Wait, you read the tarot for your blog?
Yep! First off, I’d like to thank you for continuing to read this article, despite my inclusion of Tarot cards. I understand that many people have an adverse opinion of such things and it pleases me to see that you’re still here, reading along, without judging either me or the cards.
I chose to use a tarot ‘reading’ to explore the future of my blog because, despite tarot still being an esoteric art and one that many still don’t fully understand today, I felt it would be much more widely understood in a generic sense rather than some of the other divinatory methods I could have chosen to employ to achieve the same results.
So, down to business: What is on the cards for Sffarlenn.net?
I’ve hit the ground (with a plan to start) running…
It’s been an exciting few weeks. I’ve completed the tweaks of this design for my blog and have been brainstorming ways to get myself into a position where I can begin filling it with quality content. Just yesterday I established some in-house style sheets for the overall structure of the various article pieces I’ll be including here from time-to-time.
I’ve been reading about niche areas within peoples’ chosen industries and how it can effectively create more work and a more focused and quality-driven business. It might seem a bit daft to some people to specialise, but to others it makes complete sense. To me, it makes even more sense because I struggle with being a Jack-of-all-trades; knowing a bit of design here, a bit of development there, typography here, corporate compliance there, proofreading, how to make the perfect subway sandwich…
That said, I’ve firmed my resolve and believe that I have formulated the perfect plan. I’ve found a niche that makes so much sense to me and allows me to fuse together the two biggest passions that I have: Web design and (proof)reading.
Do you really think that operating in a niche is a good idea?
In April 2009, Glen Stansberry wrote about becoming a Freelance Web Developer on Net.TutsPlus.com and had this to say about niche fields:
I’ve found that starting in a niche area is the best way to begin building a successful freelancing business…Becoming a leader in a niche means that you’ll be in higher demand. Higher demand for your services means that you can be choosier about your clients, charge more, and ultimately have a better freelancing experience.
Starting off in a niche field might not be such a bad thing after all. It seems that there’s much potential for growth, both for myself and my business. I can specialise – at least at the start – and then perhaps expand later on down the track when I know where I stand and what I can and cannot successfully do.
Indeed it makes so much sense to me, personally, as my skill set is quite limited. This would give me opportunities to work within a niche field, all the while developing both within and without of the specific skills required for said niche. I could expand by abilities and knowledge to the point where I could introduce another service, or services, hence opening up my business to receive much more work and clientele.
If a niche is a good idea, what’s yours?
I’m currently studying to become a qualified book editor and proofreader. Reading is my biggest passion; I simply cannot get enough of it. However, I understand the industry for proofreaders is extremely hard to get into and stay in once there. An established proofreader in Australia may not receive work for months on end, depending upon their contact-base, and this is just something I cannot see myself surviving.
My second biggest passion, and one that is snapping at the heels of reading and proofreading, is web design. I love all things about the web, having grown up practically glued to a computer from my early days writing music programs with my father on the old Commodore 64. It really only occurred to me the other day that finding a niche for myself really was a no-brainer!
Why not offer proofreading services to design blogs? I could write my own articles about design and proofreading as well, but I would primarily begin by offering proofreading services to people who run design blogs.
There are so many excellent blogs out there at the moment, and so many more starting up all the time. The hardest thing for me, however, when browsing these blogs is that there are so many typographical, spelling and grammatical errors across the entire industry and ‘blog-o-sphere’ that it really detracts from the overall effect of the tutorial or article for me.
I’m one of those people who cannot continue reading something if I notice an error like that, at least not at first. I analyse the mistake and ‘fix’ it in my mind so that I can continue – but this really takes away from the joy of simply reading from start-to-finish a well rounded blog article.
So why not offer a cost-effective and quick turnaround proofreading service to bloggers around the world so that they can grow in their reputations even further by eliminating the niggling little errors that tend to stick in peoples’ mind, like mine?
Proofreading your article is just as important as writing the article itself.
I read a wonderful quote that highlights just how I and others feel on the importance of proofreading your work. On a forum called Small-Business-Forum.net, “KristineS” wrote:
Proofreading is very important. Having mistakes in your copy makes you look careless and also gives the impression you’re not very smart. Odd word usage can also distract those who are reading from your message. If they see “their” when it should be “there” even if they don’t consciously register the mistake, part of their mind will be occupied with what’s off about what they’ve read instead of being occupied with absorbing your message.
Even in that five-line quote, there’s a misplaced word that strikes me as odd. “Odd word usage can also distract those who are reading from your message.” Reading from your message? That doesn’t make any sense, hence I’d mark the word “from” for deletion and double-check with the author of the article to make sure they meant it to be there. There’s several other things that I’d propose, unless it directly contradicted or shifted the author’s writing style or in-house style sheet.
The internet is rife with errors in writing, especially on blogs. If “Content is King”, and professional design blogs all want to provide quality content to their readers, then proofreading the articles before they go live is an absolutely essential part of the process and could be considered the “Queen”.
The one biggest thing to remember is that you can proofread your own articles all you like, but the longer you spend looking at it yourself, the less likely you are to pick up any mistakes lurking in between the lines of your latest article. That’s where I hope to come in, providing fresh eyes to ensure that your article arrives in your readers’ inboxes, rss readers and on their screens with as close to zero mistakes as we can humanly achieve – first time, every time.
Do you proofread your work before publishing?
I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions on this.
