Stalking the Future of The Wealthy Accountant

Burnout sets in post-tax season. Long hours working leads to exhaustion only to be repeated the next day eventually takes its toll. Recovery is less certain than in the past. Age is part of it, but the new tax code and demands from a wider audience also play a role. Due to these factors there will be significant changes to this blog going forward.

The most notable change will be the publishing schedule. Tax season became so overwhelming something had to give. I reduced the publishing schedule from three times a week with a “Stalking” edition on Saturday to twice per week.

What surprised me was the increase in traffic when I reduced the amount of material published! I was warned about this by several bloggers. Nailing the equivalent of five or more average-length novels per year to the blog can burn out readers. It was even causing some to unsubscribe. I might be slow, but I eventually catch on.

The end of tax season may account for much to the uptick in traffic after the publishing reduction. Regardless, my desire to write in other venues is growing. Whether traffic climbs or not, the new publishing schedule will remain. Monday and Thursday are the new publishing dates, replacing the Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule in effect for the past year or so.

The “Stalking the Accountant” posts are reduced from every Saturday to the last Saturday of the month only. (This “Stalking” post fulfills next week’s weekend post.) I’ll share some of my personal activities in “Stalking”, as always. Other matters will also be addressed where regular posts would be inappropriate.

Since our last “Stalking” publication we had a few drawings for money! On March 30^th Gina V. of Florence, S.C. collected a $50 Amazon gift card for opening an email of the latest TWA post. In honor of the end of tax season a drawing on April 16^th from a list all of subscribers made Charlie M. of Las Vegas, Nevada the proud owner of a $250 Amazon gift card.

 

Power Posts!

My previous writing schedule made it difficult to honor my commitments to other writing projects. With the extra time I will work hard to mend bridges ignored. When I publish in other venues I’ll keep you updated on social media and weekend editions here, if allowed.

A reduced writing schedule also means I can focus more on quality. Quantity is fine for certain issues, but digging deeper is required in many instances and if time is short the quality tends to be the same.

Five or so years ago I wrote a series of articles on a content farm dealing with and winning an IRS audit. The articles were short, yet valuable. Changes at the IRS and in the tax code require I update these pieces. I will re-write the entire series with a massive expansion. Because these articles will be a virtual bible for the accounting industry they will not be published in the traditional manner here. Each section will be unavailable until the entire series is complete. Each section will be available for purchase with the whole series available at a lower price than individual article purchases combined. People who want to audit-proof their return may wish to buy that specific article. Tax professionals will want the entire guide. The best part is I will update these articles in real time so once you purchase a section you will have access to future updates. The IRS Audit Manual should be available by late summer or autumn 2018.

 

Renewed Focus

Warren Buffett has a 20-slot punch card philosophy to investing. I will apply the same methodology to this blog.

Over the decades I’ve written more material than I can count. Writing for me is personal with a side benefit of a modest income. My interests are catholic (little c) so writing the same genre for too long starts to feel stale to me. When I decided to become proficient writing flash fiction I set a goal of 2,000 stories. When I hit 2,000 I was done. The end. Finito. Goodbye.

The Wealthy Accountant has been my most enjoyable writing to date. I write what I know and enjoy talking about. But money is more a side discussion in my personal life. I’m more of a business type of guy than a money talker. Truth is money is pretty straight forward. Control your impulses, spending less than you earn and invest the excess. Even a bad investment is better than no investment. A million words on frugality and investing starts feeling stale to me.

Business is a different story. Writing about running a successful enterprise is endless. Reading another story of how someone paid off debt and retired at any age seems rote. Business is a bit more challenging; value creation more involved.

Over the last several months I’ve included hints of the future around this blog. I published Countdown Clocks. It should have been a dead giveaway. Subtle hints didn’t seem to connect unless readers are keeping it a secret from me. Then I made it less obvious.

On the Where Am I page below the calendar are the words “All good things. . .” printed backwards. Below this is a large bold number. The number is a countdown clock. When it reaches zero this blog will have 500 published articles. The IRS Audit Manual and other private publications here do not count toward the total. When the clock reaches zero I will stop publishing here. By applying a sort of 20-slot punch card approach I will need to focus on what is most important rather than filling column inches. Everything has an expiration date and so does this blog. (Come to think of it, so do I.)

 

What I’m Reading

The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine will Remake Our World by Pedro Domingos. Not only interesting, but concerning. Computers are starting to learn from the massive reservoir of information gathered each day. The future will be radically different from even the recent past. With all good comes some bad is all I can say.

 

What I’m Watching

Brian Greene on the B-Theory of Time. I’ve been thinking a lot about time lately; the kind of time experienced in an Einsteinian world.

 

What I’m Listening To

There is a publishing opportunity to write a story on the rollercoaster ride of blogging. The Karen Carpenter story will play a central role.

 

Now I’m off to spend more time with my family. I’m sure you understand.