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Twitter Is Creating Sports Media Stars And Launching Careers

“Twitter is like a microwave. Your points have to be quick and catch on. That’s why hot takes live on Twitter. There’s a character limit. With radio, it’s more of an oven. It’s a whole cooked meal.”

Tyler McComas

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It was 9:00 on the evening of November 30th of 2021, when Travis Davidson logged on to host his first-ever Twitter Space. His idea was simple. Lincoln Riley had just left Oklahoma for USC two days before. Travis wanted to host a Twitter Space to let OU fans sound off with their thoughts and hear the latest rumors on the coaching news. Thus, OU Rumors and News was born. 

Davidson had a basic understanding of how Twitter Spaces worked, but like everyone at the time, it was still a relatively unknown outlet. 

“They were almost like a book club, where people just sat around in the afternoon and talked,” said Davidson of the Twitter Spaces he had listened to.

So he had an idea on how he was going to run OU Rumors and News. He was going to run it like a radio show. He would serve as the host, bring on a couple of co-hosts and the thousands of people listening would have to request to speak. Almost like taking a phone call over the air. It was organized and it immediately worked. 

“It was a very high time for social media because people were looking for coaching search news and to bash Lincoln Riley,” Davidson said. “The first night we went from 9 pm to 5 am. Over 2,000 people joined. We were the largest Twitter Space on the app for four nights in a row.

“The second night I got several messages asking if I was going to do it again. So we did. It was 1:00 am and I was so tired but there were 1,500 people in it and the conversation was going well. I really needed to go to bed. So I kept myself on mute. If the host shuts it down, it shuts down the whole space. I didn’t want to be so selfish and shut it down because I was tired. So I went to sleep and just let the space run. I woke up at 8:00 am and there were still over 300 in the space and all of us were sleeping.”

George Foreman joined the Twitter Space, along with former OU players and even journalists from all over the world. There’s even a story where a recruit’s dad joined OU Rumors and News to see how the fanbase spoke about its players and coaches. He was blown away by the attitude of the fans, compared to the other spaces he had dropped in on. His son ultimately signed with the Sooners. 

“I think at this point a lot of people were so new to Twitter Spaces, I think they were trying to learn how they could use them,” Davidson said. “It was great for journalists because they could get a scoop by just listening to other people.”

Needless to say, Davidson’s dive into Twitter Spaces was a massive success. For two weeks straight, thousands would join to listen to the latest rumors and updates on the OU football program. The Wall Street Journal and ESPN.com even wrote about Davidson and the incredible online success he was having. But someone else noticed, too. It just so happened to be the radio station I work at, The REF in the Oklahoma City market.

What started as a radio hit to talk about the success of his Twitter Spaces, as well as Lincoln Riley moving to Los Angeles without giving Davidson his two smokers back, led to a weekly spot on our station, which led to an opportunity to co-host the postgame show of the OU Spring Game, which has now led to an opportunity to co-host with me every Friday from 3-6 pm during the offseason, starting on May 13th. All of it came in the span of about five months. 

He’s a shining example of the new era of sports media. If you’re willing to look outside of the traditional box for new talent, you can find some extraordinary people. For people that have made their name on Twitter or digital platforms, there’s never been a better time to get discovered by a traditional platform such as radio. 

Bunkie Perkins is a Twitter account that’s synonymous with the humorous side of college football. He also tweets about golf, pro wrestling and Ole Miss. With over 43,000 followers, he’s an incredible following on social media. In 2016, Tony Kornheiser even mentioned the account on an episode of PTI. 

Before the Twitter account started, the man behind the Bunkie Perkins Twitter account had a sports blog. It had a decent following, which would soon follow to social media. 

“So I had, I don’t know if you want to call it a built-in following, but some people that followed me,” Perkins said. “It’s just grown organically. Honestly, I don’t really care about this point. It’s great for what it is, and it’s also not great for what it is. I just try to find a happy medium somewhere in there.”

He has a job outside of sports meda that’s completely unrelated. Truthfully, he does the Twitter account strictly for fun and entertainment. There’s no hard push for it to turn into another professional opportunity. 

