Let’s take a look at a few sites to see some examples. We took the two top snowboarders in action sports – Gretchen Bleiler and Jeremy Jones.

Gretchen’s website is very well designed, flashy colours with all the cool effects that you see in various action sports oriented websites.

She has put enough content that keeps you coming back, however, let’s take a deeper look.

We know that the aim for any athlete’s website is to:

• Build a relationship with their fans
  
• Showcase their skills
  
• Showcase their sponsors
  

However, it must be done in a meaningful and believable way. And especially for action sports fans, street “cred” is important. If action sports fans feel that they are not being sold to, and that their sports hero is authentic, they become loyal.

People want authencity. 
Not PR spin. Gretchen’s content that is published is bland, corporate speak with no warmth in them. No stories, no way people can relate to her. They don’t tell much about her personality and you can see that she doesn’t put any effort into it.

The result?
People coming on to her site to check out her videos, maybe going briefly over her posts, take a peek at some photos and don’t come back. There have been some infrequent updates. You can see that there is a lack of interaction between herself and her fans – there are no comments at any of her posts, videos or photos.

Pretty much, her website has become a PR exercise than any attempt at connection. It seems like a fabricated exercise without any attempt at authencity.

Keep it simple.
Let’s take a look at Jeremy Jone’s site. Very simple. Not a lot of flashy colours or design. But how much do you want to bet that after reading two or three of Jeremy’s posts, you have a good understanding of who he is and what his thoughts are. You get the feeling that you’re reading the deep thoughts of Jeremy, who took the time to reveal his authentic side.

Look at his photos! Simply stunning! But what is most important is that he’s forging a connection with his fans… Take a look at how many comments his posts have generated compared to Gretchen’s. Read how personal the comments are, as fans feel a genuine connection with Jeremy.

Where is the interaction?
One of the benchmarks of a successful blog is the number of comments people put after a post. It shows people care, that they are reading and taking the time to intereact with you.

In Gretchen’s blog, there is almost a non-existent interaction. It’s more like an one way conversation..

Compare that to Jeremy’s blog, where almost after every post, there are 10-15 comments. You can see that his fans feel a personal connection with him and tell him that. They feel that they are seeing a real person and not someone who is a PR flack.