Opportunity knocks. Sometimes, it even hits you right in the face and demands attention.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
How I'm Trying To Make Money Sports Blogging
To kick off this series of articles general sports-blogging articles here at OTF Classic, I think it's best to start with a comment that Brad left here last week, after I shared my goals for 2012, which include specific revenue targets:
It's not unreasonable to try and earn a buck or two at this gig, but in order to do so in a sustainable fashion, you're going to have to provide real value to your readers. Your wit & wisdom aren't generally enough to do that, so simply slapping banner ads up on your site and hoping that zillions of eyeballs will translate into significant cash isn't a realistic option. I had Google Adsense ads here on this site for years without ever hitting the $100-mark.
So here I'll share the various revenue channels which I'm developing in this pursuit of sports blogging as "more than hobby'...
I considered diving into the world of internet marketing myself, but I felt that my friends would hate me for bugging them about stuff. I mean, it's pretty low-risk high-reward, so it's tempting. I wouldn't mind reading about tips on how to maximize impact of blogging in general to make it a legitimate income source.Trying to make money at sports blogging can be a very touchy subject - for the vast majority of us, this is an activity we pursue to both exercise our creativity and share our love of the game, whether it's hockey, football, badminton, whatever, with fellow fans. Mixing that personal conversation with a commercial message can turn people off, especially if it becomes too intrusive for the reader.
It's not unreasonable to try and earn a buck or two at this gig, but in order to do so in a sustainable fashion, you're going to have to provide real value to your readers. Your wit & wisdom aren't generally enough to do that, so simply slapping banner ads up on your site and hoping that zillions of eyeballs will translate into significant cash isn't a realistic option. I had Google Adsense ads here on this site for years without ever hitting the $100-mark.
So here I'll share the various revenue channels which I'm developing in this pursuit of sports blogging as "more than hobby'...
Friday, January 13, 2012
Getting bigger & better in 2012
2011 proved to be a turning point in my approach to hockey blogging, and I'm really looking forward to a productive 2012. They say that writing down your goals is the first step towards making them happen, so here we go...
In order to set my goals for 2012 in proper context, I think it's worth sharing some of what got done in 2011:
In order to set my goals for 2012 in proper context, I think it's worth sharing some of what got done in 2011:
- Roughly doubled the readership & traffic levels at OTF compared to 2010, which was honored by the Nashville Scene as Best Sports Blog in Nashville.
- Added Marc Torrence (@OTFMarc) and Sam Page (@predsblog) to the writing staff at OTF, bringing different perspectives to the table.
- Went through a redesign of Hockey Gear HQ and dove into the concept of internet marketing, earning just over $900 in revenue for the year. Having published less than 1% of the planned content for that site, I'm extremely hopeful that this can turn into a significant income generator.
- Published an e-book on my fantasy hockey draft strategy, which, despite some glitches along the way, seems to have helped a number of folks. That strategy appears to be working, as I'm currently in 1st place in all 3 of the leagues where I used it!
- Started an email newsletter at Hockey Gear HQ which now has over 100 subscribers, who receive updates every week or two about the latest sales and coupon codes related to all things hockey.
- Dipped my toe into the waters of video blogging by setting up YouTube channels for both OTF and Hockey Gear HQ.
So what are my goals for 2012?
- Double the readership at OTF again, specifically targeting 5 million page views for 2012.
- Design templates which clearly present key hockey stats (including advanced stuff) for teams & players, to make their use in OTF articles more useful and accessible for the reader.
- Publish at least one article per day at Hockey Gear HQ, and earn at least $10,000 there.
- Revise and expand my fantasy hockey e-book this summer.
- Grow the HGHQ email newsletter list to 1,000 subscribers
- Produce at least one video blog each week, either for OTF or HGHQ.
- Post at least one article per week here at OTF Classic, touching on issues relating to sports blogging in general (social media, search engine optimization, tips & tools, etc.).
Can I hit these goals? We'll see, but at least this takes care of my OTF Classic post of the week!
By the way, if there are any topics you'd like me to write about here, feel free to let me know in the comments...
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
The Rebuilding of Hockey Gear HQ
What a pain Russian hackers can be, eh?
