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Please help me with my new blog - trivialtraveler.com (1 Viewer)

H

Honus

Footballguy
I'm sure most of you won't recognize me, I'm far from a prolific poster here. But I have been around for several years now, and I do try to weigh in if I have a strong enough opinion about the topic of the day. I know what an awesome community this place is and I love the way we have a place to spend our free time in a civil society where healthy discussion is encouraged and we all have a voice. It reaffirms my faith in humanity.

So here's the deal, I've always been a bit of a know-it-all, kind of like Cliff Clavin, and in my former life, I was a cartographer, so it goes without saying that I love maps and geography in general. I even maintain a map of all the counties in the U.S. I've been to colored in. 1284 out of 3141, fwiw.

So I got the idea to start a blog - The Trivial Traveler (www.trivialtraveler.com) where I take time each day to discuss some point of interest or geographic oddity that is well off the beaten path. These are things that I personally find interesting as they lend themselves to trivia, or fun facts, if you will.

I'm trying to get this thing off the ground, both for my own enjoyment, and the distant dream that it might one day be a source of income. So I would really appreciate it if any of you here could take a moment of your time and take a look. If you like what you see, maybe it could be worth a bookmark. If not, no problem at all. Certainly any feedback, be it constructive or destructive is welcome and appreciated.

Finally, as I'd like to include topics covering the entire US, and I'm only really informed about a few regions, I'd love it if anyone had ideas for content - topics I could research and cover in future installments. If you've got any ideas, just reply to this thread, shoot me a PM, or contact me through the blog. Oh, and I should also note that I know jack squat about blogging, web publishing, even twitter, so if anyone has any advice on how not to look like an idiot, please tell me what I'm doing wrong.

Thanks folks. I hope you like it.

 
It might make sense to as you add posts to your blog to color the map red and link to the post. That way people can easily find information about an area they are interested in. Right now it seems kind of random with no way of finding specific information.

 
jon_mx said:
It might make sense to as you add posts to your blog to color the map red and link to the post. That way people can easily find information about an area they are interested in. Right now it seems kind of random with no way of finding specific information.
Click to expand...
That's a really good idea. What does that have to do with Obama?

 
Interesting concept. I follow a number of history podcasts and blogs on Twitter. If you follow them, they may give a follow back to help build a base.

I noticed your Twitter username is spelled wrong (missing an "i" in Trivial).

 
Abraham said:
jon_mx said:
It might make sense to as you add posts to your blog to color the map red and link to the post. That way people can easily find information about an area they are interested in. Right now it seems kind of random with no way of finding specific information.
Click to expand...
That's a really good idea. What does that have to do with Obama?
Click to expand...
Obama who? I would bet you have talked more about Obama than i have.

 
I don't like the graphic at the top of the page. You need a better, "lighter" more whimsical logo (it looks like the title of a horror movie). Go to Fiverr and for 5 bucks get a graphic artist to whip you up something more professional.

Also all the black bars and menus are dark looking. I might get a web designer on Fiverr to tweak it for you and spruce up to match a logo you have made.

Cool idea, GL

 
In the spirit of your Happy Valley Ghost Town, you should take a look at the old Kinsey/Continental distillery in Linfield, PA. HUGE abandoned whiskey distillery/storage complex. At one point, it stored more whiskey than any other single location in the world. It's completely abandoned now. Some of the office buildings look like they were just closed up as-is. Had the chance to go exploring there with a buddy of mine this past fall. We found the main offices, and some of the offices had file cabinets full of personnel records, the infirmary had bottles of Tylenol, bandages, crutches, etc. Simply amazing place. Similar to Scotia, it's also now part of a state game land. It's kind of grey as to whether exploring is legal or not, but there were several other people there when we were there.

 
Abraham said:
Your boston article has 2007 being the Red Sox most recent title, which is inaccurate.
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Oops. You're right. Fixed now, as is the spelling goof in my twitter handle. Thanks a million for the feedback everyone. I'll look into the more substantive comments here in a bit. Good ideas.

 
Otis said:
I don't like the graphic at the top of the page. You need a better, "lighter" more whimsical logo (it looks like the title of a horror movie). Go to Fiverr and for 5 bucks get a graphic artist to whip you up something more professional.

Also all the black bars and menus are dark looking. I might get a web designer on Fiverr to tweak it for you and spruce up to match a logo you have made.

Cool idea, GL
Click to expand...
Never heard of fiverr, but agree with Otis here. Your look would be excellent for traveling serial killer. I see it's a Wordpress theme. I'd look around at themes and find something happier. I see a faded old map in the header or something like that. Earthtones with some sunshine.

 
Honus said:
Abraham said:
Your boston article has 2007 being the Red Sox most recent title, which is inaccurate.
Click to expand...
Oops. You're right. Fixed now, as is the spelling goof in my twitter handle.Thanks a million for the feedback everyone. I'll look into the more substantive comments here in a bit. Good ideas.
Click to expand...
On twitter you need to get involved in the relevant conversation. Someone tweets about a trip to the bay area, you tweet to them about your related post. Tweet to people with lots of followers. Be friendly. I did this with football and Bloom told his followers to follow me and I had over a thousand followers in a weekend. I rarely tweet btw.

