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Writing a manifesto for my indie business: what do you think of the result? Tips?

Below the current result. Any thoughts or tips doing something similar?

  • Pain point: "200WaD was started to solve a problem: most people do not write enough. We feel too busy juggling between work, routine, and relatives to spend time thinking by ourselves. "

  • Why this pain point needs to be addressed: "Some of us might want to change this aspect, for a variety of reasons: to share your thoughts, to materialize your existence into this very world, to leave a legacy, or maybe simply for the feeling of fulfillment scribbling brings. Writing impacts all areas of life. From business communication to art and mental health, words make us humans."

  • Mission statement: "The mission of 200 Words a Day is to empower people to write and remind them that you don’t have to be a published author to be a writer. Writing has been around since the dawn of the time, and no matter how much the world changes, we all have something to tell."

  • Additional content for the mission statement I need to integrate:
    "We are here to bring down the myth of the self-made writer. The journey is yours to take and yours to follow, but you can count on a community to help you reach your destination. Writing is social. Personal growth, collaboration, transparency, and openness shall unite us.

There is no overnight success. Being a writer is not a goal, only a process. 200 words at a time.

We welcome anyone willing to put in the work, no matter your sex, your gender, your age, your race, your religion, or your income: a free online writing group, open and supranational. No one should have to pay to access the benefits of writing and technology. Education is a human right."

#ask-ih

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    I love 200 words a day, and I want to present my use case since I think it's not really covered in your manifesto.

    I'm using 200 words a day to practice. I just sit down and write. There's no audience, no target, no SEO words to stuff in. It also feels semi-private. Some articles I write are good, some are bad, it's fine. It's strengthening my writing muscles, so I have them to use elsewhere.

    It's a tiny little part of my day now, I'm bothered when I break my streak.

    Over on my side project blog where I do need to carefully plan for SEO, or my personal blog where I need to carefully articulate my thoughts, I think I'm doing slightly better because of my throwaway words on 200wad.

    Also.. I can't work out how to follow people on 200wad. :)

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      Thank you for replying Rhys :) I'll take that into account!

      Concerning the following feature, you just have to browse a writer's profile and click the follow button below the avatar picture ;)

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    Nice work so far! One thought—there's quite a few big ideas are popping up in the text you've written:

    • People don't have enough time to write
    • Writing is beneficial to our lives
    • People should be empowered to write
    • 200WaD empowers people to write
    • You don't have to be published to be a writer
    • We all have stories to tell
    • Writing is social
    • Writing is a process (200 words a day process)
    • 200WaD is inclusive, open, and supranational

    Which one of these ideas is most important to you? The manifesto isn't yet clear about which idea is most important to the business. I think it's this—"The mission of 200 Words a Day is to empower people to write"—but I'm not as confident as I'd like to be. A manifesto should be very clear about the core idea.

    Check out Patagonia's manifesto. They start with a clear thesis statement ("We’re in business to save our home planet") and then give context as to why that idea is central to the business. The 5 section headings to convey related values in a clear and organized manner.

    You might find it helpful to write your manifesto around the structure they created. Or find a different company you respect and borrow some of their organizational moves. That should help clarify your one core idea while keeping related ideas more organized and concise. It'll be easier for visitors/members to read and it'll help you made the right decisions about features, as Cosme12 mentioned.

    As someone who writes every day, and gets a lot out of that, I love seeing projects like this! Writing a post right now about exercises/tools to stay productive as a writer—will include 200WaD on the list.

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      Awesome! Thank you so much for taking the time to write this Joel. You do have a point, I need to focus my efforts here.

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    I like it. I don't see that it's a business or how it's different from other writing motivation ideas, but maybe that's not what a manifesto is for.

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      Thank you, interesting. I'm going to have to clarify in the next iteration. It's a subscription-based community product (online writing group).

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        Like I said, I'm not sure you have to in a manifesto. After all, it's not a business plan.

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          I tought the idea of the manifesto was to help you take the right decision path. For example lets say

          "should we add youtube videos embed to the platform?"

          According to the manifesto we can make ourself this question:

          Q: "Does this feature empower people to write more?"

          A: "well, not really."

          Feature discarded.

          Q:"Does adding bold formatting empower people to write more"

          A: "Probably yes"

          Lets implement that last feature then.

          Thats my view on what a manifesto is for, and I think this one is not bad.

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            I think that's a good way to think of it. But then it means my earlier concerns about the business proposition are moot.

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