building my knowledge garden

I’m migrating my scattered content ecosystem into a single knowledge garden. This is a public roadmap of the work involved.

Why?

After starting a full-time job, I realized I don’t need a content machine, I need a sustainable way to share what I’ve learned. I’m consolidating 300+ blog posts, a decade of YouTube content, templates, and resources into one text-based, low-pressure space. No algorithms. No social media fragmentation. Just a garden I tend to.

Phase 1: Foundation

  • Create new public Obsidian vault (separate from my private notes)
  • Set up folder structure:
    • 01. Posts/
    • 02. Curriculums/
    • 03. Templates/
    • 04. Random Rambles/
    • Index.md
  • Create YAML frontmatter template/boilerplate (default for all pages)
  • Initialize Git repo and push to GitHub
  • Clone Quartz, connect to GitHub repo
  • Deploy to Vercel and verify it works (even with empty vault)
  • Review Quartz philosophy and customize homepage layout

Phase 2: Content Migration

  • Export all blog posts from Squarespace and convert to Markdown
  • Export/migrate posts from Medium
  • Bulk add YAML frontmatter to all posts (I’ll script this)
  • Organize posts into /Posts folder with consistent naming
  • Add tags to each post in frontmatter (e.g., tags: [productivity, small-business])
  • Move template products into /Template folder with YAML metadata
  • Move curriculum content into /Curriculums folder
  • Test Quartz build locally
  • Gradually clean up/update old posts as time allows (new images, updated links, refreshed context)

Phase 3: Site Architecture & Features

  • Create custom Index.md homepage (directory/hub layout)
  • Create /About page (portfolio of projects, origin story, why I shifted)
  • Create /Support page listing:
    • Affiliate links
    • Paid templates (Lemonsqueezy/Stripe links)
    • Donate button (Ko-fi or similar)
  • Add social sidebar to Quartz layout:
    • YouTube
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Email signup (Kit)
  • Set up Kit email signup form (embed on Index or dedicated page)
  • Configure Lemonsqueezy or Stripe for paid template sales
  • Set up tag-based navigation (so people can browse by topic rather than chronological feed)

Phase 4: Polish & Launch

  • Test all links work (internal and external)
  • Verify email signup connects to Kit properly
  • Configure Quartz settings (site title, description, social links, favicon)
  • Set up and route my domain (noraconrad.com)
  • Performance testing and load time optimization
  • Push to production on Vercel

Bonus: Building in Public

  • Record & edit YouTube video: “I got a job”
    • Timeline: been on YouTube since high school, periods of full-time income, where it’s at now
    • The shift: from content farm to knowledge garden
    • What changes: sparse uploads (tutorials + updates only), site is text-based, no algorithm chasing
    • What doesn’t change: still building in public, still creating, still here
    • Link to new site + philosophy
  • Write a post documenting this entire shift (philosophy, tech choices, lessons learned) - this is in progress now 😉
  • Share updates with email list as site develops

Ongoing

  • Migrate remaining posts incrementally (no deadline)
  • Update/refresh old posts as I revisit them
  • Write new posts and book reviews when inspired
  • Maintain email newsletter on Kit (send occasionally, not on a schedule)
  • Keep YouTube sparse: tutorials and updates only

Current Setup (Being Replaced)

  • Squarespace blog (300+ posts)
  • Medium (300+ posts, generates ~$50-100/mo)
  • Kit (email list with thousands of subscribers, ~$100-200/year)
  • Shopify (not actively used)
  • YouTube (8,000 subscribers, 200+ videos)
  • Various other tools/subscriptions

New Setup:

  • Obsidian vault (free, local)
  • Quartz (free, open-source)
  • Vercel (free tier)
  • Kit (already paid for the year)
  • Medium (free, keeps passive income)
  • YouTube (free)

Annual costs after migration: ~100-120/year. Down from $300+/month.

Why This Approach?

I spent years optimizing for metrics: views, subscribers, revenue per 1,000 impressions. It worked for a while, but it also meant constantly chasing what the algorithm wanted rather than what I actually wanted to share. It resulted in poor quality content, stress and - to be completely honest - a lot of fun too. But it’s time to evolve.

A knowledge garden is different. It’s:

  • Owned by me (my domain, my Obsidian vault, not dependent on a platform)
  • Built for people, not algorithms (no infinite scroll, no push notifications, no engagement metrics, no SEO focus)
  • Low maintenance (one static site, one email list, sparse updates)
  • Long-term sustainable (I can maintain this for decades without burnout)
  • Text-first (writing ages better than videos; it’s searchable, quotable, linkable)

This mirrors the philosophy of a “digital garden” - intentional, slowly grown, occasionally pruned, always evolving.