Today marks the 1000th consecutive day that this site has published original tennis content. It is the perfect opportunity to reflect on the journey up to this point in time. More importantly, I want to thank everyone who has joined me as I overthink tennis in this open diary. It has been personally cathartic and fun.
Most blogs (and podcasts) start with a lot of energy and enthusiasm, only to fizzle out relatively quickly. Anecdotally, the “valley of death” is said to be in the neighborhood of 7 posts. Energy for the project wanes as people are confronted with the reality that it takes a lot of effort to generate content. It also takes time to build subscribers and impressions. It is hard to keep going when no one is paying any attention.
This site had an advantage during the initial stages, as I had a complete lack of regard for whether anyone was engaging. I simply had a goal to write a page a day about tennis. The decision to structure the effort as a blog was primarily motivated by the fact that it was a simple, yet strong, accountability mechanism.
Over time, I have started paying a little more attention to tracking things like subscribers and page impressions. Dabbling in rudimentary Search Engine Optimization (SEO) renders useful advice that I routinely ignore. For example, it really wants me to simplify the words I use to appeal to more readers. Dumbing down the vocabulary… doesn’t feel authentic.
Probably the most consistent question I get in casual conversation is how I continue to think of ideas for new content. In fact, exhausting the list of ideas is another prominent reason that new blogs fizzle out. At this point in time, my backlog of future post ideas has never been longer. The structure of the weekly rhythm of the site generates new topics faster than I can write about them.
As this blog crosses the 1000 post mark, I cannot help but think that I probably only have to do this about 9000 more times to truly master the art. That is to say, this site isn’t going away anytime soon.
If you regularly read my posts, chances are that there are people in your orbit who would also enjoy this site. I would appreciate it if you would take the time to let them know that there is an eclectic daily tennis blog that they would probably enjoy. It is super easy to subscribe directly to get this content served up into your inbox bright and early every day.
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Congrats on the significant milestone!
Great job getting to 1,000! I think I initially found you on Google search about some tennis technology. Your technology reviews have been very helpful, I started using SwingVision on your recommendation (and link). While the technology brought me in, the variety has kept me around. Thanks for all your hard work on this and I look forward to next 9,000. At that point, I’ll be playing in the 85+ leagues and I’ll need your insight to get my team to Nationals.
Teresa, congratulations on reaching the 1,000 blog milestone. The tennis world owes you a big debt of gratitude for your tireless research and cogent analysis of many of The Great Issues we face.
One way to tell tennis players and fans about your eclectic daily tennis blog is to email the 500-plus USTA Volunteers and Staff listed in the annual “USTA Yearbook.” You could attach your one or two best recent blogs.
Another way is to do the same thing to the hundreds, probably thousands, of tennis clubs, tennis centers, and other tennis organizations in the U.S. and Canada.
A third way is to contribute articles — expanded versions of your informative and thought-provoking blogs — to print and online tennis magazines.
The tennis world is your oyster.
Paul Fein, Tennis Writer-Tennis Coach
author of “The Fein Points of Tennis: Technique and Tactics to Unleash Your Talent”
Silver Winner in the Adventure, Sports, and Recreation category
in the Foreword Reviews 2021 INDIES Book of the Year competition
facebook.com/FeinPointsOfTennis
feinpointsoftennis.com
Congratulations on this momentous milestone! I read your posts each morning. I like your style and your ability to grab at the heart of an idea quickly, leaving me with something to think about further. And you hit on relevant topics. Here’s to 1,000 more!