What's Next for Mister Editorial?
What's Next for Mister Editorial?
The authority on mixternal comms
Mister Editorial is adopting “slow productivity.”
One year ago this week I soldiered through my last session of chemotherapy, which means I’m celebrating year one of being cancer free. That may not mean a lot to you, because we all know life will go on with or without Mister Editorial.
But it means the world to me (obviously!). And since Mister Editorial is very much wrapped up in a personality, an individual, a human also known as Shaun Randol, the reality can’t help but affect this publication.
This isn’t the place for existential conversation, but reflections on exactly what I want to get out of what is now very clearly a very short and fragile experience we call “being alive and human” dictate what I think I should be doing with my time. Here’s what I’m thinking about Mister Editorial lately.
For three years I’ve published one or two articles every week, even as I battled cancer. Indeed, Mister Editorial was a welcome distraction from a horrible experience.
I can’t continue at this pace without burning out. It’d be different if Mister Editorial was my full-time job, but it’s not. It’s a “nights and weekends” effort that actually happens weekday mornings before the sun rises.
And so, moving forward…
Slow Productivity
To avoid burnout, I’m making a strategic move toward “slow productivity,” which means I’ll:
Do fewer things
Do them at a natural pace
Obsess over quality
What does this mean for you?
Increasing the Value of Paid Membership
I will concentrate on providing more value for Mister Editorial’s paid members. As much as I enjoy uplifting our community, paid members actually keep this machine running.
I am most excited by the several projects underway for paid members. They require a lot of time and research to complete, which is why I’m minimizing the time I put into free material.
Paid members deserve—indeed, are paying for—quality work that is actionable and has the potential to level up their comms games.
I don’t want to give away the ideas, but at a high level they include:
Manuals and how-to guides for specific comms strategies.
Real-life case studies, so you can learn from what really works (or doesn’t!).
Sharing more Insider Comms, like this week’s UBS memo on their acquisition of Credit Suisse. (Insider Comms are real examples of internal executive memos that you can beg, borrow, and steal from for your own exec comms needs.)
I’ve got something big in the works on the Insider Comms front — stay tuned!
Preparing paid members for the future of corporate communications, so they can have a leg up as our industry evolves, as well as sharing practical advice for ascending the ranks in our industry.
And much more, including possible meetings/events for members only.
If you want these how-to guides, tips, best practices, real-life case studies and memos, invitations to meetings, and more, become a member. (Now is a good time to lock in today’s low price.)
Free Version
Readers of the free version of Mister Editorial will continue to receive free material, but probably not every week.
Themed issues may emerge, such as an upcoming edition on orthogonal learning.
The free weekly dispatches take many hours to create. Too many, unfortunately. They distract from the deeper, more meaningful work that paid members want and need to take their comms to the next level.
Thanks for Your Confidence
Three years ago I didn’t know what Mister Editorial would look like after a few months. And now here we are.
16 months ago I didn’t know I’d be told I had four-to-eight months to live. And now here I am.
Life is short and comms is shorter. I want to make sure that I’m simultaneously providing value to paid members while enjoying myself. I think “slow productivity” is that compromise.
🙏 Thank you for being with and supporting me on this journey. See you in the next, more meaningful, edition.
—Shaun
a.k.a. Mister Editorial
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Disclaimer: Besides running Mister Editorial, I am the editor-in-chief of Digital Publications at Lam Research. The views in this newsletter are my own.