“I get asked to go on radio shows and do podcasts, but at this point, I’ll really only do it if it’s a friend of mine,” Perkins said. “I think the most fruitful thing that’s come out of my account is legitimate friends that I’ve made. A great example is I’m currently in Eugene, OR going to play golf with the guys of No Laying Up. We started an online friendship that has resulted in us hanging out several times a year and playing golf. That is more important for me.”

Davidson and Perkins have both built an incredible following but have different preferences as to what they want to get out of it. Whereas Davidson is ready to chase down his new passion for sports radio, Perkins is more interested in making potential friendships and not taking the app too seriously. 

Davidson will excel in sports radio. I’ve done enough weekly spots with him to know he’s a great fit for our station, but I was blown away when we hosted the two-hour postgame show together after the OU Spring Game. In an honest attempt to not inflate his ego or pump up the recent hire made by my station, we meshed immediately and he asked great questions to the numerous guests we had on-site. He’s informed, but he also has a great on-air presence. 

How does a guy that doesn’t have radio experience just show up on the air and be great? Did hosting the Twitter Space have a huge impact on that? 

“I think the Twitter Spaces absolutely helped,” said Davidson. “ It was my training to get into radio, because of the way I ran it. I ran it specifically like a talk show. I was the host and had a couple of co-hosts and I was steering the show. It got to the point where people in the administration were contacting me and asking to steer the conversion away from Lincoln Riley and more towards Bob Stoops and the positivity around the program. They knew I had the ear of the fanbase. That was definitely a part of my training.

“Secondly, I feel like I just consume a lot of media. One of my favorite interviewers is Sean Evans with Hot Ones. I think he may be the best interviewer there is. I tend to gravitate towards people who are really good interviewers or entertaining on the air. I think it’s rubbed off, just because that’s what I like to consume.”

But why radio? Davidson could have easily started a YouTube show by himself or taken his talents to a larger digital forum. What’s his draw to sports radio? 

“I enjoy speaking with informed people,” said Davidson. “Most of my sports discussions happen on Twitter. Not a ton of people on Twitter are informed about the argument, because a lot of them are in more of your listener category. They are on Twitter to be informed. It’s a lot of swimming through the mud, this guy really knows what he’s talking about, let’s walk out some theories with this guy, I can learn from this guy, all that kind of stuff.

“Secondly, Twitter is like a microwave. Your points have to be quick and catch on. That’s why hot takes live on Twitter. There’s a character limit. With radio, it’s more of an oven. It’s a whole cooked meal. The microwave is good for popcorn, but if you want the Sunday roast, you want to let it cook. Radio gives you the time to have a really good argument and have really good points.”

Regardless of what comes their way, Davidson won’t stop his OU Rumors and News Twitter Spaces and Perkins won’t stop cracking hilarious jokes on Twitter. Well, unless one particular thing happens. 

“I have a running gag about Houston Nutt and I’ve always said the day he gets a coaching job is the day I leave Twitter,” said Perkins. “I can take it or leave it a little bit at this point, I enjoy it, especially during sporting events and it’s fun to keep up with it while you’re watching games, or if something crazy happens. At some point, you get Twitter fatigued. I like to be funny. I think I’m relatively funny and I follow a lot of people that are relatively funny. If I come up with a joke and tweet it out and if certain people like it, that’s all the Twitter fulfillment I need.”

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How to Help Your Clients with Low Website Conversions

Don’t assume there isn’t enough traffic; focus on optimizing user engagement once visitors arrive on the site.

Jeff Caves

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Graphic for how to increase website conversions
Credit: WPDesigner.Biz

Are your clients dealing with low website conversions? Whenever a marketing campaign is run, and the goal is to convert website visitors into leads, the temptation is to blame low traffic, amongst other issues, for low form fills or appointments being generated.  Just spend more money, you may think! Sometimes, you must look at at least four other potential issues to tackle poor conversion rates. Here are some actionable steps using the IT services industry to increase website conversions.

