A Reflection On Zero Marketing

I'm very aware that my effort to market this blog has been steadily lessening over the last few months. I'm not complaining that I haven't done the work because I realized that there were more important things that required my attention. Frankly, it will be easier to wind down this blog if no one is reading it, so maybe this was a subconscious decision by me and I've been acting on it for a while. Whatever the reasons are, it seems less people are reading articles that were once popular, so I'm wondering if writing about leagues and teams that aren't covered in Canada is needed any longer. Based on numbers, it seems it's not.

I never wrote this blog to be popular or famous. In fact, I wanted to help the people and teams I was writing about find bigger stages with this format. I like writing about hockey, and I believe inb Konstantin Stanislavski's advice to actors that reads, "Love the art in yourself, not yourself in the art". I've learned a lot about hockey on a number of fronts since I stared writing in 2007, but I also feel that my writing has evolved. What once was more of an emotional release as I typed, I now find it more storytelling with a chance to work some comedic elements into the writing. A lot of it is still factual with historical aspects to it, but writing today feels more like documenting historical information for others to acquire and use in their own lives.

I say that because the current ways of marketing HBIC is to hit social media - Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky most notably - and post little snippets of info with a link back to HBIC. My concern is that there are more people who no longer want the information I'm presenting nor do they want to sift through pages and posts of political fighting, disinformation and scams, and the amount of inane garbage that people find on these sites. I'm not saying that what I present isn't part of that noise - it may be exactly that! - but I hope that I present something at some points that would make one want to come back and see what else I've posted on HBIC.

I feel there's a moral and ethical obligation to stop posting on Twitter's and Meta's social media outlets when the owners of said sites have thrown their support behind people who seemingly have no problem removing rights from women, LGBTQ+ people, and children. As such, I have posted less on Twitter than I ever have in recent months, and my use of Facebook is virtually zero. I have used Instagram a little more thanks to some key interactions with people who use it, but I feel like my reach there was limited since I'm not really a fan of the site or its owner. And Bluesky, while friendly, isn't as populated as Twitter when it comes to the people with whom I want to interact, so it's an afterthought when marketing HBIC.

Again, I'm not here for hit counts on most articles. There are some where I hope that someone notices, but I realize I'm a minnow in an ocean when it comes to hockey information. I like to believe that I'm doing the game service by promoting women's hockey, specifically Canada West women's hockey, on a regular basis, but the numbers say otherwise. The historical pieces are fun to research and write, but they rarely seem to get the attention I think they should get. Maybe this is just my own passion project at this point?

In any case, I guess I'll have to either have to push my principled stances on some of these social media sites aside if I want to generate more traffic on HBIC. I'm very aware I'm not an Elliotte Friedman or Greg Wyshynski when it comes to attracting hockey fans to stories, but, if I want more eyes on some of the players and teams I'm trying to elevate, I'll have to change my methodology when it comes to marketing these articles. In these cases, clicks matter.

Be prepared to see more posts from me on social media. As much as I dislike using any service that helps or supports the likes of Musk or Zuckerburg, it's hard to ignore the reach their sites have.

While some may say that abandoning my self-imposed hiatuses from these social media sites, I may have inadvertently done more damage to my efforts in elevating people than I did in simply staying off those cesspools. Because I respect those people and want to see them pursuing their hockey dreams, my beliefs will take a backseat to helping those players and teams because it's the right thing to do.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!