Philadelphia Phillies Memorabilia & Collectibles

 

Interview with : Brian Michael, Owner of Philliesnation.com

 

Interview by : Stefan Tesoriero, CEO of Sportsmemorabilia.com

 

Stefan : Well, first of all, I want to thank you for taking the time to speak with me about Phillies Nation. 

 

Brian : Yes, sure, no problem.

 

Stefan : And, really, I, just to start off with a couple background questions?

 

Brian : Sure

 

Stefan :  Just to understand what got you to where you are and stuff like that, just ask some questions about the site so that people can, you know, when they come to our site and check out, you know, search for Phillies things and can also get information about the Phillies beyond just obviously product offerings and such. So we try to provide more dynamic information and resources - -

 

Brian : In July of 2004, it kinda, there were two reasons I started. The first time it was that I was living in Washington DC at this time and I found myself, it was harder to find Phillies information because when you live in Philadelphia, all you need to do is read the newspaper. You kinda take it for granted that you always have the news there, and then when I lived in Washington I realized that I had to be more proactive about finding Phillies information and I would find it on a lot of websites. And I know that it might lead me to the Red Sox fan and it will always be going to the same Red Sox website whenever he was, you know, just try to stay abreast between news and get you know, what the heck was I thinking, so I decided that you know, I should create a website that has all that information for you know, I did not want it termed Philadelphia or not Philadelphia and it just kinda promontory toward all the Phillies news and things related about the team and just other events and you know, kinda improve from there, road trips and tailgate parties and kinda of just like a community of Phillies fan and whatever people wanted to discuss and we discuss and we have news or scoops and we are definitely there to write on the cups as well.

 

Stefan : Okay, gotcha. Is this something that you do on the side or has this become a full time gig for you or - -

 

Brian : Ah, no. It is something I do on the side. My real job is similar, I mean, I do web consulting and political consulting and common stuff like that. You know I have a year to experience all that. 

 

Stefan : Gotcha. It is kinda in the arena of what you have been doing.

 

Brian : Right, right. I mean. Yeah, yeah. It is kinda famous, it is almost like any other client of mine. It is how I am managing myself in this case. But, yeah, it is firstly a hobby. It is definitely something I would like to retire on but that might be a long wait, down the road, so.

 

Stefan : Sure, sure. What is the approximate readership, in terms of how many unique visitors you get on a monthly basis?

 

Brian : Anywhere between 1500 and 200 visits, or 1500 and 2000 visits. So that would, I guess you know, times four to get the monthly visits. There are some stats if you’re on the site under the advertising section. There are few quick stats if you read Philliesnation.com/advertising.

 

Stefan : Okay.

 

Brian : But I’m sure there are about 500 page views, multiplied to give the monthly calculation. I can’t get that on my head. [laughs]

 

Stefan : [laughs] No problem. How about, I want to ask you, how do you feel about the Phillies and code 7 coming up, you know, and Freddie Garcia?

 

Brian : Yeah, I mean, they kinda towards end of the last season they finally got their rotation solidified, they have four or five starters coming out to the hill on a regular basis. And I think with Freddie Garcia now, that provides even more stability, and I think that the Phils are in an awful lot of games early on in the season and they did not have that kinda you know, five work horse, guys that put out everyday, they had plugged a lot of gas with minor league players that were really ineffective. So I think the starting pitching is definitely the key to the cheers that they have and I think that they are starting off the season laughing off I think than last year. And last year, they only missed the playoffs by two games, year before they only missed it only by one game. So, you know, they just have to get over the hunk and I think the key to that is having a good start to the season which I am sure you hear a lot. But I think it is a lot more popular now that they have more starting rotation in place. And Freddie Garcia just produced upon that stability with the quality pitcher.

 

Stefan : Sure, sure. It is pretty deep, you know, six quality starters.

 

Brian : Right, right. So I mean, there is still question at the moment, trade Jon Lieber for [unintelligible audio 140943 time code 1:22] back off the bench, they definitely can use that after they lost David Dellucci. So you know, I actually would not mind if they kept Jon Lieber for the year and have a six start. I know it is hard to pay someone like Jon Lieber not to start or to have one of these six guys not to start [unintelligible audio 140943 time code 1:48] Cole Hamels is not better. And you know, everyday. So but you know, they have these injuries last year and Randy Wolfe came back [unintelligible audio 140943 time code 2:00]. There is always going to be some injuries in pitching and the hand depth at pitching I think is really key because like last year, they would try to fill in the spot starters and it really did not work out and they lost the divisional games.

 

Stefan : Yeah and I know, and I can attest really speaking from my end and my business is sportsmemorabilia.com. In terms of autographed Philadelphia Philly

 

Brian : Yes, I mean Ryan Howard is being chased constantly. Being kept but he doesn’t win in the awards but he is as good a player

 

Stefan : Yeah and you can tell because the real die hard fans, and you don’t even have to be die hard but people who give gifts, etc. Philadelphia fans in general, Philadelphia Eagle fans, Philadelphia Philly fans - - memorabilia frankly

 

Brian : Yes, I mean it is. Philadelphia is you know, a big market. I mean, it hard sometimes to [unintelligible 141300 time code 0:07] running like a small market TV but you know, it is the sixth biggest market in the country. So, you know, it is kinda, its the pride sometimes of really you know, it should be, I mean I always think of a goal and the left side is always to make it, you know, as popular as Red Sox nation or have that idea you know, that everyone in the country you know. This is a big city but it is a big sports town it should have that kind of national recognition and

 

Stefan : And what are the biggest baseball fans sites out there? I know Red Sox nation is big. I know that Metsblog is pretty big.