IT Solutions specializes in providing products, services, or solutions related to technology, particularly in areas such as software development, hardware sales, IT consulting, cybersecurity, cloud computing, networking, and digital transformations. They faced challenges with their website conversions. Despite driving substantial traffic through Google Ads and other SEO tactics, they struggled to convert website visitors into form fills for appointment requests. A 2% to 5% conversion rate could be considered reasonable. Of course, conversion rates can vary based on various factors, such as the competitiveness of the local market, the quality of the website (and radio stations help most to fix that) and its user experience, the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, and the reputation and offerings of the IT solutions business. Focusing on improving the quality of leads and providing exceptional customer service can be just as crucial as achieving high conversion rates. Don’t blame EVERYTHING on the marketing tactics! 

The Diagnosis

Upon thorough analysis, several critical issues were identified with IT Solutions’ website:

1. High Bounce Rate: Nobody was checking out the business. If 70% or more of website visitors only visit the landing page, that is an issue.  It could be slow loading times, irrelevant content, poor user experience, or unclear calls-to-action that prevent them from wanting to know more about IT Solutions. You can check the bounce rate on the Google Analytics page for the website in the left-hand sidebar, click on “Behavior” to expand the menu, then click on “Site Content,” and finally, click on “Landing Pages.” You’ll see a list of landing pages and their respective bounce rates.

2. Complex Navigation: It was hard to move around the website to find relevant information about IT services, and it was unclear who they were initiating contact with and for what purpose.

3. Unclear Calls-to-Action (CTAs): The website lacked clear and compelling CTAs guiding visitors toward requesting an appointment. Simply stating “click here for an appointment” is like asking for a meeting whenever or without establishing value. Here are 28 CTAs for free.

4. Lengthy Forms: The appointment forms were long, without qualifying information, and requested excessive information upfront, deterring potential leads from completing them.

Action Plan

1. Optimize Landing Pages:

   – Redo high-traffic landing pages with clear messaging and compelling CTAs.

   – Showcase IT Solutions’ services as benefits, making it easier for users to request appointments, thereby increasing user engagement and conversions.

2. Simplify Navigation:

   – Reorganize the menu and add more action-oriented links.

   – Provide additional options for users to access relevant information, such as “Get a free IT Solutions 15-point checkup NOW” and “Take this 5-question survey to diagnose your IT issues,” motivating them to book appointments.

3. Enhance CTAs:

   – Utilize concise and persuasive messaging throughout the website.

   – Encourage visitors to take action, whether requesting a free download about “5 things you can do to solve your IT issues on your own” or “get a free pizza for booking an appointment.”

4. Improve the Form Fill:

   – Add a further line about the number of employees who qualify for incoming leads.

   – Highlight the value of leads based on company size, prioritizing forms with higher potential impact.

Review landing pages, navigation, CTAs, and form experience to address website conversion issues. Don’t assume there isn’t enough traffic; focus on optimizing user engagement once visitors arrive on the site.

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‘NHL on TNT’ Gives Hockey Fans the ‘NBA on TNT’ Treatment

Watching Albert and Olczyk call a hockey game is like watching Picasso paint and da Vinci sculpt. They are masters of their respective crafts.

John Molori

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NHL on TNT studio

Let’s play a little word association, sports media style. If I say TNT, what is your response? Chances are it will be a three-letter abbreviation of your own, namely, NBA. Over the years, TNT has built a reputation as arguably the premiere network to telecast the National Basketball Association.

The NBA on TNT pregame and halftime shows have become the gold standard with stars like Ernie Johnson, Jr., Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal. Still, it’s not just this quartet of roundball royalty that has fortified TNT’s hoops coverage.

The rep was also built on tremendous play-by-play announcers like Bob Neal and Kevin Harlan, color analysts like Doug Collins and Reggie Miller, and courtside reporters like the late Craig Sager and current sideline star Allie LaForce.

Indeed, TNT and the NBA have become synonymous, but I have some news for you. This network is not just about professional basketball. This past week I went off the grid with TNT looking at their in-game and studio coverage of the NHL.

On March 24, the NHL on TNT provided coverage of the Pittsburgh Penguins at Colorado Avalanche matchup. Kenny Albert did play-by-play with Eddie Olczyk on color. Albert is not as noted as his legendary broadcasting father Marv Albert, but he has certainly staked his claim as one of the best in the business – able to cross over to multiple sports with equal aplomb.

