Tag Archives: Reclaim Conservatism

Consolidation

I have some great ideas. At least I think they’re great ideas, especially at the time the come to me. Some are, some aren’t. The big problem is following through. Well, it’s time to simplify a few things.

I own eleven domain names:
4bauer.com – 1
blognewscoop.com – 2
floridimagine.com – 5
marbleheadregiment.com – 3
polkfamilyfunguide.com – 1
procleanextreme.com – 1
reclaimconservatism.com – 2
rv-bloggers.com – 1
spot-trot.com – 1
valetsplus.com – 1
and, of course
brightandearlyblog.com – 2

That’s bad enough, but do you see the number out to the side of each one? That’s the number of blogs or sites associated with that domain. Yeah, I’ll do the math for you, twenty. They are spread over five hosting accounts.

Three are for businesses, but aren’t being used — ProCleanExtreme, Spot-Trot, and ValetsPlus. They’ve gotta go. As for the rest?

Blogs.4bauer.com — This is our world-famous group blog dedicated to “24″. It’s going to stay. It’s historical.

FloridImagine.com — Will stay, but several of the sites will have to go. Some of the sites, like my high school alumni one, can stay even without much content.

BlogNewsCoop.com and the separate blog was, and is, a good idea, but it’s just never gone anywhere. I don’t have the time or the talent to take it where it needs to be. The concept was for it to be a place where bloggers could submit news stories that would then be used by other bloggers. Sort of an AP for conservative bloggers. I would love to see someone take on this project. @AndrewBreitbart Call me!

MarbleheadRegiment.com — This was originally a site for supporters of Fred Thompson four years ago. I still like Fred, but why am I still holding on to (and paying for) these three sites? And why did I set it up with three separate sites? Anyone from Boston want to make me an offer?

Polk Family Fun Guide — A good local idea that I never followed through on. It would have taken a big time and money commitment, and I didn’t have either to spare.

ReclaimConservatism.com — I’ve already pared this down somewhat, to just the two blogs; the main one, and The Bullpen (http://bullpen.reclaimconservatism.com/). Simply, this was intended to be a group blog focused on the theme of reclaiming conservatism. GM Roper and Doug (Stix1972) Welch are great contributors and I thank them both for their work. It could be something special, but I need to “do two” or get off the pot, so to speak. I would love to hear from any writers who would like to contribute.

RV-Bloggers — A nice idea, but I’m not living the nomad life just yet. Time for this one to move on down the road.

As these domain names and hosting accounts come up for renewal some, if not most, will be gone. I need to do some consolidation to make what remains more effective. If you see something here that you’d like to be a part of let me hear from you. I bet we can work something out.

One, The Other, or Both?

I have two sites, Reclaim Conservatism and The Regiment, that have been around for a while, but pretty much neglected. The ideas for both are similar with just slight differences. The main difference is this, Reclaim Conservatism is meant to be a group blog — several writers contributing on a single blog. The Regiment, instead of being a group blog, is intended to be a group of blogs — each writer on their own with some common connections and functionality.

Both ideas have merit, but which one deserves my primary attention? While you’re thinking about that, let me tell you what I’ve done at Reclaim Conservatism.

I had to blow it up, haul off the ruble, sweep up the dust, and rebuild it from the ground up. A nasty combination of neglect and spammers had trashed things so badly that I had no other choice. I spent several hours over two or three days trying to repair things. I just didn’t work. I’ve spent several more days rebuilding the site. The bad news is that I lost hundreds of posts, and had to dump all the authors. I may be able to recover some, but that’s going to take even more time.

Please note that part of the remodeling involved moving the address. Please update your links to http://reclaimconservatism.com the old site added “/blog” to point to a subdirectory.

All of that being said, I kind of like the way the changes have turned out. And speaking of changes, when I first started writing this post on Tuesday my thoughts were more along the lines of asking which one I should pursue. As I’ve worked on Reclaim Conservatism I’ve decided to place some new effort there. First, I’ll be reaching out to the original contributors — Douglas Ross, Doug Welch, Texas Fred, Dana, GM Roper, as well as those who had signed on to contribute, but never got around to posting anything (Fausta, Obis Sister, Kate, Sam Pierce).

I would also ask other conservative writers to contribute as well. If you would be interested, please let me know. Send an email to lakelandjim at gmail dot com. At least go by and take a look, and send a bit of linky-love our way. Hope to see and hear from you soon.

