Get Ahead Of The Curve And Start A _____

Content creation through sports media is taking a major turn and you should get onboard before it takes off and it is too late.

The near future of sports journalism and/or broadcasting is shifting into this industry and you can join for almost nothing. Furthermore, all you have to change is the presentation of your content. This isn’t a shift in what people want in sports media, it’s simply where they want it. You can keep your personality or way of presenting information to your audience the same.

The area of business I am talking about is podcasting.

There is a large demographic of sports fans who are young and have very busy lives. A major problem is finding the time. The college student and young adult are splitting time between hours of classwork, a part-time job or starting a career, and a social life he or she is trying to retain. Between all of these things, it is hard for your consumer to sit and listen to a scheduled radio station or television broadcast.

As I said before, you need to cater to your audience because if you can’t bring the content to them at their convenience, you will most likely be passed up. Obviously, if you put all this together, fewer followers means less income. This makes the problem more significant because they will move onto the ones innovating and adjusting to their problem.

My solution to you, however, is simply creating a podcast. Podcast listeners in America as a whole have gone up to 40% in the past two years. But in regard to people who listen to podcasts regularly is only 24%. While the industry is still growing marginally, there is a major gap between the creators and keeping the audience. This is simply because there is nothing for the users to listen to since podcasting is a fairly new source of media. It’s not that people are tuning out, it’s that they have nothing worth tuning into.

Oddly put, the solution to the problem in my previous solution (confusing, I know) is there is not good enough content and out of the 350,000 podcasts, your audience can’t sift through the boring ones. Podcasting is just the beginning. You need to brand yourself and spread the word that you are tapping into this field through social media, word-of-mouth, and almost anything that will get your name out there.

Also, think about what this demographic is doing. Long commutes to work, countless hours in the library for students, and even morning routines when they wake up with sports media in the background. Podcasting is perfect because your user can download any podcast episode at any time and listen whenever they want. They can also fast-forward, rewind, and pause the episode if they want to listen to it later or go back to something important.

What do you think you can do to be recognized among the rest?

What is your stance on the “new era” of the sports media industry?

The Piece Everyone Is Missing

While summer may be one of the more quiet times of the sports year, using these tactics can keep your sports page and content just as relevant as it is during the playoffs.

During the times of year such as the Superbowl, the Stanley Cup playoffs, or even the World Cup, the content is easy to create since your viewers want to hear your opinion. However, in the summer when things shut down, you have to reach out to your viewers and do something that stands out from the rest.

This is probably the most common problem creators have. The little content that can be produced doesn’t get to their fans and bigger companies beat them to the story.

To make matters even worse, once your viewer knows what had happened in free agency or the off-season, the opportunity is lost until the next big thing happens.

The solution or tactics I am talking about is being quick and consistent.

Take for example that the NHL and NBA free agencies. Both of these leagues have a day every year where players who have a contract that has passed its last year can choose to go to another team. In regard to writing sports content for games, it is easy to write something the next day or even wrap everything up that happened all week on the weekend. However, what makes these events tricky is that everything happens so quick and people move onto the next player. Furthermore, free agency is something you should take advantage of since it’s one of the little forms of content you can write.

Where my solution comes into play is that you need to be well organized and prepared to write a summary of a big name player that had just signed. An easy way to do this is having your subscribers get notifications for content you write. Through doing this, your subscribers benefit from knowing everything that happens right when it does and you gain more subscribers and opportunities during the season when the Fall comes around.

In this industry, during this time period, your consumer can get any piece of information in a matter of seconds with the Internet. It is crucial to have a reputation of doing the same when new information is released even if it is something brief such as a Tweet.

What do you think sets an individual apart from the rest?

Is there anything else I missed that you use yourself?

Redefining The Outdoorsman (And woman)

Companies such as Patagonia, Colombia, and Simms have spent years competing with each other over making the best gear. Constant campaigning to be the king of the hill, however, proved to be a disadvantage for everyone in the mix. After years and years of competition, all the outdoor gear companies lost sight of what was most important: the customer.

The problem they all have is that they failed to cater to the future customer that would be buying all of their gear. As the years went by, the baby boomer demographic slowly but surely phased its way out of the market. While there is a segment left for these customers, the majority of the market is the tail-end of generation-x and even more importantly millennials. Baby boomers wanted gear such as a world-class hiking equipment or a 4-piece, 2 weight fly fishing rod with fine-tuned tapers, 100% increase in tip-impact strength, and costs so much it should do your laundry. What the younger generation really wants is multi-use, versatile products that look good.

