Find Buffalo Blog

I always see the high traffic (A-listers if you will) blogs passing around their meme’s and basking in their popularity and I feel so left out. I’ve been part of one, but there are many that never sniff my neck of the woods. Finding Buffalo isn’t for everyone, right?

So I’m talking matters into my own hands and starting a Minnesota Blog Meme. Requirements are simple, fill us in on three things about MN ….anything … what you love, what you hate, where you visit, where you party, where you blog from, just keep it Minne-sooo-tan. Then tag three other MN bloggers. If you are unaware of any other MN bloggers, City Pages has a good list of MN blogs, so visit a few of them!

3 Minnesota Items:

• Downtown Buffalo, MN is on the shores of Buffalo Lake.
• I bet I watch at least 100 of the 162 Twins games on TV each season (my wife loves that).
• Nothing beats eating lunch (a made-to-order wrap or sandwich) at BJ’s Deli in Buffalo during summer on their patio.

3 Minnesota Bloggers I’m tagging:

• Paul Jahn of Local MN, great local search info
• Jean at Searching For Minnesota
• Cafe Cyan - Sharing recipes from Apple Valley, MN

OK, the bus has left Buffalo, I hope it makes it around this great state without running out of gas.

I thought I would post on FindBuffalo.com’s traffic from March … and this isn’t anything associated with April Fools (is that disclosure?).

Users
Total User Sessions: 5,906
Average Daily Sessions: 190

Traffic Sources
Direct (entering URL into browser): 5,316
MSN / Live Search: 201
Google: 74 (slowly picking up speed)
Yahoo: 59
WifiFreeSpot.com: 18

Top Keywords
“buffalo cinema”
“Buffalo MN”
“buffalo mn newspaper”
“josh ortman” (Buffalo Basketball player)
“city of Buffalo MN”

We’ll see what happens in April. I have seen more traction with Google in the last few weeks and the Buffalo boys basketball team’s state title run brought some new exposure as well. I’m hoping to get some more time in the coming weeks to add some new content and features to the site as well.

The Buffalo Bison boys basketball team is absolutely a team. The Bison lost the schools all-time leading scorer early in the game, Josh Ortmann, who averages 19 points per game this season and pulled together to defeat Lakeville South 50-48. Ortmann turned his ankle grabbing a dead ball rebound as he came down on a Lakeville player’s foot awkwardly.

Senior Karl Olson hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 30 seconds left while Darrin Olmscheid and Eric Olson scored 11 points apiece to lead Buffalo who held a 21-17 halftime lead despite being out-rebounded in the 1st half 17-14. Buffalo’s players stepped up in the absence of Ortmann and turned in a fantastic team effort to gain the victory and a shot at the Minnesota State Title for Class 4A.

There has been no word on the extend of Ortmanns injury yet but early indications did not look good.
The Bison (27-3) pushed their winning streak to 17 games with the victory and will play at 8:00pm on Saturday night for the state title at Target Center. Good luck Bison!

Below are a few screen shots from Channel 45’s TV coverage of the game.

The Buffalo Bison used a nearly flawless performance in the first 18 minutes against St. Paul Johnson by shooting 73 percent from the field with just three turnovers. Buffalo built a 29-point halftime lead en route to an 82-61 victory over St. Paul Johnson at Williams Arena Wednesday morning in the opening game of the 2007 State Boys Basketball Tournament. Buffalo made 19 of 26 field goal attempts including 15 of 17 two-point shots in the first half.

• Click here to view game photos on FindBuffalo.com

Buffalo eventually built a 34-point lead in the second half before cruising to the victory. The crowd was packed with Buffalo fans as a reported 28 buses from the area brought students and fans to the U of M campus for the game.

Karl Olson scored 22 points and Darrin Olmscheid scored 21, 17 in the first half, to lead Buffalo. Buffalo (26-3), which was making its first state appearance in 76 years, will face Lakeville South (18-12) at Target Center in Minneapolis Thursday night at 6:00pm.

The Buffalo Bison (25-3) used a balanced attack to defeat St. Cloud Apollo in the Section 8 championship game 60 - 53 and advance to the state tournament for the first time in 76 years. Buffalo has made nine previous appearances in the boys’ basketball tournament, the last time in 1931.

Buffalo senior Josh Ortmann scored 16 points to lead four Bison players in double figures. Preston Whitaker scored 17 points for St. Cloud Apollo (23-6). The Eagles had five more field goals in the game and out rebounded the Bison 31-24 but could not overcome a 23-7 deficit in free throws.

Match-ups for the boys basketball state tournament will be announced later this week as other sections wrap up play. I’m hoping to duck out of the office next week and watch the tourney in person.
Click here to view the Buffalo Bison’s season schedule and scores.

Fox Sports North broadcasted LIVE from Buffalo, MN tonight, airing the Buffalo High School boys hockey game versus Duluth East. The home team didn’t disappoint upsetting the state ranked Duluth East Greyhounds 3 to 1. I watched the whole game on FSN and took some screenshots of the TV coverage to post on FindBuffalo. The Buffalo Civic Center was packed and the town will be buzzing about the game for some time.

You can view the recap and shots here.

It was strange to report on a game this way and take photos of the TV. I’ve gone to many high school events to cover them in person, but decided to capture the TV aspect of the game, since that was the biggest part of the evening … until the underdog prevailed! It all made for a great “made for TV” moment.

I’m pleased to announce that FindBuffalo.com now has a section devoted to homes for sale in Buffalo, MN. Local Realtors can now submit their Buffalo listing for a free 60 day posting on our website at FindBuffalo.com/homes. Realtors are able to upload a photo of the listing, short paragraph about the home, number of beds, number of baths, square footage, MLS number and of course price. Along with the listing information, Realtors submit their email address, web link and phone number. Their contact information is displayed and linked with the listing. This provides a Realtor the following benefits:

• Free advertising for their listing
• One more marketing plan tactic for their customer
• Online marketing to a local audience
• Online marketing to those looking to move to Buffalo
• Branding/exposure of their name
• A link back to their site for SEO help

Could it get any sweeter? Feel free to comment and let me know. All that we ask in return is that they link to FindBuffalo from their website. This is also to their benefit as it gives their users/clients access to great local info. Next I will be looking to add a printable listing feature to the display so that a user can print off their favorite listings as well.

Since I rarely post on Real Estate, I thought I would also promote a few in the industry that have blogs I have checked out. I have come across their blogs through MyBlogLog and enjoy them.

Cari McGee - Tri-Cities, WA Real Estate

Monica Foster - Dallas & Forth Worth Real Estate

Kevin Boer - San Francisco Real Estate Blog

Damon Pace - Realtor Marketing

Teresa Boardman - St Paul, MN Real Estate

Teresa also has a great interview on her blogging life, from why she started to what she’s learned, read the interview. If any of you make it here, please check out our new listing feature and comment with your 2 cents or ideas to make it better for users or Realtors. Thanks!