Seeking Writers to Grow Daily Rival

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about building a sports site from the ground up over the past 13 years it’s that content is everything. Once you have a good design, a stable site, and a clear understanding of what purpose the site serves, it’s all about the content. And since content ain’t gonna write itself, writers are important.

Growing a site takes writers. A new website needs lots of content; every day, with some sort of consistent schedule. But real writers are hard to come by.

My mission for 2022 is to bring aboard as many writers as possible, to fill these pages with content, and grow traffic and ad revenues to support a pay model that has worked very well on Inside The Star since 2015.

What We’re Looking For

Yes, it’s a “we” around here. We operate as a team and benefit as a whole from our collaborative successes. Therefore, the first quality we’re looking for is someone who works well with others. This may include collaborating on a single post with another writer, but will definitely mean communicating current and future article plans, from the topic to the completion date and time.

We utilize Discord for team communications, so conversations are always a click or tap away.

Availability

Daily Rival Writers should be available at least a few times a week to post. We all do this as a side gig around a day (or night) job, family, friends, chores, appointments, meetings, hobbies, and well, you get the idea.

You should be able to carve out a few hours a week to produce new content. Depending on your skill as a blogger and process as an author, a few hours could be anywhere from three to seven posts.

Coverage

Take a look at the top of this page, at the category navigation menu beside the logo; your topics can be anything that fits what you see there. You can write about the effects of a league policy on a whole sport, good or bad; the latest roster projections for a specific team, or profile an individual player’s prospects for the coming season.

The goal is to cover anything that’s considered a sport in the USA, as well as a few other topics connected to sports in the same hobbyist vein. While there may be restrictions down the road as our rolls populate, until then all topics within our designated categories are open daily.

Skill

As well-intentioned and/or excited as some of you may be about blogging, not all of you will have the technical chops for it.

I have personally worked with writers of all skill levels to iron out the kinks and grow their abilities, but it’s a time-intensive task. Some writers will be able to produce error-free copy day in and day out, using our platform (WordPress) with precision to effectively grow our catalog of content. Others will be able to produce content that is worthy of review and not much else.

I will take on the editor role while helping you become a more proficient blogger, for the right people. Those who know what to do and how to do it will be allowed direct publishing privileges. It all depends on the person.

My writers aren’t inundated with technical jargon and duties. The site is set up so that writers are really only responsible for one task comprised of eight things:

  1. Title – Clear and concise, ideally 70 characters or less, error-free
  2. Content – 300+ words of error-free, accurate, and original copy
  3. Category – One category most relevant to the content
  4. Tags – Between 1-10 tags specifically naming the subject of the content (must include team name if applicable)
  5. Team – Similar to how categories traditional work
  6. Player – Similar to how categories traditionally work
  7. Featured Image – An image of at least 1000x600px obtained via the web
  8. Schedule – Appropriate placement within/without a defined editorial schedule in coordination with other writers to ensure a beneficial disbursement of articles

That’s a highly summarized list that will need elaboration during training, of course, but that’s what an article consists of on Daily Rival. It’s kept as simple as possible for a reason.

There may be more to it than this, but touching on more than just the basics tends to get extremely long-winded. I’ll leave that for one-on-one conversations with applicants.

What We Offer

WIIFM [What’s In It For Me?] is an important aspect of any recruiting effort. I’ll be honest with you: in the beginning, your only rewards will be the satisfaction of a job well done, gradually increasing exposure, learning to do more and better, and building your portfolio with real-world experience.

That’s exciting, right?

For some of us it is, but not everyone these days appreciates the value of an honest day’s work. That’s not knocking anyone — all generations from boomers on down have succeeded and failed at this – with an emphasis on failed.

Being that money is the ultimate measure of success, so too is money the goal here. Talk to any journalist in the world and they’ll all tell you the same thing: this line of work doesn’t lead to riches for most. The rewards can be handsome, however, with enough time, effort, and a little luck here and there. The bigger we get, the better we’ll do, and the more we’ll have to do is usually how it works.

The bottom line is this: with growth comes prosperity, and those responsible for that growth will be rewarded as results allow.

Beyond that, we offer permanent article placement among a growing catalog of content appealing to nearly every demographic in the spectrum. SEO practices are refined and have been crafted through painstaking trial and error since the mid-2000s. The atmosphere is relaxed and casual and encourages the free expression of relevant ideas.

Do You Have What It Takes?

Many have confidently gushed to me that they can and will do this and that and that and this, only to fall flat on their quickly-disappearing faces.

The truth is, most fans are one of three types.

  1. The first type has a select few topics they are passionate about. Their enjoyment of debates and discussions on those topics is compulsory and seemingly without any distaste for repetition. They see the blog as a soapbox, an opportunity to voice their opinions on those topics louder and to more readers.
  2. The second type idolizes the status of being a sports writer. It’s all about recognition and community centered around their contributions. They want to be known. They want to be validated. They want to be respected. And they see the blog as nothing more than a means of pumping themselves up.

If you don’t fit into one of those first two groups, then you’re probably of the third type and are of more interest to us.

The third type of writer is outspoken and fluent on all topics within a niche, not just the ones they most enjoy. They enjoy the process of writing, from the first spark as you begin a new article to the pages and pages full of their works. They want all the same things that Type #2 does but understand that being known, validated, and respected are the results of merit and do not come quickly or easily. They want to create more than just a flash in the pan.

Slaving over a hot grill flipping burgers all day at the most popular joint in a big city can be easier than this work, but it can be fulfilling to the right person.

Many will say they are the right person, and few will prove themselves right. I’m willing to help you find out in the beginning for the sake of content. But will you step up to the plate?

Positions Available

The offering of positions will expand as the site increases in size, but for now, General Contributor is the only open position. If you’d like to start getting your work out there, use the form below to get started.

** Your information will not be shared or used for anything other than recruiting.