 
Ok, I got rid of the horror-show layout and replaced it with a basic stripped down version. I've got a graphic artist working to develop something more interesting that I hope to apply before too long. Thanks for the traffic too.

 
Awesome concept. I would suggest reading through the Penn State article. Some grammatical errors. Maybe find a cheap editor who can work by the post.

 
Point Roberts. Cool. Exclaves and enclaves are interesting stuff. Isn't there one in Kentucky? Can't google now.

 
otello said:
Point Roberts. Cool. Exclaves and enclaves are interesting stuff. Isn't there one in Kentucky? Can't google now.
Click to expand...
Yup. The western part of Fulton County Kentucky is isolated because the Mississippi River changed course. I was actually thinking of writing on that one today, but nobody really lives there so it's not as interesting.

 
mr roboto said:
Awesome concept. I would suggest reading through the Penn State article. Some grammatical errors. Maybe find a cheap editor who can work by the post.
Click to expand...
Ah dang it, I saw what you meant and cleaned it up. The funny thing is I actually do side work as a copy editor from time to time, but I got lazy there. Bought into my own hype as a steller writer, immune to the need for proof reading. Domo arigato for pointing that out.

 
Honus said:
mr roboto said:
Awesome concept. I would suggest reading through the Penn State article. Some grammatical errors. Maybe find a cheap editor who can work by the post.
Click to expand...
Ah dang it, I saw what you meant and cleaned it up. The funny thing is I actually do side work as a copy editor from time to time, but I got lazy there. Bought into my own hype as a steller writer, immune to the need for proof reading. Domo arigato for pointing that out.
Click to expand...
No problem. I'd be happy to proof a couple and if you like my work pay me! Kidding, but keep up the posts. I'm a sucker for geography and weird history. I've spent countless hours on blogs like Strange Maps.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Honus said:
Ok, I got rid of the horror-show layout and replaced it with a basic stripped down version. I've got a graphic artist working to develop something more interesting that I hope to apply before too long. Thanks for the traffic too.
Click to expand...
Looks great!

 
I think you should write about interesting stories concerning how state lines were negotiated and drawn, or fought over, for that matter.

 
otello said:
I think you should write about interesting stories concerning how state lines were negotiated and drawn, or fought over, for that matter.
Click to expand...
Yup, that's one of the themes I'd like to explore, like the PA / DE border, which is the only round surveyed border in the country. There's a story there, and if I can make it interesting enough, I aim to tell it.

And Abraham, I went ahead and installed Yoast to enhance my SEO per your suggestion. It has some pretty great reviews, so I'm encouraged. Very helpful tip.

 
Honus said:
otello said:
Point Roberts. Cool. Exclaves and enclaves are interesting stuff. Isn't there one in Kentucky? Can't google now.
Click to expand...
Yup. The western part of Fulton County Kentucky is isolated because the Mississippi River changed course. I was actually thinking of writing on that one today, but nobody really lives there so it's not as interesting.
Click to expand...
There is a similar one in northern Manhattan, I believe.
 
otello said:
Honus said:
otello said:
Point Roberts. Cool. Exclaves and enclaves are interesting stuff. Isn't there one in Kentucky? Can't google now.
Click to expand...
Yup. The western part of Fulton County Kentucky is isolated because the Mississippi River changed course. I was actually thinking of writing on that one today, but nobody really lives there so it's not as interesting.
Click to expand...
There is a similar one in northern Manhattan, I believe.
Click to expand...
That's Marble Hill. Believe it or not, two weeks ago I took a bus five hours to Manhattan just so I could check that place out. God, I must be some kind of dork. Im hoping that sort of knowledge will make me well-suited to this endeavor.
 
The response I've gotten on my more recent posts has been really encouraging, thanks in no small part to some of you guys. So I've been doing some research, and it seems I don't have to turn a profit, or even come close, for the first couple of years to claim my blog as a business to the IRS and use it as a tax shelter

That is, as long as I can justify that I'm really working at it as if it is more than a hobby - things like printing business cards, keeping and diligently maintaining a separate bank account, and continually trying to grow the business and improve my brand. I just bought some books on blogging, web developing, and travel writing, and there are a few conferences out there that I think I could really learn a lot from. I know local laws vary, but it's encouraging to know that at the federal level, there is an incentive to go out on my own and try to build a business from the ground up, no matter how profitable it ends up being.

Does anyone here have experience with starting a small business? Am I understanding this correctly? Do you have any additional advice on proving it's legit?

Now a shameless plug - I've been able so far to discuss one new topic each day that I personally think is pretty interesting. So please give it a visit and bump my traffic.

www.trivialtraveler.com

 
Create a Facebook page and Google+ page for your "business" and put the social icons on the website. There is also a plug-in you can use for Wordpress that includes all the share buttons for your articles. You need to make this easily shareable for people that show up there.

At the same time, when you post a blog, share it on your own Facebook page and Google+: if you get people coming back to here from social media that will help you in the long run from an organic search standpoint.

