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Advice to people who want to become MMA writers
By Zach Arnold | May 10, 2010
From his latest radio show on Sports Illustrated, Josh Gross in his own words:
1. Understand what your role is. If you’re going to do this as a reporter and a journalist, be a journalist and a reporter. Ask real questions, find real angles, look for real stories. You’re not just there to regurgitate press releases, OK? You’re not just there to disseminate news. Dig a little bit, find out what’s happening. Even if it’s not like deep investigating reporting, who are the people that you are covering? What are their lives about? What is it about them that is compelling them to do this? There are all sorts of interesting of angles you can take.
2. Also, don’t expect to be paid a lot. It’s not a business that you’re going to become rich in. Very few people do. So if that’s your goal, yeah, you may fall short on that one.
3. Work hard. Just work hard. Good things come when you work hard, they really do.
Journalism is not like being a doctor or a lawyer, you don’t need a degree, you don’t need to pass some sort of exam to show that you’re competent in any kindway. Whether that’s a good thing or bad thing, it just is and I think if you are dedicated to the profession you can be a good journalist no matter if you drop out of college, if you go to college, don’t go to college, whatever it is. There are certain attributes that you need to have as a professional. You need to understand and pay respect to the profession and I think you’ll do just fine.
The best education I got in college was writing for my school newspaper. If you’re in college and you want to learn about journalism, write for your school paper and you will learn a ton. You really, really will. It’s a great education.
I’ll throw a few lessons that I’ve learned on top of what he said and perhaps it will serve you well should you want to get into this field.
You must network and constantly do so with people not only in this field but in the general sports field. I’ve learned that there are several people in this business who are absolutely awful at communicating. Everyone follows each other but rarely do you see consistent communication. You have to be very aggressive as a communicator and do it non-stop. There are a lot of lazy people.
Writing in-depth on non-UFC topics is good, but it won’t get you traffic. 9 out of 10 people would rather read about you talking about what kind of cell phone Rampage Jackson has instead of how Eddie Alvarez is doing in Bellator. With that said, write the non-UFC pieces and do them really well. It gives you something for tear-sheets in your writing portfolio and it also mixes things up in comparison to content on a lot of the “big sites.” As a writer, understand that most MMA fans only care about one thing (UFC) and the branding power is enormous.
Do not be an idiot and start up your site — join a site that is already established and show loyalty to that site. I’ve been around the block a few times and I’ve seen the same mistakes made over and over. There is this awful instinct by those starting out in which they would rather do their own web site and draw 50 hits a day instead of teaming up on someone else’s web site that draws 500 hits a day. TAKE THE BUILT-IN EXPOSURE. Don’t be selfish on this front. If you join a team or partnership on an already-established site, it will give you a chance to not only establish your name as a brand but it will also help you get faster access to talent in the business if you are already part of a known commodity. And once you do join up with an established site, show loyalty to it and be fully dedicated. Don’t half-ass it and put one toe in the water, go all-in. With that said, if you are in this for money, here’s the deal — don’t fall for what I call equity scams. Equity scams are when someone goes to you and says their form of payment for writing on the site is an ownership %. 50% of zero is zero. 80% of zero is zero. Get the picture? If you really truly are in this for money, get paid a small amount consistently up front or make a deal where you bring your own sponsor to the site and get a payoff that way. Writing on a site with already-established writers can benefit you in the sense that you have people who can act as editors and help tighten up your writing skills.
Don’t fall into the trap of nine million other MMA writers who decide that breaking news is their model for success. You will fall on your ass if you do this. There are nine million mice already running around 24/7 with their heads on a swivel trying to compete with each other on breaking news. Guess what? Don’t fall into the rat race. Don’t waste your nights and your life getting stuck in that mess. Learn how to manage your time, do it wisely, and understand what works and doesn’t work for creating content. The key to successful content is to have a different perspective, show some balls, be consistent in what you say, and be right.
Try to tie your content and your coverage into something larger, like general sports, that has bigger appeal. In other words, stay true to your focus of MMA but try to figure out how to broaden the readership base by pulling in fans from sports like football or hockey and establish a connection that way. Perfect example: This unbelievable story about Jay Glazer and Randy Couture having to find out that one of their MMAthletics trainees, Brian Cushing of the Houston Texans, got popped for failing an NFL drug test. Believe me — there are least 10 times as many football fans as there are MMA fans. So, when you have a story where there’s an MMA connection to a larger sport, jump on it and dominate it. Bring in the eyeballs.
To connect to the last point, understand that the name of the game is being a conversationalist and learning how to do it well and establishing an emotional connection with your audience. If you can’t do this, your career is dead in the water.
On a final point, understand that if you are good at what you do and you are consistent, you will find out just how obnoxiously political the MMA business is in general — especially in media circles. It’s unlike anything you’ve probably dealt with in your life. The old adage of keep your friends close and your enemies closer may be of some benefit to you.
(Personally, I just call it like I see it, but I’m the rare bird.)
Everyone in the MMA media reads each other and there is always whispering going on. You may not know that someone is reading your work but you will find out through a third party or intermediary that they are. In both a good way and a bad way, there is always gossiping that happens so learn how to keep your guard up, do your thing, and network with the right people.
If you are doing this to try to make a living, you must balance your journalistic ideals in comparison to writing and establishing an audience and understanding what makes that audience tick — what do they read, what do they buy, what are their likes and dislikes, etc. It really pays if you have a sales/marketing background because if you want to make money at this, you need to figure out what kinds of products your readers are willing to buy and then figure out the right sponsors to back your site. The subscription model will not work and neither will relying on others to pay you to write articles. Donations fall flat as well. Tip jars don’t work. Learn advertising and marketing and process in your head how you can balance your true passion with what makes true money.
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