Chess and Blog Promotion

This was one of the first articles I read on blog promotion way back when I started my chess blogging experiments (you remember the good old days? August 2004). It was only upon a recent re-read that I rembered that chess was used for the opening:

In chess, promotion occurs when a pawn reaches the eighth square. At that point, your opponent is challenged because this simple pawn takes on all the powers of a Queen—the deadliest piece on the board. Of course, the pawn may be promoted to bishop, rook, or any other piece but why? This only clues the other player in to your secret plans. That being said, however, promotions to knight can often be strategically useful depending on the situation.

What the beelzebub am I talking about? Let's not get too lost in metaphor. Suffice to say, the circuitous game of promoting one's blog in the blogosphere (without the proper armament) can often seem as difficult and unrewarding as a day-long chess match that ends in a draw. If you play your game right, however, that pawn can hit the big time....

Ugh! What a tortured analogy; what a torture to read and his perspective on underpromotion, please.... You underpromote when it makes sense to do so. Forget about any secret plan which you would be unable to carry out in any case if you have already promoted to a Queen. You can make your own judgements on the value of draws. I have experienced both rewarding and unrewarding ones.

Enough of that - now, here's the good news. The rest of the piece contains lots of good ideas for promoting your blog (particularly if you are using Blogger).