I loved the Blogopolis Blueprint.

It was fun while it lasted, but alas wasn’t meant to breathe more than a season. One of the biggest strengths you can have if you make your living online is the ability to rapidly evolve. If you can’t do that, you’re dead in the water. Not every fuse you light will lead to a detonation. It’s essential to be able to step back and observe, rather than continue to pour fuel on something that isn’t ever going to burn.

Perhaps the Blueprint could have roared given enough time, but time was far too short for Eric Hamm and I. We both had too much on our plate, and the juice just wasn’t worth the squeeze. We’ve learned an awful lot with the short lived project, however. All stuff that will eventually paste the front pages of this site.

Just not yet.

In the meantime, a bid a fond farewell to the Blueprint. It was a blast while it lasted.

In other news, or actually just because there is no blog like this online and with a single digit active audience I can dance to whatever tune I like:

David Fowler, that email I just received five minutes ago with David Wright’s web design is just, well… WOW. What can I say? You, my friend, are a genius. Please keep your hands off Writer Dad.

Danny Cooper, my friend, are you still alive and breathing? Email me my brother!

Ghostwriter Dad is now kicking it on page 2 for “ghostwriter,” “ghost writer,” and “hire a ghostwriter.”

YAY!

Until tomorrow…

Today wraps up the third and final installment of the Day 1 portion of the 31 Days to a Better Blog. At this pace, we’re set to hit the 31st day by the first snowfall, which would actually be never in my neck of the woods. Although I hear it snowed about fifteen minutes north of LA for around five minutes in 1909.

But I don’t really believe that. Today we’re taking care of the dads, the writer one and the one who wears the sheet over his head. On with the show.

Ghostwriter Dad

Ghostwriter Dad is a full service site, perfect for anyone who is either interested in making their living as a ghostwriter, or hiring a ghostwriter to take their business or passion project to the next level. Ghostwriter Dad offers a full range of copywriting services, from full blog setup and maintenance to ebook design and layout, as well as personal services such as custom letter writing or custom wedding vows.

Writer Dad

Writer Dad is a sublime site focusing on family and fatherhood with well written tales about those things that orbit our lives, alongside helpful hints and strategies to render our children into remarkable writers so that they may help us all write our best future. Posts are published twice a week and are a fine blend of SEO/Social Media content and poetic narrative. Occasionaly, children’s writing is also discussed by way of Writer Dad’s wife and master teacher, Cindy Platt.

I’m not the biggest fan of the meme, but I am a fan of freelance writer, Marc (Welshscribe). Since he tagged me last week, I elected to play along. You can check out my answers to his meme over at Writer Dad today. I answer such earth shattering questions as “Who is the hottest movie star?” and “What super hero would you be?”

George Clooney, Monica Bellucci, and Batman (although Spiderman would have been an excellent answer on second thought).

Cindy dropped her second post today, first one that wasn’t a variation of the about page. It was on planning a proper summer for your children. It was also excellent.

At Ghostwriter Dad, I dropped a post about how Cyrano de Bergerac was the original ghostwriter. Really it was just an assembly of quotes, but I rather liked it. The idea was given to me by Bamboo Forest, although probably not on purpose.

Continuing to offer potty training help over at Potty Training Power, we received the first ever question for Ask Dr. Potty which was awesome, and we published part III in our series about Infant Potty Training.

Plans are crystalizing nicely on the Children Write the Future project. I can’t wait to see how this particular puppy barks. It may not be the MOST exciting project on the plate, but it definitely has to be in the top three.

To the 18 of you who have already uncovered this odd little nugget, another has joined us. Feedburner reports 19 as of this morning. A giant welcome to whoever you are.

It isn’t that this blog is hidden, but I’ve intentionally done nothing to publicize it. I’d like to let the liquid in the bottle breathe so to speak. Since I’m not ready to do anything with SeanMPlatt.com quite yet, I thought it would be best if I built it slowly, strengthening the scaffolding before I lift the curtain. This is the opposite of the way I normally do things – get an idea for a great site, unleash it to the world and then try and fumble my fingers around the pieces while they scatter to and fro.

No more, at least not here. Every day my thoughts on this site crystalize a little more; my clarity grows sharper and I am able to more clearly see precisely what I want to do with it. Subscribers I believe are around 15, which totally cracks me up. SMP at least thus far is a site I check in with most every day, drop my links and bid farewell. In and out. It is kind of like a documentation of what I’m doing and I like the unedited quicky posts as well. They have far more in common with email exchanges than they do with Writer Dad.

Something similar has happened with my ghostwriting site as well. Ghostwriter Dad started out as a niche site on ghostwriting, now it’s a place I love writing for. Go figure.

Anyway, yesterday Danny Cooper from DannyCooper.TV left a comment that I just loved. He said, “I like this idea of this blog, it’s like watching your rise to the top in real time.” I loved it so much, I called Cindy over to see it.

Thanks Danny, for totally getting it.

Today is pretty much the most awesomest day ever.

Last night, just before dinner, I got a ping in my inbox from Leo telling me that my guest post I’d written at Zen Habits was finally up. The post was about creativity and was specifically written about ten weeks ago as a promo for Ghostwriter Dad. This was either just before or just after the site was up.

The last ten weeks have passed like a chess game played by mail. Every day I’ve checked my standing with Google, but alas, if Ghostwriter Dad was peeking out from any of the first 1,000 pages it was a mystery to me.

This morning I checked, just like always, and found to my delight that the old ghost himself was right there smiling from the middle of page 6! This is awesome. I see no reason why with enough diligent hard work, I can’t have the front page within a couple of months.

This isn’t just great for the ghostwriting gig. It’s great for my mindset as well. I have a lot to learn about niche sites, but it’s one of the tools that I need to be the sharpest. I’ve fed Ghostwriter Dad every day for over two months, like a plate of food beneath the door. Today I finally got to see my little ghost all grown up.

This is great for the Inkwell as well. Ghostwriting and great blog designs go hand in hand for the right business, and as much as I love all the online work, I would love to build websites for small businesses as well.

I ask the question who wants to be a ghostwriter as a somewhat rhetorical inquiry. For anyone who loves to write, doesn’t mind rescinding the credit in exchange for a fair wage, and can keep to a schedule, ghostwriting can be an excellent career.

My reasons for choosing to be a ghostwriter are numerous. If I’m being honest, I first started tinkering with the idea for practical SEO purposes. The keyword phrase freelance writer was about as crowded as it gets. Ghostwriter, comparitavely speaking, was wide open.

However, now that I’m Ghostwriter Dad, I feel silly for not seeking the position on my own accord. Ghostwriting is an excellent job and puts me regularly in touch with high quality professional people. Freelancers and article writers are a dime a dozen, but ghostwriting seems to carry a mystique that I did not quite expect.

I’ve enjoyed the accolades of Writer Dad, but none went too far in keeping my family fed. Ghostwriter Dad has provided a rather instant conduit to the sort of success that will take me, my family, and my collaborators to the next level.

I love writing, and feel fortunate I’ve found a career where I can keep my mind and fingers busy, while expanding my contacts and sharpening my skill set. If someone told me two years back that I’d be ghosting words and gliding across the pages, I probably would have laughed. But I’ve never been happier and I’m well on my way to making these look like the hard times.