About 10 days ago I added a reader poll widget to the sidebar of this blog. I thought I’d give you an overview of the first poll question, the results of the poll and the reason for asking this particular question in the first place. I also want to share some ideas I have about the future of this GTD blog.
The question was: Would you like this blog to have a broader focus? (e.g. productivity, self improvement, etc)
The reason for asking this particular question: First of all, I love blogging and I love blogging about GTD. Ever since the start of this blog (Jan 1st, 2007) I’ve did all I could to keep my writing completely focused on GTD. I’m proud of the fact that my blog has become one of the few blogs with 98% GTD-specific content.
However, at the same time I feel the need to write about some of my other interests, like productivity and organization in general, but also NLP, psychology, self improvement, leadership, personal development, innovation and so on.
My first idea was to expand the focus of this blog to include my other areas of interest, move it to a separate domain and give it a more generic name. Then it occurred to me that you, my faithful reader, might not like this sudden change! And unhappy readers equals an unhappy blogger! 
Hence the reader poll.
The poll got 36 votes which were cast as follows:
11 votes (30%) for the answer “YES — go ahead, I would continue to read your blog!”.
9 votes (24%) for the answer “NO — but I would read your other blog about productivity, self improvement, etc”.
16 votes (43%) for the answer “NO — I read your blog, because it is GTD specific!”.
1 vote (3%) for the answer “Other: yes, but probably not as closely to the non-GTD stuff”.
Now, I know this is hardly a statistically sound conclusion, but I take this to mean that the majority of my readers would prefer my blog to stay GTD-specific. At the same time, I also see some evidence in it that some of my readers would enjoy reading about some of the other topics I mentioned earlier.
So, I have the following preliminary plans for the future of this blog. I want to find a more original name for it and I want to move it to a domain of its own. I intend to keep this blog as GTD-specific as possible.
I have (again, preliminary) plans for creating a completely new blog/site with a broader focus as described above. I also need to find an original name and domain for this. I also need to determine the topics I would like to write about and that you (and others) would like to read about. I will keep you informed about this.
Finally, I have created a new reader poll in the sidebar asking you about the preferred blog posting frequency for my GTD blog. Feel free to participate if you want.
If you (dis)agree with the results of the previous poll or my interpretation of it, or if you have suggestions for original blog names and tips to avoid problems with moving to a new domain, I would really like to hear from you!
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I usually only read this blog via its feed, so I never saw the poll widget. If you do run a poll it would be a good idea to mention it in a post – i could then come and vote.
Oh – I would have voted “YES — go ahead, I would continue to read your blog!”.
Looking forward to the new blog…
@rob:
You’re probably right, even though I only publish a partial RSS feed. I should have made it more clear I was actually running a reader poll!
Thanks for your input… I hope to welcome you as a reader on my new blog as well!
the problem with partial feeds is I’m already concentrating on reading the post. When I click on the ‘more’ link I’ve got tunnel vision and just continue reading the post, all the other stuff is not noticed. There’s a good post on this “banner blindness” here http://www.useit.com/alertbox/banner-blindness.html – the pictures about half way down of where people look when reading a web site are very interesting. As you can see your “poll widget” would not even get a glance. Now if i could work out a solution to this I’d a rich man….
@rob:
That is definitely interesting stuff and something I will keep in mind for the future. I’ll let you know if I work out a solution and we’ll both be rich men!
I read this blog because it’s GTD specific, and I’d rather it wasn’t diluted, it’s great as it is
@cosimoraffi:
Thank you for your compliment!
I think this blog will stay GTD specific. I’m working on starting a new blog where I can write about other topics.
Hey there – Just found your site and I love it! I don’t know how you find so much to write about only focusing on GTD though. It’s very impressive! The system itself can be a little overwhelming so I like all the tools you have here.
I went through a domain change in the past and would happy to offer advice when the time comes (it can be a little tricky). Drop me a line or stop by my site. And keep up the great work; I’ll be looking out for the new site (with a broader focus) and keeping an eye on this one too (just added you to my Google homepage!)