Scout Patch Collectors

Friday Scouting Hot Finds Newsletter May 22, 2015

Next year will bring some changes for the Swapper so I’m going to start the process of prioritizing things within my online business. My son is going to Kindergarten which means it’s time for the “work from home dad” to get back into his career as an educator.

Patrick was born in September of 2009 and when my school year ended in June of 2010 I became the “eBay dad” who stayed home to raise him, chase after his older sister, and enjoy turning my favorite hobby into a business that could support the family. It is pretty crazy all the projects that I got into during that time period including a podcast, multiple websites, online publishing, creating the Scout Patch Collectors Facebook Group and more.

The good news is that I’ve already been offered a job teaching 7th grade social studies that I will likely sign a contract for later this afternoon. This summer I can begin dusting off lesson plan ideas and getting my brain wrapped around being in the classroom 5 days/week. However, it also means that I’ll have to spend this summer downsizing or reassigning some of my online projects because it won’t be sustainable with everything I’ll have going on.

I have been publishing this email newsletter every week since January of 2009. I can promise you that won’t change going forward. This newsletter has become the cornerstone of my “work” in the hobby and when people see me at Scouting events often the first they say is “hey I get your newsletter”. So that means everything else is up for consideration. There will be some hard choices made over the coming weeks but narrowing my focus is probably long overdue.

Change is good. I recently flipped through one of my Prices Realized Guides from 2012 (another project!). In the back I had a run down of all the websites I had up. Funny thing is many of those websites are no longer active or have changed their focus. Anybody remember Top 10 Videos or the old forum at Patchblanket.com or my pushing twitter on BoyScoutTweet.com. That was all BEFORE I helped create the Facebook Group with Brad England, launched an off-eBay store, opened two antique mall booths, etc. So like I said there will have to be some prioritizing going on but I anticipate I can spin off some of these things to other collectors rather than closing them down. Thanks for being a reader over the years and I’ll keep pushing out this newsletter as my Job #1. Middle school awaits so a prayer for me!

CLICK HERE TO OPEN THE MAY 22, 2015 ISSUE OF THE SCOUTING HOT FINDS NEWSLETTER