Although Simms may have a light-weight winter jacket that will keep you warm in the coldest of temperatures, millennials won’t wear it unless it looks good.

This leads me to a bigger problem in that these companies don’t know what this segment of customers wants. Retailers that produce outdoor gear failed to take a look into and analyze the newer market. They are trying to recycle ways that worked in the past but none of it is catching on and these people aren’t interested. They need to look at the way customers are living and what they want in an outdoor jacket, for example.

The solution is that while the younger generation loves the outdoors and wants to take part in activities such as hiking, fly fishing, and camping, there’s nothing engaging to interest them. It was easy for baby boomers since all they did was have fun outside when they were younger. As they got older, they still did the same activities, just with more expensive and better equipment. Younger generations need guidance in performing these activities while still catering to their lifestyle. There’s still an opportunity to inspire. While purist outdoorsman sees the outdoors as a landscape to be conquered with a machete and some tinder and flint (maybe a little bit of exaggeration), millennials want to simply enjoy being outside with others, portable music, and not so hardcore gear. The experience isn’t about hiking the tallest mountain or white water rafting in the harshest of rivers but simply being outside and enjoying the experience with others. That’s essentially what social media has done: bringing people together. They still want to be together. Just in a comfortable setting with their peers.

What else do you think outdoor gear companies should do to engage the new, emerging market?

Picking Apart The Perfect Shot

While most have my posts have been about how to build your brand and what to do with your content, I chose to give a couple pointers in regard to sports photography. The best part about this post is that you don’t need any formal education to figure out the basics. As long as you have the motivation and determination to succeed than everything will be fine.

As long as you know how to operate your camera, then the rest of this post will help hone your skill of shooting sports photography. Positioning is a big factor with this topic and a problem for most trying to get the best content possible.

Furthermore, taking photography in the sports industry might be harder than it looks. While most take pictures of a baseball player hitting a ball or a football player making a catch, there’s only a select few that have the skill that gives them the step ahead of people to get the pictures people want. Having a general sense of where to have your camera pointed is significantly bigger problem beginners have.

However, the only gap in knowledge that separates these people is that they are photography aficionados who lack going the extra step. The rest of this post will give you some tips and pointers that will close that gap between you and the best.

Positioning

Where you are on the field is a simple yet effective strategy that will make your photos stand out among the rest. While you want to see where it’s falling because every case is different, you can’t go wrong with having the sun to your back or over your shoulder. Also remember that, as I stated before, sports fans love to follow narratives. At a cousin’s football game, for example, be in the corner of the home end zone with the sun over your shoulder and the home crowd on the edge of the shot. When all things come together, if your cousin makes a game-winning catch, you have him, the crowd, and the referee in the shot. This gives you an aesthetically pleasing shot that shares a feeling rather than just a shot.

Don’t Chimp

For those who don’t know the term, “chimping” is the act of checking every single photo on your camera after capturing it. This could be the single worst thing to do especially as a sports photographer. The shot that you need could be a matter of parts of a second and you need to be on your toes and alert at all times.

Do your research prior to the game

This might, in fact, be the best the most important tip regarding sports. Sports media and fans create storylines and narratives around any league: Messi or Ronaldo; MJ vs LeBron; Will Ovechkin ever win a cup? When you’re setting up for the game and have your camera ready to take pictures, knowing the narrative for that specific game will separate you from the rest of the pack. For example, if two players are feuding, a baseball player is ready to hit his 500th home run, or the moments immediately after a result might be the most crucial.

Any tips for other beginners out there? What do you have to offer?

Best Ways To “Rack Up” A Fanbase

You may be someone who can make phenomenal content with some of the best equipment and can edit a piece of footage to be the most aesthetically pleasing. You could also be the person that is always there at the right place and the right time getting the best sports shots that rank among the best.

However, your only issue is you don’t know how to get your content out there. Marketing isn’t your thing and you may even not have the time to get your name out there.

Furthermore, your problem might be worse. Perhaps you have a general sense of how to “hashtag” a video on Instagram or know exactly what your fans want. This could be even more frustrating and the reason you are reading this is for my help.

Have no fear because if you take the following steps into consideration, you will without a doubt drastically improve your traffic to your site. For those who don’t have the time, I’m simply changing your tactics rather than adding to them so time will not be an issue.

