February 20th, 2010

I don’t really write here much anymore

(February 20, 2010) As the subject says – I haven’t written on this page since September, and quite frankly this is due to my own mistake.  I had it in my head that this section of DealerDan.com was for “blogging” purposes – when in reality the idea I had when I first started the site was that it would primarily deal with news about the Dealer Dan Gaming Network.

I’ve no idea how I made that mistake in my head, however in thinking that it was a “blog” it meant that the type of content I would write here would be well – bloggy stuff – and honestly I already have two outlets for that type of content.  First of all there is Poker Affiliate Bible – I’d come up with an idea of something to post on this section of DealerDan.com, then as I started writing I’d be able to turn it into an article that I could publish on Poker Affiliate Bible.  The second reason is that I have my own personal blog – so a lot of my “bloggy” style of posts would end up there.  I won’t link to it but if you’re really interested in reading about what XBox 360 games I’ve played this week, or what movies I’ve watched lately, it shouldn’t be too hard to find.

So my apologies for no updates here – now I’ve finally got it into my thick skull as to the purpose of this section, I’ll make sure to update it more frequently when things happen that are related to the Dealer Dan Gaming Network.

So, what has been happening?  Well this year I have launched just the one new website – Casino Answers! It’s basically a casino Q&A website, and is very content driven.  I recently hired a new content writer who has been doing a phenomenal job, and I’m very passionate about the website and have been writing a ton of content myself.  Honestly this is one of those websites where if it doesn’t take off I’ll have to sit back and question everything I know – because I’ll be amazed if it doesn’t become a success, especially considering the amount of work we are putting into it.

As of this time, I’m not even planning on purchasing or building any new websites for the rest of 2010.  I think that’s a mistake many affiliates make – they get to a stage with a website where they are “happy” with it, and turn their attention on something else, then lose focus on their original website.  I know I am guilty of that, as I can look at a few websites I’ve built over the years where we are doing  a half-assed job of it now.  These websites are still doing fine – but man, they could be doing a hell of a lot better.  Do I think that they are valuable resources for the visitor?  Well they’re good – but they could be INvaluable resources, which I feel is something every webmaster should strive towards.

So 2010 there will be no new websites added to the Dealer Dan Gaming Network.  Of course no-one believes that – I have about 6 sidebets going with affiliates, operators and employees that I will cave and launch a new website.  Some of them are even sending me amazing domain name auctions which is very hard to turn down.

I’ve also been working on a much more relaxed schedule since September.  There has been days where I’ve had the nose to the grindstone, but most days I’ve basically did whatever work I needed to in the morning, and that’s it.  One of the benefits of having actual employees is you’re able to do that and delegate the majority of the work.

That’s about it for me.  It’s been nice to go back to basics and focus on content writing.  It also reminds me how horrible so many content writers are, and it amazes me that these guys don’t try and better themselves.  When you write on the web, you should be focusing on two things: writing for the visitor, and writing for the search engine.  It amazes me the amount of people that fail at BOTH of these simple objectives.  I’m not just talking about your random “100% COPYSCAPE FREE” posts on PAL either – the other day I was checking out some of the big affiliate sites, and was amazed at how poor their content was.