Why I'm doing this and why Subscribe?

Let's talk.

A Villa space for likeminded people.

If you have already got this far, then I assume you are aware of me or have been a fan of what I have been doing for years in the Villa YouTube/podcast space. It is also possible that you don’t like me, that’s cool too :)

Why this?

I’m at the point where I am working in the mainstream media for various companies, enjoying it, whether that be talking about Villa or football in general. I am very fortunate to have had the opportunities I have been presented with.

My Villa stuff creates an income through views/listens and whilst I am never going to reach the level of those that support traditional “big 6” clubs, again I am fortunate to be able to talk about the club I love, and earn money for doing it.

I actually used to write about Villa as a hobby, before I ended up doing “The Villa View” which obviously led to what I’m doing now, freelancing for the great companies I get to work for.

I’ve been speaking to people about substack and realised that without sounding like a football CEO, it could be an opportunity to expand what I do and being honest create a new form of income.

I see Gregg and Jacob’s work on “The Athletic” and admire what they do. I’m never going to be them, but I do think there isn’t loads of written Villa content to ingest away from the brilliant work at “The Athletic”.

This may or may not work, but nobody is being forced to do anything, and I want to at least give it a shot.

The bit that excites me

Apparently “You are not just starting a newsletter when you start a Substack, you are starting a community. You are inviting people to subscribe to your thinking.”

I actually really like the above.

As mentioned, I feel very fortunate that people wish to engage with me via my content and social media.

We all know that social media isn’t always the best place to engage and sometimes not the place to have reasoned debate/discussions with like minded Villa fans.

Substack will not only provide a platform for me to engage with an audience through written pieces, the community that can be created through the “chat” feature is something I want to be a big part of. I want to be able to talk to subscribers and have reasoned debate and discussions.

From the looks of things there are also voicey/podcasty functions, so I’m sure I will be able to make use of those too. I’m still learning.

So….

So this is very much a new venture, I’ve no idea how it will go, to start with, I plan to offer 3-4 articles a week, whilst also being active on the chat for those that want to talk Villa. It’d be great to setup a community.

I look at this as being a bit more of an intimate accompaniment to what my YouTube shows/podcasts offer.

The written medium is a different way to express yourself, and I don’t think this will take away from what I already do, I hope it aids it.

Thanks for reading this far,

Dan

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