Having run the Astro Dispatch for 18 months and it's predecessor the Top 10 Sources Of Astrology News for 2 years prior, I have a pretty good feel who is writing what and when, when it comes to astrology. I noticed a drop in astrology-themed video first and it seems the astrology-themed writing has also slowed.

Has anyone else observed this? I am interested not just in the astrology genre, but  overall. Do you see as many people cranking as much out as you did a year ago?

What are your other impressions, ideas or predictions when it comes publishing on the internet?

 Thanks!

It seems to me that a lot of people are too distracted by Facebook and Twitter to write their own blog content. I don't like it.

dina2 - do you think bloggers thought they would make money and when they don't they fall off the blog?

Thanks, I very much appreciate your knowledge on these type subjects.

I noticed that astrology blogs have scaled back. I can't pinpoint the exact month, maybe last December and it continues to slow down.

I must admit though, I don't know how they were putting out as much content as they where. 

"Do you see as many people cranking as much out as you did a year ago?"

Personally, I have observed two things happening at once:

1) The "old guard" has been gradually fading out, and this across the board -- not specific to astrology. And not just blogs either, discussion forums too.  There is a whole "generation" of us who have been around (online) for a decade or more, and many of us have become bored or disenchanted or jaded, and are moving on to other venues and adventures, offline.

2) Meanwhile, a new generation (unrelated to age, I mean web newbies of whatever age) is surging and thriving, mostly on Facebook and Twitter and such. I was totally taken aback to find out last week that a colleague of mine, 20 years younger than me and (I thought) very hip, did not even know what a troll was.

I know some of my old and longstanding communities are hanging by a thread, barely alive, with a few diehards waiting for... a revival... that is simply not happening.

We are due for a SIGNIFICANT shift. It's inevitable. It has to happen. And will. But I have no idea what form it will take.

In the meantime, masses of us are in limbo, and distracting ourselves elsewhere (offline).

I've noticed that less content is posted on the Web in general.

I think the reason is because people are realizing that they can get more money publishing stuff in books if they don't put anything meaningful out on the Internet. 

Message boards as a medium (not individual ones) seem to be hanging on, but blogs seem to be dying out.

I really do hope the entire social networking thing isn't replaced by text messages and Facebook. I've really benefited from the more anonymous style of communication that doesn't stick me with my own image. I'm not a very visual person.

i am seeing some pulling back in general. i've had many people telling me they're making  less this year and i suspect some are focusing more energy elsewhere to make up the difference. 

i do think there's also a group that are using the time as an opportunity to find ways to improve what they do and how they do it..

Less people are posting things. I think to some degree it is decade-long fatigue, to some degree it's people being too depressed by the state of the world today to post, and to some degree they're all too busy being obsessed with Facebook and Twitter.

I miss people posting. I have a silly links blog and god knows it's harder to post happy fun things to cheer people up than it used to be.

I think social networking has everyone distracted, with little to no attention span. I mean, the 'net is exploding and everybody has their hands on the technology and they don't know what to do or where to look first.

I didn't even go "internet" with my profession until 2004 or so. But I remember what the internet was like back in the mid 1990s. Content was more impressive because the only people who were online were smart people.

Now it's so easy for any old schlub to just toss up some half-assed looking blog or spam vomit site in the hope of making a quick buck like you say. Google I think has had to do some major tinkering to its algorithm in an effort to separate the wheat from the chaff and keep the legit players on top of the heap. 

I think the drop in astrology content that you're reporting might really have something to do with the distractions, I do. I feel like my own little website has been buried by Facebook and Twitter. I used to get much more newsletter signups than I have been over the past year. The marketing industry has become too congested.

Or, maybe you aren't seeing as much astrology content because Google changed something - so the people who only post sporadically are less likely to come up on keyword searches? YOU come up for nearly EVERY astrology word search!

Here's something kinda crazy that I've been thinking about/noticing: all the people who are attached to my FB page are actually in competition with me and each other (in the realm of marketing). So what good does it even do to abandon one's blog to go collecting leads who are actually never going to purchase what you have because they're doing the same thing you are?

I give you major, major credit for keeping this blog active with really great content even with the chaos that's happening recently. You have a top notch system for generating new stuff daily. The post flashbacks... I don't think it would have ever occurred to me to "recycle" old blog posts, but it's actually quite genius.

