personal brand

Branding You in the Business of Sports

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Branding You in the Business of Sports
by Drew Mitchell – January 2016

Who are you?

What separates you from everyone else in your business? How is your brand perceived by others?

“Branding you” was the topic of our panel discussion held at the new Foster Campus for Business and Innovation at Baylor University. The audience consisted of students from the Sports Sponsorship & Sales (S3) program as well as sports industry executives. The panel included Tami Walker, Head of Brand Management for Phillips 66; Derek Blake, Vice President of Partnership Marketing and Military Programs at La Quinta Inns & Suites; and, Greg Grissom, Vice President of Corporate Development at the Houston Texans.

The discussion yielded important insights on how to brand yourself in any business, but specifically in the business of sports.  We each have a personal brand that makes each of us unique, as the iconic Dr Pepper brand reminds us, we are “Always One of A Kind.”

The Four Pillars

Derek introduced four key underlying principles of who you are and how others will see you.

  1. Connecting – Be a networker. Help people meet other people, which in return broadens your network.
  2. Humility – Unless you are an entrepreneur, you will always have a boss until you become CEO. And then you will have a board of directors. Always have the mindset of WIT–whatever it takes. Be willing to do anything, even if it means taking out the trash or making the coffee, no matter your seniority level.
  3. Integrity – “Don’t shift with the wind.” Do the right thing, even when no one is watching. During hard times don’t stray from core principles and values.
  4. Giving – Set yourself apart by giving back, regardless of how much money you make or what your position. Plenty of people know how to take. Being a giver means you are a service to your peers, business, society and the community.

Why Ration Passion?

Tami talked about how it was important to have a framework for your personal brand. First, you must develop expertise. Whether it’s through education, experience or a combination of other learning opportunities, expertise sets you apart from others. Know what skills and talents you possess and what skills you need to acquire. Second, you must have passion that distinguishes you from others.

Mike Libeckimike libecki is an example of someone who pursues his passion. Life is sweet–the time is now–so, why ration passion? Don’t hold back who you are and showing others what you love. Being passionate is being human. Don’t place a limit on your passion. Combining passion with expertise is a great combination.

Relatedly, Greg emphasized three ingredients to your personal brand:

  1. Passion – See a common theme here? Passion can change and evolve as you experience life, but decide what passion really makes you tick now.
  2. Competitiveness – Compete. Be bold. Make decisions. As a young adult and student, this is the perfect time in life to be bold and take a risk with your career.
  3. Trust – Your personal brand reflects those who surround you. Others see who you trust and those who trust you. Building trust with the right people in your network is important in building your brand.

Market your Brand

After you understand your personal brand, the next step is to market your brand. What good does your brand do if nobody knows about it? Here are a few pointers from the panel:

  1. Use the Power of Who – One of the commonalities among panelists was the power of your own personal network. Who you know influences the content of your brand and how you market it. Bob Beaudine has a great book titled “The Power of Who.” Read it if you want to grow your brand. One point Beaudine emphasizes is to use your “who” to market you.
  2. Get Involved – Involvement in a variety of activities places your brand across a wider market. I joined St. Jude as their Corporate Chairperson this past year. I am passionate about the cause. I wanted to share my talents. Serving introduced me to a totally new network of people. Get involved to serve. Don’t overlook the opportunity to build your network while you serve.
  3. Be Different – Being your own brand means being different. For example, since everyone is so consumed with social media and email, we forget about the power of postal mail. Executives may (dis)miss an email, but every hand-written note gets read. When you meet someone new, send them a hand-written note. That makes you different.
  4. Promote –Promoting your own personal brand is as easy as coming up with a username and password. LinkedIn is a free platform to share your talents and skills and connect with others. One approach–sometimes required by corporate policy–is to create separate professional Facebook and Twitter accounts. Use social media and digital strategically. Be careful. Most future employers will review before hiring.

