When you have a tournament coming up in a month or even couple of weeks - you are tired, hungry and probably injured - the last thing on your mind is writing a blog. We're not saying that writing a blog is instrumental for your athletic career but it can definitely help you with the funding you need to stay focused on training, competing and all the other things that will help you perform better. We've recently updated this post with reasons athletes should share their story with a blog. So if you have a additional reasons put them in the comments below.
1. Blog is a tool for online networking
Especially for athletes, networking is crucial and a blog is an incredible tool for your online networking. This is because putting your story out there gives other people the opportunity to connect with you. There is a limitless amount of people online who could connect with you - it can be a sponsor, a media journalist or a fellow teammate. Regardless of who lands on your blog, it is another connection - another opportunity.
2. A blog helps you attract sponsors
Besides looking for an athlete who is trustworthy and dependable, sponsors look for a story and strong core values. By creating a continuous blog, you are inadvertently conveying to sponsors that you are trustworthy and a dependable athlete.
3. A blog is key to create your own audience
Needless to say any athlete that is not playing for the NHL or NFL is struggling to get the necessary exposure to land a sponsor. However, every swimmer or the olympic weight-lifter has a story they can share with others. When you have a story, you can create you own content. Creating content will give people the chance to read it and connect with you. If you follow through with this long enough you have the chance to create an audience. This is the audience that will be there when you’ll need a helping hand whether is funds or even a word of encouragement.
4. You are the only person that can share your story
One of the main reasons that an athlete should start writing a blog and sharing their story is because they are the only person that can do that. No one else is able to express what types of trials and tribulations you are going through. This is your chance to tell your side of the story to express those things that make you unique and stand out from the other athletes. It doesn't have to extravagant, it has to be authentic.
5. You need to dictate what is being said about you online
There will be a time when the spotlight is going to be on you. At one point or another, your name will be mentioned on public television and people will ‘google’ you. What they find out depends on what you write. More importantly you want to make sure that when journalists and other publicists research about you, they will find a story that will captivate them. A story that they will want to continue to write about.
6. Another source of revenue
We’ve all seen these advertisement about how “I made 2,400$ a week with my blog”. And the reality it is very difficult to get there but it is not impossible. And the good thing is that you have an advantage. You are an athlete, you already have access to exclusive content. On top of that, not many athletes are blogging so you already have an advantage and access to a large market of people looking to learn more about the ins and outs of amateur sports - the injuries, the training and the competition. As a result, an athletes’ blog has the potential to become an additional source of revenue. With enough traffic to your blog you can generate revenue from advertising.