Hockey's Taliban Defeated

In what is sure to be marked as a victory for free speech in North America, CBC has announced that Don Cherry won't be subject to tape delay during his Coach's Corner segments on Hockey Night in Canada. For unfortunate Americans who haven't seen HNIC, it's only the greatest sports show on television. Strike that, it's just the best damn thing on TV, period. When I got married and moved to Indiana, my sole condition was getting a satellite dish so I could still get my Saturday night hockey fix.

Cherry's ability to command real-time television stands in stark contrast to many American TV shows which are going to tape-delay in light of pressure from the FCC and advocacy groups. His trademark off-the-cuff commentary and interaction with Ron McLean make for great theater during hockey's biggest weekly showcase, and the fact that it will be truly live is a benefit to the CBC and audiences alike.

Unless, of course, Cherry's nipple pops out, in which case I'll probably claw my own eyes out and be done with it...

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.

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...

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...

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