My New Muse for Hockey Coaches

[kbernock]

Hi Everyone - this is my first post and I look forward to becoming a regular in this forum.

I have been a competitive ice hockey coach since a very young age. For the past 2 years I have been looking for a journal/notepad specifically for hockey coaches. If you go to a hockey game most if not all coaches have a notepad on the bench writing down their thoughts and notes. Please check out my site that I have created. I would like your feedback on the idea and website itself.

I thank everyone in advance.

If you have an idea on marketing this product of mine I am open to all suggestions. I have read Tim's book twice and am going through his chapters about marketing a muse now as well.

www.hockeycoachesjournal.com

Thank You,
kbernock

[montecristo73]

It is a cool idea, but aren't you giving it all away in the "Inside the HCJ" section? It seems the model can be copied or remade in a regular document just by looking at it there.

[kbernock]

I was thninking about that. I am going to get rid of the page pictures. Thanks for your feedback.

Kbernock

[Zach.Ho]

Hi,do you use wordpress or joomla to make this site?

[kbernock]

I used weebly. Very easy to use. What did you think of the site?

Would like to hear your feedback

Thanks,
kbernock

[Zach.Ho]

I think the idea is good,but do coaches who need this notepad search the solution on internet? I mean selling the notepad in store where coaches often go may bring good sales volume.
just my little opinion.

[winvest]

Here's a great resource for all the Hockey Moms across America
http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:He-k5Prc5MamEM:http://electivedecisions.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/sarah-palin-going-rogue-an-american-life.jpg

Sorry, I couldn't resist. ;)

[kbernock]

I plan to talk to the local store around in my area. I don't know how to go about neg with store. Any insight on this?


Thanks

kbernock

[networkmemetics]

I believe this is a great product idea.

I think the site is OK...the graphic of the book needs to change. Try a plain label with white space that says:

Coach:
Team:
Season:

I am traditionally an internet marketer, and the internet is a great place to order replacement books.......

I am not sure how Hockey Coaches (your target market) are going to find this online. I recommend you spend some looking at existing advertisements (print / trade shows etc / to launch you book.

Yes people can buy it online, but the initial product launch is going to require a more diverse approach. You know the industry better than I do - where do coaches go now for information (any online forums etc?).

One more note - I believe this is one of those great ideas that would fail with PPC, but thrive with other forms of marketing....

[kbernock]

networkmemetics,

Thanks for the great feedback. You stated that the site is OK, what would you do to improve the site? I don't understand what you mean on the graphic. I have a page inside the journal that is black and white with coaches information etc.. coach, team, season, league, example if you wouldn't mind?

I am starting to look into magazines, websites of contacts I have, and facebook pages of hockey coaching. Any other idea's would be great.

once again thanks for the feedback. It's very useful.

kbernock

[networkmemetics]

Re: Graphic.

A coach is going to have several of these books. I don't like the name of journal either - it sounds girly.

On The front of the book should be places for the coach to write the team name, season, etc. If he has multiple books, he knows which one to grab without opening it.

Your name doesn't need to be on the front of it.

[Screeps]

I would really try and come up with something new in terms of the design of the site. Just search around other "muse sites" that you can find on this forum for a better of idea of what other people are doing- and what advice theyre receiving. KitchenJoe.com is one that has come a long way IMO.

As for the info on the page- I would try and "cut the fat" as much as you can. For each one of your bullet points you should have 2 to 3 sentences tops. Taking 5 sentences to convey the point that it is the perfect size was way to much.


I would also include pictures of some of the more unique pages that your journal has. Really try and separate yourself from the average journals/clipboards out there.


And I also think you could benefit from a new name...maybe I'm off base, but what about calling it the PUCK or something like that...you know like hey coach pass me the PUCK... too bad thats not an acronym for something you could use...

anyway I was just throwin out ideas, hope some were helpful.


Good Luck,

Zac

[kbernock]

All Great Points. I like the cover idea. It holds 40 games and yes coaches are going to have more than one. I will have to ask some people in the printing industry on what type of cover allows you to write on but water won't destroy it.

I will work on cutting the fat out. I am starting to realize my site is to wordy. I had the main 4 pages but I received a lot of feedback stating I'm giving to much of the information away.

Name: This has me thinking. The Hockey Coaches Journal is the first thing that came to mind and didn't really think about it. I'm open to all names. Please I would like to hear what you would call it?

Thanks so much in advance for all your help

kbernock

[networkmemetics]

Player Analysis
Hockey Stats Monitor

I don't know.....I've tried for a couple minutes...think about the product and try to use words with start with the same letter...

hockey helper..no good
'Stick Statistics'....this is better....

Just start writing words on a page.

[momentum]

Love your site and I use weebly too. And I would in fact place more pics on? Anyway...

Where did you get that icon where people can share all of it on FB, google, ... etc. is it HTML?

You know the one on the right side of your first page??

thanks!

[kbernock]

What do you guys think of "Bench Thoughts" for a name?

I'm working on a second site for everyone to compare, keeping in mind feedback from this thread as well as what coaches are saying. As well has looking at other web-sites through this forum like KitchenJoe.com. If anyone has any other websites they think would be great to look at for me as an example please let me know.

What are your feeling on Google AdSense through weebly?



momentum - search addtoany.com then add the HTML they give you for your site.

Cheers!
kbernock

[kbernock]

Feumet,

Thanks for the feedback, you have some great insights and points. A couple questions for you on your post and thanks in advance once again.

I have a twitter account www.twitter.com/kbernock but this is a personal account even though the HCJ website is in my profile not everything I post is about my muse. (Mostly hockey and fitness) Use this account or set-up one specifically for the HCJ?

When you refer to long copy, are you implying that I should add more pages to the journal instead of enough pages for 40 games?

Should tighten up things meaning web-site?

I would love a copy of "Scientific Advertising" Please send it my way.

I love the video idea very much. I have no idea how to go about this. Or even what I would put in the video. What are your idea's if you would mind?

I like the money back guarantee. I was thinking along the lines of " 100% Money Back Guarantee if the HCJ doesn't help you become more organized and prepared."

Cheers!

Ken

[kbernock]

Andrew,

Please send all the info my way. Anything that is going to help me. I looked forward to reading all the good information you are referring to me. Also if you have any examples on video's please let me know. I don't know if I should make a video of my talking or one of just the journal.

Thanks in advance
Cheers,

Ken

[kbernock]

Hey Everyone I hope all is well.

I made some changes to the site please check it out. www.hockeycoachesjournal.com (on the "contact us" page I have included a link to a survey. Please take the time when you have a minute.)

I want to thank everyone for the feedback it has help more than you know. I have sold around 30 copies of the HCJ so far.

I'm dealing with a printing company that I am not happy with. If anyone knows of a better company please pass it my way.

Andrew, I will be taking a look at all the great info from the last post shortly. As it is the last week of hockey here and were going for a State Championship.

Thanks everyone that has been apart of this post, once again.

Cheers!
Ken

[jtwilber]

I'm not a sports coach, my quick thought was more pictures, less words. Maybe a vid clip of a coach at a game using it with comments. People who want to read can drill into text but you gotta grab'em by the gonads up front. you're not doing that for me. Good luck !

Jonathan

[kbernock]

jtwilber,

Thanks - I'm working on a video clip for the home. What I'm thinking is explaining the pages of the journal in the video clip. Pictures of the pages included in the journal of course as well.

Thanks once again for the feedback.

Cheers,

Ken