Hey readers and fellow Renegades!

Welcome to this “State of the Renegade” Address for August, 2010.

I recently decided to start making a monthly habit of writing short, monthly blog posts that give you a better and more transparent sense for all of the updates occurring at DaveUrsillo.com.

I call these updates the “State of the Renegade” Address :)

Here, I’ll recap recent aesthetic and functionality changes to the website, as well as to document and recap the progress what we have been making in our efforts to embody “Renegadeism.” After all, we’re in this thing called life together. It’s not a competition, and I value your readership and feedback so I hope you’ll offer me constructive criticism and suggestions in the comments section below!

1. Design Changes and Evolution: What do you think?

The design of DaveUrsillo.com has undergone some minute-but-necessary evolution. I dropped the “grunge” background in place of a Japanese-influenced painting of flying birds. Most noticeably, the DaveUrsillo.com logo went under major changes as well. The old “shadow” logo evolved into a Japanese Kanji symbol for “Chi” or Energy. I began to feel that the shadow was dated — like a college student still rocking a bowl-cut hairdo. Like the grunge background, it was time for the DaveUrsillo.com logo to evolve.

The goal with these design changes was to clean up the look and feel of the entire website — to give a better first impression to new visitors (probably 99% of whom ask the question, who the hell is Dave Ursillo?) and to place subtle emphasis on the diverse influence that other culture and spiritualities have on our explorations of life, inner peace and happiness.

2. Readership Growth: THANK YOU for your Support!

As of this writing, the monthly readership for DaveUrsillo.com (absolutely unique visitors, page-views per visit, time on site) are up 42.55%! That is epically awesome! I’m very satisfied, humbled and so appreciative about the steady, continual growth that the website is reading. A very big and genuine THANK YOU to all who make a point to visit DaveUrsillo.com and read what I try to offer every week.

Here’s what you can learn from my blogging experience: I attribute this steady growth to posting consistent, quality content on a schedule. Since March, I have made a point to write and publish new blog posts twice per week: every Monday and Thursday.

Blogging on such a schedule can sometimes feel daunting. At times I wonder, what the heck will I write about next? Am I not writing enough? Am I writing too much? What if I run out of ideas? But inevitably, the simple act of “living life” provides me with an endless amount of self-improvement and personal development  topics to explore.

3. Changes in my Personal Life: What about Yours?

I’m excited to announce that as of this September I will officially become a resident of Boston, Massachusetts. Growing up, it’s been a dream of mine since I was a kid to live in Boston — a great city with an amazing energy that, as a Rhode Islander, you’ve visited, cherished and worn the initial of on baseball caps and tee-shirts since you were little.

What kind of changes are ongoing in your personal life? I ask with good reason: as a reader of DaveUrsillo.com, I would love to get your feedback on subjects, philosophies or topics to explore. What kind of subjects or themes for blog posts would you like to see tackled here on DaveUrsillo.com from the “renegade” perspective?

4. “Grouped” Theme Blog Posts?

I’m beginning to think that it would be a pretty cool idea to write sequential blog posts on related subjects every few weeks. Do you think it would be enjoyable to read a string of similar topics? Imagine two or three blog posts that are published over the course of a couple weeks, all of which share a theme. The idea would not be to split up one long blog post into three pieces, but that each post could be read independently and on its own. Some examples could include:

  • Love and Relationships
  • Achievement and Success
  • Hatred and Anger

…And so on. My goal with this strategy would be to invite readers feel more inclined to spend personal time intently exploring the subject, rather than just reading about it for a few minutes on my website. After all, the point of these blog posts and written pieces is to invite you, the reader, to really think about and explore these important subjects in your everyday life. The goal is to invite inner growth for the sake of our personal development, inner peace and happiness.

What are your thoughts on this idea? Do you enjoy being surprised by what kind of self-improvement and personal-development blog posts will be written twice per week on DaveUrsillo.com, or would you prefer the same “grouped” theme for a few blog posts, every couple of weeks?

Drop me an email Dave(at)DaveUrsillo.com or send me a Tweet (@DaveUrsillo on Twitter)!

Please let me know :) Much love as always!