blue.0 » Best Practices

A Blog’s Winning Combo

chris — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:29:32 +0000

Having helped a few people launch blogs and online marketing campaigns recently, I’ve become more and more convinced that for anyone to achieve success in the blogging world — beyond simply launching a site — they need to have a strong personality, a good way with words, be honest and have a commitment to driving their blog forward. That’s really the only way to get people coming back to your site.

I’ve heard so much how the only way to blogging success is to drive people to your site though affiliate programs, SEO techniques and more. This might be useful, depending on your objectives, but without good content and value, no one’s going to want to return and keep reading.

The blogs that I’ve read in the past — and continue to read — are blogs that are managed by people who seem to be comfortable with their opinions, their values and their interests, and who don’t mind sharing them. Looking closely, I’ve found they tend to exhibit these traits:

Humor – they make you laugh and have a great sense of wit.
Intelligence- they’re well-read and knowledgeable about what’s going on in the world, but they don’t need you to know that. Rather, they enjoy educating for the sake of educating.
Self-Deprecation – the bloggers I like the most are the ones who don’t feel the need to grand-stand — or at least if they do, don’t have a problem referencing their own flaws. This is big in the credibility department.
An Objective – They’re trying to accomplish something in their lives — though it may not be immediately apparent, even to them.
Genuineness - They’re genuine in their feelings. That doesn’t mean they hang everything out there, but they have a sense of awareness of who’s reading and how they may be affected by what’s being written.

Oh, and one more thing, they don’t feel they have to blog. They do it because they enjoy it.

In many ways, the only reason I read any blog these days is to learn something that’s right up my alley. If it’s an athlete’s blog, for example, I’ll want to know the outcome of his or her race or how the training is going. If it’s a blog with someone’s random thoughts, I may just like their perspective and how they write. Ultimately, it’s about what I can learn from them and how I can apply it to my life.

Do you have any other thoughts about what makes a winning blog?

For Sports Professionals, Web Marketing is Key

chris — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:34:46 +0000

Coaches, race directors and athletes are clearly finding blogs and social media to be the best bang for their buck these days in terms of promoting themselves and their business. There is no better low-cost way to keep in touch with clients, prospects and fans than through a blog or through Twitter. In fact, looking at Twitter these days you’ll notice a huge increase in the number of races that are up and connecting with the millions of athletes who use the service, in hopes of drawing attention to their race. One of these races, The Freihofer’s Run for Women, in Albany, NY, appeared on Twitter about a month ago and is now using the service to connect with local media and athletes who are training for the race. The goal? To make the media outlets more aware of the race with the aim of getting additional coverage.

Not that the race needs it. The 5K women-only international event is up there with the NYC Marathon, Chicago Marathon and Boston Marathon as the only races to receive a Silver Label designation from the IAAF, showing the race is produced according to the highest professional standards, attracts an elite field of athletes and draws huge media attention. The Freihofer’s Run PR group has created a group page and event page on Facebook as well so members can RSVP for the race, find training partners and compare stats.

For coaches, a blog is hands down the greatest interactive tool to communicate with clients and attract new business. Many coaches have Paypal accounts on their sites that allow new clients to purchase coaching packages directly. After an initial interview, most relationships develop over e-mail, with the coach sending workouts to his or her client once every two weeks. Swim legend Karen Burton Reeder bills herself as an Open Water Swimming eCoach and promotes her coaching business here.

And then there’s the “product.” Many coaches and athletes develop eBooks, swim cards, or relationships with vendors where, in return for advertising on their site, they’ll get a percentage of sales. These products sit on the site and earn the coach money while he or she is sleeping, basically. Granted, these aren’t easy money-making ventures. They require work promoting them and also time to establish credibility. But the sooner these entrepreneurs get started, the sooner they reap the rewards. For an example of this in action, see Kevin Koskella of triswimcoach.com.

Most elite athletes — and plenty of amateurs and age-groupers — are developing sites for themselves as well where they features their race results, future goals and their sponsors as well. The American record holder for the 50K, Josh Cox, (@joshcoxrun) is an avid user of Twitter and just got his friend and fellow running phenom Ryan Hall (@ryanhall3) on the service as well. It’s a great way to develop a fan base by sharing more of one’s personal and professional life online. You’ll find plenty of athletes fundraising as well online. Why? Because that $5,000 – $10,000 English Channel excursion isn’t going to pay for itself. Boris Fernandez is one such athlete training for the swim this summer and raising sponsorship money.

Do you have tips on how you promote your sports-related product or service online? Feel free to share! If you’re looking to launch your own athletic service or product online, or simply improve on your existing one, give us a shout below.