1. Make sure everything people want to know is online.

In today’s day and age, everything is online which means you have to take the content to your fans. Personally, nothing frustrates me more than a complicated process of looking up promotionally content or a team’s schedule for buying tickets. Besides your social media, you should have a “one-stop shop” such as a website for your fans that revolves around your team. Convenience and simplicity are very important because a frustrated fan will not get their money. However, also make sure your social media is connected to your website and vice versa. This leads me to my next point.

2. Post and update social media every single day.

As I stated in my previous point, you have to reach out to your fan now. Social media is by far the easiest way. It also helps that it is free. Promotional events, behind-the-scenes updates, contests, news, and anything in relation to your team should be posted on your social media pages. Additionally, taking advantage of “hashtags” on social media gives exposure to people that don’t follow you.

3. Old-school marketing still works

I know I’ve been really pushing the idea of doing everything online, but you can’t forget about the most basic form of marketing: word of mouth. How many times have you talked to your buddies the next day about the big game or made friends for a couple hours with someone at the bar or the game itself? Keeping your fans informed to make conversation with their friends brings in more fans. Those fans will, in turn, bring in more fans. The key to this concept is to not only keep your fans informed but to make great content.

Do you feel I’ve summed up the idea of marketing your fan base?

In what ways of marketing do you think I forgot or that you use with your team that works?

Sport Betting 101

March 14, 2018, was a monumental day for those who love to make very charitable donations to their sports bookies or online. On this day, the federal ban on sports gambling was uplifted. If you have the same luck I do, it is officially legal to give your money away all across the nation to your bookie.

A problem for most reading this is that you have no idea where to go to gamble or even how to submit a bet.

The problem is intensified for many of you reading that have no idea how to read the different money lines, odds, and “futures” that you can gamble on. Gambling isn’t as simple as picking a team to win and can be similar to reading another language for beginners. While most sports have very specific betting types and styles, ill take you through a couple websites and ways of betting to get you started.

WARNING: Be careful if you sign up for a site that has credits already listed in your account. This does not mean they are giving you 500 credits, for example, or $500. You still have $0, this is just to entice you to bet. So if you blow through that $500, you owe $500 only if you bet it. This is not free money.

The industry’s authority, Sportsbook Review, releases reviews for over 1000 sports betting websites since 1999. Most of the top sites and the ones listed below give free money for sign-up and even free play.

Websites

bookmaker.eu
5dimes.eu
heritagesports.eu

I would recommend these websites because they are all very safe to use and you don’t have to worry about being scammed.

Different Betting Types

Money Line

In this style of betting, the team you bet on just needs to win. However, this is a lot easier said than done. What makes this style different is that the team you pick has a different payout to what you bet. In this hypothetical situation, the Penguins would be +200 and the Blackhawks would be -140. The easiest way to do the math to find out the payout is using $100 as the base and doing the math from there to find out your payout for whatever bet you made. SO if you bet $200 on the Penguins, you would win $100 since they are the favorite. A $100 bet on the Blackhawks would win you $140. When betting, this makes the underdog enticing to bet on and can make you think twice.

Odds

Events with multiple candidates use odds. The Kentucky Derby would be an easy way to explain. Each horse in the race is given certain odds to win the race. The candidate with odds closest to 1/2 is the favorite and every other follows from there from best to worst. The favorite, for example, may have 3/1 odds to win the race and the least likely horse to win may have 32/1 odds. Furthermore, to calculate your payout, take the second number as your bet in dollars and the first as your payout also in dollars. For example, for every $2 bet on the favorite, you would win $1. For every $1 bet on the least favorite, in this example, you would win $32.

“Futures”

Those who have an extensive knowledge of the history of a team’s history and what they can expect (to an extent) on the future would do well-betting futures. Futures give an opportunity to bet on a team or player before the regular season or playoffs start. You would bet on the odds that player finishes in a certain position (usually 1st) and keep those odds all the way through. You can make some good money winning these because sometimes a team’s odds start off terrible but then that team hits their stride in the post-season. Why this is different from betting on the team in the championship is as I said before that you keep the odds all season.

