The Red Zone Report

I can’t believe that it’s actually been a year. I’m not going to babble like a brook here, but I’m certainly proud that The Red Zone Report has made it to its first birthday.

When I started The Red Zone Report, I had no idea what I was doing, to be honest. I knew I wanted to have my own site where I could dish out my thoughts on the NFL and college football, and allow passionate fans an avenue to do the same.

There’s been a lot of learning along the way, learning about what people like and don’t like, what works and what doesn’t. Do I have a full grasp on everything now? I’ve come a long way, but I know there’s always room for improvement.

And as much writing as I’ve done, it’s been as much or more about the non-writing aspects, from finding contributors, to promoting and marketing, and all that other boring stuff that you don’t care to hear me ramble about.

In the last year, the site has racked up more than 110,000 unique visitors and more than 160,000 page views. Good, but it’s safe to say that the site hasn’t reached its full potential yet, and that’s thanks in part to my issues with consistently having enough time to keep it going as I’d like. It hasn’t always been easy to make time for the site, but I’ve made it a personal goal for this year to make sure that the site gets updated at least once a day, unless it’s absolutely not possible.

Over the next few months, we’ll be shifting focus from the NFL and college football postseasons to the 2009 NFL draft, and then it’ll be time to look ahead to the 2009 season, which will be here before we know it.

Of course there are plenty of thanks to hand out. I’ve learned a thing or two along the way from some folks, and while I’m sure I could apply some of the tips better (and will), I’ve appreciated every tip and suggestion.

A big thank you to all of the writers who’ve contributed over the past year. Without you, it would’ve been nearly impossible to keep things running to this point, thanks to my aforementioned issues with free time.

Thanks to all those who’ve visited in the last year, and I look forward to seeing what’s in store for The Red Zone Report in the next year and beyond.

And I can’t end this without giving my props to all of the hardworking sports bloggers out there. Sports blogging has really taken off since I got started about a year and a half ago, and the sky’s the limit. There’s money to be made, yes, but more than anything, it’s about the love of the game, and making the most of your avenue to rant, analyze, predict, and so on and so forth.

Whether you like to write about football, or the other kind of football, baseball, basketball, NASCAR, or even cricket, the sports blogging world has more than enough room for you to be a part of it.