Develop your Brand

Now that you understand what your brand is and how to market it, develop your brand. Notes from the panel include:

  1. Risk-taking– Green paper buys things. We like it. But don’t let money get in the way of your passion. Use the time early in your career to take a risk while responsibilities are low. Go deep on why you are passionate. Then ACT on that passion without caring about the financial compensation. Now is the time to set the momentum for your career. Money will follow.
  2. Learning Agility – Be a “seeker of knowledge.” The number one predictor of career success is learning agility, which includes people agility, mental agility and strategic agility.
  3. Power of Mentors – Mirror others that have success. A proverb provides, “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” Identify seasoned veterans as mentors. Each executive you see today still has mentors who offer advice and serve as a mirror for the future self. Find someone who shares the same core values to help lead along your journey.
  4. Build your network – You always have room to add to your network. The bigger your network, the more visible your brand. It is still true: Who you know gets you the job. What you know keeps you there.

Derek Blake sums it up, plain and simple, “My name is all I have.” At the beginning of the day and at the end of the day, people buy you, not the product you sell. Be intentional–have a plan–on how to market your brand. Be the brand others can’t live without.

Want to know how to find your perfect employer in sports? Read on!

New Kid on the Sponsorship Block

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New Kid on the Sponsorship Block
George Killebrew
George Killebrew
by Clark McCormack – February 2014

As George Killebrew has taught us, you’re always learning in this business, assuming you want to stay in this business. So, after breaking into sponsorship sales with the Dallas Mavericks, I began collecting helpful tips for those of us who are the new kids on the sponsorship block.

#1. Manage Your Expectations

“Understand that this process is a marathon, not a sprint. Deals take time to develop.” -Guy Tomcheck, Director of Corporate Partnerships, Texas Rangers

Guy Tomcheck
Guy Tomcheck
  • Sellebrate: Celebrate the successes of sales regardless of the price tag.
  • Be a “grinder.” Look yourself in the mirror each day and ask yourself, am I 1% better than the day before?
  • Be an “explorer.” Don’t be afraid to explore new categories, create a new activation piece, or use fan data to engage with fans differently through your partnership.

#2. Start to Develop Your Personal Brand

Ask yourself: How am I different from those around me? Define your own brand, style, and the way you carry yourself. Dan Migala shared an insight he learned from  Ted Phillips, President and CEO of the Chicago Bears, who said, “Find the uniqueness of your own voice. Don’t try to conform to others.”

Dan Migala
Dan Migala

#3. Take a Story-Telling Approach

Tell someone a story you aspire to have happen to you.

  • Have a “reference story” for different categories of business or situation (ex: community relations initiative, quick serve restaurant activation story, in-game promotion, etc.). Show you’ve done your homework.
  • My inspiring reference story?  Someday I want to create a deal like Dan Migala did when he changed the start time of the White Sox games to 7:11 to tie in with the 7-Eleven sponsorship. I want to make a game-changing deal!

#4. Believe You Belong

Brian George
Brian George

“Don’t get caught up in others’ titles (CEO, VP Sales, etc.). Focus on building a mutually respectful relationship.” ~ Brian George, General Manager, Baylor IMG Sports Marketing.

  • Make others feel like they belong: When you are out in public, never discount someone you meet and how they may can help you in some way someday.

What do you think?

If you’re the new kid on the sponsorship block or the experienced manager or executive, what tips would you give me? I’m always willing to learn!

Cover photo courtesy of Yksisarvinen.

How’s your sense of sell? Defining your personal brand

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How’s your sense of sell? Defining your personal brand
by Brian George – July 2013

Much of your personal brand is on display via social media, as Ken Troupe shared with us in Establishing Your Personal Brand and What does your Twitter and LinkedIn say about your personal brand.

John Maguire
John Maguire

Within the context of premium and corporate sales, let’s explore more what it means to establish and grow your “Personal Brand.” A large portion of what I’ve learned and applied through the years came through a workshop facilitated by John Maguire, Sr. Vice President of Corporate Partnership with the New York Giants.

