Discover The Power And Potential With A Future Of Blogging

Indulge me one more day to do some writing about blogging and what potential it has.   After all, tomorrow is this blog’s 9th anniversary so look at this post as sort of a “state of the state” message on where things are currently at and and where they eventually will be.

Folks, blogging has transformed into one of the most dynamic facets of the Internet.   I certainly could not have envisioned that possibility back 9 years ago…but that’s what it has become.   Let me explain.

C619587_lOne of the best selling marketing books you can find these days is called YOUTILITY: Why Smart Marketing Is About Help Not Hype.   If you sell anything on the Internet I urge you to run out to the bookstore and get this read NOW!   Don’t delay.   This book will change the way you think.

Actually, that’s one of the troubles with marketing.   If you are doing just about anything Online the same way you were doing it, say five years ago, you are nearly completely missing the boat, so to speak.   Terms such as SEO, Content Marketing, Content Strategy, Analytic Conversion, Responsive Websites, and others all need to become part of your lexicon.

So, what does all of this have to do with blogging, you ask?   Well, it has EVERYTHING to do with blogging.   As you will learn in YOUTILITY, a website which also contains a blog (properly written) has the potential of increasing that website’s traffic 5 times with just a minimum of 15 blog posts each month.

Now, consider that for a moment.   You can pay Google Adwords to send traffic to your website on a cost-per-click basis potentially spending thousands of dollars or you can simply blog about content answering the same questions that people are searching for on Google and accomplish even more.

Consider this case study about blogging.  Here, the small business by just having pertinent information helping people on the Internet was able to double their web traffic.   Also, consider this…when people read the blog and begin trusting you, doesn’t it also stand to reason they will likely hire you when they need some assistance beyond their basic skills?

Okay, enough on the nuts and bolts of blogging for marketing purposes.   The point I am trying to make is blogs have tremendous power and potential for the future.   A website that is designed and never updated for months or years is simply boring to search engines.   Yet, a blog that seems to hit all the key words and appears to stay fresh on a fairly consistent basis will drive those search engines and web crawlers sheer crazy.

All of this being said, I am here to tell you blogging isn’t going away anytime soon.   In fact, the day is soon drawing near when most folks will discover (if they already haven’t) how blogging has become a vital part of our Online world.   Blogging has a way of building relationships through trust, helping those who are in search of relevant information, entertaining and informing of news or issues.   In a nutshell, blogging is about helping people (you, the readers) and not a self-promoting, ego-inflating mechanism for the blogger to become someone they certainly are not.

As I travel full-steam forward with Sportsman’s Blog, I certainly don’t plan to make any substantive changes to what this blog has become.   On the other hand, it is my hope to begin blogging with even more of a focused purpose in mind.   When readers have questions about the outdoors and I’m in a position to answer it, I plan to share that information in a helpful, succinct fashion.   I also plan to share more information my peers in the blogging world happen to be discussing.

There’s some great outdoors hunting and fishing related content being produced by bloggers these days and I hope to long continue being part of that world.   I’m rather proud to say I’ve been blogging for nine years because when I started out many folks didn’t even know what the heck blogging was about.   Guess what?   In the years to come I’m convinced EVERYBODY will be understanding exactly why blogging is so powerful and packed with so many possibilities for all of us who use the Internet.   Just wait and see.

©2013 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction without Prior Permission.

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Time To Reflect On Blogging Over These Past Nine Years

In just a few days my blog will be turning 9 years old.   Wow!   In blogging terms that seems like an old codger.   Seriously, to be blogging for over 2 or 3 years in this fast-paced online world is rather amazing.   So many blogs have come and gone and to stick with something for nearly a decade is quite an achievement, if you’ll allow me to toot my horn just a bit.

Feedly is a great Smartphone app and computer website to manage your blog feeds in one handy location.

But enough of that.   Today, I did some housekeeping on my computer.   I went through my Feedly program and reorganized all the blogs I follow and deleted some of the blogs that have fallen out of existence.   I must say, what shocked me was how many blogs I used to follow and now they no longer exist.   It seems like just yesterday how many of these blogs were posting on a fairly regular basis, but according to Feedly it had been over 600 days since the last post.

