5,000 Posts Not Out

A huge landmark here at Real Football Man HQ as this is the 5000th post on the website, yes from humble beginnings three and a half years ago we are here today. A big thanks to anyone and everyone that has ever taken the time to read any of the articles that I have written on the site over the past few years.

Now I must admit that I don’t really spend as much time as I would like to on this project simply because things have a habit of changing direction and I guess RFM has been no different. The aim like just about every over football website was to try and monetise it as an ongoing concern.

I’m pleased to say that it did bring in a decent amount of revenue but not one that was ever going to be enough to call a monthly wage therefore it was time to scale back the hours spent on producing content here and offer my services elsewhere.

That is not to say that the time spent building this website has been all in vein, if anything far from it. Firstly it allowed me (and still does to this day actually) to build an ongoing portfolio of work, one that has been invaluable in pitching for work.

And that is the direction that things have gone now, I’m not quite a full time writer but I’m a lot closer to where I want to be. The split between freelancing in non-football work and working on the true projects of passion is about fifty/fifty on any given week.

In a sense that’s not too bad because it keeps things fresh and exciting, not to mention it gives you a target to reach and strive for. That of course being able to do this full time, and it is here where I’ve now managed to add another string to my bow.

One that now comes in the form of my new Podcast – the imaginatively titled ‘Real Football Cast’  (all the other fun names had been taken) so this is where the bulk of my football time goes these days, personally it just felt like the natural evolution of what I’ve been doing previously and I think I enjoy the audio side more these days.

 

That’s not to say that it does not present its own challenges, especially starting from the ground up. But it is here that I must thank my sponsor Loserpool who have played a huge part in the early momentum that the podcast has gained.

Like anything though you cannot afford to rest on your laurels and to be honest the work here has only just begun. There are a lot of football podcasts out there, so just like anyone who took the time to read any of my articles I am very grateful for anyone who has taken the time to listen to any of the 15 episodes that are currently available.

What does the future hold for Real Football Man? The website will still be functioning and I will look to drop in some written content where I can alongside the posting of the podcast each week, as much as I love working for me you do have to go where the money is.

That’s not to say I’ve been defeated in my targets from a couple of years ago, I think defeated would be if I was chained to a desk job once again having spent every penny I ever had in the pursuit of trying to work in the one field I really want to.

Instead it is a changing of ideas, more pragmatism if you will. At the same time I don’t necessarily think that is a bad idea either. Maybe it comes with age the 31 year old who started this blog is a lot different to the 35 year old who writes the article today.

The initial dream was just to start a blog, so to even be valued enough to earn payment for your work is quite humbling but at the same time shows I must be doing something right. It’s certainly not easy, but if it was then I guess we would be all trying are luck at writing or talking about the beautiful game.

I don’t want this article to come across as bragging in anyway, perhaps I don’t share my successes enough. Maybe that’s down to the role that Social Media plays these days as you don’t want to be seen as being too big for your boots.

At the same time my ‘success’ and I used that term loosely is only due to the people who have got behind what I have done, without people taking their time to check out what I’m doing then I would not be where I am today. So just to reiterate thanks ever so much.

If you had told me three and half years ago that I’d be where I am now after just writing a ten a penny blog then I wouldn’t have believed you. It does however show that if you put the hours in then you will eventually see some form of reward.

I’m not going to lie, it’s not some magical path to glory it is a fucking long hard slog at times especially when you cannot see a way out to how you are going to make this a viable concern. Lesser people fall by the wayside, I guess thankfully I’m not one of those.

Anyway to stop myself from getting too self-congratulatory I’m going to wrap things up now. If any readers from this are trying their luck in this field and would like some advice from me who has been in the same position then by all means you can drop me a message on twitter @dantracey1983

While the hustle undoubtedly always continues, so if anyone has any football content requirements then you can also contact me via the twitter account above or you can email me at realfootballmanwordpress@gmail.com as I’d be keen to discuss any projects that are you are working on.

Finally when it comes to projects I have another one which is earmarked for a launch date soon, I best keep it under wraps for now……if only there was an 8th day of the week. Thanks, Dan.