For the last six years, I and two partners have been publishing VandySports.com on the Rivals.com network. Now, many of you have no idea what Rivals is, but those who do know what a big deal this is.

Rivals.com was the very first web network to sell premium subscriptions to their content. Their first go around went belly up about 12 years ago, and the new owners bought it out of bankruptcy. As fate would have it, they moved the headquarters to Nashville, my home town. Last year, Rivals was purchased by Yahoo! for $100 million. That's a lot of web subscriptions right there.

What makes Rivals so special, and why should you care? Here's why:

1. Rivals does not sell a physical product.

All of their "goods" are digital content, delivered via databases that are connected through their proprietary content management system.

2. Rivals has a unique market position.

That makes them worth what they charge ($9.95 a month, or $99 per year). Rivals has all the recruiting info any sports nut would ever want — and they deliver it in a way that is understandable, sortable, and up to date. If you are a college sports fanatic, there's nowhere you'd rather be than at a Rivals.com site like VandySports.com.

3. Rivals was marginalized and put down by the so-called "regular" media for 10 years...

...and now they are one of the kings of the media business. Once looked down on as a bunch of kooks and fanatics, Rivals.com is now one of the top 10 most visited web networks in the world. Meanwhile, the newspaper business is closing the single worst year in the history of their business. See a trend?

4. The exact same paradigm Rivals used to make it big can be duplicated by any artist, author or exclusive content creator.

If you have a unique voice (or can find one) you have all the basic raw materials to run a paid subscription web community.

5. It's all about community.

Again, for years most people looked down their nose at these so-called online communities. Not any more. The web is a unique place to hang, but it's as real as talking in a coffee shop — maybe even moreso. The key is to learn what your people want to talk about and get them talking — and then figure out ways to monetize their loyalties.

Running a site like this is a lot of work. If you are not interested in getting your keyboard clicking three or four times a day, sharing insights with fans, then you are going to greatly dislike a community-driven web site. Furthermore (and most importantly) if you are the artist or author, and you think everyone else should be doing this sort of stuff for you, then close up this browser window and sit by your mailbox and wait for your next advance check.

As many might know, Vanderbilt hasn't been to a bowl game in a quarter of a century. That's why people often ask me who would spend money to join a web site wholly devoted to Vanderbilt football. The answer: no one other than hard core Vanderbilt football fans! And though the giant Rivals sites have over 10,000 paid subscribers, even smaller sites like VandySports.com draw in revenues well into five figures a year. It doesn't take a lot of hard core fans to make some coin.

If you've never been to a Rivals site, I invite you to go to VandySports.com and check it out. If you'd like a trial subscription, drop me an email and I'll get you a comped ticket to the premium content.

mike@vandysports.com