Follow Me

Want to follow me on Twitter? There’s more involved than you might think. I have multiple twitter accounts for the various blogs. Here they are:

While you’re out and about on the inter tubes, please go over and sign up at The Regiment. My goal is to have people from all 50 states actively involved in the first half of 2010. Just 48 to go! ;-)

2.9 For Everyone!

WordPress version 2.9 has been released, which means I’ve been busy getting my publishing empire upgraded.

That should do it for now. I’m going to bed.

And I’m up again. Meant to add the links last night. I’ve done so now.

An Explanation

You may have noticed (or maybe not) that I’ve been spending more time at, and promoting, Reclaim Conservatism. The reasons are these:

  • I’ve neglected it far too long. It’s a good place to blog, and it deserves some attention — at least from me. I want to build up the readership and showcase the writers there.
  • In light of the recent elections and the direction President Obama and the Congress are taking the country, the topic of conservatism is very relevant.
  • In light of the first two points, I’ve been spending a bit more time there than here. That’s likely to continue.

We are also looking for additional people who would like to post at Reclaim Conservatism.

If you want to contribute on a regular basis just register here (the link is down at the bottom of the right sidebar) and shoot an email to lakelandjim at gmail dot com letting me know of your interest. Or, if you just have a guest post you’d like to add here send it to contributors at reclaimconservatism dot com.

I’d really like your help. If you could visit and leave a comment, add the site to your blogroll or feedreader, tell folks about the site, and follow @ReclaimCons on Twitter, it would be greatly appreciated.

Well, I guess I better get over there and get to work. Hope to see you there.

Reflecting On Results

I have a new post up at Reclaim Conservatism. Here’s a taste.

Looking at the results from yesterday’s elections I see different meaning in the different races we all were following. It’s almost as if people are individuals with differing outlooks and ideas of what is important. (Yes, that was sarcasm)

Please go over and read the whole thing and leave your comments. While you’re there why not add Reclaim Conservatism to your feed reader and/or blogroll, and follow @ReclaimCons on Twitter. Thanks.

Reclaiming Reclaim Conservatism

I’ve spent a good part of the day working on Reclaim Conservatism. Please go over there and let us know what you think of the new theme.

Reclaim Conservatism is a group blog focused on the conservative core principles and positive action.

If you would like to contribute over there, drop me a line at lakelandjim at gmail dot com. Even if you don’t want to add your own posts, you can always add your comments.

It’s Not All bRight & Early

Yes, bRight & Early is where I do the majority of my writing, but it’s not the only place. Consider this a PSA for the other sites I work on. They need a variety of things, but mostly more eyes.

Reclaim Conservatism — http://reclaimconservatism.com/blog is a group effort with the aim of reclaiming conservative values. We are looking for bloggers (frequent or not so much) to contribute on that theme. You can follow @ReclaimCons on Twitter.

Blog News Co-op — http://blognewscoop.com/blog/ is a great idea that needs a push. I’m looking for original reporting by bloggers to use in a shared setting. That’s why our tag line is “by bloggers, for bloggers.” I’m looking for bloggers who want to contribute stories that other bloggers can use and link to. The only criteria is that it has to be original reporting rather than commenting on the writings of someone else. It doesn’t have to be a big national story. Coverage of a local council race or regional news story, interviews with local politicians or celebrities, and even your personal coverage of local events are all the type of stories I’m looking for. You can follow @BlogNewsCoop on Twitter.

FloridImagine.com — http://floridimagine.com/blog/ is my business site for web hosting and design, specializing in setting up WordPress blogs for others. Of course I do other sites as well. It is also a site for Florida news and information. I am looking for people who would like to write on Florida sports, events, news, people, and attractions. If you are a writer from here in the Sunshine State please let me know if you are interested in contributing. And if you are a blogger ready to move to your own domain or someone looking for a web site, please get in contact. On Twitter you can follow @FloridImagine.

Last, and far from least, is a blog I didn’t start but I am proud to be a part of — Blogs4Bauer — http://blogs.4bauer.com As you probably know, this is a site for all of you 24 fans. Season eight will be starting in January, and Blogs4Bauer will once again be the most irreverent fan site out there. The unique combination of snark and dedication is always a lot of fun. And while the real fun starts when the clock starts ticking on yet another long day in Jack Bauer’s life, we don’t rest during the “off season.” Casting news and other tidbits are up all year long. Check us out.

Well, that’s the roundup. Check out those other sites and see what’s going on there. Hopefully you’ll find something interesting, or even somewhere that you can contribute.