Yes, the BullsEye website has been redecorated, but that’s not all. A quick glance at the archives list, over on the right side, will reveal that the old posts – all the way back to 2004 – are gone.

Hmmm… new design… five years of missing posts…

And why would I go and do a thing like that? By way of explanation, just let me say that when you’ve moved your blog to another host, set up the database for easy transfer of your posts (all five years’ worth), and yet it won’t accept the old database, what do you do?

The short answer is, it all depends on how invested you are in keeping things from changing. Some folks simply don’t adjust well to the unexpected. At all. They can get really torqued when a surprise strikes… heck, I know people who don’t even like surprise birthday parties.

When a sudden twist of fate yanks you sharply out of your accustomed routine (or rut), you have a choice. You can rant, rail and resent the hostility of a universe that heaps upon you so much inconvenience.

Or, if you’re like me and are unintimidated by change, you could take a sudden unexpected shift in direction – such as a broken blog installation – as a kind of opportunity. An adventure, even.

A NEW DEAL

So that’s what’s going on here. Within the next few days and weeks, I’ll have a few of the most popular posts back up again. But I can’t get very excited about reproducing the past – that’s already been done. So the old posts are gone, and they’re mostly going to stay gone. Moreover, I’m also plotting more changes.

First, I’m taking the opportunity to transfer the BullsEye mailing list to a new system. The old one will quit working in a month or so, and that list won’t receive any more email from me. That is, unless you re-subscribe to the new BullsEye list. You can re-new your subscription right here.

Name:
Email:

In Internet marketing circles, there’s a famous axiom: the fortune is in the list. But there’s a second, lesser known rule. The older your list, the fewer actively interested subscribers you’ll have. Now, I’m incredibly lucky. I have subscribers who’ve been with me since I started publishing my first ezine, the “Sizzling Edge,” nearly nine years ago. And if that’s you, and if you still enjoy what I mail out, I humbly thank you for your loyalty and good faith.

But on average, anytime you change the deal on a newsletter or ezine, and ask people to re-subscribe, you’ll lose up to eighty percent of your list. Many are just no longer quite interested enough to type their name and email into another form. Hey, it happens. Those are the folks who don’t read the newsletter anyway, so in real terms, where’s the loss? Out of each 1,000 subscribers, actual readers will total between 200 to 400 – 500 tops. So the loss is not as big as it seems at first glance.

MORE GOOD NEWS

Another new addition – I’ll soon make available a free one-year ecourse that you can receive at no charge. It’ll be entirely separate from the BullsEye.

But that’s still in the (very near) future. Provided you have re-subscribed to the BullsEye, I’ll let you know as soon as the one-year course is available.

WHAT’S FAILURE? WHAT’S SUCCESS?

The BullsEye has always been about targeting our goals, then exactly and precisely hitting the targets we aim for. So what happens if (when) we DON’T exactly, precisely hit the goal we had selected?

Is it an error? A failure?

It may be, sure. Especially if we’ve given up and surrendered or only gave it a half-fast effort.

Or… then again, it could be an opportunity to upgrade that goal into something more up-to-date or more satisfying than we had first conceived. In other words, which is the better way? To stay steadily fixed upon one target, never wavering from our original purpose? Or to be nimble and flexible, adapting to changing circumstances and allowing our goal to grow as we move forward?

Truthfully, I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer to that question. It largely depends on which type of person you are.

But for my part, I enjoy the approach of constantly changing, adapting and repurposing. It feels more dynamic to me. That’s just the way I’m wired, and I find that way of living to be most interesting and satisfying. If you’d like to accompany me on this next leg of the BullsEye adventure, why not re-subscribe now. Then post your own thoughts and ideas below.  I welcome your comments. (Yes, even if you disagree with me and the idea of all that change is making your skin crawl.)

Cheers from warm and smiling Thailand,
Charles

Related Posts:

1. Please Don’t Go Missing
2. You’ll Never Hear from Me Again…
3. The ‘Everything First’ Syndrome Strikes Again