• Are you a cricket-related business that has the potential to grow?
• Do you have an idea for a product or service in the cricket space, but don’t know where to start?
• Are you falling short of your financial goals?

We’ve set up our Business Corner to help cricket-related businesses navigate the digital landscape in South Africa effectively and affordably.

When we started Cricket Fanatics Magazine in 2019, we had a wealth of knowledge of the digital world based on over a decade of digital publishing.

Plus, we had over three decades of experience in designing, building and managing business systems.

But we soon realised that the digital landscape in South Africa was different, especially for cricket-related businesses who don’t have huge budgets and lots of resources at their disposal.

We therefore had to depart from the traditional mainstream, mass-media mindset and adopt a niche mindset that required lean and agile methods to survive.

These principles enabled us to survive a global pandemic, no cricket being played, and even the financial woes of Cricket South Africa.

We therefore decided to publish the insights that we’ve learned on our journey.

These insights have been gained by doing the work in the trenches.

But, it’s also based on systems theory and the core principles we’ve learned by an in-depth study of modern digital marketing.

You will therefore get unique insights based on our journey.

If this resonates with you, then join us on our journey towards predictably navigating the digital landscape in South Africa as a cricket-related business.

Lessons Learned

While we have learned many lessons, we’ve simplified it and grouped it into three core lessons learned.

1. Getting the attention of a cricket audience is very hard

2. Technology can get complex and expensive very quickly

3. A strategy that’s designed specifically for digital is needed

You will encounter these same issues as you navigate the digital landscape in South Africa.

But we don’t want you to go through the same pains we did.

We therefore started our Business Corner to help you navigate the digital landscape in South Africa affordably and effectively.

It’s what we wished we had when we first started publishing.

This how our Business Corner Works

1. Online Content

The Business Corner is a separate area on our website specifically for cricket-related businesses.

The business content is free, just like our magazine and other content we create for fans.

Our online business content teaches cricket-related businesses the principles needed to navigate the digital world effectively and affordably in South Africa.

2. Membership

We have a free membership that only needs your name and email address so that we can communicate directly with you.

We deliver content via email that’s not available online.

You get “insider secrets” and are the first to know about new developments as a member.

Plus you get direct free access to us so that you can ask any questions about navigating the digital world in South Africa as a cricket-related business.

3. Consulting and Implementation Services

We have an audience, the technology and the strategies to help you navigate the digital landscape in South Africa as a cricket related business.

Our primary goal is to help you get more long-term, happy customers.

Whether you’re a seasoned marketer or just starting out, these principles provide a framework to engage with and sell to a cricket audience.

We begin from the ground up, assuming little prior knowledge, ensuring accessibility for all levels.

So, please forgive us if some of the articles seem rather obvious or too basic.

We hope that the depth and breadth will meet your needs as we progress on our journey together.

If our articles resonate with you, then join our Business Corner and be the first to know about new content and get the “insider secrets” on implementing the principles, which won’t be published on our site.

Who is this for?

As a cricket-related publication, we are writing primarily for cricket-related businesses that would like to make more sales.

A cricket-related business is unlike a general business where their target market is everybody.

Our passion for the game and our desire to serve those who are also passionate about the game are the reasons we started our venture.

You are probably the same.

You’ve invested money, time and effort into your business to serve a cricket audience.

You could have chosen any other niche, but you chose cricket.

That is why everything we write in our Business Corner is focused on helping cricket-related businesses.

This narrow focus was essential to our current success and will be for the foreseeable future.

The reasons why this works will be revealed in a future article.

For now, you just have to know that it’s a chosen strategy based on overwhelming evidence that it works.

Where do I start?

We often get asked this question and the answer is, it depends.

It depends on where you are now.

Our experience has shown us that three scenarios are broadly applicable to where you are now.

• Scenario 1: You have an existing cricket-related business, but need an audience
• Scenario 2: You have an existing business and an audience, but are not converting them well enough to customers
• Scenario 3: You have an idea for a cricket-related business, product, or service, but don’t know where to start

Don’t worry if you don’t fit precisely into one of these scenarios. Our content will be relevant to any cricket-related business.

