Saving Little Johnny Edmonton

When it comes to the economic costs and benefits of subsidizing new arenas for essentially private operations run by billionaires, for a bunch of millionaires, the common tax-paying citizen gets bombarded with data that is incomplete at best, dishonest at worst, and almost always skewed towards one conlusion or the other.

Perhaps the best summation of the issue I've seen yet is to be found at Black Dog Hates Skunks*, regarding the proposal for a new downtown stadium for the Edmonton Oilers. It's also the funniest read you'll have all week...

*Found via Battle of Alberta

Celebrating a milestone month

I've been remiss in providing regular updates on my quest to turn this whole sports-blogging hobby into at least something of a significant side income, if not a career, but good news has a way of prompting action. That, and I've been heads-down busy working on a few different fronts to push things forward...

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.

New directions for OTF

While my writings about the Nashville Predators are being posted over at OnTheForecheck.com, rather than this old site, I thought it might be worth touching base here every now and again to touch on "meta" issues, related to blogging in general. In particular, these days I'm very much interested in how I can turn this time-consuming hobby into a bit of a revenue generator. Since I receive a small stipend from SB Nation to run OTF, I declared that income on my taxes last year, and realized that I should also be recording my expenses (for example, parking fees downtown when I go to cover a practice or press conference, mileage, etc.). It was a bit of a reality slap to see exactly how much I was spending on this endeavor, and with 3 kids heading off to college in 9-10 years, there's a bit of a financial imperative to turn the tables there. So here's a few ideas I'm considering/pursuing: A website devoted to hockey gear and accessories, HockeyGearHQ.com . The idea...

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