What Should I Write About?

It's been almost two weeks since my last blog post, and while that's not exactly a new phenomenon, it does signify a lull after I had been pretty prolific for several weeks. I've started a couple of posts, but they just didn't come together.

So, I thought maybe I'd open things up to you guys. What do you want me to write about? What subject do you feel has been getting the short end of the stick recently? What topic do you see pop up and find yourself immediately excited about what's in the article? Or, what have I never written about that you think I should?

Also, this is a tricky way for me to sneakily "make a blog post" without actually making a blog post. Muwahaha.

Favorite Past Features

I've spent some time of late looking at a variety of my previous posts. I do a lot of self-critiquing and re-reading; I find myself constantly changing old posts that nobody will probably ever read again, but they've got an apostrophe in the wrong spot, or poor word usage in another spot, and I can't let that just hang there.

I also re-read for content, and I've found a few spots that I really enjoyed re-reading, and I enjoyed writing in the first place. As I'm trying to find more topics to write about, and formats within which to write, these old posts are a good first stop. Here are a couple I really enjoyed from the past, and maybe I'll resurrect them in some form.

Is He A Keeper?

Back in the early days of the fantasy baseball keeper league, we had a lot of questions about which players were legitimate keepers, which guys were borderline, and which guys were too unreliable, too unproven, or just too unexceptional. It was a fun little mental experiment for myself to judge a player's potential upside, downside, and general value in relation to other players. It was also a way that I sort of gave my (often unsolicited) advice to my fellow owners about their players, and hashed out some of my own players as well.

The odds of this one coming back are pretty slim, as I think most of my league has caught up to (or surpassed) me as far as baseball knowledge. As a result, I'd be out of order trying to declare what other teams should do. It was a fun exercise, though, and it's a good reminder that little discussion points were a good way to churn out several medium-sized posts.

Twi-Night Doubleheader

For most of one season, I did a little weekly recap on the fantasy comings and goings of the week. Best player of the week, biggest disappointment, etc. I was so tuned in to fantasy baseball at the time, and I had a ton of downtime sitting at a computer at my job, so it was natural for me to kill time by writing about what I was paying attention to.

The Game of Thrones posts I've been doing this season are a reasonable comparison to Twi-Night Doubleheader (though much less readable for cousin Michael), in that they're weekly recaps with quick-hitter topics. I don't foresee getting back into the weekly fantasy baseball recap post game, unless it were with a partner to bounce things off of, work together, and generate fast content. If anybody's got an itch, drop me a message and we'll see what might work.

Magic Decks for Review

It's hard to say this was really a feature on the blog, since I only really got one post up for it. But the idea was that I have all these decks I've thrown together over the years that could use some tightening, some review, and some revision. And, like most intellectual exercises, crowd-sourcing can create inputs from a lot of different angles, which is important considering the sheer volume of Magic cards that exist.

That single post and its follow-up (both regarding my Landfall deck) were actually pretty useful as far as trying to put together possible ideas for how to refine the deck. So in looking back, that's something I could definitely see myself getting back to posting. I still have the decks, and I think I put most or all of them on TappedOut, so they should still be visible to make comments and offer advice. Definitely something I could see revisiting.

Mega Man Magic Set

The Mega Man Magic Set wasn't exactly a "feature," as it had a specific endpoint. Once the set was fully released, that was that, the series was concluded. That said, it generated dozens of posts, numerous comments, and a good deal of discussion, not to mention the enjoyment I had in creating the cards and writing the posts. Overall, I would rate it as one of my most successful blogging adventures.

Additionally, while I can't generate many(/any?) more posts using that particular content, there are plenty of similar types of posts I can make. Most of them will be pretty hard geeky, but that's how it goes sometimes. I like sports and I like games, and sometimes the games take the lead. Lord knows I don't feel like talking about football anytime soon.

So here are some similar ideas that I've come up with, and I'm thinking I'll try my hand at in the near future:

• Create a D&D monster from other material
• Create a Magic card from other material
• Create another Magic set, this time using a different gaming "world"
• Create, create, create...

In thinking about these ideas, I think that the most fun exercises for me are when I'm trying to be creative using other people's bases. Kind of like a fan-fiction writer, except somehow even nerdier.

Anyways, that's it for this post. Just wanted to reminisce a little about some of our brighter moments, and give you guys a little insight into what goes into developing a post or feature. Until next time!