Point Spread

I put this option in here because it is pretty common in football. When betting the point spread, you want to essentially “cover the spread”. This means that you want the team you bet on to not lose by the predetermined number. Think of this as a handicap given to the underdog team. For example, in a hypothetical game, the Steelers may be -15 and the Browns +15. If the final score is Steelers-35 Browns-15, the Browns would lose because 15 (their final score) + 15 (the point spread) is still less than 35 (the Steelers final score). However, if the Steelers won by just 3, the Browns would win the point spread because you add 15 to their final score giving them a 12 point difference in their favor.

Read This If You Want To Obtain Your Sports Dream Job

The title says enough as to what this blog post will entail. With a couple of easy tips and tricks, you will be able to land your ideal dream job in the sports industry.

The problem most individuals have is they don’t stand out through their resumé. Remember that everyone you are competing against is submitting a resumé and it can be strenuous for the employer. Imagine if you were given a couple dozen resumés and told to pick the best. Something that stands out and separates from the rest of the crowd not only gains the attention at first glance but gets thorough undivided attention from the employer.

Furthermore, in sports, it isn’t about naming every player on the 1956 Boston Bruins roster or who had the game-winning overtime goal in game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals in the Stanley Cup playoffs twenty years ago. Many people focus on the wrong information. When your job is creating content for a sports team, stick to what you know and show the employer that.

1. Cater your resumé to the job.

Take the perspective of your employer to make this concept easier to understand. From their point-of-view, they have a hole in their business that they need to be filled by potentially hiring you. The problem they have is solely that spot and obviously, they want the best candidate for that spot. So, it would make sense for you to list everything on your resumé that links to that problem and how you will solve it. Using past experiences similar to their problem that you solved or listing programs and content you’ve made that resembles their style will surely make you stand out.

2. Provide numbers or content rather than generalizations.

When applying for the job, the employer knows that you probably meet the basic requirements. If you did not, you probably wouldn’t have even applied. The basic minimum you should have on your resumé is a list of skills and accomplishments you have that they noted on their website or wherever you found out. Furthermore, everyone is probably doing the same thing so no one really stands out. But what you can do is write out how much more money you brought in rather than just saying “I increased revenue”. Listing all of your analytics with social media and the content your created lets your employer see what you did. Saying “I increased traffic on my blog page” will not cut it.

3. Tell a story.

I understand that you’re not going to start your resumé with “Once upon a time…”. What I mean by this is that the employer has no idea who you are or what you’ve been through to get to here. Rather than listing everything you’ve done, maybe take the reader through all the experiences you’ve had so he or she can see your development and perseverance in the industry. For all you know, you stack up head-to-head with someone else. If your employer sees that you show the determination by telling that story, that may be what gets you the job.

What is your opinion on the steps I have for obtaining a job?

Have you done anything different in the past that has landed you your dream job?

Becoming Your Own Sports Content Manager

The global sports market revenue, as a whole, brought in roughly $90.9 billion in 2017 and increased $14.8 from last year.

With this market significantly gaining popularity and money, many individuals and companies are tagging along for their piece of the pie. The issue you are probably having is the substantial amount of people that are taking money out of your piece.

Additionally, the problem is intensified when you are one in a million and have trouble standing out. Creating creative content will take anyone to the top but I’m here to tell you that’s not all that matters. While most focus solely on making content entertaining, I’m here to tell you that there are more aspects to becoming a trending, recognizable sports content creator, and manager.

By following these steps, I can help you become the best sports content creator you can be:

1. Be valuable while also credible

The backbone to this whole process would be this first step. While you could be the most marketed website with more traffic than most, what keeps your audience is valuable information they can use. This means releasing credible, timely information and not something that “grabs clicks”. Step one boils down to what information do you have that other platforms do not.

2. Creative and Entertaining

This is where your idea comes to life. What is important here is being versatile and taking advantage of all different forms of media. Videos or audio clips of interviews, ways in which the audience can interact with each other such as comments or voting, and images are all ways that will set you apart if done right. Another idea that keeps your audience coming back is sending notifications when you post or create anything. Especially when you just start making content, it is wise to send out notifications to your subscribers to keep them updated.

3. Measure your success

Finally, after all, is done with content creating, it is essential to track what your audience loves and hates. While you may have an idea that you love and think is perfect, in the end, it is all about your viewers and what they want. You don’t want to turn them off to your content with something that doesn’t work. Furthermore, content that they love will lead to content that they share with their friends and others.

Are there other forms of media you think your audience could use in the process? What do you think is the most important step is? Do you think I missed a step?