How Not to Use Twitter

chris — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 05:07:04 +0000

I have to say, I’m not a Twitter expert or fanatic or anyone who can’t wait to get home to check my TweetDeck, but I do keep up on those I’m following and enjoy posting updates. As of today, I’m following 54 people and have 47 followers. Considering the percentages, I’m just another middle-class Twitter user. Most of those I keep up on are in the athletic world — runners, swimmers and triathletes. And then of course I have my non-athlete friends.

Every now and then I’ll get a notification that someone new is following me. I find it exciting. Who’s this new person? What is it about me they find interesting? Usually it’s an athlete who’s into similar stuff as me. But sometimes it’s someone from a business. I’m not sure what business, so I’ll check the link in their bio. Usually within a few seconds I’ll know if we have something in common. If we do, I follow them. If not, I don’t.

A couple days ago I got a notification from a Twitter user (or company, rather) who was now following me. I checked them out and found their updates and interests… well, interesting, and something I could definitely find of value. However, over the course of a few days, as I clicked on their Tiny URLs and Sniprs and whatnot, I noticed that all their links went to pages on their site populated with nothing more than Google ads. Their titles were great too! Seriously, they must have had tons of people going to their site based on their titles. And no doubt they’d come into a pretty clever way to drive traffic to their ads: Write an amazing title, link it to a landing page on their site with plenty of Google ads somewhat related to the topic, and pray for the golden Click-Thru. If they had a slightly different approach — say, if they’d written even just a paragraph on their site rather than just put ads up, I may have kept following. But there was nothing. And who knows? Maybe some of those ads led to valuable things. But I didn’t care to take the time. Personally, I find Google ads to be distracting and cheap when I come across them — no matter how winning the site.

So, my friends, the lesson in all this is a lesson you already know: don’t take the lazy way to quick profits. It’ll only lead down the road of No Longer Being Followed.

The 5 Reasons You Haven’t Started a Blog Yet

chris — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 16:29:55 +0000

For the vast majority of people on this planet, a blog is utter nonsense and completely unnecessary. Not only would it take away from the more important things in their day-to-day lives, but it would add even more irrelevant blather to an already bloated cyber-world — one bursting at the seams with dead or dying blogs. For a small minority of people, however, taking the time to conceive a purpose for a blog, set one up and then commit to growing it can be a very noble pursuit — and one that can pay dividends for their brand.

So the question is, which category do you fall in? Or rather, what category would you rather be in? If you have every reason to be online blogging but haven’t yet taken the leap, see if any of the following objections is the reason for your resistance. Getting beyond it is easier than you think.

Objection #1. I have nothing to blog about. You do. If you are alive and breathing, you have something to write about. If you are passionate about something, you have something to write about. If you are in business, you most certainly have something to write about: your business. The point is to get up and running. If you don’t know what your “voice” is now, it will come.

Objection #2. I’m a dinosaur and the technology is too complicated. That’s what almost all of your peers are thinking too. But guess what? Those very few who have decided blogging is for them are already ahead of you and everyone else with the same mindset, and they’re reaping the rewards. Get out of the “dinosaur” mentality and recognize that learning new technology is not a matter of age, but simply a desire to be successful. It’s the same approach that’s made you this successful in life so far, isn’t it?

Objection #3. Blogs are for the new generation of vain, exhibitionist youngsters who have no shame and no restraint on what they’re willing to divulge about themselves. Yes… but only for a very small segment of the blogging world. On the flipside, you’ll find the people you admire most out there blogging as well — and not about trivial things. They’re writing about their industries and trends and things that genuinely move them.

Objection #4. No one will read what I have to say. That’s possible, but your level of involvement in your blog will dictate how valuable others will find it. Quality will always bring people back. If you love your business and enjoy what you write about, that’s all that matters. At least you’re leaving a footprint out there in the Web world. If you’re consistent and write quality posts though, readers will find you.

Objection #5. I don’t have the time to maintain it. Like anything, the more you cultivate something, the stronger it will be. Blogging doesn’t have to be an everyday pursuit. Posting four, three, even two times a week is fine. As long as you’re maintaining it and showing that it’s being cultivated. There’s nothing more depressing than coming across yet another blog with a great title and a great tagline, but hasn’t been updated since September 2007. What happened? Remember, you can always delegate the management of your blog to someone in your business.

It takes very little to be up online talking about your product, service, brand, business or opinions. Consider whether any of the above objections are ones you’ve been spinning around in your mind. Then take the next step.