Thanks to continually advancing online technologies, blogging is steadily gaining in popularity and becoming a significant source for online buzz with social networking sites. Though blogging initially started as an online journal in the 1990s with people sharing their hobbies online, it has quickly transformed into a worldwide sensation with over 180 million blogs now circulating the blogosphere. Therefore, a large number of sports writers are turning to blogging to share their insights and trends related to the team or sport they cover through the World Wide Web. Sports bloggers can be hired for sports news websites, team websites, and online sports magazines, but may follow their own path with their own blogs. Sports blogs utilize their passion for sports to crank out quality content on sports that’s entertaining, creative, and informative.
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Salary
Earnings of sports bloggers varies greatly depending on their niche, networking tactics, advertising, income streams, and content quality. According to the job listings site Indeed, the average annual salary for bloggers is $51,000, which could be converted to around 24.5 per hour.
Beginning Salary
When starting their own blog and getting their feet on the ground, sports bloggers can expect to earn less than $19,000 each year. While this seems awfully low, those with more experience, high-traffic blog websites, and a generous sprinkling of good luck can bring home upwards of $10,000 each month with a six-figure annual salary.
Key Responsibilities
Sports bloggers are responsible for keeping fans up-to-date with the latest developments and feature news stories about their favorite sports teams. Most sports bloggers choose a specific niche to write about a specific team or sport throughout that season. While sports bloggers tend to focus on describing what happens on the field or court, they may also delve deeper to discuss their opinion on draft picks, trades, coaching tactics, game previews, free agents, and sport scandals. Regardless of the sport they cover, sports bloggers must use their creativity to engage readers and post content that is always factual. Sports bloggers will also spend a significant amount of time interacting with followers, answering post responses, and finding more readers through social media marketing.
Necessary Skills
As one would expect, sports bloggers need to have strong writing skills with knowledge of English grammar to portray their love of sports in written word. Sports bloggers must possess solid communication skills to interact with their readers and network with other bloggers. Since sports blogging can be challenging to jump into, it’s important that new bloggers be determined, persistent, and unrelenting in marketing their blog across the Internet. Good time management and organization skills are essential for sports bloggers to stay on their positing schedule. Having excellent reading skills is also a plus for sports bloggers to gain other viewpoints from multiple sources and edit their own work for errors.
Degree and Education Requirements
Although starting a popular sports blog won’t require a post-secondary education, many sports bloggers decide to earn a bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college. Having an undergraduate degree in sports management, journalism, English, or communications can be beneficial to fine-tune needed writing skills. It’s advised that aspiring sports bloggers fill up their schedules with courses in news reporting, public speaking, media, technology, computer science, advanced writing, and sports journalism. It may be ideal for sports bloggers to earn their degree online to complete coursework while working on building their blog.
Pros and Cons of the Position
Sports bloggers are die-hard sports fans at heart, so they typically enjoy what they’re doing greatly and take pleasure in watching top games. Although bloggers don’t compete on the field, they do get the opportunity to compete with other bloggers to provide fans with the most engaging content. Top sports bloggers often receive access to their favorite teams and players with a prime seat in the bleachers to witness the action. Sports bloggers often freelance to create their own work schedule, but writing on weekends and holidays is common because the most watched games usually happen then. Income potential is unlimited, but most sports bloggers don’t make much money for their work and won’t reach the seven-figure salary mark like the sports players they write about daily.
Getting Started
Even before enrolling in a degree program, you should begin following sports and developing knowledge of teams. Jump onto every opportunity to gain writing experience revolving around sports by writing for your high school newspaper, covering local sports teams in a community newsletter, or creating your school’s sports website. In college, write for the sports section of your campus newspaper and consider completing an internship to build field connections. Then, you’ll need to find a suitable blogging website, choose your niche, personalize your blog with team logos, add engaging widgets, and start posting. Get involved on social media to distribute your sports content across multiple sources, thus building a follower base. Making a living won’t come quickly, but make use of advertising on your blog to help your consistent posts pay off.
Future Outlook
Bloggers should face excellent employment opportunities due to the increasing popularity of the Internet and blogosphere. While the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that employment of writers will grow much slower than average at 3% before 2022, those comfortable writing for a variety of digital outlets should face the best prospects. Blogging is often a freelance job, so anyone with the proper skill set and motivation can create their own job opportunities. That being said, the convenient work-from-home option draws a large number into this profession and leads to heated competition for readers. Taking advantage of several sports news websites paying for blogging services is a good approach for receiving a maximum return.
Whether you were a star athlete or an onlooker from the sidelines, it’s possible for you to combine your passion for sports with your writing skills to become a successful sports blogger. With the Internet providing numerous sports media outlets, opportunities for sports bloggers are as varied as the spectator sports they can cover. As a sports blogger, you’ll use the power of the World Wide Web to deliver engaging news stories that online readers benefit from and connect with.
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