Why listen to us?

If you don’t know Cricket Fanatics Magazine, then have a look at our website, YouTube Channel and Social Media accounts to get to know us better.

If you know us, you will understand that we are a well-known and credible brand in the cricket space, despite being a small independent publication run by two people.

What you will read is based on our experience in running a multiple-platform digital publication in the cricket space.

But it’s also based on decades of business systems experience and digital publishing in other areas.

Why are we doing this?

Traditional magazines are known as having a two-sided business model.

They build an audience and then charge businesses to reach that audience.

This was easy to understand in the print world.

Magazines had a targeted audience who spent a lot of time consuming the content.

So, even though magazine advertising was expensive, they could attract enough businesses to advertise with them and stay profitable.

This enabled the best magazines to be overwhelmingly successful.

But, with the digital revolution, the magazine industry largely collapsed.

For example, in just one week in 2020, two South African publishing houses closed just under 20 iconic magazines.

Not to mention the bulk of other magazines that have closed in the last decade.

They were no longer able to sustain themselves with advertising, as consumers went elsewhere and businesses followed suit.

This is the environment in which we started Cricket Fanatics Magazine in 2019.

At the time, we did not know that we would also have to face a pandemic, no cricket being played and the financial woes of Cricket South Africa.

We started as a digital publication from the ground up and did not have the huge overheads of traditional print magazines.

We could keep our costs down and do things differently.

We were playing a different game.

We were not playing to win. We were playing to stay in the game, as we were up against some of the biggest media houses in the country.

But, soon we realised that they were not our competitors.

The businesses that we want to target can’t afford them anyhow.

Therefore we focused on developing solutions that are effective and affordable for any sized cricket-related business, not just the ones that could spend millions on marketing.

Where are we going?

Our vision is to help cricket-related businesses understand modern digital marketing principles so that they can get more long-term, happy customers.

A principles-first approach will ensure that what you learn will be valid in the future.

This is important with the fast technological, social and economic changes at the moment.

We only see this speeding up.

So timeless principles are essential.

But, we will also focus on tactical solutions that are practical based on the current reality.

This will enable you to implement modern digital marketing solutions effectively and affordably so that you can reach your financial objectives.

Our approach is focused on education first, allowing you to choose for yourself which path you should take.

As digital publishers, we can publish content affordably and effectively. So this will be our chosen medium.

We will use Cricket Fanatics Magazine as the main case study in our writing, as it’s a living example of the application of the principles.

We use our methods to teach you our methods.

But, we will also bring in other examples, to ensure that you get a full picture of the digital landscape.

Nothing is written in stone though (it’s digital after all).

We will change and amend as the landscape evolves and we learn more.

At the time of writing, ChatGPT and AI are swooping over the world.

This will have an effect on your business and digital marketing.

We are not going to fight it, as that would be futile.

We are embracing it, and looking for ways it could make our businesses better.

What’s Next?

We are inviting you to come on a journey with us, where we will introduce you to the modern digital marketing world as seen through our lens.

This will give you a new perspective on how you see modern digital marketing.

By seeing it through our eyes, you will develop your own view of modern digital marketing as it pertains to your business.

Our views will probably challenge your existing views.

You may accept some of our views but probably reject a lot.

That’s okay.

We are each on a unique journey, but the magic lies where our paths cross.

This is where we help each other via collaboration, creating something greater than what each of us could do on our own.

We do this by serving first, knowing that the rewards will follow.

The main theme that runs throughout our website is modern digital marketing principles for cricket-related businesses.

As this is our first article, there may not be much else published on the site yet. But this will change over time.

If you want to be the first to know about new content, join our Business Corner, which will also deliver practical “insider secrets” on implementing the principles published on our site.

If you are not ready to join, you can continue on your Digital Marketing Journey right here by reading our next article.