I don’t think there are many differences. I hear from readers all the time who like to tell me what a blog is ‘supposed to be,’ pointing out how I violate their definition. The truth is, a blog is just an online space to log your thoughts. That’s it. It’s an online journal, or log, i.e., web log, or weblog, or blog. The biggest difference between blogs is not the subject, but the author. The key to a successful blog is honesty, it’s about being authentic and having the author be true to who he or she is. I think new bloggers always feel they must be someone else, and they try to be too perfect. Instead, the relationship between reader and writer is what’s most important, it’s about trust and honesty, and so the writer must be this way to have the relationship work. This is the case no matter what you are writing about, be it politics, pop culture or sports.

I had been writing MetsBlog for a good two years or so before I sustained one million page views per month, a lot of which likely had to do with the success of the 2006 Mets.  But, I worked hard at promoting the site to take advantage of the wins, be it by fostering strong relationships with mainstream reporters and columnists, who had yet to begin blogging themselves, or by pushing my content in existing online forums.  I worked media relations for the year or two prior to making MetsBlog my full time job, and I interned at MLB Radio, so I leveraged those resources as best I could.  I probably spent 50 percent of my time on content, and 50 percent on building relationships with media and with fans at the ballpark, talking about the site, in person or in message board communities, or in writing for other websites.  I printed thousands of business cards with the site’s name on it, leaving them in car windows at Shea Stadium, in the back of taxi cabs in New York City and just handing them out at games.  Today, I’d say my focus is almost all on content, 10 percent publicity and 10 percent maintaining relationships, i.e., responding to as many e-mails, Tweets, Facebook messages, IMs, etc., as I can – and I probably still accidentally ignore the majority of correspondence, which I hate myself for.  I believe so much of the site’s success if protecting the one-on-one relationship between me and single reader.