Of course, the tighter your niche, the better chance you have of dominating. So, since other astrologers are losing interest in posting (maybe they were only dabbling anyway), it's more likely that your business and rep in the industry will continue to grow while others fall by the wayside.

One more thing: the fact that you have a community, both a free and a paid one, is huge as well. Such a great system for bringing in new business and such an incredible group of people.  I mean, you're hitting every rung of the ladder... you have the Paid Memberships, the Consulting group, and the free community which actually does a lot to keep people coming in and then back for more.

My very first impression of this site was that it was ROCKIN' -- and that was why I jumped right in and asked for a paid consult immediately. I was just ripe for it and I liked what I saw. Other astrologers, you wonder... does a human actually run this site? What if these people are just looking to scam my credit card info? No danger of that here... too much transparency and honesty. It's a good thing.

Keep going with it! Desperate times call for good astrologers.

Wow, Dina, thanks for that.  I very much appreciate it and it made me feel so good I read the last to the soldier.

"Who wrote that?" he asked... I am sure he was making sure you're not a man.

"This gal. She's nice to me. How do I sound, huh?  That is your wi... fiance she's talkin' about.

 "That is not my fiance.  My fiance is hotter than a 2 dollar pistol!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_-ABV05pvw

ha ha ha (and thanks again for the super analysis) :)

"That is your wi... fiance"

 ::grin::

Tell your Taurus there's no threat. ;) I'm definitely not a male, although sometimes with all my Libra I like to talk like one.

One more thing: 

I think you could make MORE money on the consults than you do. What you currently offer is very economical because you problem-solve with no muss or fuss... but hear this:

Sometimes when someone says "Give me an hour" they really DO want ONE HOUR. So even if you look at the problem, and the solution is there plain as day and it only takes 15 minutes to explain... some people just want to see the long, painful, drawn out and maybe even inconclusive but nonetheless intriguing analysis on paper.

One hour just FEELS like time well spent on a consult, even though, as you know, the answer just about knocked you over after five minutes of trying to understand the problem.

Some solutions for giving an hour without actually spending an hour could be...

...joining up with another astrology writer to pick out some of the person's more glaring aspects and writing up a pretty in-depth analysis... this way you could do "no BS" Elsa Answer, and they could kind of fluff it up.

...customizing a lot of the descriptions so you can "pop them in" as needed. This would provide more "meat" with the reading and you could charge for that without feeling guilty about it. For example, if the end user really wanted to know what it meant to have Mercury conjunct their Sun and how it might be affecting their problem... you could have a standard "script" explaining that.

It could be like a hybrid style - the "standard" readout like you'd get with the computer generated astrology readings, but also with some personal interpretation based on what the unique situation is.

So you might end up spending 15 minutes on the actual analysis of the problem, and then you could spend a little more time gathering up the data needed to thoroughly explain their chart aspects... but it would be MORE value in LESS time because you'd already have written out the basic interpretations and you could charge for that  because you did the work up front and deserve payment for it.

Or not - I mean, this isn't really your style I know, but it could satisfy those people who REALLY DO want an hour or an hour and a half because they're just HUNGRY for the knowledge....

Your call, of course!

PS: the type of reading I'm thinking of could be ideal for the person who knows little to nothing about astrology in the first place.

dina2 - thanks again. Again, very smart although I don't think it's me. I am so attached to my humanity I would feel to machine like if I cut and pasted canned material. I do this as an art.

I have a very distinct method that is neptune flavored of course. Sort of like having to commune with box or a letter before I open it. I have to absorb the chart and the person to an extent and then paint...  I don't think I would like this work if I was not allowed to work like this. I guess it's like those old writers who wanted to use their typewriters rather than a computer for the feel of the keyboard.

 Your idea is very smart though and interesting. It reflects our different natures in that you are a neat petite editor and I am a slob... sloppy, gushing, foolish, etc.

It may also interest you to know that it has taken the mechanic and HQ YEARS to get me to communicate a tech problem even remotely correctly. My way is like this:

'The thing is messed up. Fuck!"

 Really, that is my natural way so you see what I mean.

I guess I am saying I want to stay with my feet on the ground and my humanity not compromised because I know this for sure: I am the only one out there like me.

