Blog-de-Cool...websites

So when I started out this blog, I didn't really do much planning as to count how many blogs and blog-ish websites I visit frequently/ at all. Unfortunately, this has led to me running dry on material. I could go out and find some blogs that I have visited here and there a few times, but instead, I, (the moderator/writer/only reader of this blog) am changing the format. The blog will now feature websites that I visit in general, not necessarily being in a blog format. First up is Craigslist. Sell your junk, buy others' crap, find rides and jobs. What more could someone ask for?

Pinkbike

Another week, another website in a blog-ish format that I like to visit. The semester rolls on. This week we have Pinkbike.com Strange name, cool site. Pinkbike is the biggest and most relevant online community for mountain biking of all disciplines: Downhill Racing, Cross- Country, Dirt Jump/ Street, Freeride/Slopestyle, BMX. and lastly......Road . It's a great place to go for photos, videos and industry news; as well a great place for user submitted buy/sell ads and forums. Like a lot of online communities, Pinkbike forum's median age sometimes seems a little low to get any useful information, but the search function does wonders for questions about parts and reviews.

Two cool features that stick out on the homepage are the POD and VOD sections. (Photo and Video of the day). A lot of professional photogs submit a lot of pictures to the site, so the POD section is always a very high quality shot. The videos aren't quite as great, but the mountain biking industry hasn't really progressed as much as other sports in the realm of frequent and high-quality, user-submitted video edits. (possibly because filming mountain biking is extremely time-consuming and tiring.)

Today's POD

I couldn't upload today's VOD because Blogger can only process Youtube videos evidently. But it was video coverage of the Valparaiso Cerro Abajo, which is an urban downhill race that happens every February in Chile. Like we've come to love in rally racing, fans really enjoy getting as close to the action as possible, and this human really makes racing interesting. It is a very unique race in a very unique and culturally rich location, so a quality video from it is always a treat. Check it out.

Online community covered today: mountain biking. 

Malakye

Once in awhile, I'll the use the internet for useful things. Things that I could perhaps apply towards meeting my long-term goals... or something along those lines. This week, we have Malakye. Aside from not knowing how to pronounce or spell the name of this page, I have awarded it the covenanted title of my homepage.

Malakye is a web-service that provides a connection between action sports companies and their respective job seekers. Malakye features companies in the skate, surf, snow, moto, bike and wake industries, and some companies that might apply for the lifestyle of said disciplines. You don't have to pay or sign-up for it, and it is updated several times a day. On the website, their is not only information for job seekers, but also for employers. Employers can check out:

• The industry news section to see what the competition is doing.
• The outside sales/ sales rep section
• Industry and company profiles. 
• Vendor lists and their respective status updates and news bits.
• Requests for proposals
• Business to business collaborations and opportunities.

In addition to keeping up to date with the above sections, it would also be beneficial to potential employees to keep up with these areas of the site.

• Job search engine
• Live-feed job wire
• Sales rep opportunities
• Resume crafting

As I haven't been going on this site for very long, I really can't speak for how long it has been as current, effective and widely used as it is today. Today, for example, there was 20 new job listings posted, and multiple relevant news articles. They cover a huge range of companies, and I am always seeing new ones popping up with an opportunity. Malakye is a very well-done and layed out, will most likely be my homepage for awhile. Check it out!

The Come-Up

So I'm onto my 5th week of blogging, and still haven't managed to run out of sites that I visit on a more-often-than-not daily basis. Who knows if this is a good thing but I'm running with it.

This week, we venture farther into the world of action sports, and The Come Up comes up in our address bar. TCU is a BMX blog where users can submit videos or anything to do with BMX, and a ultra-picky moderator decides what makes the front page. It is one of the premier places to keep up with what's going on the world of BMX riding. Not only does it cover riding, but also the culture and hype that goes with it.

A growing trend lately in action sports is the huge jump in popularity of webisodes and short, to-the-point edits. Companies, teams, and individual riders upload their most creative works, hoping to promote themselves, their company or their message.

United Bikes used quality filming and editing to promote a new collaboration they did with Etnies Shoes on one of their latest complete bikes. Advertising in a creative way like this allows the viewer to get a much better view of the product (rather than a crappy, zoomed out internet or magazine photo.) It also sets itself apart from other bike manufacturers, and took little extra effort.

The time and effort riders put into their edits obviously shows through, and creates a much more lasting impression. Although low quality edits don't usually make it to the front page, a few sometimes poke through and really stand out. Of course, on the other hand, high quality ones really do a good job in getting kids stoked on the rider, team or product that they are trying to promote in the video.

Although this example might not be the fairest one, as it was made by one of the original and most respected professional film companies, it shows that well thought out editing and camera shots easily stick out to the viewer. The team here, G-Sport, got a ton of great promo for their team and products in this edit.

A reoccurring theme of my blog entries is that more and more customers are spending a lot of their time online, and aren't looking at the Facebook and other "hot" social media pages that companies are investing millions into developing and promoting. If marketers took the time to find out where the truly "hot" sites are in an industry, the ones where the kids and true fanatics are frequenting, they would find their message being much more accepted and passed on with word-of-mouth. Creative sells.

Newschoolers

Ah Newschoolers...

