When I started this blog two years ago, I started it for myself. I created this as a way to get my thoughts out of my head. I didn’t care if I had 1 follower or 100. I wrote for me and only me.

In a sense, that is still true today. But, at the same time, it’s also not true. While I do still write for me, I also think of my audience (you!) when I write each week. I write what is relevant to my life, but also something that you as a reader would benefit from. You don’t see when I’m frustrated in a minor way, but you learn when I’m going through something that changes me and that I deal with for a long time.

So now we get to the present. I have a decent following on here (which I am so grateful for each and every one of you!). If I want to keep growing my blog, and if I want my followers to stay, then I need to step it up for myself.

This is what I’m trying to do now. Last year, I started doing an update to the blog each month. I am working on continuing that. You may have seen the “subscribe” pop-up when you first got here. Or you may have noticed that there is a new tab for you to subscribe.

I’m not selling anything (yet). This is as new to me as it is to you. And because of that, I need your help. There are so many ideas out there for what to put in a subscription-style email. So I have included a link to a survey about some ideas. You don’t have to take it. It should only take like 5 minutes or less. Your answers are anonymous, so I have no idea who says what. But I want to do more for you because you have done so much for me. So if you want to take 5 minutes and help me out, I would be forever grateful. The link to the survey is HERE.

This is something I’m still working on as well. I need to figure out when I’m going to send it, what format I’m going to use, and all these other behind-the-scenes things. But I want to do more. My blog may never be popular. That’s fine. But if you are a consistent reader, I don’t want you to get complacent and bored because there’s nothing new.

I think it is important to have an email newsletter because it allows me as a blogger to connect with you as an audience. It’s more personal than just a blog post or something else. In all honesty, I probably should have started this sooner; but we are here now and moving forward. I feel that if I want to remain a blogger, this is a step I need to take.

I know this post is drastically different than anything I have done either recently or ever. But this is what is on my mind, and this is how I plan on moving forward. But I can’t do that without you. I know that some people might have a hard time subscribing to me, and that’s okay! If you don’t feel comfortable subscribing to me right now, then that’s fine! At the moment, while I am still working out every detail, what’s more important to me is you filling out the survey above to give me a better idea of what to put in my newsletters.

I guess I should give a better example of what I hope my newsletter would look like. Each week, I plan on sending out a newsletter. In it would be whatever exclusive content for the week (a story, a gift guide, etc.). I also want to include a “Song of the Week” giving opportunities to highlight music that I’m listening to or that is suggested. Lastly, I would also have a quote of some kind as an image to motivate or inspire. Here is an example:

I also want to do a monthly newsletter sent out on either the last day of the month or the first day of the next month. This one would be more of a review of what’s going on in my blog. I would probably highlight my posts and my Weekly Roundups. I also would include more music or albums. I may even include things to look for in the upcoming month.

But I can’t do any of this without you! I am doing this all for you my reader, and none of this happens without you. So please take my survey! I would love for you to subscribe to receive my newsletter, but I have no problem if you want to wait until it’s more set in stone, or even if you don’t want to subscribe at all. This is an opportunity to provide more for you, and I can’t do it without your help!

My Weekly Roundup this week is just going to be the link to my survey and pretty much a repetition of what I said here. If you haven’t, be sure to fill out my survey and help me make this better for you!