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Real Football Man End Of Season Roundup

The club season has finally come to an end with the culmination coming on Saturday night with Real Madrid displaying their dominance over Juventus in the Champions League Final. With that it means that there is a 2 month hiatus of top level football before it will starts again in earnest come August.

That means for websites like myself the question is what do you write about in the off season? Well of course there is a multitude of transfer news to digest but I do not want to get into the habit of just recycling news from other sources as it is not telling you anything you do not already know.

Therefore I think now is the best time to give a roundup of how the season has gone not strictly in the world of football but how it has gone for me in regards to this website. So without a further ado here is a brief recap of the past 9 months or so.

In terms of where I am now the biggest news which I revealed a couple of months ago is that I have gone fully freelance and am now aiming to push this project on further, that of course is not the only thing I am doing as I also work on behalf of UEFA by compiling pre-match and tournament statistics.

That I must say is an incredible honour and am very much looking forward to seeing where that takes me over the next few months and hopefully years. Off the back of that I have also launched my football data services website – Real Football Data

A simple click of the link above will give you all the info you need and hopefully you will want to acquire my services for any projects you may have either now in the future. If that is the case then please do not hesitate to drop me an email with the address provided.

In regards to the ongoing work with this website it had a facelift at the turn of the year, one I am certainly happy with and one that you think is better also. The near daily content creation has at times been a slog but I feel it has certainly made me a better writer and more importantly it allows to me build on my rolling portfolio of work.

It is that rolling portfolio which has allowed me to undertake a couple of paid writing jobs elsewhere which now that I am freelance is all the more important. The key now is to find a balancing act between making sure this website is as good as it can be and the paid work is coming in also.

One element that has worried me is that the traffic of my website has gone down quite considerably over the past few months, which is all the more disappointing as I feel the quality of the content is getting better. So to sometimes turn in 1000 words for a match preview and to get a handful of views can be slightly gutting.

But at the same time it would be too easy to throw in the towel and I think I have come too far just knock this project on the head. I think sometimes it is better to not worry about traffic as I am great believer of quality work eventually shining through.

It is that quality that has opened the doors for me already so the plan is to continue to kick down the obstacles in front of me and move on to even bigger and brighter things next season. For what I have achieved with a website which has just 1 member of staff should in no way be underestimated.

A website which has now recorded over 175,000 views in just over two years in operations, that is impressive enough but more importantly this website does turn a profit and as long as that continues to be the case then I will keep functioning.

The world of football blogging is incredibly hyper competitive so I am of course grateful to anyone who takes the time to read any of the articles that I have posted. There are now over 3,800 pieces on this site, I do appreciate they date quickly but it is all about content in business and giving people a reason to not only visit but return.

The match previews are something I am deliberating on whether to do next season – I wrote over 300 Premier League previews in the campaign just gone, with something like over 200,000 words. A stunning effort but also a time consuming one so I need to work out if that is the best use of my time going forward.

Each Saturday takes up about three hours each morning having to write seven or eight match previews for that afternoon, the longest part of the week but also the most rewarding. Maybe it is testament to the knowledge and skill I have in which to be able to do them.

I do not want to come across as tooting my own horn but I’ve produced a lot of work which I am proud of, so there is sometimes no harm done in highlighting your achievements. The benchmark should always be about quality as that ultimately is what opens up opportunities for you.

It is tempting just to recycle news or do a piece which is 150-200 words long but as a writer I am selling myself short and as a reader you deserve better, the more I can push myself then the better it is for the website and the better it is for me going forward.

So now is the time to formulate some new ideas and not rest on my laurels, good practice now will put me in an ever better position going forward. Although this where I would like to ask for your help to kick things on further and give the site the spotlight it truly deserves.

This site is a top 100 ranked soccer blog with Goal.com being the top of the list it is fair to say I am with some very esteemed company, I am currently ranked 69 in this list – Top 100 Soccer Blogs but there is definitely scope to move up the rankings.

Firstly I am always on the lookout for guest writers, the more content on the site means we can drive this even further. Unfortunately I cannot pay you as yet as I need to worry about paying my rent but who knows where this will lead if people really get behind it.

The more people that just want to write an article from time to time the more it can expand, not only that but it can a broader amount of voices and opinions. Something that is very much important as I do not want people to get tired of visiting the website.

Secondly if you cannot spare the time to put some words down then I would love to get website feedback from you – what works, what does not. What topics would you want to see going forward next season or any other ideas you may have then please share them.

I’m also a host of a podcast but I do have the software to do start doing my own audio clips, that in itself would add an extra element to the website but as always it is about time, then again that is just a lazy excuse and really I should be making the time.

Also following my Facebook page would be a massive help – I am currently on 248 followers and would love 250 (who knows you might win a prize!) – Simply click and follow here to get to the magic total. One point is that it is not groundbreaking numbers but it is all organic so it’s good that I have an ever growing community of followers.

That pretty much concludes my roundup of this season, slight apologies for it being more than that but it has been a very busy one and there has been a long list of achievements (I’ve not even mentioned the TV work) here is to next season being even more successful.

And of course thanks for all your support!

If you want to get in touch with any work/projects/sponsorship/feedback comments then simply email me at:
realfootballmanwordpress@gmail.com

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