A few years back I started a High School Sports media coverage business. It started with football and I will be adding basketball coverage starting next winter. Couple that with my photography aspirations and I wanted to bring it all together in one central location, for business purposes more than anything.

This is a place that I will send interested buyers from my sports photos to get started. Most of my traffic will come from the football and basketball sites.

The site is www.fridaynightmedia.net, just finished the site today, still haven't made public however since my basketball site hasn't gone live. You can disregard the titans and legends links those are my sports sites. I would like to know what you think about the site in general and the portfolio. I don't think I am going to go live with music in the portfolio. It is in flash format, nested inside of a normal html table.

Thanks for looking!
Matt

Nice site Matt, I especially like the renditions of the images on the front page, they help differentiate your site. A couple comments...

1. Music - I vote NO
2. The shutterfly pop-up window is a bit annoying, does it need to be in a different window?
3. I was somewhat confused by the variety of ways photos were displayed - maybe I just didn't spend the time to figure out your site, but it felt like I was hopping among different sites. Maybe I was.
4. Your "about fnm" page starts out with "*I* did this, *I* did that..." and partway through switches to "*we* do this, *we* do that...". Make up your mind, is it you, or is it you-all?
5. Personally for the simplicity of it all, I'd be trying to stick to one site. When I read about the other web sites, links, your "subsidiaries"... I do start to roll my eyes just a bit. I can't roll them too much, because I have the same tendency with my web sites, though.

Congrats on doing so well with the business - that's what mainly counts.

Dave

Great site functionality... a little complicated, but once you get it, it's great! I love the music; where'd you get it?

Phil

Great job with the site. The only thing I would consider is when I click your portfolio page and am looking at the rendition of the football player, I got lost where to go from there. It was tougjh to see the drop down menu. Just my 2 cents.

Great looking site, extra impressed given your camera!

Great comments guys, thanks. Yes I need to switch the I we thing. That is why I haven't went live with this yet. The truth is, all of these sites are one person, one reporter, one designer, one photographer, etc. I have let the coaches know this, but I am hesitant to let everyone know, because I want to portray an espn type feel, not one guy that does all of this stuff.

The business is doing great with visitors, but not with the finances as you can imagine for any starter business.

One of the first thing that web consultants tell you, is that if you are going to have external links, make them pop up in a new window, so that they don't totally leave your site. One thing to compromise on this, is to put it into a frame.

The drop down menu in the portfolio is not the easiest to find for first time users, I will have to work on a solution for that.

And Phil, that music is the Pearl Harbor theme from the movie. I am a soundtrack score fan, Glory, Gettysburg, Dances with Wolves, etc. I know once the site goes live I will have to pull the plug on that particular music though. Don't need the RIAA coming after me, even though I actually own the cd.

Thanks again,
Matt

Just in case anyone is interested the photos on the front page were processed with an action that I downloaded for Photoshop.

It is 'POP' and can be downloaded here.
http://homepages.slingshot.co.nz/~mikefinn/action.html
It was something that I always wanted to create the effect of and then it was discussed on dpreview.com.

Matt

I like the look of the site. I did not play around on it very long so I cannot really comment on the galery or the "popup" issue that was expressed.

However, you keep refering to the fact that it is not "live" yet. It sure appears that it is to me. As soon as it is available to the public, it is "live". Now, you may not be advertising it yet, but the RIAA would not care.

If you don't want people to find it until it is complete, password protect it, and when looking for C&C, just post the link and a password...

In this case, yes it is truly 'live' however, like you said it has not been advertised yet. As soon as I am totally completed it will be advertised on my football site.

Thanks,
Matt

I think you should reduce the size of your "portfolio". A portfolio should be a representation of your absolute best work. It's something to show your customers whatyou are capable of. A few of the best from each type of photography you are trying to promote. Since this is a HS sports site, you should have a few really good shots of each sport you cover. If you want to display all of your work or at least a big portion of it as it appears you did in your portfolio, leave it for the gallery.