But dina2, I do get your drift, I think. Make an hour long (more professional) presentation out of what I now sell for 20 or 30 minutes.

I am going to think about this. I am sooooooooo from the desert and you are probably right - people want "town".

:;smiles::

tequila shooter vs. pint of guinness...something for everyone. (sorry i couldn't help myself, thinking of bar analogies)

You actually communicate in a very succinct, bang-on way. It's cool. Easy to digest - not drivel.

I wasn't even thinking of any sort of Slop Factor, actually. I was just thinking that some people equate Quantity with Quality even though you may know the opposite to be true.

Those people could be your most profitable market - because it's EASY to stretch content to an hour's worth.

A message is so scalable. You can write two sentences and get your meaning across quite cleanly (and that's what YOU do instinctually, and it's the Best Kind of Writing)...

or you can S-T-R-E-T-C-H the content.

You could write two sentences covering someone with a Libra moon. Or you can write an hour's worth. Or, you can write an Entire Book about it!

It's true, that when you Package Stuff Up it becomes homogenized. 

But, of course, you can still have your Purists... the ones who want to receive it exactly the way you give it. Your Ideal Clients.

But what do we do what the Non-Ideal clients... we all have them. Well, I guess we can wave bye-bye and say "sorry we couldn't make it work..." 

Or you could pack up a little kit for them to buy on impulse as they're standing on the checkout line.

I don't know. 

PS: Just read Kash's tequila shooter/guinness analogy. Yeah! 

Again, it's your business. I just like to think about this kind of stuff. It wouldn't hurt me to think about it for myself - haa.

dina2 - thanks again. I am listening to you but not processing well this late at night. I am an (early) morning person and at the moment, at the edge of brain dead. I do know enough to thank you for the generous sharing of your obvious expertise. THANK YOU

This reminds me of my hairdresser.

She is there to do hair, and she does hair -- very, very well. (And is a most excellent human being too.)

Payment? She doesn't want to be bothered with it. She needs it (single mother of two boys), but... So she has a box kicking around and she operates on the honor system. You put your personal cheque in there yourself, or your cash, and if you need change, you make your own.

She also Does Not Sell Hair Products -- of any kind. She does not try to push anything on anyone. Typical of her character though, clients bring in their own bottles and she fills them from her own jugs, at cost.

Needless to say, her clientele is fiercely loyal, and most have been with her from the start of her career, and will be until they croak or she does.

The key is, people know exactly what they will get from her, she is consistent, and has a well-defined "market" (and a quite diverse one, btw, despite having a certain distinctive flavor).

Anyway... I rambled...

~I think~ the reason she came to mind is that business people with a strong and *distinctive* "presentation" make it. I think my hairdresser and Elsa are two such business people.

Oh, and yes, very, very *human*!!!

i had another idea! here's what i was thinking per elsa not wanting to have "canned" content.

you offer people different "packages" to choose from when they come to you with a problem or just wanting a reading. 

stuff like...

the "sun sign/moon sign/rising sign" package - what you're like

the "transits" package - what's going on with your stuff today, tomorrow

the synastry package - major themes in your relationship

so on and so forth, etc. etc.

price them at a specific point. people may want to order 2 packages at once - offer a little discount on this. 

i don't know, just thinking about content again!

Thanks for putting your mind on this, Bananas. A large part of my business comes via referral these days so people show up knowing exactly what they want. I think that long term, happy satisfied customers are the best thing I could have. I see what you mean though as far as attracting that type customer.  The thing is I would be concerned if I offered something that seemed 'usual" the person would expect "usual astrology" and I offer unusual astrology which means this could backfire.. leave me with dissatisfied customers.

I guess I am saying I am a little leary of dressing myself up as anything I am not. I am not at all sure that "conventional" is going to get me anywhere.

Actually, I should couch that. I don't think it will get me anywhere I want to go.

For example, a dark-haired actress goes blond and all the sudden she's MEGA famous. That's fine but now she has to dye her hair all the time and I don't think I would like that. Humble success is okay with me. I really need very little to be happy, almost nothing at all but I do like this topic.

Well, that's cool. Sometimes hearing what you DON'T want to be helps you define who you DO want to be and it's clear you DO know what you want to be!