Opinion - Page 2 - CareerGamers

Thanks for joining me for the CareerGamers Update for October 2022. In this update, I want to cover all the happenings and changes that have occurred since the last update. I also want to throw down my thoughts on what is planned for the coming months up until the year's end. So instead of rambling on, like I've got a bad habit of doing, let's jump right into the updates. What's been happening in October? Like the ever-shifting sand dunes of the Sahara, CareerGamers has been a sea of change since the end of September. Below I've scaled a few of those sand dunes, squinted out from their wind-swept crowns, and reported back the lay of the land beyond. A change in business management model First of all, I've decided to shift CareerGamers, and my other websites for that matter, away from a traditional hierarchical project-managed model to fully embrace the democratic Agile SCRUM model. I've decided to implement SCRUM throughout my business simply because, it works extremely well and because I'm a project manager/content manager by trade. I have used large portions of SCRUM with CareerGamers already. However, I have now decided to fully commit myself to SCRUM. Change in Niche Direction. As talked about in the previous update, I want to move CareerGamers back towards talking about Games and hardware. Back towards answering your questions. I'm currently working on the best areas to target first with the limited time and resources I have. Fortunately, I have been able to hire an extremely capable writer for the website who simply adores games such as Valorant. So I may end up creating a number of articles on that game first and then go from there. Word count is now a thing of the past As stated in the previous update, I wanted to eliminate that tired old content trope that each article must hit a certain word count in order to rank. Now the articles are written to whatever length I or the writer deem is enough to answer the main question thoroughly. Graphics I have been making an effort to add extra graphics to each article in an effort to add more value. I've got a long to go to improve this side of the website. But, I am aware of how important graphics are to the reader experience. Social media As you probably know by now, I've mentioned it enough over the years on CG, I'm a bit of an introverted nerd. I am not a social media user. I don't enjoy Facebook or using Twitter. However, I do understand the importance of using these tools for growing an online business and supplying content to where people actually want to consume it. I have started using AI tools more to deliver social content, but I am looking to hire a social media content manager in the new year. Email Since the last update, I have been able to update the email settings on Mailchimp so that CareerGamers' RSS feed is used to create an automated content email. I'm quite happy with the outcome of this, but I know email newsletters live and die on the content they are filled with. So, over the next few months, I want to find a way of leveraging this email even more by producing even more exciting content for you to consume. The Future Now I've talked about what has been happening throughout the month of October, I want to touch on what will happen in November and through to the end of the year. Christmas and the New Year Firstly, like many of you, Christmas is an extremely important time for me and the family. So I always take a single week off over the Christmas period. There may be a little less content published on the website over Christmas. But don't worry, the content cadence should speed up going into the first quarter of next year. More content about games and hardware As noted earlier, my goal in November and December is to write more articles about games and hardware and answer you're gaming questions. That means I will be moving away from CareerGamers' original vision of helping gamers turn their hobby into a viable Career. If you'd like to see the new vision, feel free to check it out on CareerGamer's Notion page here. Simplification of the business model When I first started developing CareerGamers and my other websites, I had, like many, elaborate ideas and strategies for turning CG into a gaming community behemoth that would be home to content, courses, books, tools, products, hardware, affiliates, and more. However, as you may have noticed, most of these ventures didn't exactly pan out. You see, in the past, I've had the habit of creating elaborate plans that were often so complex I couldn't even make sense of them. That's why I learned SCRUM and lean project management, to counter my tendency to over-plan. To that end, I've made it my mission to simplify everything on CareerGamers. First, I've simplified our product: we are a content-first company. We make great content that readers love to read. Simple as that. No courses, no books, no subscription models. Just good honest content. When it comes to monetization, I've also simplified things. In the past, I attempted to monetize the site in every way possible using ads, affiliates, courses, books, subscriptions, sponsored posts, and everything in between. That didn't work. We now just make money from ads, affiliates, and sponsored content. That's it. And that's all it ever shall be for the foreseeable future. This brings me to my final point, User-driven decision-making. User-Driven Decision-Making As noted above, I have strived to incorporate the SCRUM framework into CareerGamers. However, there is one key aspect missing: You. You see, for SCRUM to work, and for me to create continuous value for you, I need your input. And I need it often. See traditionally, businesses would, like this one, make products (like content) without ever getting feedback from the people who are actually going to use the product. This would inevitably lead to products being made that customers simply didn't want. SCRUM fixes this by getting feedback from the customer on an ongoing, weekly basis. That way, actions can quickly be tailored to the customer's requests and desires so the most value can be constantly delivered. So, in the future, it's my goal to introduce an easy-to-use feedback system on CareerGamers. A system that quickly lets readers vote on whether they think content is good, how it can be improved, and what content they would like to see next. I want to be constantly gathering data from actual readers on CareerGamers to give direction to our future actions. Instead of me just guessing what we should do next, you will essentially be deciding what I do next. You will be the rudder guiding the USS CareerGamers towards a safe harbour. Final words I just want to say a massive thank you for reading this post. I hope it goes some way to show you that I really do care about you and delivering value to you with CareerGamers. There is nothing more important in life than to be in service to others, to create real value and change in the world that makes a difference. If you have any feedback on how I can serve you and the readers of CareerGamers better, drop me a line at nps2310(at)gmail.com (change the (at) for an @). I'm always happy to have a chat about games and this website over a nice cup of berry infusion tea. All the best and stay safe my friends. Nick.