I ran into this blog on Virtual Social Media titled Blog Strategies – Combining Blogging and Social Networking For Greater Publicity and it got me thinking about all the golfers I have met online over the years who really should look towards combining their golf interest into a blog. Some could even combine their blog into their golf..if you know what I mean.
More than Teaching
I have met hundreds of golf teaching professions and none of them really understand the real power of the blog. Oh, yes there are those golf gurus who fill their blog site with teaching instructions and videos of the golf swing as well as other parts of the mechanics of golf, but really very few have gotten their arms around what blogging can truly do for them outside what they think is working.
Golf instructors, PGA/LPGA tour Professionals and golf shop professionals all could do Golf a tremendous service by blogging more on why they play golf, who they really are and what is going on behind the scenes of their part of the golf world.
More than Being Falsely Popular
Gaining popularity online is important. I am not talking about the games played on Twitter or Facebook with how many people, places or things you can gather which falsely gets you thinking you have an audience. A bloggers true online popularity is based on how many real people know who is blogging. In the case of most of the golfers online, they are blogging to promote something or closely focusing on some effort to generate commerce. Their popularity has no base since most of the people coming to their blog did so from some sort of keyword search.
The more popular golf bloggers feature more blogs on things they enjoy doing, places they found interesting or..yes, sometimes a piece of golf equipment that may have a feature not advertised. The more interesting a golfer can be in their blog the more popular the golf blogger will become. The golf bloggers receiving the most organic traffic offers up insights on how they think, why they think the way they do and..oh yes..being bold enough to tell people what they think on a issue facing golf.
More than Hanging Tiger
Golf blogging popularity is not based on how many blogs you can post highlighting Tiger Wood’s careers. However, the golf blog could be reflective of how you feel golf as an industry will deal with the negative blow Tiger gave golf. Public interest in a golf blog could be gained from writing about something unusual..like the halfway house menu at Pebble Beach…if they have a halfway house. There are a number of subjects or points of views so many people who play golf at different level of skill could offer the golf community.
Golf blogging is far from being at a saturation point online. The few good golf blogs out here in La-La-Land are in fact very good, but there is a huge distance between the very good blogs to the everyday blog about golf. What is needed are more bloggers who play golf to tell the world about what they see in golf, how they see golf and voice a concern about what is good or bad about golf.
Where to Start
I encourage the newbies to the blogsphere to start off blogging on what they do, how they do it and why they do it. For the golfers I suggest they take notes the next time they play golf and while playing the round look around them to find something someone in or outside golf might not know about the round of golf being played. Be it the character you are playing with, the quality of the fairway, the weather or the weak martini they poured in the grill…blog on it..see how it feels..then blog some more.
The main thing to remember about blogging on golf is to use the CF factor in blogging… the CF Factor is to be Consistent and Frequent in blogging. It takes time..in most cases a minimum of 6 months..to get a following of people to read your blog which by the way is the reward or prize you get for blogging.
Choose a Style
Make the blogging fun. If you want to be funny in your blogs check out my friend David Feherty’s blog. David’s blog illustrate what is missing is in golf blogging. If you want to be serious in blogging..find someone in the blogsphere who has the style you like and try it. The important thing to remember is to do the same thing in blogging as you do in golf..find yourself. Then get after it.
Let me know how I can help.
