions of others if it weren’t for the human element Ye Olde Readers bring. It would just be another project and some bits of code without you all. But I have come to love this site for what you have helped make it, and for that I am at your service.

Ignite Living is as much yours as it is mine. Thank you for everything you’ve helped it become.

Charlie

Are your freebies scaring away new customers?

“In which Charlie feels duped.”

price tag When I published my ebook a while ago, I didn’t debate for a single second about whether it would cost anything to download. I knew from the outset it would be free. But one thing I did debate was whether the download would be available to everyone or only those who signed up as RSS subscribers.

That debate lasted about 3 seconds, and I decided to make my ebook available to every man, woman, child and amoeba, subscriber or not.

When free isn’t really free

What helped me make this decision was going to a site to pick up a copy of an ebook that sounded interesting. Though it was written by someone I’d never heard of the description sounded enticing and I wanted it. When I found out it was free I wanted it even more. Free is by far my favorite price.

So I followed the link to the website, clicked on the appropriate link to acquire the ebook, and was immediately confronted with this message:

“Subscribe to download.”

My smile disappeared. Then it turned into a frown. I began to squint suspiciously, the same way I would if I were in a New York City subway and some guy with a trench coat and no pants started smiling at me. I stared at the “sign up now” link, pondered for a moment whether the ebook really was free and decided it wasn’t. There’d be no signing up today. Not for me. Read more

The worst website ever built - get yours now!

Photo by FotoDawg

“Because self-denegration is a really good time.”

I want to tell you about the worst site I’ve ever built. Sorry, but I’m not going to give you the address because my reputation as a ~~web designer~~ human being will be shot to hell. But if you think your site isn’t doing so hot, or if you’re worried about your RSS numbers, check this out.

This site of mine has been alive since early 2003. I unveiled it right around 4 years ago. And in that time the site has grown to have a subscriber base of…

…wait for it…

2 people. One of them is me. I don’t even want to know who the other person is.

And guess how many comments there have been for all posts combined over the 4 years the site has been live.

Zero. Not a single comment. Not ever.

As I said, I’m not going to tell you what the site is because it will give you gangrene, but I assure you there’s a reason it only has 1 subscriber. It’s awful.

Now, for some unknown reason, it appears that anyone who ever searches for anything at Google no matter what it is, eventually ends up at my site. And because the site is so unbelievably atrocious people want to get the hell out immediately. And when I say immediately, I mean immediately. Average time spent on the site is a whopping 28 seconds per visit, just long enough to burn your retinas but not quite long enough to contract an STD.

Of course, being the saint that I am, I do my best to provide escape routes, otherwise known as Adsense ads. The site makes me about $10 a month, nowhere near enough to cover my personal shame.