What Makes You Unique?

At any given time in a market there are perhaps as many as 1,000 professionals selling marketing and/or advertising to your competition.

What are you doing differently than your competition to make “You” stick out from the competition?

My “personal brand” started innocently enough at a store with my wife four years ago. I happened to pick up a bow tie and asked her opinion. Her disapproving look was enough motivation for me to purchase said bow tie and wear it the next day to work. I happened to have a meeting with one of the most notorious “bully clients” in the city of Houston. When I walked in, he said, “I like the bow tie, it makes you different.”

From that moment forward the bow tie was a signature of my “personal brand.” So I ask you:

  • What is your signature?
  • When people mention your name in conversation what association is made?
  • When you walk into a meeting, what is your go-to opening that breaks down the wall of conversation?

Whatever you choose to be the signature of your “personal brand,” ensure that your promise, pricing and results are in line. It does you no good to have a signature only to have someone think of it in a negative light. Just like you protect the intellectual property of the company you work for, you need to have a constant understanding of how the actions you take with everyone around you affect your signature; that is, what you leave with them.

3 Brand Relationships

There are three types of brand relationships:

  • Brand Awareness: I know you exist.
  • Brand Identity: I know who you are.
  • Brand Loyalty: I like who you are.

One of the key takeaways of the workshop was: “Industry leaders make the effort to convert brand awareness and identity relationships into brand loyal ones by offering new and improved features of their brands.”

Assuming you want to be the best at what you do:  Take a look at individuals who are probably loyal to another personal brand or know who you are–but aren’t buying. Come up with a tangible action plan to convert them to be brand loyal to your brand.

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Your personal brand

The question is, “Who’s buying?” [/dropshadowbox]

Understanding that the world of selling premium products and sponsorships has evolved so much in the past decade, relationships are still the most important part of what we do.

My relationship with others is based upon their personal brand perceptions. The question is, “Who’s buying?”  For personal and professional reasons, I need to be conscious at all times to represent my own personal brand as best as possible.

What does your Twitter and LinkedIn say about your personal brand?

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What does your Twitter and LinkedIn say about your personal brand?
by Ken Troupe – March 2013

Last month we talked about the importance of laying the foundation for your personal brand.  Now let’s turn to the tools of the trade to communicate your personal brand online.

Twitter

[dropshadowbox align=”right” effect=”lifted-both” width=”250px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]Twitter allows for another channel of communication with your customers outside phone calls, email, direct mail, or face-to-face meetings.Secondly, it gives the opportunity to build your personal brand by

Brandon Steffek
Brandon Steffek

sharing relevant and exclusive content others normally would not have access to.[/dropshadowbox]If you are not on Twitter, start today. Why? Because Twitter is the greatest customer service tool since the hand shake.  A few rules and tips:

Rule #1. Twitter is a business tool.   Twitter is not a place for you to give life updates on your kids, friends, and hot sports opinions…….leave that kind of stuff on Facebook (more on that later).

Rule #2. Don’t Tweet original content.  At first you have no voice.  You need to develop followers. How?

  • Get started by following people that do have something to say and start to retweet them.
  • Find interesting articles relevant to your job or sports business niche and retweet them.
  • Take part in sports business Twitter chats like #social4tixsales, #sbchat, #sportsprchat, among others.

Within these Twitter chats you can begin to develop your voice by taking part in the conversation.  You are answering questions and engaging one-on-one with other sports industry pros.  Too many treat Twitter as a monologue instead of a dialogue. There is a difference.

  • Commit to being active on Twitter.  Nothing kills your personal brand faster than a Twitter account with zero activity.