Hockey is a strong suit for Albert. His rat-tat-tat, drama-building style draws viewers in and keeps us on the edge of our seats. Similarly, Olczyk is one of the top four or five NHL game analysts in the business. His style is understated, providing calm and clear analysis of key plays. They work really well together.

Albert eschews any kind of hackneyed and trite catch phrases for his goal calls. An emphatic, “He shoots and scores!” is plenty enough.

Hockey is a different beast when it comes to play-by-play. Unlike basketball, baseball, football, or even soccer and tennis, there is a minimum of breaks in the action. With hockey, a play-by-play announcer has to know the names of the players like he or she knows her kids’ names.

To me, it is the hardest sport for play-by-play and equally difficult for a color analyst. In basketball, after a team scores, the play-by-play announcer will keep silent and give the color analyst time to talk until the play crosses center court. In baseball and football, there is ample room for commentary.

Hockey does not offer such space, but Olczyk gets the most out of the minimal amount of time. Watching Albert and Olczyk call a hockey game is like watching Picasso paint and da Vinci sculpt. They are masters of their respective crafts.

Coming back from a break in the game, Albert and Olczyk provided on air commentary and then tossed to ice level reporter Brian Boucher who has grown into a tremendous asset to the TNT broadcasts. Boucher provided real talk about Colorado’s objectives of staying on top of their division and vying for the top seed in the Western Conference.

The Penguins, squarely in a rebuilding year having dumped talent at the NHL trade deadline, surprisingly jumped out to a 2–0 lead in this game, and the TNT between periods studio crew was all over it. The excellent Liam McHugh hosted alongside Colby Armstrong, Anson Carter, and Keith Yandle.

Armstrong was especially entertaining. With Pittsburgh outshooting the Avs 16-4, Armstrong noted that it’s the best he’s seen Pittsburgh play in a long time. His reasoning was that teams get geared up for playing Colorado even if it’s out of fear. Great stuff.

Both teams tallied two goals in the second period giving Pittsburgh a 4-2 lead heading into the final frame. When Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon set up Jonathan Drouin for a goal to make it 4-3, Albert and Olczyk showed their strengths.

Albert called the pass from MacKinnon and one-timer goal from Drouin, and immediately noted that MacKinnon now had a point in all 34 of Colorado’s home games this season. On the goal replay, Olczyk showed how the play developed pointing out how McKinnon allowed Pittsburgh’s Evgenii Malkin to come in close before making the past to Drouin.

The TNT production team then showed a graphic displaying that McKinnon is now second all-time in longest home points streaks trailing only Wayne Gretzky. This was a sublime sequence of symmetry between talent and technicians like a songwriter, musician, and singer creating beautiful music.

What was supposed to be a blowout win for Colorado had now become a hockey barn burner, and the TNT crew was up to the task. Every goal and key play was followed up with replays from multiple angles showing the genesis of the action.

TNT has certainly taken to the velocity of the hockey broadcast with movement that challenges directors, graphics professionals, and videographers.

When there were breaks in this non-stop action, Olczyk was at his best. No hockey analyst draws on his experience as a player and explains that experience better to viewers. The TNT broadcast also lets Boucher freewheel and join in the flow of discussion without having to be introduced.

TNT does not merely rely on the traditional wide shot of the entire rink. We see close-up shots of each goaltender after a great save and the sweat of players on the bench or in the penalty box.

When McKinnon tied the game at 4-4 with 4:38 left in the third period, we got a series of tremendous crowd shots showing the Colorado fans going absolutely berserk. The sage Albert and Olczyk wisely remained quiet for several seconds, letting the cheers do the talking.

When Drouin scored the game winner at 4:06 of overtime, Albert exercised controlled enthusiasm, raising his voice on the call of the goal, but not becoming the show and overshadowing the play itself. He is definitely in the mold of Dan Kelly, Gary Thorne, and Sean McDonough, announcers who enhance but do not supersede the game.

Putting a cherry on top of this hockey Sunday, TNT showed a graphic that the Avalanche now led the NHL in comeback wins this season with 25 and that they were riding a 9-game winning streak. In analyzing the goal, Olczyk opined that the altitude of playing in Colorado was prevalent as the Penguins seemed to tire as the game progressed – really interesting insight.

