The past

I’ve been blogging here since December, 2006. In that time, I’ve covered lots of random topics, including building my first product. I haven’t (yet) blogged about shutting it down, but that topic is on the short list to cover soon. The last three years have been good, but things are about to change.

During the 3+ years I’ve been blogging I’ve never had a plan for the blog. If something caught my attention, I wrote about it. There was no such thing as “off topic”, because there was also no such thing as “on topic”. Although it’s been fun for me to write the blog, the quality of the content has suffered for want of editorial direction.

That’s changing as of now, and here’s why.

The present

I’m working full time on a new web app. Every Single Shot isn’t a side project. Among other things, it’s my full time job. Some might call this kind of set up a microISV, some might call it a start up, some might even call it a mom and pop joint (ok, no one would ever call it that). I realize that I’m very, very lucky to have the luxury to be able to work on my business – my dream – full time. I also realize that this is just the kind of thing that a lot of other hackers dream about on a daily basis while they’re stuck at their dead end jobs. This is why I’ll be sharing the details of my adventures from now on.

The future

I’ll be chronicling my journey on a weekly basis, talking about what I’ve been working on, ideas I’ve had, and changes that have happened. That’s why I’ve renamed the blog to ChangeLog. (Actually, I’m not renaming it, I’m naming it. It hasn’t had a name until now because it hasn’t had any direction until now.) Just as a stereotypical changelog is to code, this blog is to me and my business: a place to record changes and happenings of interest.

It will be more than just a ChangeLog, though. I’ll still be talking about Groovy / Grails (Grails is hands down the best web framework out there IMO, and I’ll have words with anyone who says otherwise). I’ll be talking about small business, marketing (lots of marketing), branding, site optimization and testing, e-commerce…the list goes on. But instead of talking about this or that with no context, I’ll filter future posts through the lens of my business and its products. Less noise, more insight – that’s what I’m shooting for.

Since this post is meant to be a turning point in my blogging journey, I thought I’d finish by linking to one blog that has influenced me greatly up to this point. This blog is one of my absolute favorites – the kind I where I read every post from start to finish, regardless of content, because invariably I learn something. You should be reading this blog.

Balsamiq blog – READ THIS BLOG!

(I use Google Reader to manage all of my blog subscriptions. If you’re not using an RSS reader to keep updated on blogs, I suggest you check out Reader.)

If you haven’t already, please consider subscribing to the ChangeLog RSS feed and/or following me on Twitter (@jonchase).

Do you prefer blogs that have a specific focus, or those that are a bit more random? What do you think of the direction I’m going to take my blog? Leave a comment below and let me know.

Cocoon picture courtesy of Greyson Orlando via Wikimedia.