Please don’t think for a second that I’m expecting people to just throw their work at me, or that I’m thinking so highly of myself that this is an original idea – instead, read this as having been a reflective post on an idea that I’ve had to carve my own little corner into the design world.
The Reading.
The reading I’ve done for the business is one that I created tonight specifically for this article and for the purposes of finding an objective outlook on my potential future for the business, by combining the overall meanings of the cards into a singular forecast.
The Empress
General meanings: Growth, creative potential, intuitive power, renewal.
Professional meanings: Creative work, good opportunities for growth and development, change of occupation, fine antenna for business trends and cycles, hatching new concepts.
Warns against: Rampant growth, or letting opportunities slip away without using them.
From the “Card for the Year”: This is a good time for promising new beginnings that are focused on expressing more of yourself and your abilities.
My thoughts: Though a power in her own right, the Empress to me is the voice behind the throne. She passes her wisdom and experience on to the “Emperor” (which is me, for this purpose), which she has gathered through observation and first-hand involvement.
The Empress appears as the first card in this ‘spread’ to speak of that which I have already undertaken: the formation of this blog and business. The past week has seen a lot of stress pass my way, but also a lot of creative leaps forward regarding what I consider to be (potentially) my niche area within design and proofreading.
She also is there to remind me that, while I’ve taken the all-important first steps on this path, I must understand and respect the fact that things can happen very quickly and that I must keep my head while growing my business.
The Lovers
General meanings: Union, love, heartfelt actions, decisions of the heart, overcoming opposites, collecting details.
Professional meanings: Feeling attracted to a task, joining forces with others, ability to make compromises, business fusions, concluding contracts, good teamwork.
Warns against: Thinking that the beginning is the goal.
From the “Card of the Year”: This year will thrill your heart…Perhaps a fulfilling task or precious experience lets your heart overflow. Whatever it may be, don’t approach things in a half-hearted manner but say “yes!” from the depths of your soul.
My thoughts: The Lovers takes me back into the mindset of remembering, honouring and supporting my relationship with my wife. It reminds me that we will soon be again just the two of us living in our house, with no roommates / boarders, and will need to be mindful of each others’ feelings and needs and ensure not to neglect them.
Sffarlenn.net as a business is something that could potentially take up a lot of my time, but could also potentially make me a tidy wage enough to support myself completely without having to be employed. The Lovers remind me to think about all the implications that are inherent to taking any further steps down the path to becoming a professional freelance web designer and proofreader.
As a support to The Empress, The Lovers are here to say, “Don’t be afraid to take the plunge, but when you do, don’t think that the work stops there, or ever.”
Prince of Swords
General meanings: The intellectual, the eloquent individual, the technocrat, the position-changer, independence.
Professional meanings: Flightiness, lack of concept, flash decision / innovation, quick-wittedness.
Warns against: Mental flights of fancy with danger of falling.
From the “Card of the Day” You are annoyed because you dissipate your energies, can’t reconcile all your ideas, or are snubbed by others as a result.
My thoughts: The Prince of Swords is an interesting card to have come up at this time; The Prince drives his chariot, not drawn by beasts of burden, but by slaves. This suggests a ruthless and cruel drive behind the Prince’s motivations and desires.
The sword is a tool to be used in many ways. Some use it as a weapon, while others see it as an implement of wisdom and understanding. This suggests that the Prince isn’t inherently cruel in the way he chooses to drive his chariot (business), but that he lives in the moment and can successfully think on his feet.
With careful planning and a non-cocky approach towards the growth of my business, and with the guidance offered in the messages of The Empress and The Lovers cards, it seems to be that, at least at this point in time, Sffarlenn.net is set to succeed.
My interpretation: There are several factors that hinge on the development and success of my business. Me, personally; My business as a separate-yet-linked entity; and my overall professional image that runs both this business / blog, and contributes in the design community at large.
Now, while I wasn’t specifically asking for such a breakdown in areas relevant to my business within this tarot reading, the cards have their own very particular way of interpreting situations and I learned a long time ago not to question the way they fall – Aleister Crowley poured so much into these cards, and he’s a massive influence on me in many ways so I’ve come to accept my intuition and the fact that he just knew what he was doing when he created this deck.
The Empress deals directly with the business. She is telling me that I’m on the right path but to keep a level head and use my own experience and wisdom gained from past experiences to progress further.
The Lovers deals with me personally, and how I interact with the world and the business. They are there to remind me that, no matter how important this business becomes to me or how successful I become because of it, I still have a responsibility to my wife, my home and myself; I cannot neglect my health the way I used to, I cannot neglect my wife and spend 16 of the 18 hours I’m awake on the computer. I also must maintain a consistent public profile, one that can be respected and doesn’t carry my past skeletons into the future now they’ve been dealt with.
The Prince of Swords ties the two paths (business and personal) together with the overall message of leadership through hard work, cunning and ‘using’ others. I don’t particularly accept the direct interpretation of him being a slave-driver, but I do feel there is a certain sense of … not “using” but more utilising other people for my business and personal life. He tells me not to feel bad for doing this, but to also remember to be thankful and reward their work by including them in my successes.
Overall: With a change in career path on the horizon, the fact that Sffarlenn.net is set to be a successful and viable business path, and my personal progression all pointing towards positive and successful growth this year, telling me that I should feel comfortable continuing to believe what I already did before doing the tarot reading.
Keywords and meanings taken from Keywords for the Crowley Tarot by Hajo Banzhaf and Brigitte Theler.
