Multimedia-ing Your Sports Blog

Or, as Frank Caliendo as President Bush might say, "multimedification."

There are lots of great sports sites with tons of interesting information. Many blogs and Web sites are key sources of insider information about the teams and sports they follow. That's all both a blessing and a curse. A blessing if you're a reader, a curse if you're the publisher. Why? Because the competition for readers is stiff.

In order to separate your Web site or blog from the pack, you need to do something special, something memorable that will bring people back to you and have them spread the word.

I know. You have a site full of "some high-quality H2O." You have great blog posts and articles, maybe even info that no one else has. That's great, but what I'm getting at is this - so does everyone else. Plus, what you're increasingly competing against are blogs that have, in addition to superior content, some cool, valuable multimedia components. Keep putting out good content in a text format and you'll see your readers dwindle over time. Add one or two multimedia components and word will spread about you.

Not a sports site, but take a look at GeekBrief.tv, a site ran by Cali Lewis and her husband, Neal Campbell. It's one of the most popular sites of its kind. Text articles are essentially non-existent at GeekBrief.tv, replaced by video. Even though it's full of video content, but it isn't confusing or cluttered (like ESPN's site!), it's one of the cleanest I've ever seen. With its popularity, it's an example of how great multimedia content on the web can help you gain a huge following.

You don't need to go to that extreme, even the GeekBrief blog continues to include text posts alongside video and some other applications.

The nice thing about video, if the content of your video is as good as the quality of your text content (which is excellent), is that your stuff will be much more likely to hit YouTube, Facebook, gain a following on Twitter, etc. The social networking sites have the potential effect of innundating you with traffic.

I'm in the process of implementing some new multimedia blog features here; a whole new look and location, too. My newsletter is capturing an initial core group and multimedia will bring in the second wave.

If you've followed this blog, you'll know I am no techie, to the contrary. But, you don't need to be a guru to start putting up some original video content.

Neither is it expensive. You already have a computer and Internet connection. All you need now is a web cam, a mic, and video editing software. I haven't seen it, but GetYourVideoOnline.com is reportedly a great place to go to get your video online (thus the name of their website).

Just this one new addition to your site, combined with participation in forums and social networking sites, will get your site rolling.