January5
My eleventh lens, Russell Martin of the LA Dodgers, was created June 6, 2007. It’s a TERRIBLE MESS! Update 1/6 — not any more; I’ve cleaned it up and split it into 2 lenses!
What This Lens is About
My favorite baseball player. Gah. Why did I get hooked on baseball? Oh yeah. Vin Scully, best radio announcer ever. Blast him.
Excerpt
May 5th, 2006. 23-year-old Russell Martin was called up from AAA Las Vegas for his major league debut to replace the LA Dodgers’ catcher, Dioner Navarro, put on the DL by a wrist injury.
June 21st, 2006. 33-year-old All-Star veteran pitcher Derek Lowe was getting frustrated after too many good outings without run support. Martin jogged out to the mound to check in.
“Relax, bro,” said the kid.
Lowe glared.
“I’m not leaving until you’ve calmed down,” Martin insisted.
Why I Made This Lens
Russell Martin was leading NL catchers in nearly every offensive and defensive category, but because it was his first full year in the major leagues, no one outside of Los Angeles was voting him in for the All-Star Game — they’d never heard of the kid! So I wanted to get the word out about him.
It helped! I got a ton of hits, the voting turned around in the last few weeks, and he went to the ASG!
Things I Learned Making This Lens
Pick a rookie player the INSTANT he starts looking like a good athlete. It is fairly easy to get a webpage on page 1 of Google for a rookie, before the media and fans have really “discovered” him. Of course, he may fizzle and burn, but you’ll own the Google ranking!
Fans are always looking for t-shirts and jerseys. Include an Amazon module selling them.
Note and be quick to add trivia the instant it comes out: name of new girlfriend, what the guy’s walk-up song is, why he changed the name on his shirt…etc.
Fans are also looking for photos, video highlight reels.
Don’t waste keyword space with a catchy title like “The Five-Tool Catcher of Cinquo De Mayo”. Use the guy’s name + his team name. That’s what people usually search for.
Things I DIDN’T Learn Making This Lens
Don’t make a fan page following someone’s career chronologically. After a few years, you have a HUGE amount of material, too much to plow through. I am still trying to trim and reorganize this lens.
Lens Stats and Milestones
As of today: Lensrank #15,769, 15 ratings, 6 favorites, 8838 lifetime visitors.
Best lensrank achieved: #202. Lifetime earnings: $99.33.
Related Lenses:
Russell Martin’s 2007 All-Star Season :: Vin Scully
Link:
Russell Martin of the LA Dodgers