Houston, We Shall Have Relaunch.

I believe I have figured out the problem.

Rogue Ink has been an awesome way to get me going in the freelance world, and it’s been a delightful introduction to having a web presence at all. I met some awesome people, built up a fantastic little community, and have generally been privileged to host you regularly at the pub.

The thing is, it started to seem all futile. I wasn’t using the blog to find clients or build networking relationships, I was just using it to rant about copywriting and entrepreneurship. It wasn’t getting any bigger, it wasn’t getting any more effective, and when I wrote, I started to not want to work that hard on it. I’d have a great idea for a post and think, I should save that for when I have time to do it right. I started to get all depressed about blogging.

This reads like a suicide note. Sorry about that. DON’T PANIC!!! (In big, friendly letters.) I am not leaving blogging. In fact, I am doing the opposite. I am relaunching Rogue Ink. Here’s why, and what, and wherefore (which is the same as ‘why’ I realize, but I needed alliteration and ‘when’ is just a tad ambitious for me.

Rogue Ink Needs Its Own Platform

I was talking to another co-blogger and they inform me that the reason my subscriber base is kind of low (aside from my two-month disappearance) is that I host on a free wordpress platform, and most people see that as kind of amateur. Which is prejudice, I say! but since I’m busy being a woman in a male-dominated business world, I shall pick and choose my battles. Plus, this means I get to dictate my own web design, which is pretty dope.

So I’ll be doing that shortly. I’ll be announcing the new platform here and shooing you all over to the new one.

Rogue Ink Needs a Marketing Strategy

It didn’t have one when I started, it didn’t have one when I did the do-over, and it doesn’t have one now. But it will. Oh, it will. As assuredly as Nathan Fillion holds my heart in his calloused hand, it will.

I have no bloody idea what it will be, but I am certain it will be genius, because I shall probably be consulting Naomi, as per usual. Or just spying on other people and stealing their tricks. I’ll try to blog about that when I do, so that all of you can steal the same tricks, and we’ll use them at the same time, and none of them will be effective. This may seem counterintuitive, but you see then I’ll get to use the phrase ‘hoisted on my own petard’, and I cannot explain to you how much I love that phrase.

Rogue Ink Needs a Better Design

Admit it. It’s hard to find shit around here. I know that. I just don’t know how to fix it. My intent is to hire some smart web guy to figure that out for me. It is a crafty plan, and it just might work. Mostly because I have his puppy hostage. Don’t worry, I’m feeding it.

Rogue Ink Needs More Specific Topics

I’m coming up with categories right now, and I hereby beg all of you to come and tell me what you would like to see on the blog, because I shall take your suggestions seriously. I think, by and large, that I will probably be narrowing the topics to writing and entrepreneurship, but ‘writing’ includes copywriting, journalism, proper use of grammar and spelling (WAR!), and magazine articles. Likewise, ‘entrepreneurship’ includes marketing (there it is again. It’s like it’s necessary or something), money issues (I want to take another crack at the Money Talks, because I was fond of them), networking, and other stuff.

Tell me about the other stuff. What other stuff do you want to see?

Rogue Ink Needs Some Schwag

I want to start offering you guys things. I want to give you Lusty Weevil T-shirts and War on English coffee mugs and I really, really want to write you some ebooks.

I can’t offer any of that stuff now because I don’t know how to incorporate it into this free platform, so I just sit and dream and dunk marshmallows into my cocoa, thinking about my happy place, which, if you’re interested, is a small town in Italy called Orvieto which, I’m told, you can actually buy entire, since the whole town is perched atop what used to be a fortress. See, a town would be great schwag, but I’m not going to offer that.

What kinds of schwag would you like?

Rogue Ink Needs to Become a Guest Poster

There are a bunch of people who have been sweet enough to offer me guest spots on their extremely popular blogs. And that’s so awesome I could spit in a flowerpot, but I feel all ashamed giving my byline to them and having readers come back to my sad little free WordPress platform. I really want to guest post for these folks and I will be asking them if they’ll still have me once Rogue Ink relaunches, and then you’ll see me all over the freakin’ blogosphere, and the world will be my lightly buttered beignet.

Rogue Ink Needs YOU, Denizens

I love you guys. You’ve been loyal and sweet and supportive and have not once used the word ‘loser’ while I’ve been disappeared for six weeks. Tell me what you want to see in the new Rogue Ink. You are the first, the loyal, and the very tiny faction that fits into the pub on a regular basis to have a pint, and I really want to know what you think.

What do you want me to talk about in the new Rogue Ink? (Any stuff you want rehashed or done over in a better, more roguey way? Tell me about it, I won’t take offense. If you think there should be another post on non-profit copywriting that’s better than the other one, tell me so and it shall be yours.)

What kinds of schwag would you like? Suggestions, please. I will offer Rogue Ink condoms if you are so inclined. Actually I might offer those anyway. Those sound fantastic.

What would you like an ebook about? Don’t be shy. I have some ideas already, but your feedback might help me decide. It can be really vague, too, by the way. It can be ‘what do you do when you don’t know what the fuck you’re doing?’ That one is on the list already.

What do you wish I’d thought of already? I know I missed something. Tell me what it is.

Thank you again.

It’s going to be a brave new world, denizens. I’ll be trying to update as often as possible on the relaunch and thoughts I’m having, so you have something to play with while I figure out the new site, but we’ll probably be saving the real helpful posting for the new site, so if you want to wait until I send the email around that says ‘Baby I’m back!’ feel free. I’m so glad you stuck it out with me. Thanks for that.

And hell, subscribe. Then you’ll know when the relaunch happens.