LinkedIn

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Trent Nielsen
Trent Nielsen

When I look at a Twitter or LinkedIn page for someone in the sports industry, I may have a desire to learn more about their reach. However I’m also using the page as a window into their professional conduct. If you’re looking at a page that isn’t completely built out, has basic grammatical errors or even immature content, it’s typically a direct reflection of how that person goes about day-to-day life. I gravitate towards those who take their social media branding as seriously as their resumes and direct interpersonal communication.[/dropshadowbox]LinkedIn may be the number one social media site for learning how to do your job better and proving to others you know what you are doing. LinkedIn is so big we could do an all-day seminar, but I’ll hit the highlights.

Your profile

If someone Googles your name, your LinkedIn profile shows up near the top. What does your profile say about you?

  1. Is it complete?
  2. A complete summary section?
  3. List all your past jobs and a little detail of what you did?
  4. Are you using the “skills and expertise” section?
  5. Any recommendations?
  6. Updated contact information?
  7. A professional looking photo?

Groups

With your profile ready, head to the “Groups” section. Join industry specific groups like “Ticket Sales Best Practices,” “Ticket Sales & Technology,” or “Sports Marketing 2.0,” among others.  Within these groups you start to build your brand.

Watch the conversations and start to take part.   Avoid offering wild or opinionated comments at first.  Keep early interaction pretty vanilla. Once you have a little “street cred,” spread your wings to engage and offer divergent opinions.

Career Insight

LinkedIn is a great place to seek advice from people with a job you’d like to have one day.  Ask their advice. You will be surprised how open some sports industry vets are if you just ask.

Facebook

Here’s the thing about our old social media friend Facebook: Facebook is great. A great place to stay in touch with friends and family. To read and comments on all those cute kids’ photos, updates on meals, and whatever else in on their minds. I love it. But, I really don’t think it is essential part of building your “professional” personal brand.

Facebook is, however, a place to quickly undo all your personal branding efforts.

My advice? Especially for young people entering or wanting to enter this business? Keep it clean and simple.  No need posting photos drunk at parties or posts using bad language.  Good rule of thumb: If your mom would not approve, odds are other adults won’t either. And these other adults are hiring managers or work in human resources.

Start Now!

Developing your personal brand means so much more. But if you take just one thing away from this:

Your Personal Brand is Important!

Start developing yours today.

March Madness! Selling sports, sponsorships, social media platforms, and your personal brand

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March Madness! Selling sports, sponsorships, social media platforms, and your personal brand
by Kirk Wakefield – March 2013

Brittney Griner Sells

No one rises above everyone else like Brittney Griner. She’s the tall one in the picture.

Brittney has scored over 3000 points (currently 4th all-time) and over 700 blocks (1st all-time, men or women). Brittney sells Baylor sports. Attendance for Baylor’s women’s basketball continues to rank near the top in the nation, frequently filling the Ferrell Center near or at its 10,347 capacity. We expect Brittney to take her skills to the WNBA next year, but she could succeed in the business of selling sports. Brittney has developed her own personal brand and communicates it clearly through her behavior and performance.

What about you?

[dropshadowbox align=”right” effect=”raised” width=”150px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]March Authors [slideshow_deploy id=’1318′]

[/dropshadowbox]Each of us can do the same. We need to think carefully about our own personal brands. One of the ways we do that is to be intentional about our leadership style. Jeremy Walls introduces the Daniel Sports & Entertainment Leadership Summit to help us do just that. The Leadership Freak, Dan Rockwell, shares three qualities traditional leaders lack and that successful leaders need to adopt. This article has already been shared by over 500 Leadership Freak fans.

Ken Troupe introduced the basics last month. This month we learn how to communicate our personal brands through social media. Teams would do well to learn HOW NOT TO RUN A TWITTER ACCOUNT.

Taking it a step further, Ben Milsom explains how social media has changed the nature of successful consultative selling in sports.

Social media platforms have proliferated in the last three years. Nick Schenck, Director of Integrated Media at the Houston Texans, shares what social media strategies and tools work best in the NFL.

Phil Grieco, Director of Sponsorships with the NBA, inspires us to think beyond the normal soup and bolts of sponsorships and ticket sales. What can we blow up and make bigger? Read about the Soup Nazi here.