My last couple weeks have been consumed by an infestation over at my side project, Hockey Gear HQ, which ultimately required burning the site to the ground and rebuilding it from scratch, making sure that my WordPress installation is air-tight this time around. I'm not completely done with the job yet, but the site is back up and running (quite safely I might add).
There was an opportunity in this effort, however, to freshen up the look of the place, which I was never quite happy with. So I've gone with the Genesis Theme Framework from StudioPress, using the News Child Theme, and I'm thrilled with it so far. The site not only looks more integrated and professional than my previous attempt, but the flexibility of the platform is amazing, I've only begun to dig into the various features that it offers.
In particular, I like the basic setup I've got in the main column, with the 5 most recent Featured articles showcased in a slider, below which two columns highlight recent posts from the Coupons and Reviews sections, because those are the two areas which I believe provide the most value to people stopping by the front page. I've got more work to do with navigation and adding some imagery, but so far I think it's already a big improvement over what I had before.
So while these last two weeks has been an experience that I would never have willingly gone through at this point in time, it's proven to contain some unexpected benefits. With two new products reviews coming in the next few days, and a host of ideas waiting in the queue, it should be a busy fall season at Hockey Gear HQ!
For those of you out there with sites of your own, how often do you take a fresh look at the design of your site, if ever? It's quite easy to set it up initially with a specific plan in place, but over time, the content & direction of the blog might take things in a new direction. Perhaps your design needs to keep up with the times...
My last couple weeks have been consumed by an infestation over at my side project, Hockey Gear HQ, which ultimately required burning the site to the ground and rebuilding it from scratch, making sure that my WordPress installation is air-tight this time around. I'm not completely done with the job yet, but the site is back up and running (quite safely I might add).
There was an opportunity in this effort, however, to freshen up the look of the place, which I was never quite happy with. So I've gone with the Genesis Theme Framework from StudioPress, using the News Child Theme, and I'm thrilled with it so far. The site not only looks more integrated and professional than my previous attempt, but the flexibility of the platform is amazing, I've only begun to dig into the various features that it offers.
In particular, I like the basic setup I've got in the main column, with the 5 most recent Featured articles showcased in a slider, below which two columns highlight recent posts from the Coupons and Reviews sections, because those are the two areas which I believe provide the most value to people stopping by the front page. I've got more work to do with navigation and adding some imagery, but so far I think it's already a big improvement over what I had before.
So while these last two weeks has been an experience that I would never have willingly gone through at this point in time, it's proven to contain some unexpected benefits. With two new products reviews coming in the next few days, and a host of ideas waiting in the queue, it should be a busy fall season at Hockey Gear HQ!
For those of you out there with sites of your own, how often do you take a fresh look at the design of your site, if ever? It's quite easy to set it up initially with a specific plan in place, but over time, the content & direction of the blog might take things in a new direction. Perhaps your design needs to keep up with the times...
Monday, October 10, 2011
Making sports blogging pay: 1 for 2 ain't bad
This summer I set a goal for myself of completing and marketing two products for hockey readers, as a step towards turning what has been a longtime hobby into something which might provide at least some kind of significant supplementary income. Well, here we are at the start of the 2011-2012 NHL season, and while I fell short of the goal, I am encouraged by what I did achieve, and the prospects I see going forward.
I think I've finally passed the first milestone, which was to bring in more money from writing about hockey and the Nashville Predators than I would by scrubbing toilets at their games (4 hours per game, minimum wage, 40-50 games a year depending on playoffs... do the math), so that's something.
For the first product, I was able to record a partial success, because while I didn't complete a full commercial product there, I was able to publish a fantasy hockey draft strategy eBook which I made freely available over at HockeyGearHQ.com, asking only that people sign up for the email newsletter there in return. The responses from readers were very positive, and it's something that I plan on revising and fleshing out further for 2012. Rather than attempt to provide insight and analysis on the entire league, the focus of that eBook is a method I've developed which helps ensure that your fantasy hockey cheat sheet is prioritized properly for the scoring categories used in each individual fantasy league. It's something different than what I've seen elsewhere, so I was glad to provide something of value to fantasy hockey managers.
