BrianBrownInc.com: Small Business Blog of the Day

A week ago I was scanning my stats, checking out what websites and what searches people were using to find Pajama Market, and I found more than one instance of someone doing a search in Google for 'Brian Brown.' Curiosity got the better of me so I Googled myself and found Pajama Market to be 8th or 11th on the list, depending on how you look at it (actor Bryan Brown gets his own weird section in this Google search, knocking me down a few pegs).

In front of me was a photographer, a race car driver, and a doctor. The photographer didn't have a blog, so the next on the list was a race car driver. At first glance, it doesn't look like a blog, but Brian's website is in fact a blog. I might call it a blog disguised as a normal website. This will be a good one to analyze because it is using blogging technology a little differently than the normal blog.

What it is
BrianBrownInc.com is the website for Sprint Car race car driver Brian Brown of Grain Valley, Missouri.

Features
The is blog is "disguised" as the 'latest news' section on the home page. Brian is a local celebrity so you will find news about his races, his charity events and his sponsors.

Favorite Post
Nothing like a suspenseful finish. Here's one called Brown charges from 15th to 2nd in Knoxville Summer Classic:

"What Brown may not have known was that Jeffrey shot to the top of the track because the lap car ahead of them was running the bottom line. As the two front runners exited turn two, Jeffrey again took the top spot as Brown was impeded and the Aussie roared by on the outside. Immediately Brown steered to the outside as Jeffrey dove low in turn three. As the top duo came out of turn four, one could see it would be close at the finish."

Further Comments
This is good example of a blog being completely integrated into a company's website. Most readers wouldn't even recognize this as a blog. It does fit the definition of 'a website that is frequently updated with the most recent article at the top of the page and a link to the archives of previous articles.' Yep, it qualifies.

What I like about this website is that it gives updated information for all Brian's race events and public appearances in a timely manner. It's a good, straight-forward use of a blog.

While technically, this is a blog, it doesn't take full advantage of blog format and technology. Brian would do well to make some minor changes that will add to his readership and increase his fan base.

First, I couldn't find an RSS feed for the news. I suspect that this website is updated by an old-school website design program and not through an actual blog platform or content management system that automatically creates an RSS feed. An RSS feed allows people to read articles on the website without having to visit it. This may sound bad (isn't the point of having articles so people will visit your site?) but it actually builds readership over time. I would add an RSS feed to the site and tell people how to access it.

Second, I would allow fans to leave comments on all the stories. Again, this may be a function of the site not actually running on a blog platform, but this is easy enough for a good web programmer to integrate. As an added bonus, Brian wouldn't have to hire a website designer every time he needed to add another article, he could do it himself as easy as writing an email.

Adding comments creates a two-way conversation between Brian and his fans, something his fans would hugely appreciate. Blogs work because they create an enormous connection with their fan base, something that would benefit anyone aspiring to celebrity status.

Photos of the races in the articles would be very cool, although there are plenty of race photos on the website.

I would love to see some personal posts from Brian in addition to the press release articles of his races. Personal posts would also help with creating a deep connection with fans that builds loyalty, passion, even obsession, things that sponsors really look for in a driver/celebrity.

Tags: brian brown, sprint car, sprint cars, race car, race cars, grain valley, grain valley mo, grain valley missouri, blackjack brian brown