Blogging is Like Baseball
When the Don of the Central Iowa Blogga Nostra asks you to do something - you oblige. So here is my addition to the conversation Liz Strauss started on blogging as a metaphor.
For me, baseball is life. Steve Rubel once compared blogging to baseball when he said:
Baseball is a good metaphor here. A blog link/mention combo is like a home run - a four bagger. You get attention, Google Juice, traffic and branding. Blog links without mentions and plain old mentions are like doubles because in either case you get two out of these four bases.
Ahh, but what about RSS? RSS is opt-in and it's attention. What if you score a blog link/mention combo in a popular feed you know has a high degree of attention among your target audience? Then we're talking about a Grand Slam, right?
Although we probably hate to admit it most bloggers are really singles hitters. Bloggers who make contact with their audience on a day-by-day basis rather than the big splash of the home run. No, its not always glamorous or pretty. But in a game where the home run hitters receive all the attention it is often the singles hitters that provide the all-important margin of victory.
In other words, blogging is a whole lot more like Tony Gwynn than it is Barry Bonds. So hit singles and you just might end up in the Hall of Fame.
Photo on Flickr by Scott Ableman.
Hi Rush!
Blogging is like baseball. Sometimes we hit grounders. Sometimes we hit one out of the park! And one of the coolest parts of the game is what's happening in the stands with the fans.
Thanks for taking part.
Liz:
Thanks for the comment. You are right on! It is easy to see why you have so many fans.
Rush
I love baseball and hadn't thought of this as my first metaphor, but you're right. What about all the stats?! On base percentage compared with your site traffic and depth of visit. Or rbis compared with how you help someone's else get noticed by linking to them. Then there's the venue: small and worn, brand new and state of the art. The fans. The flavors of the ball park. The journeymen players who fill the ranks of the minor league affiliates... ahhhh, now I think I need a hot dog and a beer!
Nice post.
Katie:
Your comments are better than an Old Style at Wrigley (well, almost). Great comments and thanks for sharing. It just proves my theory, baseball is life.
Rush