Thoughts on another PSU blog/site?

Write enough fan posts and I bet BSD would make you a contributor.

sports blogs are about the community of people, not so much the actual blogger(s). This site had some good content and bright people running it and that snowballed into a community where any time of the day you can log on and talk about PSU sports. There’s tons of people here and that means even when the actual bloggers are absent the site kind of continues on it’s own. That’s what I dig about this site.

So my point is, what draws me back to this site every day is the community of people more than the content/bloggers. I don’t know if that helps at all.

I would rather report on PSU stuff with my own style. The guys here do such a good job I don’t think I can compete.

The community aspect is important, which is why I wanted to add a forum as part of the site. Something that is organized yet still friendly. there would be a separate part for PSU updates and info, and a forum for the users to chat. I’ve been a part of some forums that really seem to feel like a community after a while, such as this place.

Here is my advice.

Blog because you enjoy it. Don’t do it to get rich and famous, because no blogger, myself included, makes a lot of money doing this. And for every guy out there singing your praises there are two guys snearing at you because you’re a blogger. Blog for the joy of expressing yourself and interacting with other people, because that is your pay off.

Second, find a niche. Offer something nobody else does. It may seem like we have it all covered here at BSD, but there are a ton of things I think we could do better. Offer those things and people will come.

Lastly, post. Post often, post every day, post multiple times a day if you can. It’s helpful now here at BSD that I can post something in the early morning and you guys can run with it all day. But it wasn’t always like that. So in the early going I tried to post as often as I could and I mixed up my posting schedule to keep people guessing. If you get the reading to the point where they expect something new every time they log in, they will come back often. But if they know you post every day at 8 AM they’ll log in at 9 AM to check it out and they won’t come back until tomorrow until you get a community going that they can interact with. If you fall off to the point you only post once a week you will never build a readership unless the stuff you put out is truly epic stuff (See Ron Bellamy’s Underachieving All Stars).

Good luck with your blog or whatever you decide to do. Let us know when you get it up and running.

But you need an original angle on content. If your planning on the same posts that tend to find themselves on every one of the existing PSU blogs, you may not get the audience you expect.

My advice:
Pics of hot PSU coeds. Embrace the fact that the only thing that turns a profit on the web is porn.

I think I can help you out.

It’s tough being the “other” blogs out there when BSD is not just far and away the most well known PSU blog, but is one of the best in college football. However, if it’s not about fame, or making money, but about getting your ideas across, then I’d say, by all means, go ahead.

At NittanyWhiteOut, it’s not about being the most commented, or the most trafficked, although we love it when we can actually spur some great discussion. It’s about sharing our ideas in the global marketplace that is the internet. Because when you get a great idea out there, there’s no better feeling than being READ. It’s the simple idea of journalism, you really have to think that you’re the best. You have to think that you are giving everyone more insight and better opinions than anyone else. Because if you’re not confident about that, what’s the point? If you’re just going to be content being a small fish in a big pond, there’s no reason to start a blog and dedicate hours upon hours a week on it.

There’s always another route to go. Start your blog, and become a polished blogger. Get in a few posts a week. Get to know and be comfortable with the blogging process. And then start asking other, established blogs, to help out. Charlie at NittanyWhiteOut did that, adding me and adding Kevin from Nittanydelphia to make us a better site. If there’s something you can add to a website that they don’t have, and they’re better for having you, then it’s a win-win. You get to latch on to a more well known and better read blog, and they get more and better content.

Hope I helped, and if there’s anything else I can offer you, feel free to ask.

Thanks for the advice Mike. I would have thought that setting a certain time for updates (say, posting twice a week at the same time all of the time) would have been good but I see what you are saying. PSUDevon, you are right. I really want to be read, which makes this more than just a half-hearted endeavor.

Thanks to everyone else for the advice as well. I’m using a really unique template for my site that I think will truly be innovative. It’s gone beyond how I think the developer thought it could be used.

I do wish I would have taken more pictures during my college career though. The hot coeds thing would not be a problem if that was the case. I’ve seen and done some crazy things.

Now, just make it bigger.

I forget the psychological terminology for it, but basically “random” positive reinforcement is (from what I recall) the best way.

Essentially, if you want a rat to push a button, or a dog to do a trick, or a person to go to your website, you have to offer them positive reinforcement. If you give it to them exactly the same time, for doing exactly the same thing, then they will only do that action when they know they’ll get the reward. If, however, you reward them on a “random” schedule (ie, not posting every day at 8 am, and only at 8 am, where they’ll check it once, at 9 am, but instead posting at random times), then people will be checking your site at 9 am, 10 am, 11 am, 12 pm, 1 pm, 2pm, etc.

As for readership, well I suck at reading blogs. I basically find one that I like, and will check out whatever links I see posted there, but I also rarely go to “link whoring” sites. That isn’t to say I wouldn’t go to the occasional link you post in a fanshot or whatnot (especially since I already “know” you), but I’d probably get pretty annoyed if you linked every one of your stories on here. It is tough, of course, since I (and I’m sure many others) probably won’t check out your site regularly without those “reminders”.

I do wish I would read some more of the relevant blogs out there, but BSD just takes up too much of my time, and any spare time I have after that I spend doing my actual work ;-)

Make sure you’re blogging because you enjoy writing and feel that your blog is giving you some sort of an outlet. I’ll also echo everyone else’s sentiments and say that if you can find a unique angle for your blog, it’ll help immensely as far as readership goes.

I’ve been running HHV for almost 2 years now and despite the fact my readership is rather low for a 2-year-old site, I continue to blog. Why? Because it’s my creative outlet. Maybe I don’t offer much in the uniqueness department (judging from one poster’s mention of a “Yawn” when he reads other non-BSD blogs) but for the most part, I enjoy what I do and I try to have fun with it. Otherwise, I would’ve dumped HHV at least a year ago.