Gay Porn Blog Birthday!

Today is the 1 year anniversary of Gay Porn Blog!

It would be trite to say, "it seems like only yesterday", so I won't. I worked my butt off to figure out what makes this thing work, and I think I have succeeded in doing so. The blogging phenomenon is still pretty new, and when I started, I only had a little exposure to the medium. Thanks to Daily Kos, Fleshbot (Jonno) and Sturtle for being my mentors.

Most bloggers write about very personal things - their cats, what they had for breakfast, and which Britney Spears song they're listening to as they type. This site, however, has a sponsor, so the conversation has to have more direction. It's also got a focus - the gay porn industry. I've veered off-topic many times, mostly for the sake of a laugh, but also just to test the waters. I've gone through phases where I was a total corporate whore, but I prefer to be a bit more subtle in directing traffic to my sponsor. It helps that NakedSword is actually a good resource for gay porn star images, filmographies and trivia. Serious porn fans are insatiable. When they obsess on a porn star, they want to know and see everything there is about him, so sending him to NakedSword gives him an unending supply of jack-off material. As a result, Gay Porn Blog is one of the top referrers to NakedSword.

What's the meaure of success? Besides being my own personal soapbox (which I love!), Gay Porn Blog has introducing a whole new crop of members to the NakedSword streaming video community. Broadband has changed the way people look at porn. Galleries of still images are not enough anymore. Users want moving pictures with sound, whether it's pre-recorded movies or live sex shows like Live and Raw. By discussing a variety of topics, not all relating to hardcore gay pornography, this site is reeling in a new crop of users that otherwise wouldn't know how to find some of the items I ramble on about. Don't believe me? Go to Google and search for "gay porn". This site comes up in the Top 10, sometimes as high as third ranking. Webmasters pay a lot of money for that exposure!

The negative side of this fame is that on two separate occasions, references that I made to non-porn entities have actually ranked higher on Google than their own efforts. The first was a minor celebrity who is openly gay. He appearred on stage in a gay play with erotic overtones and I merely reported on it. He freaked out that his mention on Gay Porn Blog outranked his own website and he didn't want ot be connected with a porn site. Well, honey, you should have thought about that before appearing in that play!

Last summer I wrote about a dating service that was actually quite supportive. Unfortunately, some anonymous person posted a negative comment about the company. The negative comment, which I did NOT write, ranked at the top of Google listings, above the company's own website.

To prevent irreparable harm to both of those sour pusses, I had to delete both of those blog entries.

And do you want to hear some real irony? The minor celeb went to the dating service and wrote a negative report about it! I wish I could link to it, but that would start the whole mess all over again.

Folks, the lesson here is not "don't piss me off", the lesson is, be nice to me and you might get returning traffic ten fold!

Blogging has now become part of my daily routine just like brushing my teeth. I look forward to many more years of providing scandalous and salacious entertainment to all "those wonderful people sitting out there in the dark..." (I BLOG big, it's the pictures that got small.)

I also know that the site is successful because I, myself, have been getting recognized on the street! That cartoon character really works - isn't that why used car salesmen and insurance agents put their picture on business cards? But I won't truely be a success until they make a South Park character out of me!

Please add your birthday greeting to the Comments (unless you are selling penis pills or links to Russian bimbo sites).