Time for a little meta-blogging. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, it's blogging about the blog. Very self-referential. We've had quite a few things happen recently at Blogging The Boys and I thought I would share some of it with you. Also, we have some "help wanted" ads below.
Be forewarned, meta-blogging to follow after the jump.
Blogging The Boys is part of SB Nation, a network of around 200 blogs for all kinds of sports teams and leagues. Recently SB Nation scored a couple of nice placements for parts of our network, including BTB.
Check out this link which goes to the Yahoo Sports page about the Cowboys. If you look in the middle of the page, there's a box for BTB articles. Also, in their articles about the Cowboys, example here, we get links in the right-hand sidebar. This has led to an influx of new readers from Yahoo Sports. Welcome to BTB everyone.
In addition, over at the Sports Illustrated Cowboys team page, our stories are getting picked-up in the middle box at the top labeled Cowboys Football News. Welcome SI.com readers.
Given we've had an influx of new readers over the last month because of the above mentioned deals, I recently put up a new community guidelines page. We needed a new one because the blog is becoming bigger and bigger and it was time to get a little more organized. I suggest everyone check it out when they have a little time, it saves from confusion down the road.
The merging of BSR and the recent addition of the Yahoo and SI.com folks has given us a vibrant community that is in the ascendancy. Some of the FanPosts being generated lately are top-notch content, on par with the front-page. Keep on generating comments and FanPosts/Shots, they are one of the key ingredients in making this a great blog for Cowboys fans.
Rafael and I have been conferencing behind closed doors and are putting together a plan to bring some new and exciting stuff to BTB. We'll be working on the podcast again, we're talking to people about getting players more involved, we might be able to get some more inside info from sources we're cultivating, and we have some outside-the-blog projects we're working on that we'll talk to you about soon. Raf and I are hard at work trying to bring you new kinds of content to BTB. Keeping it fresh and interesting while relying on the core principles of the blog is our mission and we'll have some news for you guys down the road.
We need a little help along the way. There are three positions that we want to fill with volunteers from the blog. What they'd actually be doing on a regular basis hasn't been nailed down yet but we want to explore the possibilities.
- Graphics Guy - If you are deft with computer graphics and have time you could dedicate to BTB, send me an email. Point me to some of your artwork if there are examples to be seen. Put "Graphics Guy" as the subject of your email and make sure to include your name and BTB-name. You can find my email at the bottom of the front-page.
- Twitter/Facebook Guy - If you're an avid user of services like Twitter and Facebook (and other similar social networks), have some ideas about how BTB could better use them and are willing to help manage that process, send me an email. Put "Twitter Guy" as the subject of your email, include name and BTB-name.
- A/V Guy - We're looking for someone who has experience in stuff like recording podcasts, creating videos, basic multi-media functions that BTB can use. Put "AV Guy" in the email and include name and BTB-name.
In closing, and if you made it this far you really are a glutton for punishment, let me say thanks to everybody who reads and comments on BTB. From the guys who started out with me long ago, to the guys who started out with Raf long ago, to the smooth merger of both communities - thanks. Also to the new people who have come in post-merger, the Yahoo readers who hopefully have made BTB one of their daily stops for Cowboys info, the same for the SI.com readers - thanks. And to those who have picked up BTB from Google or any number of places, welcome and thanks.
Now back to your regularly scheduled Cowboys blogging.