One of the guys who oversees the network of sites my blog belongs to emailed me today, wanting to get my thoughts on creating a San Francisco Giants blog.
He wrote, in part:
I know its your favorite team and you would have no problem writing about them… I also think you would get more traffic as well since I think its easier to get a fan of a team to come back once he has read your blog. Since baseball past and present can be so general it can be hard getting people to come back. Also, it is much easier to get links from sites that index team blogs as well.
I replied that I was definitely interested, but that I would want to write in tandem with other writers, to maintain my primary focus here. Creating a good blog is actually a lot of work, I’m finding. I generally need to write for an hour or two every day, minimum, to allow enough time to craft content that will attract and keep the niche of readers that find my site, the older, educated, affluent crowd hungry to devour baseball history. If I could afford it, I would reserve three to four hours for writing here. In fact, if I were so situated, I would do little else but write.
I’m also starting to realize that I really should take 30 minutes or an hour a day, in addition, to comment on other blogs, syndicate my content and try to build links to my site. I’ve taken a minimalist approach with SEO and advertising since I started writing here, with hopes of building a grassroots following simply by writing well, though I’m starting to view my promotional inertia as missed opportunity. Baseball, past and present, can be a harsh mistress. I’d hate to be lagging on two blogs instead of just one. But that’s where others can help.
Thus, I told my friend here that I would contact a few fellow sports journalists I knew at Cal Poly. I am waiting to hear back from two of them and got a polite no from my former editor Jacob Jackson, who is busy with family life. I also sent queries to a guy I clerked with a few year ago on the sports desk of the Sacramento Bee and one of my best friends’ wives, who likes baseball, is a great writer and served as sports editor of her college paper. My friend’s wife also has a co-worker, Brian Milne, who is one of the best writers I personally have known and someone I definitely want to talk to about this. I would welcome any other solid writers to contact me as well.
Because of my education and writing experience, I actually know a number of good writers, people I’d look to if I ever had my own publication. I’ve spent much of today excited about the possibilities that may exist with this new venture.