I’m going to bypass the many features and benefits of the Flipboard app, (other than to say, you are missing out if you aren’t using it). See previous posts.

This post is to reach out to the budding and hardcore Flipboard curators who have already created over 30 million+ magazines from over 34,000+ topics on the platform.

I want to share (indulge) how I created the most popular (biased) magazine on Flipboard about one of my passions, Liverpool Football Club.

I’ll share the origins of the Magazine, detail 7 steps to build and connect authentic team sources, my curation schedule and how I got the CEO of one of the worlds most famous football teams to read the magazine.

A living, breathing programme dedicated to #LFC. The latest news, fixtures, stories and discussion. #YNWA

Liverpool FC Magazine on Flipboard

 

Why?

I’ve been a Liverpool fan for over 30 years but work and family life meant I wasn’t following my team as I was in previous years and when I did have time I had to seek updates from various sources on multiple platforms. This was ok, but there is a lot of noise and distraction on platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

I also wanted the club and team news to come to me, and wanted news sources to be more authentic than the general media outlets. Opinions and perspectives closer to the club, real fans who share the same passion as me.

I created team-specific Twitter lists and merged them into Flipboard specifically for this purpose, adding Twitter accounts of the Team, Fans and Players (190 accounts), more on this below.

Ultimately I had achieved what I wanted by doing that, I had a live stream of relevant team cross-platform updates (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube) coming to my mobile via Flipboard, powered by an army of informed passionate fans.

Curating a Flipboard Magazine was a natural progression, I had a tailored stream of live content from sources that I knew people would appreciate as a resource, this led to Liverpool FC Magazine.

various sources on multiple platforms

Liverpool Fans

 

1. How to get started

Team Content Type

There is a wide range of potential sources and source types for a Sports Team. This will vary with each sport, team profile and fan base. I have around 190 sources (media, individuals and players) for LFC Magazine.

If you are prepared to spend some time building the sources via Twitter, YouTube and Facebook you’ll have a great live stream of team updates to connect with Flipboard that will support your magazine curation.

  • Official Team Accounts
  • Official Team Staff (Owners, Directors, Coaches, Trainers, Scouts, Agents)
  • Official Team Players (First Team, Reserves, Youth, past and present players)
  • Official Supporters and Fan Clubs
  • Team Ambassadors
  • Team connected Pundits and Commentators
  • Local Journalists and Photographers
  • Nationwide Journalists
  • Bloggers
  • Vloggers
  • Fan Pages

Already you can see including the source types above, your team updates will be rich in original content with varied opinions from sources close to the team or club.

varied opinions from sources close to the team or club

Liverpool FC News

 

2. Where to find Team Content

Twitter

Twitter will be a key source of your team content. Use Twitter search to find high quality, relevant accounts you are happy to see team updates from. Searching Team related hashtags will return lots of influencers, bloggers, journalists, club staff and players.

Add these sources to your team Twitter list.

YouTube

Video is popular, adding to the tailored magazine experience and works well within Flipboard. I found several YouTube channels dedicated to Liverpool FC in addition to the official sources.

Subscribe to relevant team accounts on YouTube

Facebook

Official and unofficial fan pages are likely to reside on Facebook.

Like each page that you would like to see team updates from.

Flipboard

In addition to the 3rd party platforms don’t forget to add your team or sport as a passion within Flipboard itself, this will add to your team content and help discover other sources, curators and influencers within the Flipboard platform.

Bonus tip

Chrome user? Add the Flipboard extension to your browser window, this makes it super easy to Flip content into your magazines that you discover when using Chrome. Safari users, add this shortcut to flip content.

Video is popular, adding to the tailored magazine experience

Jurgen Klopp

 

3. Connect Team Content with Flipboard

So now you have all of your team sources listed on Twitter, subscribed on YouTube and liked on Facebook. It’s time for the Flipboard magic.

Head into your Flipboard account and connect your Twitter, YouTube and Facebook account. Once connected you will have new Flipboard tiles providing live updates about your team from your chosen sources.

the Flipboard magic

Liverpool FC latest

 

4. Consume and Engage

Now you have a live stream of team updates within Flipboard, these will also feature in your Flipboard cover stories, great for staying up to date with your team’s news, debate and discussion. One place for your updates, cutting out the noise.

Don’t forget Flipboard doesn’t remove any of the interactive features of Twitter, Facebook or YouTube, you can still like, retweet or comment on team updates within Flipboard.

like, retweet or comment on team updates within Flipboard

Anfield Stadium

 

5. Create your Team Magazine

You now have a rich stream of team content flowing through your Flipboard, you are consuming it, curating into a Flipboard Magazine is a natural progression. Simply hitting the Flip button on team updates you can have a populated magazine dedicated to your passion in no time at all.

  • Add a profile image or badge to your Flipboard Profile
  • Add a great bio
  • Add Magazine name and description
  • Find a great Magazine cover image to start with
  • Start flipping team updates into your magazine

a populated magazine dedicated to your passion

Liverpool Fans

 

6. Team Curation Schedule

In season I try to curate daily but this isn’t essential, topics, articles and discussion may vary about your team at different periods. If its topical, relevant and interesting I will flip it, avoiding repetition, this is where you become the editor of your team magazine.

A few examples below that I like to use:-

  • Team News
  • Debate, Discussion, Rumours
  • Pre-Game Build-up – Team, Journalists, Players and Fans
  • Pre-Game Press conferences (video via YouTube)
  • Live Game Curation – Journalists and Fans (Twitter is great for this)
  • Post-Game Reactions – Team, Journalists, Players and Fans
  • Post-Game Press conferences and game highlights (video via YouTube)

Live Games powered by Twitter fans, curated by you

Liverpool FC pre-match

 

7. Team Magazine Outreach

You need to drive awareness of this fantastic resource you are curating, it’s likely there are many other fans around the world who would love a dedicated resource for everything connected to their team.

  • Look to engage and share your magazine at every opportunity on Social Media
  • Add the Team Magazine URL to your Social profiles
  • Pin a Tweet to your Team Magazine on Twitter
  • Use Player images as featured team magazine covers, tweet the player .@player for increased exposure
  • Tweet and engage Team Fans, introduce them to your Flipboard Magazine
  • Share your Team Magazine on game days, pre and post-game
  • Join in with Flipboard # such as #Flipboardchat, #FlipboardFriday #MagMakers and #FlipBlogger

Something I did recently with positive results was to simply list (in Excel) the Twitter accounts who shared my passion, many I already had in the Team lists on Twitter. I validated them as influencers, many had large relevant social media followings (Liverpool FC fans and followers).

I scheduled personalised Tweets to over 70 individuals over a 2/3 week period using Buffer. The response and reach was great, as you would expect from fellow Liverpool FC fans and influencers. Just an example below of an exchange with Liverpool FC’s current CEO Peter Moore.

 

Over to you

As you can see from my own experience above, curating on Flipboard provides a great opportunity to share your team with an army of fans across the world, reconnect a passion and engage with your team’s community.

This strategy is repeatable across sports and teams all over the world, famous teams, local teams, colleges and many more.

  • What is your sport?
  • Who is your team?
  • Are you curating a team magazine or planning too?
  • Did this article help at all?

Would love to hear any feedback in the comments below.