Amazing!   Time really flies.   And I realize how people’s live change.   Heck, when I began this blog I lived a rather simply life—unmarried, just one job, lots of free time on my hands for outdoors activities.   You know the routine.   But life circumstances have a way of changing.   Today, I’m married with two kids, busier with my career than ever before…and time seems to be a commodity in short supply most days.

Still, I do my best to find time for blogging.   But obviously many other folks who give it a shot come to realize it takes a great deal of dedication and effort.   Moreover, there are those days when you just don’t feel motivated to write so you have to make some big decisions.   Do I write something for the sake of writing…or do I wait until I have a story to tell worth sharing?   Many folks who blog I’m convinced simply want to see words appear on their screen daily and don’t care about the quality of their content.

That’s not me.   I certainly do go through stretches when I don’t have much to say.   In some cases my life gets so busy I just don’t have time to do anything outdoorsy worthy of writing about.   Yet, I think my blog readers have come to expect and respect that about this blog.   At least I hope so anyway.

As I approach this important milestone with Sportsman’s Blog I am making a more concerted effort to bring some new life to the content of these posts.   I hope to add more exciting pictures, more video and perhaps a surprise or two.   Furthermore, I am searching for some dedicated sponsors of this blog who want to partner and be part of this exciting world of outdoors blogging.   There are some things in the works, and they will further enhance what this blog has long stood for in purpose.

As always, if you have suggestions for this blog I welcome your input.   Honestly, I don’t write for me, I comprise this content for all of you.   Anniversary’s are certainly times for celebrating accomplishments, but I also view them as an important time to decide where a person goes from that point forward.   As always, I value your constructive input.   Thanks for reading.

©2013 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction without Prior Permission.

Temperature Vs. Trophy: Making The Tough Call And Letting It Go

One of the dilemmas of early season hunting is the weather can be unseasonable until things begin to stabilize later into the fall season.   So, today I ask the important question…if a trophy animal presents itself within shooting range and there is a chance the elevated temps could spoil the meat before it can get handled properly, will you let it go?

I know for many hunters this situation can present itself and be one of the most agonizing decisions a hunter will ever make.   You could have spent countless hours in the deer stand or on a difficult stalk only to let the animal see yet another day thanks to prevailing temperatures and circumstances beyond your complete control.

Let me explain.   Back in 1996 I was hunting antelope in Montana and my season was winding down.   I was in day five of a six day hunt and the heat of the open range had taken its toll on me.   More importantly, it had taken its toll on my coolers as my supply of camp ice was quickly dwindling.   Past experiences had taught me how much ice to bring, but past experiences did not have to endure the high heat as I witnessed on this trip.

My partner and I belly crawled up on some nice antelope where they were within easy shooting range.   I glanced through the herd and picked out the buck I wanted to take.

But I hesitated.   Indeed, I did not feel right about what I was about to do.

You see, I knew back in camp I did not have the ice necessary to deal with the meat I would likely harvest.   Moreover, I was on a rough section of the ranch where it was over an hour to the ranch house…and another two hours to the closest city where I could have found a processing plant with a cooler or, at the very least, more ice.

Call it improper planning if you will, but the point is a shot taken at this point would have resulted in a nice animal bagged but a beautiful animal’s meat all but wasted by the act.   I chose NOT to shoot and ended up going home empty-handed from the western hunt.

These type of tough calls are all part of hunting.   Consider the deer hunter who sees a trophy deer but at the edge of his shooting range.   Sure, it might be reasonable to take such a shot, but hunting at extreme ranges also increases the odds for an extended recovery.   If you know there’s even an increased chance for a delayed recovery and perhaps wasted meat, is it ethical to take the shot?   It’s a tough call.   It’s also a very personal call.

This scenario can play itself out many different ways.   Marginal shots while upland bird hunting when your normal canine partner is not with you to aid in the quick recovery…I think you get the picture.   The main goal of hunting should be the preservation of the meat being harvested, but it’s easy to forget during warm weather conditions how the precious time clock begins ticking quicker the moment the shot is taken.

I’m anxious to hear your thoughts on this subject.   Have you ever taken a chance you later lived to regret?   Have there been days you could have hunted, but rather chose not to for this very reason of high heat perhaps leading to spoilage?   Is it even ethical to shoot a game animal when the odds are stacked against the hunter for obtaining a wholesome meat product to take home?

©2013 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction without Prior Permission.

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