Question 1. Where did Boyd get the skillz to create such a sweet blog?
As far as the first question goes, I’m sorry but I can’t answer it. Not unless Boyd wanders over to my blog which I doubt will ever happen. I did however ask Boyd on this post if he managed his own blog. Still no answer…I suppose the question should have been ‘Is it important that Boyd not only writes, but also manages his own blog without having outside influence?’ I just don’t know the answer to that. Maybe this post will help you decide for yourself.
My gut feeling is that Boyd has had professional help in creating and maintaining his blog. No big deal. I ask my friends for help all the time. I don’t get the feeling the blog has a ghost writer, but I can’t help getting the feeling the blog is edited by someone other than himself. It’s too perfect. It functions on a very technical and professional level. And until I hear otherwise, I’m sticking to my gut feeling.
Question 2. Why does Boyd blog?
The second question is more complicated. Why is Boyd blogging? On his site he says.
“One of the reasons I’d like to devote time to this site is that I want to promote our sport”
Sounds easy enough, eh? Not really. With social media being what it is today, celebrity anglers can’t afford to not self-promote. In other words, if celebrity anglers weren’t out here blogging, linking, tagging, youtubeing, creating RSS feeds & Flickr accounts, their sponsors would not be getting their product marketed in the viral world of web 2.0 -
Now don’t get scared when I say web 2.0- I know it sounds scary, but its not. I’ll show you.
1. Richard heads to Lake Fork and creates a youtube video.
2. Richard embeds the video on his blog and tags the post. Ping!
3. Richards RSS feed tells his friends that he has a sweet video.
4. Richard heads over to the Texas Fishing Form and shares the linkage.
5. Richard’s video gets over a thousand hits and counting.
6. Richard moves on to his flickr, podcast with Dr. D, Stickam and Del.icio.us
Actually, I’m lost. Let me look up Web 2.0 on Wikipedia. <—-j/k
Let’s try something else. I’d like to share a short video by Michael Wesch so you can better understand where I’ll be going with the last question. This video will change the way you think. (click below)
Kewl, eh? Thought so. Let’s move on.
Question 3. What can we learn from Boyd?
I believe a professional angler’s most valuable asset is intangible. I’m certain not everyone agrees with me, but professional anglers instinctivley teach us family values, outdoor education and conservation, though it’s getting tough to see through the sponsor costume.
The internet and social networking gives anglers the opportunity to set aside the costume and connect with the next generation of anglers in a way that has never been done before.
We won’t always want to be locked up in closed communities such as myspace, or led into ESPN fantasy fishing. I’m not sure what professional anglers are accomplishing by working the myspace scene. A more suitable place for our sport is in a more advanced level of social networking called second life.
I’m not sure if Boyd has a myspace page. A quick google search suggests not. I gotta respect Boyd for taking the high road.
Although I’ve never met Boyd, we’re both bloggers. We’re tagging, linking posting, leaving comments, making videos, gettin up in someone’s facebook, embedding, using wikipedia, lifecastin, IM, lifestreamin,webcasting, podcasting, gettin twitty wit it, flickin the flickr, throwin down really simple syndications, trackbackin, streamin vidZ, downloading, pingin,brandishing limited opinions gangsta style and the cookies are del.icio.us in second life - Huh?
It’s just a matter of time until we connect.
Hello Boyd..
Welcome to the internetZ, sir.
Play nice..
R
UPDATE: “The most important thing to do in a blog post is provide good links. The second most important thing is to provide really good links. And so on.” Brian Oberkirch
I should have linked to Angie T’s post on myspace……
Jedi Tags: Boyd Duckett Bassmaster ESPN Myspace Flickr Bloggers Michael Wesch Podcasting Youtube second life Bass Fishing Stickam Fantasy fishing
I have followed you over from Boyds blog, guess it works uh
I have a couple of sites,
http://fishcraze.blogspot.com/
http://www.fishcraze.com
both or works in progress of course, come by and say hi. Also, bring Boyd if he shows up here
fish on
Danny
Danny, thanks for stoppin by. And thanks for the links. Keep on bloggin..
it does work
R
First time reader. Great blog. Great thoughts on the new wave of individual marketing and sponsorship.
Scott,
Thanks for stoppin by, sir. I’ll have some really interesting posts coming up!
I’ll check out the site.
Great post, Richard. I have been avoiding Second Life, because I have enough on my plate with my first life! Maybe when the Elite Series season ends, I’ll have some time to play around with it. But you’re right, social networking and Web 2.0 in general are great tools for professional anglers. As you know, I wrote about Myspace here.
http://bassinsider.blogspot.com/2007/07/bass-fishing-on-myspace.html
Since that post, a couple of the guys have let me know that the Myspace sites that exist there are fan sites and they didn’t create them. In fact, I had a conversation today with one of the pros I mentioned and he’s trying to figure out how to manage his online presence. With all the time these guys spend on the road, it’s almost impossible for them to do this without help.
I guess you and I jus thave more time on our hands or more insomnia!!
Incidentally, here’s an interesting Web 2.0 app for anglers.
http://www.bountyfishing.com/
Angie,
Thanks for the support.
I updated the blog to link to your post about myspace. I should have made note of it earlier. My bad. On the other hand, I made a good decision.
I appreciate you coming by and checking out the post. It’s nice getting support from bloggers I respect….
This is what I’m thinking…
If professional anglers can gain respect and influence a small credible audience, the small credible audience will begin linking, tagging, posting, i.e promoting their blogs for them. in other words it’s the small guys who will make a blog viral. But they need to become more influential in the blogosphere first. We need to trust them. Period.
I’m talkin about being honest and transparent. These are the people I will help promote. I’m not going to link and tag to people I dont think are being honest with me. In fact, I may decide to write something negative about that particular individual. And frankly, this affects their sponsors brand identity.
I’ve recently learned that it doesnt matter what anglers blog about. Do they always need to blog about fishing? No. What they should embrace is the reality that social media and playing around in social networks can and will change their online presence, i.e. identity…
Is he an honest individual?
Is he simply blogging for business?
Is this his official myspace?
Does he read his fan mail?
these are serious questions to consider.
I’ll write a post on this in a bit…
thanks again Angie,
R