So when I started this blogging adventure early this year my original goal was to was to get paid for testing outdoor gear and maybe get free gear. I started testing all the gear I had in the worst conditions I could find. I made my self sleep outside in a snow shelter in -3 degree temps in my post "One Long Cold Night". The next thing I had to do was get traffic to my blog. I had the "My Mom and Dad" market cornered but I am sure they weren't going to send me free gear to test or pay me either. While researching I found The Outdoor Blogger Network (OBN) and the great Outdoor bloggers who belonged to the site like The River Damsel, Mouthful of Feathers and Hooked Up Films.
My mind quickly changed when I read that people just blog about their outdoor adventures. I mean I have tons of those. I am not sure if people really want to hear about how I threw out my back and didn't shoot any ducks on the Last Day of Duck Hunting or anything else I had to say. Then I met Mike Adams from Up North Journal and now I have dreams of doing pod casts and filming my hunting and fishing adventures for other people to enjoy. Maybe even one day having my own Pro Staffers.
Now I hope to be teaming up with one of my best friends Eric Hess at Eric Hess Design to really make my site stand out. When it comes to online site building I need all the help I can get, so teaming up with someone I think is one of the best out there I don't think I can go wrong.
I believe in my delusions of an outdoor empire for R-Dub Outdoors. I do realize that I have a steep uphill battle. I see that in this game slow and steady wins the race. If nothing else I believe I have the stubbornness to stay with it. Maybe one day in a place where the grass is greener I can work my selfout of my current day job.
That's not to much to ask right?
HA
It sounds like you are going in the right direction with your site designer...If you switch off with the gear testing and field experiences (stories), I think that would be an awesome combo...and throwing a few vids in would be frosting. :)
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I would take it in two general steps. First, be opportunistic. Blog about what you can make happen. Film a hunt? Great! Have a great or awful or hilarious fishing day? Awesome. Get to review some free gear? Sure.
ReplyDeleteKeep an eye on who's coming to the site, and why. In your specific case, the blog is the heart of what you are trying to do right now - without it....no pro staffers (to say the least).
Eventually, get to a point where you are more strategic instead of opportunistic. Write posts and don't publish them immediately, because you've figured out that more people will watch your video on SUNDAY but more people will read a gear review on MONDAY.
There's an OBN forum on site traffic under "general blogging tips." Some good info being given out there.