No, I am not going to be a reporting from every corner of the world, it just so happened I am in Tel-Aviv right now and could not resist taking a look at the anti-Nethanyahu protests going on. They are frequent, large and quite intense.
While on the road, I found some time to give the newsletter a bit of an upgrade. The readership has been growing and for that I am incredibly grateful. The average number of visitors since January 1 is up by 20% and the ‘open rate’ is usually 60% or higher, which Substack considers good (they think anything north of 40% is commendable).
However, I realized some features here were clearly under-developed, like for instance the ‘about’ page which is now fixed. Also if you subscribe you should be getting a more personal welcoming e-mail which I am not sure was the case and I have now fixed that too.
Many of you asked and suggested that I should charge and I feel that could only work if there are regular updates from my side which does not always happen. Still the updates have progressed and a few of you prompted and paid without me asking (and in doing so they set the price) so here is your chance to make a contribution or get a paid subscription. The newsletter is still free, but if you feel you can and want to contribute, please do so here:
The other way you can help is to hit the like button, comment or just e-mail me with thoughts and suggestions. Also I am not averse to criticism, in a way it functions better than getting positive feedback only. We grow through the help and advice of others so feel free and comment away. Suggest and critique, it is good.
There is no fixed plan to build this out as a full-time thing, I am very busy with many things, including quite a bit of finance work. That said, it may be something I want to do more actively and will be able to do, as you can do it from anywhere. Moreover with a world facing multiple crises there is no shortage of topics and thoughts that I can put on here. As mentioned before, the thing practically writes itself, I just need the time to jot it down and give it a bit of structure. I may even turn on the podcast option at some point … but a bit nervous about that.
So please, stay on with me: read, share, contribute, like, comment or engage in any way you can think of. I will do my best to keep you entertained here on my newsletter.
I'm more than happy to upgrade to a paid subscription and it's far more reasonable than the subscription rates for The Economist. Keep jotting down your thoughts, sharing your ideas (with photos), and stay SAFE during your travels. See you back on 'the rock' in Victoria at the end of the month.
I"m always more then happy to receive these well informed and honest pieces that you write Pieter.
Please stay safe in those troubled zones and keep the updates coming. Thank You Norman