Talkin’ Sports The Write Way: What Emerging Sports Writers Need To Know First (Part 1)
The first thing any aspiring writer who wants to write about sports needs to know should be obvious: YOU REALLY HAVE TO LOVE SPORTS. With whatever sport(s) you write about, it’s a MUST that you know how the game is played, the history of the game, and the players from the past and present. You don’t necessarily have to be an expert statistician, or even know every sport out there. But if you love a particular sport, you should learn all about how it became popular, how to play it, and who that sport’s greatest players are to write effectively about it. The best thing for you to do is to focus on the major sports. The major sports are football, basketball, baseball, hockey, and auto racing. Those are the ones you have to know about if you want to get steady work in the sports writing industry. The more you know about each, the more versatile you will be as a sports journalist, which would make you more of an asset to any outlet.
Here are some steps to becoming a successful sports writer:
*Start A Blog Or Contribute To One
If you are passionate about sports and would rather put pen to paper and share your analysis with the world instead of just yelling at the TV, it’s easy to make that a reality. In today’s digital world, it’s easier to build your brand as a sports writer. As nice as it would be, you no longer need connections at top brands. The first step in turning your sports writing passion into an income stream is to either start your own blog or contribute to somebody else’s.
*Reach Out To Some Larger/More Popular Publications
This is like asking for a promotion that you deserve. You can move higher up the ladder now that you have some experience. Now it’s time to research and contact these platforms with more reach, and more importantly, more money to spend on writers. Most publications are always actively looking for more contributors and even have a landing page to draw writers in. Also, be prepared to write a short test article to see if your style of writing is a good fit for them.
*Use Social Media To Promote Your Blog
If you are serious about blogging and want it to go somewhere, like getting a job as a writer or sports analyst, you will want to promote your blog on social media. You can either do it through your own personal account or create an account for your blog and invite your friends to follow on whichever social media site(s) you choose. This helps your blog get attention faster, as well as a broader base of readers. It also helps your audience stay on top of the newest blog updates. With social media, you can also interact with your readers, take suggestions for future posts, and answer questions.
*Be Interactive
Giving your readers a chance to talk back is important and should should be used to your advantage. Comments on your posts are especially important because they keep people on your site. Plus, you get more hits when people come back on there to debate and argue with each other. Responding to comments sends a message to your readers that their voices are being heard, which will keep them coming back. It’s good to respond to as many comments as you can, both good and critical. This allows your readers to feel like there is a dialogue, and you could even get some suggestions from them on topics they would like to see you write about in future posts. Anytime people visit your site without you having to do extra work is ALWAYS good.
Conclusion
Always remember that your writing will be judged not just by your content on the publication, but wherever you write. As a sports writer, your social media is an extension of your brand. You need to be frequently sharing content related to the sport(s) that you write about primarily. It’s also important to give your opinion to your followers and not just share or retweet a post. To maximize the use of your platform, it’s best to follow the 80/20 rule, posting 80% of your content on sports, your interests in life, etc. and 20% of the time sharing a recent article that you wrote. This is encouragement for your readers to follow your personal brand and get some insight into how you think. That way, if you go to a different publication in the future, you’ll still have all of your hard-earned network because your most loyal readers will be connected to you by social media. Top publications value writers that have large social media followings because it means more exposure themselves.
Written by Tom-Tom, Sports Success Journalist/Trainer, Editor-In-Chief at Sports Behavior Journalism Entertainment, creator of the platforms Out Of Bounds, Talkin’ Spurs, and author of Writing Is A Sport: A Playbook For Getting Started In Sports Writing
