Blogistics

As a disclaimer, this blog post is not directly related to Laser Tag or Nerf.  I generally try to keep things as on-topic as possible, but I've noticed a growing trend of questions about "How come people like Tactical Tag" or "I want a blog like yours".  If you're reading this, know that I am not singling any one person out, but addressing a large general issue that I've seen worsening.  This post is only intended to help and not to attack any one or any specific blog.  If you find yourself being offended by what I've got to say, instead look at it as advice and follow it.  These are my Blogistics.



The most common thing that I see is a seemingly endless ocean of blogs that all essentially do the same thing.  Their goals can  usually be boiled down to "show Nerf Mods, review Blasters, and to update readers on Nerf News". While this is all fine and good, there are a few problems with doing this.  The first being that if you have the choice of getting your news from a major news source or from another source that gets their information from that major news source, the choice seems quite clear.  Readers won't bother getting your news if it's just rehashed from the major news source that they already check.  Unless you have the ability to get information before others on a consistent basis, don't focus your blog on reposting information that's already out there.  The same can be said for reviews.  Once a few reviews have been written up about a blaster, it's pretty much old news.  When folks are looking for information on a blaster they want to get, it's already out there.  What this leaves us with is "Nerf Mods", which means that only 1/3 of your blog's original focus is valuable... and that's if folks like what you're doing.  If this is the focus of your blog, this is also the center of your problem (unless Jerm or Pocket is reading this... in which case, keep doing what you're doing, guys!)  The bottom line is that you can't get readers/loyalty to your blog if it's just a knock off of what others are already doing... and doing WELL.

"So what do I do, Bazookafied?"

You need a "hook", something that will distinguish your blog from everyone else's.  Showcasing your own mods is one thing, but if your mods have original ideas and really stand out from the sea of repainted Recons and minimized NiteFinders, that can be the difference between having something worth watching and something that you could look at once and not bother going back to.  Whatever that "hook" may be, it will keep your readers watching and make them followers.  If what you're doing doesn't stand out, then maybe making a blog wasn't the best idea.  This is not to deter folks from modding, but it'll save you the disappointment of having a blog that just sits there.  It's depressing opening a blog only to have folks dismiss it as irrelevant, so be honest with yourself and figure out if you have enough material and skill to feature things on the web like that.

That's the basic issue that I've seen.  If you've got more questions or have a comment about this, feel free to share.  I'd be more than open to answering questions or giving more advice.  I've been doing stuff on the 'net for a decade or so now and I'm still learning, but I'm also an educator (I teach in the real world).  There's no such thing as a dumb question...

...most of the time!