to blog or not to blog?
kuzi16
Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 14,471
that is the question.
i am pretty torn.
i never really looked at my reviews as anything more than me taking notes on a cigar to better understand my palate and what i like on a personal level until recently. a few events and things that people have said have changed my point of view a little.
so what do you guys think?
should I start a blog?
keep in mind that anything you say i will argue against. i have arguments for both sides.
i think ill smoke a cigar as i wait for feedback...
i am pretty torn.
i never really looked at my reviews as anything more than me taking notes on a cigar to better understand my palate and what i like on a personal level until recently. a few events and things that people have said have changed my point of view a little.
so what do you guys think?
should I start a blog?
keep in mind that anything you say i will argue against. i have arguments for both sides.
i think ill smoke a cigar as i wait for feedback...
Comments
let me know when you go live.
Make it happen Kuzi. I agree, you may find it more rewarding by opening up your reviews to the masses. You will get tons of feed back.
as picky as you are, you may be asked to review stuff you don't care for. but you can always say no...
and it's time consuming
that's the only 2 real downsides I see...
we would all LOVE for you to have a blog site! But don't do it for us. Do it for you... and us. lol
WHAT THE H3LL ARE YA WAITIN' FOR??
i never started this to make anyone but myself happy.
ive been pretty happy just posting here.
i have put a little bit of thought into this...
i woupld only review things as a consumer. for me to do a review i would have to either buy it online, buy it from a B&M, or trade for it on a forum. in other words, i would have to come across it as an average consumer would, not as an industry insider would. any cigars given to me by a company or a sales rep would never be reviewed unless they knew nothing of my blog.
the "free" factor taints the review process in my opinion. lets face it, cost plays a big role in your opinion of a cigar. for example: Liga Privada No.9 at $30 a stick would not be worth it. same cigar at $3 a stick.... i would only buy that cigar ever. see what i mean?
what will separate me from the thousands of other blogs out there?
thats what im waiting for.
i know all of you will read it. but who else will?
i dont wanna bust my ass on ice...
As far as what's going to separate you from the others...that's a tough one. I don't know. Breadth of knowledge maybe, but to be honest I don't read any cigar blogs, even of the folks I like, so maybe I'm not the best person to be answering this question. I assume folks do it for themselves, and not because they have something special that only they can offer. They enjoy it, and/or get some benefit out of it, but that's just an assumption, and not something I'd insist upon.
Edit, after re-reading my second paragraph I realized it could be taken the wrong way. I didn't mean to insinuate that I don't like you, just that reading blogs isn't something I do. Good luck with your decision whichever way you choose.
another good point. i dont read many review blogs. i do read cigar news blogs. do i need to separate myself from others? maybe. iduno. you may be right. if i am doing it for myself then who cares if i am different from others?
never would have thought that you didnt like me. even if you didnt like me, i shouldnt take it that hard. not everyone likes everyone. as long as we are cival, i can take it.
You are one of the main reasons I became as involved as I did in the cigar forums here. Your wealth of information is, to this day, still astounding to me. Your statements are always well spoken and even when you tell someone they are an incompetent moron they walk away with a smile on their face because you do it eloquently. If you do it though, I would suggest doing it for yourself. Blogs are generally very opinionated in their nature. I've always enjoyed and felt enlightened when you have shared your opinions with me. Don't take the criticism from a blog to directly though, some people just want to argue.
I'm not too much of a tech kind of guy, so I have no idea what goes into having a blog. Because of that I won't tell you you should do it, but I'll say this, I hope you do. If you had a cigar website with reviews and articles, and whatever else is in that cigar almanac of a brain of yours, I'd visit that website quite a bit. Might make it easier to search your reviews too. Don't you also have a personal stash of older reviews that aren't on the forums? maybe that would be reason enough to make you want to type them up over time.
Do it for yourself, this will keep your content objective and honest.
Do it as a means to share your knowledge and passion with others, not egotism or a stepping stone to get noticed by the industry big dogs (a HUGE pet peeve of mine ~ all these guys out there screaming NOTICE ME!!! NOTICE ME!!! HEY, EVERYONE...LOOK AT ME!!! Ugh).
Do it because you have the time to spare to do it and it might be fun.
Do it because you could grow it into something you are very proud of.
Do it because what have you really got to lose???
Do it because of all the possibilities that may open or develop that you'll never anticipate.
Call it "Kuz i said so"
Then make sure you tell the bookstores where to shelve it. God help them if they put it in the wrong section!
You have the material
I would only caution you on doing a blog that requires you to keep a schedule. Sure. Post your reviews on a blog, and Ccom forum, at your own speed.
, Don't get caught up in daily blogging. It will wear you out. If you could find some software to translate your html stuff, many people would read it.
as for my other point about smoking cigars you wouldn't normally enjoy smoking... it seems you've already though that through as well.
so there we have it. Get the thing rolling!
and good point about the price... the LP no.9 is a bad example for me though, because I've only smoked 1 $30 cigar... and I like the no. 9 better... but yeah, at $3 a stick, I would have a cabinet full of em. lmao
i spent the last two days putting all of my reviews on there. there are even a few from the old forum that are no longer available.
there are a few of you who have had a sneek preview to test this thing. please dont post the link here yet. I will be going live with it in a few days. i have a few bugs to work out.
damn RSS feed.
if anyone is familiar with Wordpress and how they and browsers interact with RSS feeds and how to set them up, please, PM me.
there is a good chance i will go live tomorrow.
this also means a new review.
its been a while since i have scratched something off my *uck*it list (since 03-01-2010 to be exact)
I think i should tomorrow.