The Nature of Identity

One thing that struck me in all the furor lately regarding NHL access for bloggers is the issue of identity - many seem to think less of bloggers like Eklund who try to remain anonymous. So I wanted to throw that question out to my readers; does my semi-anonymity* help or hurt the credibility of this blog?

Now, I don't treat my identity as a state secret, and readily share my contact information where needed; for example, with the Fox Sports folks. If the opportunity for NHL access came up, I'd certainly deal openly with them. I maintain a semi-anonymity here for a couple reasons:

1) I don't feel any particular need to see my name in pixels from coast-to-coast, and
2) Frankly, I think "The Forechecker" is a little more memorable than my meatspace ID.

So whattaya think? Should I go ahead and be more open, to establish credibility, or does it not really matter, since I don't claim to have any particular access or information not available to the general public? I'd be interested to get your thoughts...

*And by semi-anonymity, I mean that with a click or two from this page you could easily find my name. The question is whether I need to include it on the front page as well.

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.

NHL Fake Trades, an idea worth pursuing further in 2013

As I wrote about a month ago , I decided to jump upon a short-term opportunity and set up a "hot topic" website for the 2012 NHL Trade Deadline. NHLFakeTrades.com was inspired by a column by Eric Duhatschek of the Globe & Mail, who looked at the frenzy with which hockey fans jump on even the sketchiest of information about potential hockey trades, and wondered if some cash could be made by simply and forthrightly writing about fictitious trade scenarios. This meshed nicely with an exercise I went through a few years ago to create a Random Trade Generator, so in the course of a few hours I went ahead and registered the domain, set up a WordPress site using ( as I do at Hockey Gear HQ ) the wonderful Genesis framework with the News theme , and freshened up the Trade Generator for 2012. So how did it do, in terms of traffic, revenue, and accuracy of the trade projections? Let's take a look...

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