How to Have a Successful Blog: Revisiting Organization

In 2010, I ran a series of posts called "How to Have a Successful Blog."  At the time, I wrote the posts because it seemed there were quite a few people who were getting discouraged that their blogs weren't picking up enough traffic quickly enough!  I also found that I learned quite a bit from reader comments - which made the series of posts even better!

However, in internet terms 2010 was about a year before the dinosaurs ceased to roam the earth, and so I figured it was high time to revisit the series and see what (if anything) has changed.  My first revisit (found here) focused on when was the ideal time of day to publish a blog article.  For today's entry, I am taking a look at the second post in the series - Organization Matters!

For comparison, you can find the original post here.

At the time, I discussed three different types of card collectors (grouping them on organization types).  For the record, I now believe there may be another type of distinction that needs to be made.

Type 1:  Super Organized
This is the collector who knows exactly what is (and is not) in his or her collection AND this person can find any given card with ease.  Whether it's binders or boxes, shelves or drawers, there is nothing left to chance or in disarray.  For most of us, this is the collector we'd love to be - but few actually manage to achieve this level of collection organization!

Type 2:  Semi-Organized:
This is the collector who has a lot of stuff organized (maybe all complete sets - or team set - or a player collection) but also has plenty of stacks (or boxes) full of assorted cards.  At the time, I assumed most collectors fell into this category but based on the comments it seemed more people thought they were a Type 1 collector than I thought was possible!

Type 3:  Non-organized:
The third type of collector is the person with boxes and boxes (or stacks and stacks) of cards with no rhyme or reason to what is in the collection.  The person could just as easily have a Hank Aaron rookie card as they could have 25 Bip Roberts cards from 1987 Topps.  Amazingly (to me), no one fessed up to being a Type 3 collector!

Now that I have a couple more years of blogging (and trading) under my belt, I think there is another way to classify collectors - i.e. you can be a Type 2A or Type 2B collector now!

Type A:  Ordered Haves and Needs
The type A collector has an organized list of haves and needs ready to go at a moments notice.  For many of us, that means we have a link to our want list(s) on our own blog - and perhaps a link to the stuff we have available for trade as well.

Type B:  Non-Specific, Specific Needs
The type B collector is someone who may not have a list of certain cards he or she wants, but rather a more general requirement (i.e. Barry Larkin cards rather than 1987 Topps #648).  This person may also have a trade list of a similar nature - i.e. available cards sorted by player or team rather than by specific sets and card numbers.

Type C:  Collects on a Whim
The type C collector is someone who collects on a whim (for lack of a better phrase).  This type of person may decide to purchase a card because "it looks cool" or maybe "it's a good player".  This person might have three, four, or even forty mini-collections that he or she may slowly add to whenever the mood strike.  Typically, a Type C collector doesn't actively look for cards from any particular collection but rather he or she wants something that can "be used" by any one of the aforementioned collections (or even a brand new collection)!  This type of person is probably the easiest to trade with because they are willing to take cards that fit such broad categories...but only if you are willing to accept equally broad categories worth of cards in return!

As the comments from the first time around I posted something along these lines showed, many collectors probably feel they belong in multiple categories.  For myself, I would say the following:

For my Barry Larkin collection, I am a Type 2B collector.  I have a nice sized Barry Larkin Collection scanned and written about on the blog (and all the cards mentioned there are in a binder sorted by year).  However, I also have a 600 ct. box full of unsorted, unwritten about Barry Larkin cards and a stack in my desk that is probably roughly another 300 Larkin cards that need to be sorted and written about.

For sets that I collect, I am definitely a Type 1A collector.  I have an exact list of what I need for the various sets that I'm working on AND I have plenty of lists of extra cards available for trade for many of the sets that I'm working on (and a few that I'm not working on).

Finally, for my Reds collection, I am a Type 3B collector.  I have tons of Reds cards - but most are unsorted (more on that another day).  I also am somewhat active in trading for new Reds stuff - but not nearly to the extent that I trade for cards that I need for my sets (or even Barry Larkin cards)!

As you can see, it's perfectly fine to be a different sort of collector with different collections - maybe in another year or two I can re-write this post with an overarching collector classification.  Until then, why don't you chime in with what type of collector you are - perhaps I missed a type of collector?