That’s a lot of noise and what I’ve learned
We’ve broken 2000 posts on Blue Collar MTB. That’s a lot of bike blather.
Over the past 3+ years I’ve learned a lot about what it takes to run a successful and sustainable site…
Marry an understanding spouse. For the first two and a half years this stuff was done during family time and vacation days were spent going to Interbike. That takes a lot of patience from your mate and Candace has given more than her fair share.
Be willing to adapt. I’ve made a lot of dumbass mistakes that hurt the sites. I don’t really mourn them or think “if I could just go back and do it different”. I’m constantly learning and changing my approach in order to better serve my readers and sponsors. The sites are better now because of all my mistakes and in three more years they’ll be better for the mistakes I’m making now.
Realize that nobody cares about you. Your readers care more about themselves than you (just like you care more about yourself than the authors of the sites you read). If you’re writing a personal blog, then be as selfish as you want, but if you are writing something you want other people to keep reading, think about what you can do to add to their life.
Read, read, read. I have over 250 blogs that I keep up with. Most of the people writing them are a lot smarter than me and I am constantly learning from them. There are a lot of bloggers out there giving away their secrets… don’t ignore them!
Have fun! This is my last and most important tip. Keeping this thing fun is one of my top priorities.
When I was at the Trek/Fisher/Bontrager product launch in Santa Cruz last April we had a choice after the meeting to go ride the new bikes or take pictures and hang around. I was the only one of all the media people to opt for the ride. I was in flippin’ Santa Cruz! I’m going for a ride!
Keep what you’re doing fun and you won’t go wrong.
Now get out there and get started, there’s room for everybody!