Fact vs Fiction: Finding Credible Sports News

Probably one of the annoying parts of being a sports fan:

BREAKING! ______ has been traded to _____.
_____ has just sustained a season-ending injury.
_____ has been charged with _____ and will be suspended.

…only to find out that none of these things are true after doing further research. The point here that I am making is that there are numerous websites and journalists out there that put out information that is false. They make a worst-case scenario assumption or provide clickbait. When you want to know if your favorite player is injured, you’d usually want to find out immediately. So as a result, you’re searching through every site on Google. However, this can lead you down a rabbit hole of bad information.

Furthermore, to make matters worse, this could lead you to believe that no information is true and you simply have to wait days later to find out from a credible source such as CBS Sports.

There are a couple of easy steps to take to figure out what is credible and what is fake. My solution provides not only how to pick these sources apart but also some sources themselves.

Credible vs Fake

Here are some ways in which you can easily interpret the trustworthy from the click-bait.

Do NOT just Google something you want to figure out.

Doing this will actually bring you right to the clickbait since that is literally what is happening. When you Google what you want to find out, naturally you would click that top source with the catchy headline. This leaves that source at the top of the list after doing so given all the traffic they are receiving. The Onion and Juke Left are two examples of this.

Pick apart every word of what you’re reading.

I know this one might sound weird at first but let me explain. Say, for example, LeBron James is rumored to either sign with his current team or move onto another one. What happens most of the time is a reporter catches LeBron walking to or from anywhere and asks along the way “how do you feel about (insert random city here).” If LeBron would say anything along the lines of it sounding pleasant than that reporter would take advantage of that statement and say “LeBron prefers ____ over ____.” The question was completely unrelated to his transfer but it happens all the time for clickbait. The message I’m trying to get across in this scenario is to not assume things based off of the title. Make sure you read the whole article itself.

Credible Sources

So now that you can decide for yourself the good from the bad, I have compiled a couple sources that not only give reliable information but also go into great detail about what is going on. These sources also provide all of the information without any sort of bias and keep it easy to follow for the audience.

Do you feel that these sources provide everything you need? How would you change them to cater to the audience if you were the one in charge?

The Beginning of an Era in Sports Broadcasting

Sports broadcasters for any sport provide a service that is most appreciated by the new sports fan or those who need some help being guided through the game.

A broadcaster will present information such as starting lineups, in-game stats, and will point out scenarios and strategies the viewer may miss. However, for those fans who know exactly what they are watching and don’t need any guidance, some broadcasters come off as awkward or annoying.

Announcers such as Joe Buck and Cris Collinsworth have a history of not being a fan favorite because of their monotone voices and lack of joy and charisma. Former players Bill Russell and Mark Johnson, while phenomenal athletes during their time, were off-cue and not exactly a fans first choice. And finally, how could anyone forget Bill Russell who did everything from rubbing dirt on himself to taking off his shirt on-air.

To make matters even worse, anyone watching the game while these individuals are announcing can’t do anything about it. Nobody wants to sit in a silent room while watching the game.

The simple and easy solution I propose is to subscribe to “ESPN+“. While ESPN may be outdated in many aspects of announcing, this new idea will revolutionize the fan experience and cater to everyone’s needs. This new streaming service from was recently released on April 12 and offers a lineup of content and live sporting events for just $4.99/month.

How it works and what you get

The first step is to download the ESPN app via your iPad or smartphone or you can log onto ESPN.com and purchase the subscription. As I said before, you only pay $4.99/month to receive all of the benefits.

With your 5 bucks, you get an array of content among thousands of live sporting events such as the following:

MLB – more than 180 games
NHL – more than 180 games
Boxing – year-round
MLS – more than 250 games
College Sports – multiple sports such as football, baseball, basketball, and hockey to name a few.
PGA – 50 days of coverage
Rugby and Cricket – international

Furthermore, the ESPN+ app will provide users with a platform that lets them do everything that revolves around sports. Any question you have will be solved through this app.

Scores, news, highlights
live streaming
on-demand video library
ESPN audio

Believe me when I say that coming from a hardcore sports fan myself that this app will be a game-changer to how to consumer watches sports. ESPN+ could even save you from an expensive cable bill that you don’t want to pay any more. If you’re like me, all I use cable or is sporting events and with this app, I would save nearly $95.

All About Mike

ordinary sports fan making extraordinary content