Website: Dan’s Take 

Interview With: Dan McGowan

When did you start your blog?

November 2005.   My first post was about the 7th Floor Crew at Miami.  Their song is still my ring tone.

What made you start it?

I wanted to be Bill Simmons and I had this crazy idea that I would be the first to copy him.  I had no idea what a blog was and I still feel like it’s not something I tell women I meet in bars about.

What is your background?

I’m a college student (comm major) that really enjoys journalism and public relations.  I work for a nonprofit organization dedicated to making a difference in the lives of children through in-school and after-school programming, so I’m quite passionate about that.  For a while I thought becoming a professional poker player could be fun, but I like my chances in craps and casino war better.

Do you blog for fun or are you trying to make it a career? What is your goal with this blog?

I’d like to eventually be a writer somewhere, but I certainly don’t want to make Dan’s Take a career.  My goal is to produce quality content and make a little money to pay rent and keep the ladies smiling.

What was your tipping point? What put you on the map? (if you bring in more the 5,000 uniques a month)

I probably haven’t really had one yet, although Deadspin, The Big Lead and Can’t Stop the Bleeding have linked to my site, which resulted in a lot of hits.

What type of blogging software do you use?

Blogger

What ad network(s) do you use?

AdSense, but I mainly find my own advertisers.

How much money do you make off your site monthly?

It varies depending on the month, but anywhere between $500-1500.  The two greatest things I’ve learned when it comes to marketing: 1) Everyone has an advertising budget, so why not ask everyone for money?  2) The Olympic/Nascar Model – Find a sponsor for everything.  Do you know that hosting the Olympics was so expensive that it almost bankrupted the entire city of Montreal?  Then the Olympics found major sponsors for everything and they are profitable today.

If you could get something for free to help you out with your blog, what would it be? (Ex: design, marketing, ad optimization, etc)

Design probably.

What are some of your favorite blogs?

The Big Lead and Why Don’t We Get Drunk and Blog? are the most interesting.  I get my baseball news from Baseball Musings, football from Pro Football Talk and basketball from True Hoop.  I read a lot at BlogCritics, Sox & Dawgs and the Futon Report.

Any bold predictions for the future of sports on the internet?

I think the theory that bloggers are taking over the world is a little silly.  The average sports fan is still reading newspapers and getting all their info from ESPN, and truthfully so are the bloggers.  With the exception of the rare few that break stories, most are just linking to stories you can find on the front page of ESPN’s website.  Almost all newspapers are already online, but I think they’ll still continue to be in print for a long time – I mean people need to read something if they take the train to work, right?