In the postgame show, Anson Carter made a great point that the chemistry between Drouin and MacKinnon stems from the fact that they have been playing together going back to junior hockey. McKinnon joined in from the arena for a postgame interview. The analysts asked solid questions and even did a funny MVP chant together as the interview ended.

The NHL on TNT takes no back seat to its elder NBA sister. The broadcast provides viewers with flash, dash, and serious hockey talk from every angle – in studio, from the broadcast booth, and on the ice.

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Kim Mulkey Now Has Everyone Anticipating Washington Post Story

I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it.

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photo of LSU women's college basketball coach Kim Mulkey
Credit: Dailymail.co.uk

The Washington Post, you might’ve heard, has a story coming out about controversial LSU women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey. The reason you might’ve heard is because Kim Mulkey told you. The Tigers coach read a fiery prepared statement just before her team started the Women’s NCAA Tournament. In the statement, Mulkey threatened to sue The Post for defamation before the first word was even published.

Now, I’ve never run a public relations firm but that did not seem like a good idea. The Washington Post story on Mulkey is one of the bigger stories in sports right now and nobody even knows what’s in it. The reason the story, apparently unflattering to Mulkey, is even on anyone’s radar screen is Mulkey herself.

It all started with an innocuous social media post by Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde right in the middle of the most anticipated two days in sports, the NCAA Tournament Round of 64. On his X account, Forde posted: “Hearing some buzz about a big Washington Post story in the works on LSU women’s hoops coach Kim Mulkey, potentially next week. Wagons being circled, etc.”

You know what generally will go unnoticed at 4:00 on the first Friday of the NCAA Tournament? A post on X about a women’s basketball coach. But don’t tell Mulkey, she saw Forde’s post and decided to fight fire with nuclear weaponry. The result: the average person like me now is really interested in what has Mulkey so incensed. By “average person like me” I mean that I can’t imagine what headline, under normal circumstances, the Washington Post would have to put on a Kim Mulkey story to make me want to read it. Maybe:

“LSU Women’s Coach Discovers Ark of the Covenant”

Or:

“Mulkey Reveals True JFK Assassin(s)”

Perhaps:

“Famed Women’s Basketball Coach Reveals the Mystery Behind Slow Drivers in the Left Lane”

Literally any of those catch my attention more than whatever will likely be the Washington Post headline about Mulkey. But now Mulkey is “Mad as Hell and is not going to take this anymore” so I now have an interest I would never before have had in this story. It has been fascinating to watch the online speculation about the subject of the article and all we really know, as of now, is that it will be written by Kent Babb. This is a dream come true for Babb; he writes an article that is, presumably, not flattering about Kim Mulkey and, before it is even published, she gives the article the greatest commercial anyone could give it. Babb couldn’t have entered into a business agreement with Mulkey and had this turn out better for him.

For those who don’t follow Babb, he is a former NFL reporter who now is an award-winning writer for the Washington Post. In his 14 years with The Post, he has written sports features and authored a couple of books. One of those sports features stories was a deep dive into what he viewed as a large inequity in the level of pay for LSU head football coach Brian Kelly and his LSU players. It is this piece Mulkey described as a “hit piece” and, based on that piece, referred to Babb as a “sleazy reporter.” Babb, and many others, resented the fact his story was labeled as a hit piece. In fact, Babb essentially confirmed he was the author Mulkey was referencing when he shared the original article on X with the comment: “Hit piece?”

Whether a printed piece or a recorded interview, I can’t imagine a better promotion for it than the subject of the interview threatening a libel/slander lawsuit, especially before it is even released. That simply screams “This piece is salacious!!” Also, libel and slander suits get settled all the time, right? Of course they don’t, they seem to never even get filed. That little thing called discovery is a scary thing for most public figures.

The NCAA Tournament has been very entertaining, and I think the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight will be terrific. For only the fifth time ever, the top two seeds have advanced to the third round which sets up for a remarkable weekend. For me, I guess it will now include a Washington Post article, not a sentence I’d normally say.

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