#tbg2013

Ever since the 2013 NFL Season officially kicked off, “Grantland.com” has been all over it.  Articles on everything you need to know including how to defend the read option, the great expectations surrounding Titans’ running back Chris Johnson and the “definitive answer to the ridiculous question ‘Could LeBron James Really Play In The NFL?’”

This preponderance of football articles on “Grantland” isn’t surprising, considering it is the brainchild of ESPN’s Sports Guy Bill Simmons.  The mix of culture and sports that gained him a half-million unique monthly visits to his “Page 2” column is now bringing more than 2 million readers to his personal brand site.  Each with a unique devotion to him and the impressive collection of writers he has brought together under his own banner.

This devotion, not only to him, but also to the select few presenting sponsors on the site, has inspired others to form their own personal sites.  Nate Silver, political prognosticator and economist extraordinaire, is leaving his “538.com” blog page at The New York Times for a site supported by ESPN, as well.  While it will be based on the statistical analysis that has earned Silver more than his fair share of both followers and detractors, he freely admits that it will be based on the “Grantland” model, right down to the presenting sponsors’ advertising structure.

One personal brand site has even deigned to eschew advertisers altogether.  “The Daily Dish,” longtime blog of Andrew Sullivan’s opinions and varied interests, left its most recent home at “The Daily Beast” at the beginning of this year.  Sullivan has established a metered paywall on his independent site.  What you see is free, but if you want to read more, he’s asking for $20 a month to dive deeper.  Many of his loyal readers put an even higher price on his staff’s prodigious output and have overpaid to help ensure his success. In half a year, he had raised $715,000 of his stated $900,000 goal and 80 percent of his readers were visiting the site two or more times per day.

Sullivan has mentioned that he hasn’t ruled out accepting some sponsored content, if he finds sponsors whose interests intersect with his.  If the current devotion of his readers is any indication, the right advertiser could find an audience willing to support them the same way they’re supporting Sullivan.

And there lies the opportunity for agencies and clients alike.  Finding common beliefs or causes with personal brand sites can introduce our brands to an audience of loyal and engaged consumers.  But as marketers, we can’t afford to wait for them to come to us. These sites are already innovative.  It is up to us to show them that we have just as much to offer them and their readers as they have to offer us.