Just so you are aware, there is a large group that covers HS sports in an editorial type way. They began in CA but are now expanding across the US with the intention of eventually covering all areas. Check them out just so you know what you are up against in your venture. Certainly it may be a while before they get to your area but it shoould still be part of your consideration. www.maxpreps.com

Yeah Randy, maxpreps.com is definately on my radar. They have even set up a partnership with the Michigan Football Coaches Association, so they are trying to move into Michigan and cover the sports. It scares me because they are a large corporation and have money to do all of the things I would like to do.

They have the resources but I am determined to be resillient, especially since this is not my main job, it's just a great hobby that takes over 40 hours of my life a week to maintain.

A couple of things that make me feel better, are that they are a national company, and I am dedicated to just one area in Michigan. I have a pretty good relationship with a lot of the coaches in the area and have played football in this area myself. My biggest advantage is that my main purpose is not for profit but for exposure of our great sports here in Mid-Michigan. You will never see any popups or have to pay for a subscription on my sites.

Thanks,
Matt

Others have covered what I liked about your site. I did have a couple of (constructive I hope) criticisms.

Personally, the white text on grey background was hard to read. I initially tried to click on an image to take me to that sport's portfolio. I also did not care to have to scroll the pics to see the entire image in the portfolio.

Matt, Maxpreps does get their money through advertising but they use banners and you won't get pop-ups. At least I have never experienced any. MaxPreps has a lot of integration on their site and it is very easy for coaches or a team representative to submit stats and player information. They are quickly bcoming the go to site for coaches and scouts who want to follow particular teams or players. BTW- there are no subscription fees for their sites.

In addition, they hire (well sort of) local photographers to shoot the events. The photos are posted on thier site and attached to the teams and the players. Parents, friends, boosters, whatever can purchase those photos right off their site. They work closely with the coach's associations and the leagues' governing bodies to obtain press pass access to all the games including playoffs and championships. Photographers shooting for them make between 50-65% commission on sales of their photography. The photographer retains all licensing rights but cannot sell photos from an event outside of MaxPreps he posted for 14 days. Maxpreps is also starting to get more and more requests from local papers for editorial licensing. They handle the legalities for the photographer and pay a commision.

There is a certain hometown feel you can provide that will make your site attractive to your audience and certainly you can offer your photos for sale. I just think that over a short period of time you will really be fighting to keep traffic flowing to your site if you are trying to be an all inclusive site with the move-in of MaxPreps in the very near future.

Personally I manage a website for a local HS baseball team here in Southern CA. I have now for 5 years. It has also been during that period that I started honing my skills as a sports photographer. I sold exclusively to the one HS up until 2004 when I started branching out and making more of a business of it. Now I shoot a couple local Little Leagues, the same High School and I also shoot for MaxPreps. The biggest reasons for me to go with MaxPreps were access and exposure. It has allowed me to establish relationships with several High School programs and business has begun to grow with those relationships. There are a ton of High Schools in this area, many of which are under-served from a sports photography stand-point.

Anyway, what you are attempting to do is admirable. I wish you all the best. It's a difficult task and I wanted to give you an idea of what the "competition" will be bringing to your area sometime soon. Perhaps there will be an opportunity for you to form a business relationship with MaxPreps and become a provider that enhances the local coverage rather than trying to compete. Best of Luck Matt!

Randy,

Thanks for the info! I think when it comes down to it, I just hope their can be room for more than one info provider. The more the better, especially for our athletes. I do like the integration of the site, especially the stats part. I have stats submission forms as well, but most coaches still rather just fax them in. I have had a few coaches that still won't communicate via email, they like the good old fashioned face to face or communication over the phone.

Good luck with your shooting as well, sounds like a great way to stay ahead of the curve and get the access you need.

I just knew it was a matter of time before some companies tapped into a rather underdeveloped market like you said. The one thing with Michigan unfortunately is that the school systems are suffering badly with loss of students and families moving out of state. I would love to catch a game out in California or Florida. Football is my love, but basketball is king in Michigan, especially in my area, Flint-Saginaw.

Matt