And agree with the previous poster about installing something like Yoast plug-in for search engine optimization. If the end game is to make money at this someday, do all the right things now to start getting traction.

Good search engine optimization means you have somewhat of a strategy for how you are positioning this blog for the users and search engines. Meaning, there are some things you can do in the back-end coding through the Yoast plug-in that basically says:

Travel Blog for the United States

And then every subsequent article is optimized for the places you are writing about. I could help you with this. You'd be surprised how quickly you can rank some of these articles just by doing some easy SEO.

 
Man, I always confuse those two. I've lived in center County for 15 years now, you think I have it figured out. Especially since I claim to be good at geography. :bag:

 
Hey gang, I just wanted to let you guys know that this morning, I reached 1000 total visits. I owe a good bit of that to traffic I've gained from posting in the FFA. So thank you.

Incidentally, for anyone interested, I have added posts on the following topics:

- The Quick Stop from 'Clerks'

- statues of 'Peanuts' characters in St. Paul, MN

- The NY Supreme Court building in Manhattan, used for exterior shots on 'Night Court'

- the Wye Oak, a giant, 450-year-old tree on Maryland's Eastern Shore

- Waverly Place, a NYC street that intersects with itself

- Junaluska, one of many large, carved sculptures of Native Americans around the country, this one located in Johnson City, TN

You can find them at www.trivialtraveler.com :shamelessplug:

 
Have you been to all the places you talk about or is it a mix of ones you've visited and ones you just know about?

When you do visit you may want to consider doing a video blog about the places you are visiting.

 
Honus said:
Hey gang, I just wanted to let you guys know that this morning, I reached 1000 total visits. I owe a good bit of that to traffic I've gained from posting in the FFA. So thank you.

Incidentally, for anyone interested, I have added posts on the following topics:

- The Quick Stop from 'Clerks'

- statues of 'Peanuts' characters in St. Paul, MN

- The NY Supreme Court building in Manhattan, used for exterior shots on 'Night Court'

- the Wye Oak, a giant, 450-year-old tree on Maryland's Eastern Shore

- Waverly Place, a NYC street that intersects with itself

- Junaluska, one of many large, carved sculptures of Native Americans around the country, this one located in Johnson City, TN

You can find them at www.trivialtraveler.com :shamelessplug:
Click to expand...
Looks cool so far. :thumbup:

 
Honus said:
Hey gang, I just wanted to let you guys know that this morning, I reached 1000 total visits. I owe a good bit of that to traffic I've gained from posting in the FFA. So thank you.

Incidentally, for anyone interested, I have added posts on the following topics:

- The Quick Stop from 'Clerks'

- statues of 'Peanuts' characters in St. Paul, MN

- The NY Supreme Court building in Manhattan, used for exterior shots on 'Night Court'

- the Wye Oak, a giant, 450-year-old tree on Maryland's Eastern Shore

- Waverly Place, a NYC street that intersects with itself

- Junaluska, one of many large, carved sculptures of Native Americans around the country, this one located in Johnson City, TN

You can find them at www.trivialtraveler.com :shamelessplug:
Click to expand...
I hooked up with Caitlin Bree in the mid 80s. Let me know if you want the details for your blog.

 
Evilgrin 72 said:
Honus said:
Hey gang, I just wanted to let you guys know that this morning, I reached 1000 total visits. I owe a good bit of that to traffic I've gained from posting in the FFA. So thank you.

Incidentally, for anyone interested, I have added posts on the following topics:

- The Quick Stop from 'Clerks'

- statues of 'Peanuts' characters in St. Paul, MN

- The NY Supreme Court building in Manhattan, used for exterior shots on 'Night Court'

- the Wye Oak, a giant, 450-year-old tree on Maryland's Eastern Shore

- Waverly Place, a NYC street that intersects with itself

- Junaluska, one of many large, carved sculptures of Native Americans around the country, this one located in Johnson City, TN

You can find them at www.trivialtraveler.com :shamelessplug:
Click to expand...
I hooked up with Caitlin Bree in the mid 80s. Let me know if you want the details for your blog.
Click to expand...
I'd like the details for my flog.
 
Ignoramus said:
Evilgrin 72 said:
Honus said:
Hey gang, I just wanted to let you guys know that this morning, I reached 1000 total visits. I owe a good bit of that to traffic I've gained from posting in the FFA. So thank you.

Incidentally, for anyone interested, I have added posts on the following topics:

- The Quick Stop from 'Clerks'

- statues of 'Peanuts' characters in St. Paul, MN

- The NY Supreme Court building in Manhattan, used for exterior shots on 'Night Court'

- the Wye Oak, a giant, 450-year-old tree on Maryland's Eastern Shore

- Waverly Place, a NYC street that intersects with itself

- Junaluska, one of many large, carved sculptures of Native Americans around the country, this one located in Johnson City, TN

You can find them at www.trivialtraveler.com :shamelessplug:
Click to expand...
I hooked up with Caitlin Bree in the mid 80s. Let me know if you want the details for your blog.
Click to expand...
I'd like the details for my flog.
Click to expand...
:lmao: :lmao:

 
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