Housekeeping Part 2

This is a great way to start your Sunday: My post about going down the shore in the dead of winter was named "Blog of the Day" over at Jersey Blogs by Kathy Heyboer. The direct link is here.

Jersey Blogs is one of the many excellent blogs run by NJ.com, which is part of the Star-Ledger. When people ask me which news outlets do blogs right, I point them to NJ.com. The majority of the blogs are interesting, up to date, and fun to read. I especially like John Shabe's The Jersey Side, and Jersey Blogs is a great way to stay updated with us in-state bloggers.

I've been blogging since July, and even though it's a lot of work, it's been an amazing way to reach readers from all over the world. I check my Statcounter daily to see who's visiting from where, and how they get here (I found the link to the post on Jersey Blogs via Statcaounter, for example). I get a lot of visitors from Google searches, but a lot of readers -- maybe you -- come here comments I leave on other blogs, too.

Being involved in the blogging world has helped me tap into those people who love the Jersey shore but might not read an article about the book in a local newspaper because they don't get that newspaper, or they might not read a magazine article about the book because they don't get that magazine. But they can log on and read, and I hope I've made it fun to come back.

Then there's the direct results: I was interviewed for the North/South Jersey movie because of the blog. Reporters and editors can see that I'm an 'expert' based on the blog posts -- even though the book's not out yet. I think that had something to do with the placement in Cool Cape May. And even though I don't technically get paid to write this blog, I think it'll work out in the long run. And it's fun to do. As much as I enjoy my magazine work, it's freeing to be able to write whatever I want without worry about word count, tone, or rounds of edits coming back from three different people.

Do you blog? If you do, what kind of results have you seen? Or, how did you get here, and why do you come back? Hit up the comments box. Until then, it's back to Sunday with Sinatra...

What I'm Reading: Design Flaws of the Human Conditionby Paul Schmidtberger
What I'm Listening to: Sunday with Sinatra