Bloggers on the March

I wanted to draw your attention to an excellent piece over at Off Wing Opinion that proposes some guidelines for NHL teams to use in issuing press passes to bloggers. Hopefully some best practices can be put in place across the league, which ultimately will help both the NHL and its fans benefit from this still-developing medium.

Back in 1997, I wrote columns for one of the early online hockey magazines, which was then called In the Crease. We were fortunate enough to have an editor with connections to the league through a player on the Colorado Avalanche, and I was able to score press passes to cover three fantastic games: Red Wings vs. Avalanche on March 26, 1997 (better known as the Brawl in Hockeytown), and Games 1 & 2 of the 1998 Stanley Cup Finals. At the time, I was the beneficiary of good relationships and connections that got my foot in the door, and the Red Wings treated me with the utmost professionalism. What's occuring now is the realization that the online world is too dynamic to rely upon the old methods of gaining access to the league and its players, and this is a much-needed step forward to building a new channel we can use to tell the world about the Coolest Game on Earth.

For another blogger's take on this issue, check The Ice Block...

Cheer up, it's the holidays...

Why is it that various media outlets continue trying to put their own spin on the "what's wrong with the NHL" story? Our latest example comes from The Hockey News , in a piece by Jay Greenburg entitled, "Excitement Level On The Decline." Take the opening sentence: Attendance is down and yet still up from before the lockout, leaving it arguable whether buildings in New Jersey and Florida are half-full or half empty. It's no surprise that attendance is down from last season, particularly if you compare the first half of 2005-06 to the first half of this year. Coming out of the lockout, there were legions of fans starved to see the on-ice product, particularly in light of the massive rule changes. This year is more indicative of business as usual, so the fact that the league is above pre-lockout levels is a positive. Toss in the projection that overall revenues are increasing despite a 1% decrease in attendance, and I'd say that paying fans have come back ...

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: 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 unrea...

Social Media, Internet Marketing, and Real, Paying Customers - it really works!

Applying the basic tenets of internet marketing (SEO best practices and social media network building) have helped me grow the readership and engagement over at On The Forecheck tremendously in recent years, but lately I've been wondering if those same techniques could be applied to small- or medium-sized local businesses, to help them drive real, tangible business results. I'm talking about not just drawing idle hockey fans looking to a blog so they can muse over line combinations, but helping businesses connect with potential customers in ways that otherwise wouldn't occur. Recently, I was able to help make just such a thing happen, and it shows just how great the opportunities are for small, local businesses which may not have the resources or skills available to extend their brand effectively on the internet.

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