2015 - The Year of the Blog

Longtime blog-readers will know that 2014 was a pretty solid year for this blog. While it wasn't as prolific as some years, I feel like I provided some of my best content overall in 2014. Between some standard sports posts, a few new feature-style sports posts, and a variety of gaming-related articles, I generated something for everyone. Alright, well, not everyone, but anybody who would've come to the blog in the first place should have been able to find something fun to read.

Still, when it comes down to it, I had higher hopes for the blog than the totality of the year that I had. I wanted to expand the features to include not just baseball stories, but interesting tales from other sports as well. And just on sheer volume, there were extended periods during which I didn't provide any content, and I don't feel great about that.

But, rather than lament about opportunities lost, I'm going to set goals for the coming year. Most of these will be blog-related goals, but I'm going to throw a few other goals up there, just so you know what I've got brewing in my mind, and so that I feel a little more beholden to the goals, since "everyone" will know about them.

Here goes.

1. Publish a blog post at least once every week. There's really no reason I couldn't do this; there have been stretches on the blog when I've posted 2-3 times a week for over a month. Part of what hangs me up is that a lot of my blog ideas are larger posts; the CS:GO trade-up post took me over a month to compose and revise. So, this goal is going to have a couple of sub-goals:
   
   • Plan ahead. Have a couple of larger posts in the pot simmering at all times, and try to schedule posts in advance
   • Find smaller post options. Not everything has to be a six page epic about the adventures of Bret Saberhagen. Some of them, sure, just not all of them.
     
2. Post about the big three at least once a month. My big three topics are sports (baseball), sports (non-baseball), and gaming (board or video). This plan should help me get focused on my bigger posts, and also help give myself some direction for goal #1.
   
3. Get my editing landing page refined and ready to share. Most of you are probably unaware this has been going on in the background, but I've been spending some time trying to set myself up to offer editing services. I've been editing for a website for a few months, and editing for friends, family, and co-workers for years. I'm hoping to turn those skills into a small supplemental income. So as the main part of that, I've been working on a landing page to be able to link for potential customers. My goal is to have that up and running by the end of January.
   
4. Stream more (or at all). Longtime readers will know that a previous role of this blog was to support a regular Friday night Twitch stream by myself and two friends. We streamed mostly Magic, and we generated a small but robust following. Problems with Twitch, changes in our personal responsibilities, a general displeasure with Magic's recent sets, and MTGO's consistent bugs and other issues made us mostly give up the streaming game, but almost any time I've streamed solo, I've still enjoyed it. Whenever I set out to stream again I seem to get distracted from it, but hopefully establishing it as a goal will get me back on the horse. And of course, I'll continue to use this blog to support the stream, when necessary.
   
5. If possible, find ways to monetize the blog that also add value to it. I have an affiliate partnership with Amazon.com, and Amazon has thousands of ways to link to their goods and services. Right now I just have a single banner advertising Amazon Prime, but I'm thinking that with sufficient commitment, I may be able to post timely advertisements of great deals to both provide a useful deal-finding service to readers, and create a small amount of income for myself. I'm sure there are other ways to effectively monetize the blog, but those will take some further research.
   
6. Post something in the Steam Workshop. There are two possible avenues I could use here. The first is posting a CS:GO skin. I've tinkered with the workbench a little bit, and while I'm no expert, I'm definitely more comfortable with it than I was at the outset. I haven't made anything too exciting so far, but I've got some more content to work with, so we'll see if it goes anywhere.
   
   The second possibility is posting a collection on Tabletop Simulator, a recent gift I received (thanks Nick). I've collected a few items and boards from other workshop posts, and I'd like to assemble a kind of "catch-all" collection for a certain tabletop role-playing game I've played with a few friends. (Nerd alert! Just kidding, you knew I was a nerd when I started posting Magic decks.)

So those are my blog/internet goals for the coming year. I'm hoping to increase the amount of content I provide overall, as well as hopefully generating a little bit of revenue.

If you've got any suggestions or naysaying you'd like to offer, feel free to post a comment.

Happy new year!

A Blog About Blogs? That's So Meta

So a co-worker of mine asked me if I could talk to him about blogs, and I was kind of taken aback. I never really thought about having to explain what a blog is; I just started blogging. So, I was thinking, writing a blog about blogs and blogging could help me craft my blogs and better plan out future subjects. Here goes.

