As we have learned from some of our interviews, long-term value is also perceived from the interview subject. They have many options to voice their perspectives on the bigger-name sites, or even via the mainstream media, where the potential exposure far exceeds our own at Soccerlens. Even with a marketing guru such as yourself.

But we have convinced (for lack of a better term) a few prominent names in football to talk to us. Some of these have provided other opportunities in areas that didn’t exist before the interview. Adrian Clarke of Sports Media Solutions is a prime example. After his interview, he provided us with some prominent names that branded our site in ways that may have taken a few years via other channels.

The key, IMHO is to provide the audience with increasing value, which in turn raises the blogger bar for all of the contributors. This enables you to sell advertising space with specific metrics in mind. I view interviewees or article subject topics as clients who need to be promoted in ways that competitors either don’t understand or fail to do in significant detail.

Enzo Francescoli runs a large football media brand in North America; however, Sports Illustrated never interviewed him. We, as a small growing blog, did. That creates a good indicator for our current and future writers. A selling point, along with a reference that such things are possible despite all of the competition.