The second product pretty much died on the launch pad, but is something I may want to attempt again in the future, so I'll keep that one under my hat. ;)
What is encouraging, however, is the direction which both On The Forecheck and Hockey Gear HQ are taking this fall. OTF was recently named Writer's Choice for Best Sports Blog in Nashville, a real feather in our cap, and Hockey Gear HQ is experiencing solid growth on a number of important fronts (traffic, newsletter subscribers, revenue, etc.). Oddly enough, even though Hockey Gear HQ was slapped together using my horrifyingly awful design skills, it's actually brought in almost as much revenue in 2011 as OTF. Again, it's about providing real value to readers, with the basic idea being to help people find the best deals on the hockey equipment and accessories that they're interested in. Hockey Gear HQ is very much a learn-on-the-fly endeavor on my part, because the style of writing required to do that type of site is quite different than at OTF, so it's a work in progress - but the sprouts are coming up.
The immediate future is all about covering the Nashville Predators season over at OTF, and getting ready for the holiday season at Hockey Gear HQ. I'm really looking forward to testing out a new Easton Stealth RS composite stick which recently landed on my doorstep, so that will be the next hockey equipment review there. If it's as good or better than the Easton EQ50 I tried last season, that'll be a thrill.
I think I've finally passed the first milestone, which was to bring in more money from writing about hockey and the Nashville Predators than I would by scrubbing toilets at their games (4 hours per game, minimum wage, 40-50 games a year depending on playoffs... do the math), so that's something.
For the first product, I was able to record a partial success, because while I didn't complete a full commercial product there, I was able to publish a fantasy hockey draft strategy eBook which I made freely available over at HockeyGearHQ.com, asking only that people sign up for the email newsletter there in return. The responses from readers were very positive, and it's something that I plan on revising and fleshing out further for 2012. Rather than attempt to provide insight and analysis on the entire league, the focus of that eBook is a method I've developed which helps ensure that your fantasy hockey cheat sheet is prioritized properly for the scoring categories used in each individual fantasy league. It's something different than what I've seen elsewhere, so I was glad to provide something of value to fantasy hockey managers.
The second product pretty much died on the launch pad, but is something I may want to attempt again in the future, so I'll keep that one under my hat. ;)
What is encouraging, however, is the direction which both On The Forecheck and Hockey Gear HQ are taking this fall. OTF was recently named Writer's Choice for Best Sports Blog in Nashville, a real feather in our cap, and Hockey Gear HQ is experiencing solid growth on a number of important fronts (traffic, newsletter subscribers, revenue, etc.). Oddly enough, even though Hockey Gear HQ was slapped together using my horrifyingly awful design skills, it's actually brought in almost as much revenue in 2011 as OTF. Again, it's about providing real value to readers, with the basic idea being to help people find the best deals on the hockey equipment and accessories that they're interested in. Hockey Gear HQ is very much a learn-on-the-fly endeavor on my part, because the style of writing required to do that type of site is quite different than at OTF, so it's a work in progress - but the sprouts are coming up.
The immediate future is all about covering the Nashville Predators season over at OTF, and getting ready for the holiday season at Hockey Gear HQ. I'm really looking forward to testing out a new Easton Stealth RS composite stick which recently landed on my doorstep, so that will be the next hockey equipment review there. If it's as good or better than the Easton EQ50 I tried last season, that'll be a thrill.
Friday, July 22, 2011
My goals for 2011: Make sports blogging pay off
In my never-ending quest to figure out a model for making what is currently my hobby & passion into something bringing in at least a side income, I've decided to set a couple goals for myself to complete during the rest of 2011.
Simply put, I plan to publish two products over the next few months, which I hope will provide real value to hockey fans, and that they'll be willing to pay for.
Will it succeed? Will it fail?
The only way to know is to put my nose to the grindstone and get these two things done (I'll keep the details under my hat for now).
The important thing to note is that these efforts are in addition to anything I'm doing over at OTF. Taking away what we're doing over there and asking people to pay for it is a surefire lose-lose all the way around, because if there's anything we've learned over the last few years, it's that people love to read about sports, but only for free.
I'm also optimistic about Hockey Gear HQ, as I've had some early success there and see the potential to talk specifically about hockey equipment and apparel over there, in a more straightforward blogging/marketing environment.
In short, if I've going to turn this thing into a secondary career, I doubt there's one magic bullet that will get it done.
On a related note, Ben Koo of Bloguin had an insightful post on the latest developments in the world of online sports journalism, which features a panel discussion at Google that's also worth your time...
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