What is a blog?

If I were to answer this question as simply as possible, I think I would say that a blog is a sequence of articles, written by one person or a small group of people, generally about the same topic or group of topics. Outside of that, there's a lot of leeway with regards to what a blog can be. I would say they fall into three mostly distinct categories (I created these categories, so don't look for this breakdown on Wikipedia or in a textbook):

Personal Blogs

Personal blogs are just what they sound like. They're almost always written exclusively by a single person for their own personal interactions. A person can use this kind of blog to share their individual happenings with friends and family, including photos, videos, and news. These blogs usually don't make their way to public consciousness; they're more for your own relationships. It should be noted that Facebook has dramatically reduced the impetus for people to create personal blogs. It creates a digital bridge between you and your friends/family, reducing the need for people to visit your website to check in on your life.

By the way, the blog you're reading right now would mostly qualify as a personal blog.

Examples:
GoodPointJoe

Position Blogs

The personal blogs that have endured through the rise of Facebook are usually more appropriately classified as position blogs. These blogs address a particular topic or issue, such as fantasy football, jazz guitar, or animal rights. While they may be written by an individual, the posts generally don't vary in their subject matter. A hockey blog only talks about hockey. A movie blog only talks about movies. And so forth.

What sets a position blog apart from a commercial blog is that its creator's purpose is simply to generate the blog. While ESPN has a number of blogs, as does Yahoo, those blogs aren't built to sell products; they're built to sell themselves. Puck Daddy is a wonderful blog because it focuses on giving you copious amounts of hockey information and commentary. Yahoo benefits because the blog draws traffic, but the blog doesn't "sell" Yahoo to readers; it sells itself.

Examples:
Puck Daddy
Joystiq

Commercial Blogs

Commercial blogs aren't exactly what they sound like. They're not blogs that are commercialized, because even a personal blog can be commercialized. If you're extremely interesting and a gifted writer, you may be able to generate enough traffic to monetize your blog. And of course, Joystiq makes plenty of money from advertisements. But a commercial blog (by my recently created definition) is a blog that's put forward by a commercial entity to describe and advertise their services.

I may get in trouble with someone for saying this, but political campaigns' blogs would fall under this category as well. Their sole purpose is to "sell" their product, that product being their candidate. That's not a position; it's a sales pitch.

Examples:
The Apron (Home Depot blog)
Barack Obama's "Blog" (not written by the President)

So what can a blog do?

Well, a blog can do anything that communication can do. A blog is basically a passive newsletter; rather than shipping out monthly updates to select people, you post updates more regularly, and people read them at whatever pace they choose. For myself, this blog gives me a chance to share my ideas regarding sports, video games, card games, fantasy sports, social issues, and whatever else is on my mind. It may not be an income source for me, but I enjoy the writing.

For other entities, such as small businesses, a blog can be used to obtain and retain customers. Providing regular updates gives readers a sense of inclusion, and it always feels better to be informed about changes at a business. Additionally, a blog can be used to advertise special events or limited offers. Many companies, even larger chain companies such as restaurants and department stores, will offer "online only" deals as a way to both bring in customers and drive customers to their blog or online storefront. The worst thing that can happen to a company is to lose business simply because potential customers were unaware of their options.

I know this has read sort of like a homework assignment, and truthfully, that's kind of how I thought of it myself as I was writing it. But the framing is pretty blase, and I say with some confidence that this would get no higher than a C- in class, so at least it was poorly done homework. If you have any thoughts to add, throw them in the comments.

The Grand Re-Brand

As you've probably noticed, I've made a few changes to the blog. The title is no longer "Joe and Joe Sports." While Joe and I still talk about sports, the scope of the blog is getting both broader and more specific.

As far as topics, sports is just one arm of a multi-dimensional approach I'll be taking. I'll also talk about movies, music, video games, the Internet, the world, and anything else that comes to mind. I find sports to be a more common inspiration for writing, so that'll still drive a lot of my content, but it won't be exclusively sports any longer.

The other side of this equation is the list of people who'll be contributing. Other Joe is still a designated author, as are several other previous writers for Joe and Joe Sports. I've also extended invitations to writers from my other blogs, to make posts on non-sports topics here. But I'll be taking on the lion's share of content creation myself.

The direction of this blog is simple: make good points. I am, after all, GoodPointJoe.