As a long time freeskier, not many other sites have stuck in my favorites for as long as it has. I have officially been a member since February 27th, 2003 (listed on the site, not THAT big of a fan to remember it), but was lurking around a little before that. Newschoolers started out as an online message board for skiers to come to and talk the talk, but has evolved into a huge and very influential part of the sport. Around 3 or 4 years ago, it was bought out by GrindMedia, owner of many action sports media giants such as:  Surfer Magazine | Surfing Magazine | Powder Magazine | Snowboarder Magazine | Skateboarder Magazine | Canoe & Kayak | Bike Magazine 

Standup Paddler | Fantasy Surfer | GrindTV | Surf | Ski | Motocross | Mountain Bike | Skate | Snowboarder, but still is ran by a few of the original founders. 

Founder of Newschoolers, Matt Harvey (since gone on to start a new magazine (the late Freeze, RIP) and is currently one of the head editors of Freeskier)

Now a days there are over 180,000 members, with probably 70% of them consisting of under 18 suburban white kids. Now I know I'm making it sound like one could really gain a plethora of  valuable knowledge from this site, but bear with me here. Even with the countless threads from teenagers on their IPhones, there is a ton of good info that leaks through, and some very interesting views and opinions. Newschoolers has successfully launched careers, companies and imaginations of little grom jibbers across the globe. Some of the top pros, along with some of the most relevant and successful companies have had their careers skyrocketed by a popular thread, video, picture or trend on Newschoolers. 

The power this community holds in the realm of freeskiing is astronomical. Anyone who has been into freestyle skiing for sometime (or even snowboarding) has heard of the site, and most likely has an account. Similar to another social media site I'm sure all of you can name, Newschoolers pulls in innocent victims into the mindlessness of its inner walls/ forums and will hold you until hours have gone by and you still have to write a 4 page paper by the next morning. 

Online communities such as Newschoolers are a rapidly growing aspect of consumer behavior and marketing, and should be treated as so. Infiltrating these circles of consumers that are "in-the-know" in their respective sport or hobby will prove to be extremely valuable. If companies can successfully create buzz within a core group of consumers that are passionate about what they do, their efforts will be multiplied over and over again. As we all know, word of mouth is the most influential force we see as buyers, and has never been easier to push along than in today's online world. I'll have to admit that some markets are not as easy to influence and penetrate as the gullable, suburban, white, trend-worshiping, triple tall-tee wearing young freeskiing crowd, but you get the point. A lot already have, but more companies need to start promoting and creating an image on where all the kids are at, the internet.

Juxtapoz

When a person is writing a blog about the places they spend a lot of time on the internet, it becomes easy to realize how much time you waste in just a few spots. A huge time waster for me is Juxtapoz. Juxtapoz, a sister company of the popular skate magazine Thrasher, started in 1994 and stills flourishes as an art and culture magazine, but also puts a ton of time into their blog updates each day. Every day you can find at least a page of links that you will most likely find yourself clicking on, to see more of the exhibit/ piece/ project that numerous artists have been working on from around the globe. Just surfing back less than a week, i found:

An art exhibit Incubus frontman Brandon Boyd has been working on utilizing garbage from the ocean, in order to raise awareness of the current state of our oceans, and the masses of garbage that are deposited there everyday.

A series of photographs by Tim Mantoani of famous photographers holding the photo that they are most famous for.

A tree house restaurant in Okinawa.

Art, design and culture obviously play a huge part in consumer behavior, as humans are more than obsessed with objects, members of the opposite sex, trends and products that are appealing to the eye. Companies that recognize the need for quality, up-to-date design and artistic work put themselves much farther ahead in gaining and keeping our attention then their competition sitting down from them in Aisle 17. Juxtapoz is a good example that some of the best artists and designers aren't those that are hired by big name corporations, but are out doing their own thing. Money doesn't always buy quality! And who wouldn't want to eat in that tree restaurant in Japan? (Spoiler: said tree is actually made of concrete)

Lady Gaga- Pokerface (Club Mix)

Aside from reading about dad's being hipsters, hearing fresh songs and adding them to my library might take the cake as the most beneficial corner of the internet. RCRDLBL is a music blog based out of the sunny, bikini clad place we all want to be, Los Angeles. Unlike the "music blog" your super artsy friend creates through his thick rimmed, horned glasses, RCRDLBL only features tracks that artists have actually released, either publicly or exclusively to the blog. No low quality bootlegs, no pirating, no recording off youtube; just free, curated, legal MP3 downloads. It has launched the careers of many artists, including Kid Cudi and Passion Pit, and serves over a million downloads and plays a month. Their team of expert ears not only seek out the freshest music you've probably heard in months, but also have a knack for perfectly describing the songs with adjectives I would never think could be applied to music. So, throw away that LMFAO album, delete your entire collection of Bruno Mars, and finally rid your soul of that sorry excuse for a playlist that you have been listening and slowly adding to since you started at MSU (one Lady Gaga/Katy Perry/Adele club remix at a time). Turn on, Tune In, Drop out:  RCRDLBL

P.S. Graham, my only follower, the LMFAO/Bruno Mars Etc. comments are not directed towards you! (had to go back and add this after i read through it again) But you should go on the blog anyways!