 

Brian : Yeah. But it is a big for team sites. It is Bleed Cubbie Blue with a cub sign out or Baseball Musings is a good turnout in general

 

Stefan : Yeah, part of that

 

Brian :  Other thoughts and that’s part of this I think small proportion of baseball bloggers called baseball [unintelligible audio 141300 time code 1:20] and they issue good stuff out there. I think there is a Dodge’s one and a Yankee’s one and they might have one for the other teams under this baseball first kind of idea. 

 

Stefan : Gotcha, gotcha. I was wondering, this is something I’ve been asking everybody, what do you see is the evolution of your site, you know - -

 

Brian : Yeah, right

 

Stefan : What are you, I guess it is a two part question. A – what do you use to differentiate yourself from the competition so to speak, or from everyone else in order to have your site be one of the top five sites that every guy

 

Brian :  Right, right

 

Stefan : that is versus someone else. B – where do you see the site will evolve to, what do you see in terms of additions

 

Brian : Right. Well, I think in terms of the first question, it’s kinda two parts. The one thing is that, it is just content and having quality, original, insightful content, that people, you know, that’s the thing will have people coming back every morning or after every game to be checking that. You know, sometimes, it is hard to be original when there is so much writing about it but at least it can be prevented you know, kind of you know, research and you know, well informed opinions. So in that sense just the quality of the content is one way to differentiate it but the other kind of more noticeable, intangible, I think, idea is that to do more than just blogging. Re-organize events, [unintelligible audio 141514 time code 1:00] rented a bus, you know for a bunch of [unintelligible audio 141514 time code 1:06] or readers down to Washington DC. We had a road trip up to New York for a Mets game, we organized tailgate parties, you know, have a band and parking lot parties, things like that and the time I mean, I’d like to differentiate myself you know, than the Phillies huge fanatics just really as a community of Phillies fans. You know, the blogging, I mean the analysis in the news is one part of it. But the other part is just this community who organize events, just as I have said, we have activities exchange on the website or fans can, you know, we post that action tickets like ticket plans with anyone out there. So, you know, we set foot in other stronghold of other people. So it is more, you know, kind of a unit of a community, of Philly news, just think about it and that is how I like to think about it. Where the future would lead, I think, you know, add more functionalities in the website, just ones like you know, message boards, and more longer term discussions rather than the daily kind of blog a person commenting. We have, I actually have talks with the Phillies for last season regarding being an official fan club of the team and trying to get access in that sense. So I really think of it more as a fan club, where like I have been saying, a community of Phillies fans. And the Phillies Nation blogs is basically just a newsletter. Now it happens to come every day, we are having an article you know, one post might be about last night’s game and the next post might be about Friday’s tailgate party at the park, so you know, it is not only because of sports commentaries kind of events. You know, just creating something around the Phillies, just with the Phillies and it’s a way we can help the team win you know, we will do it personally. 

 

Stefan : Gotcha, gotcha. Excellent. And I guess one final question I have is how does fantasy affect your site? How does it drive, do you see real spikes come March and the - -

 

Brian : Effects of fantasy baseball, you mean?

 

Stefan : Exactly, yeah. 

 

Brian : Well, in time we have one fantasy league, which in the site we could have where we run one week, where we started one week, we had enough demand for it start the second week. So people do that and we best organize it through yahoo or ESPN or some of the other sites. So we don’t have the kind of fantasy functionality on our site or really - -

 

Stefan : Well, do you see a spike in you know, readership and visits come draft time in March?

 

Brian : Ah sometimes, yes definitely we will be getting this season, I can’t, you know, say that it is all fantasy based or except for getting ready for the season, learning of the new players kinda things like that. So that definitely happens. It is not so much fantasy. A big part of it might even be because I don’t view too many fans’ baseball, fantasy baseball. It is so hard to do with hundreds to choose from

 

Stefan : Oh, it is a tough one. You know, football it seems is made perfect for fantasy. 

 

Brian : Exactly, yeah

 

Stefan : It is said your line up on Friday or Saturday, don’t worry about it [laughs]. Baseball, you’re rotating pitchers and the shift everyday. 

 

Brian : yeah. It is tough today like I mean, I am absolutely, particularly when I make my draft but you know, I might not check it for a month or two and view them.

 

Stefan : Sure, sure.

 

Brian : Yeah, fantasy, I think fantasy for football is a lot bigger than fantasy baseball although I think fantasy baseball was kind of the beginnings of the fantasy sports realm. I think baseball kinda started it.

 

Stefan: Thanks Brian

 

Brian: You’re welcome.