November and December are the months I traditionally take a look at my business--Taylored Content--and evaluate what's working, what's not, and where I want to go for the following year. As I conducted my personal inventory, I discovered that I am still a fan of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, but I also realized that I am one client away from disaster. 

In other words, my main client makes up the majority of my current income, and if he decides he doesn't need me anymore, I'll be going through the new client search scramble that I find myself going through every three to five years.

What I need to do is diversify my income sources. So I developed a plan for that.

Enter Cryptocracy

I started a new editorial role in April this year. It didn't pay as much as I'd like a gig like this to pay, but it was steady work, and it was only two days a week. However, in August, the editor of the Bitcoin newsletter this company publishes went on maternity leave and my supervisor asked if I'd like to fill in while she was away. Of course, I agreed. 

I think I did a better job of editing the crypto newsletter than I did with editing the one for finance professionals. But it was only for a couple of weeks, and it was daily. 

When that gig ended, I had a reader contact me and ask where else I was writing and publishing about crypto. I pointed him to the weekly publication I've edited since January 2018. He subscribed. But in the back of my mind, I kept thinking, "What if I lose that client?"

As a matter of course, I did lose that client. Just like week, he gave notice the publication was suspending services.

In my business, clients come and go. They change the frequency that I produce content on their behalf, either in my favor or not. I don't begrudge clients who leave, or who feel they have to reduce the work I do for them. They have to run their businesses, and I have to run mine. But there is always that danger of losing a client who is good for your business--either financially or otherwise. Freelancers face that reality continuously.

Back to the previously mentioned reader. In our short email exchange, he conveyed to me that he'd willingly pay $5/month to read a crypto newsletter written the same way I wrote the other one. And that thought has stuck with me since. When conducting my year-end review, I thought, "Why not? Let's give it a go." 

So, beginning in January, and when I get 100 initial signups, I'm kicking off my own crypto-focused newsletter called Cryptocracy.

Why 'Cryptocracy'?

I don't consider myself a crypto expert. Rather, my expertise is researching, collecting and collating, and analyzing information, and then communicating something meaningful about what I find. I've been doing that for most of my life.

It started academically. Throughout school, I was always in the top of my class. It was always because of these analytical and communication skills which I bring to the table. I finished college magna cum laude, because of these skills. As a journalist years later, I won numerous awards for excellence in reporting and editorializing. Besides being good at it, I thoroughly enjoy doing it. And I'm a huge fan of anything new, innovative, and cutting edge. Like crypto.

You can learn more about why I decided to start Cryptocracy and why I chose that as the name for my newsletter on the About page for Cryptocracy. There's also a bit there about why I chose Substack as the host for the newsletter.

What I'd like to do today is ask you to subscribe to the newsletter. Currently, it's free to do so.

What Happens When I Get 100 Subscribers

Right now, you can subscribe to Cryptocracy for free. No obligation to pay, now or ever. But after January 1, 2020, when I've reached 100 subscribers, I plan to introduce the paid plan. It will be $5/month. But there is a caveat:

If you subscribe before then, I'll throw in a nice discount for early subscribers. I am not announcing yet what that will be, but it will be less than $5/month. That's the reward for anyone who supports me between now and the end of the year. Your free subscription is your support.

Once I kick off the newsletter subscription, I'll publish daily to my paid subscribers. Everyone else will be able to read twice a week. Until then, I may publish once or twice a week just to whet some appetites. 

But I don't want to give anyone the impression that this is just another crypto newsletter. It won't be. You'll get original content. You'll get content you won't find anywhere else, and you'll get content that is so hard to find that it would take you hours of your time to dig it up. I'll do that for you to save you the time. 

You can learn more about Cryptocracy and my plan for this newsletter by reading more about it at Substack. I'd appreciate it if you would do two things:

• Subscribe
• Share it with your friends

I'd like to get that 100 subscribers before the end of the year.

Image from Pixabay.