If you are in charge of hiring new talent or maybe you are the new talent, Jeannette Salas (HR Director, Houston Texans) provides what job candidates need to know. Pass this series of articles along to prospective job applicants and keep on file yourself for the next time you’re on the market.

[dropshadowbox align=”right” effect=”lifted-both” width=”150px” height=”” background_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1″ border_color=”#dddddd” ]March Insights [slideshow_deploy id=’1319′][/dropshadowbox]Dr. Darryl Lehnus, Director of the S3 Program, shows how Baylor students can work with teams, companies, and agencies to produce relevant, innovative sponsorship activation strategies. The AT&T Challenge, initiated by Eric Fernandez, brings student creativity to the forefront each year with AT&T and one of its partners. The S3 Program also announces its Sponsorship Incubator (SI) for those who would like to draw upon the brainstorming skills of young people in the S3 major.

Establishing Your Personal Brand

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Establishing Your Personal Brand
by Ken Troupe – February 2013

What does your Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook say about you?

A brand is “a type of product manufactured by a company under a particular name.”  But what about your personal brand? It used to be only people like Dion Sanders, Oprah, or Martha Stewart needed to worry about their personal brands. But now, thanks or curses to social media, times have changed.

Colin Faulkner
Colin Faulkner

“Whether you realize it or not, you have a personal brand. Your reputation is your brand,” points out Colin Faulkner, VP of Ticket Sales and Service for the Chicago Cubs.

Your personal brand is just a click away. A ticket sales rep in San Diego can develop a relationship with a VP of Sales in New York via LinkedIn. A marketing manager in Seattle can help develop strategic plans for a team in Florida during a Twitter chat. The ease of digital communication makes it more important than ever to manage your personal brand and what it says about you.

Merrill Dubrow, CEO and President of MARC Research, says “Before I hire anyone, I Google a candidate’s name and do research with the single goal of determining their personal brand and does it fit within our company environment.”

Merrill Dubrow
Merrill Dubrow

What are your core beliefs? Personal goals?

With jobs and careers riding on it,  you must decide how you want your personal brand to be represented based on your core beliefs and personal goals.

1) Core Beliefs – Define and understand your core beliefs.  Core beliefs include (a) how you daily approach doing your job and (b) how you want your co-workers and clients to think of you.  For example, when I first started selling, one of my main objectives was to “treat people the way I wanted to be treated.”  I wanted to be honest and up-front with clients. What defines you?

2) Goals – Develop goals.   Put thought into where you want to go and how to get there. Everyone has been told to write down goals. Do it. It helps. If your goals aren’t important enough to write down, they’re not very important. Write them and put them someplace where you’ll see them every day.

Where you want to be in one, three, and five years is your road map to your ultimate goals. Observe and talk to mentors who’ve been where you want to go. Go to Linked-In and see the paths and timetables of others in the position you seek.

Two Things I’ve Learned Along the Way

First, set lofty goals. I think Bo Jackson may be one of the best athletes I have ever seen play. Interviewed on a late night show (remember Arsenio Hall?), Bo said he always had the goal of playing  in both Major League Baseball and the NFL.   As he moved up the levels he was always told it was time to pick one.  He said, “Why?” His goal was to play both, so that’s what he planned on doing. And Bo knew what he was talking about.  Remember you cannot achieve great things without first setting lofty goals.

Second, goal-setting doesn’t mean you’ll get from point A to B in a straight line, but having clear goals let’s you know where you are on the road. Be ready for the curves, adapt as they come, and stay focused on your end game. Remember, “a goal without a plan is just a wish.”  ~Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900 – 1944)

Now that you have your core beliefs and goals down, you’re ready to work on establishing and extending your personal brand in the digital world. You can go ahead and be working ahead, but next month we’ll discuss how to set up your Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook to fit your personal brand.

Special thanks to Jim Peacock for use of the Unique photo!