How BJ Penn Uses Social Networks
This is a technical analysis of how one of UFC’s renowned fighters, BJ Penn aka “The Prodigy” utilizes his own social network online and harnesses the masses. I’ll be touching on the following areas:
- Why a MMA fighter would want to do this? Who doesn’t love free marketing?
- Technology used - Ning
- Content matters - use video and let others spread the word for you
First, Ronin 2.0 would like to congratulate BJ Penn for the re-launch of his website. I realize it’s been some time since the renovation but he (or his webmaster) deserve some major credit. If anyone of you know what the website used to look like, then you’re grateful for the overhaul.
Before, it was difficult just to read text on the site and a simple concept like an image gallery was a nightmare. It’s great to see that the fighters are understanding the significance of presenting themselves to the online audience. Let’s take a look at how The Prodigy continues his legacy in the digital space.
Why a MMA fighter would want to do this?
If you’re completely new to online social networks, I’d suggest starting with our favorite online encyclopedia (also an online social networking platform) - Wikipedia. Additionally, take a look at the folks over at the Common Craft Show and how they explain social networks “in plain English.”
Click to view source
From the fighter’s perspective
BJ is not just a MMA fighter, he’s an instructor and gym owner on Hawai’i’s Big Island and rightfully owns a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt. This double role holds true for many others (Royce Gracie, Randy Couture, etc.). This presents many reasons for BJ to create a community online that he has insight to.
Fans market every aspect of the content online - with the Internet and social media tools, anyone’s voice can be heard, information can be aggregated and shared in a vast number of methods. Whether it’s an e-mail, news clip or video, information on the Internet about BJ Penn is being shared amongst fans, sports analyst, bookies, etc.
Consider the workflow - BJ offers a tutorial video on passing the half guard on www.bjpenn.com. A feature of his website provides any viewer the ability to share it (post to MySpace, Facebook or simply e-mail). A fan becomes an aggregator of BJ’s videos by posting it to their blog, called Grappling for MMA (not sure if this is a real website). This blog might have a readership of 30 visitors a day (a very low number for Internet standards). The blogger posts BJ’s video, as a fan (of BJ Penn) and student (of grappling), readers of Grappling for MMA become a fan of The Prodigy as well - that’s just the beginning. It all draws more traffic to bjpenn.com, where merchandise is sold, events are marketed and photos shared to create another level of outreach to the fans. It then has the virus effect - that one blogger showed 30, a fraction of that may want to post the vide on their favorite forum on Sherdog.com (one of the most popular MMA news websites). The cycle continues potentially forever as that content now resides on the Internet.
Technology Used
Here we take a look at what takes on the heavy lifting to power www.bjpenn.com - Ning.
Essentially, Ning allows any person to create a generic version of MySpace or Facebook. I say generic as the features are limited for those of us who don’t know some deep geek speak (computer programming). The most popular features are available “out of the box” such as posting videos, a photo gallery or forum. The bigger picture here is that by creating bjpenn.com through Ning, it allows any aficionado to extend that culture to their friends. The beauty for the content provided by BJ is that it starts on his website and is extended like a spider web across cyber space (endless).
People will talk no matter what technology is used - whether a story passed down through the family generations or online in a MMA forum - the goal is to provide a channel for them to do so.
Here’s a reality check - people will talk about a product and whether you listen is completely out of the equation. You will find that this is true when analyzing a website like Yelp.com where everyone can be a local food critic and the business may not even realize the conversations exist.
By providing the outlet, BJ no longer has to post news about himself as his fans do it for him. Their passion is his progression - in February of 2009, his website traffic broke through 50.0K people (source - quantcast.com) with the addition of a blog and chat room. As BJ provides additional layers for his fans (and maybe the those that are not) to congregate, his community can only continue to grow and prosper.
BJ is known as The Prodigy for a reason and the marvel reigns free on the Internet thanks to the passion of the MMA community. I’ve yet to see this across the board with other big names in mixed martial arts but guarantee that will change as the fighters evolve with the technology.
