Drop that mouse, and read a book

While you still have a few weeks before the start of the NHL season, I'd recommend heading over to a particular branch of Joe Pelletier's Legends of Hockey Network, "Hockey Books". Joe is establishing relationships with publishing houses to review the latest hockey books coming out, just in time to either read up before the first official hockey game starts later this month or to start your holiday shopping early.

For today, Joe has a preview of what's coming down the pipeline for the 2007 holiday season, and there's a boatload of titles on the way. There are historical perspectives on the 1987 Canada Cup and the first Women's Hockey World Championship, barstool standbys like "100 Greatest Hockey Arguments" and "The Language of the Game," and some behind-the-scenes memoirs from Hockey Night in Canada and the world of NHL scouting.

For those of us living outside the top-tier NHL markets, bookstores generally carry a paltry collection of hockey-related titles. Thanks to informed sites like Joe's, however, we can keep in touch with what's out there and have books sent right to our door.

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.

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...

OTF Classic

Search This Blog