Posted 9/9/08
There are days that I become even more excited and proud to be a sports blogger. Those days usually include a couple of stumbles through some marketing or entrepreneurial blogs that are filled with complete crap or spam followed by a quick perusing of BallHype only to find 50 stories that catch my attention or make me laugh.Today I actually ran across one of the major "make money" blogs that posted a guest post informing readers how to gain "worthwhile backlinks". So what was wrong with the article? Oh, only the fact that we've heard and seen this list about 10,000 times. This is exactly why I love sports blogs and sports blogging; we always have brand new and interesting material to write about.
Here are the 5 things I'm glad sports bloggers have ignored in the blogosphere...
1. Personal Video Blogging (Vlogging) - Certain "pro" bloggers have made this suggestion the most obnoxious form of online chattering ever. There have actually been posts on this blog destroying the idea that "vlogging" is the future and thank whoever your lord is, that sports bloggers have pushed this toolbox of garbage away.
2. Affiliate Spamming - I'm sure sports bloggers could abuse affiliate marketing almost more than anyone. Fan gear is a huge industry, especially online, yet sports bloggers find that displaying their affiliate banners and ads in their sidebars work just fine. Instead of all the trickery and in-post spam, sports bloggers really gear towards a specific niche of readers that can be monetized without going, well, almost blackhat.
3. Repeating Worthless Content - A new sports story pops up almost by the minute! Instead of re-writing that "top 9 ways to gain traffic!" post, sports bloggers focus on breaking the most recent news while spinning their opinion on it. You see, the online marketing and "make money" worlds have run out of ideas and instead, either fill up your space with the newest affiliate network or a re-write of those quick and easy money making tactics. Blah.
4. Preaching about your Greatness - It really excites me to know that zero sports bloggers have used their own name as their blog's title. Can you get anymore egocentric than that? Rather than posting how many links, traffic or money they've made the past month, sports bloggers continue to work on breaking the next up and coming topic. The reason sports blogs continue to thrive has everything to do with their work ethic and a selfless attitude.
5. Money is Not the Number One Goal - I would guess that 90% of sports bloggers start their blogs without any thought of making money. My NBA blog was started because it gave me a forum to vent all of my (supposed) NBA knowledge. It also gave me a chance to talk with thousands of other NBA obsessed fans instead of annoying my friends and family all the time! Other bloggers have started in this business with one goal, to make money. I can't hate completely on them for this, but the transparency of their product is a dead giveaway.
I love you fellow sports bloggers!
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11 comments:
"It really excites me to know that zero sports bloggers have used their own name as their blog's title."
well I came close.
I agree with all of that.
Aw, heck - we love you too.
I came close to the my name thing as well but its just the address, not the title.
Nicknames are one thing Sir Cuzzy. And Apryl, you can do whatever you want and we'd still love you.
Maybe I'll pull a Ochenta y Cinco and change my name to NE Patriots Draft.
My site is called Basketball Notes by Alex, if it counts. I am changing the name though.
Haha Alex, that doesn't count...and come on people, don't take this so serious. :P
Great list. I thought about vlogging for 2 seconds, and then I remembered how ugly I am. :-)
"It really excites me to know that zero sports bloggers have used their own name as their blog's title."
dammit
I'm renaming my blog
Damnit! You dont count either Isaac. You guys know what I mean!
(Starting to consider the "4" things I'm glad sports bloggers haven't adopted...)
I suppose I have one strike, somewhat, since I do have a videocast, but I have someone else do it.
Nice post, I completely agree. When I thought about the topic/niche for my blog, sports was natural because I am a big fan. But one reason I picked the niche I did is because I knew there would always be new hot content to post about. Many blogs are not that way, they get stale quick.
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