In these troubled economic times non-profits have been hit hard.  However, more than 2/3 of churches reported donations equal to or higher than 2008.  Why?

Most churches likely increased the message of urgency of giving to the church.  Churches have the opportunity to speak to their audience on a weekly basis.  Many churches, like mine, send weekly emails as well.  If they didn't have the ability to communicate to their donor base on such a frequency to communicate the message then the philanthropic success of churches would not be as strong. 

Do you have mechanisms with which to communicate your message to your donor base on a regular basis?

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When I was talking to a client the other day he mentioned how coaches (of any sport) tend to "pee on the fire closest to their feet." Besides the fact that this is a funny analogy, its true. The problem is there is a forest fire raging up in front of us in wrestling land.

As coaches we tend to plan practice, prepare for the upcoming trip, tie up loose ends from the last trip, order gear, watch Flo Wrestling, or scout next weeks opponent. If we ever actually had the chance to put out all of those isolated fires at our feet (we won't) we would look up and see the forest fire. Duquesne University wrestling just looked up and saw it. Their house is on fire today. Without help from the fire fighters, smoke jumpers, and aerial firefighting helicopters (alumni, student-body, wrestling community, fans, NWCA, etc...) its too late.

When you look up what do you see? Budget cuts? Title IX? Indifferent administrators? It may not be too late to cut a fire road. Your strength to fight will come from a strong community of people and businesses and student body and alumni around your program. They are out there but they're far from the heat and the smoke. They have lives they are living with jobs and bills and families and meetings taking up their attention. And when they have free time they turn on TV or go on Facebook or check their email or read the sports page or send a text message.

That is precisely where you need to be. To tell them about your goals. To tell them about your athletes. To tell them about your successes. And to tell them about the forest fire. Do it now before your house catches fire.

 

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The most hated man in wrestling spends a lot of money. There are plenty of wrestling people who bitch about getting his marketing materials constantly but... his vendors love him. They depend on him. The more he buys from them the more they love him... and the more they love wrestling. They become fans of wrestling... or at least the business of wrestling... and have a vested interest in seeing the sport thrive. This man buys paper for brochures. He spends money on postage, on email marketing services and on graphics design. He buys lots of hotel rooms and so do his clients. He rents cars, pays for vendor booths and creates a Riot whereever he goes. He advertises on wrestling websites. He sells wrestling shoes so companies like Brute-Adidas like him. It makes businesses want to stay involved in our sport. He buys t-shirts and shorts from distributors who buy from textile manufacturers. They too now depend on wrestling because of him. In fact, if there were more Ken Chertow's, wrestling would be stronger. In fact if wrestling had more businesses that depended on the sport then more people would be invested in it's future and spend more money advertising. Is it wrong to accept money for wrestling related activities? What about getting rich off of wrestling?

We all should give to wrestling- by volunteering, by donating and by showing up at matches. I'm busy and you're busy but we give to wrestling what we can. There are few that give as much to wrestling as the businesses involved in wrestling. Flo Wrestling, Brute-Adidas, Intermat, Ken Chertow, Riot Sports Marketing, J Robinson Camps, Pittsburgh Trophies, World Class Wrestling School, etc ... these people make a business out of wrestling. And they give to wrestling. They spread the gospel of wrestling. They sponsor events. They advertise on the wrestling websites you visit. They provide opportunity for athletes. They thrive off of giving to wrestling. Without the businesses that support wrestling there is no wrestling. Without wrestling there are no businesses. The stronger they are the stronger the sport is. It is a symbiotic relationship. So let's grow together and not curse those who make a dollar off of it.

 

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There are some great writers in our sport. Joe Baranik, of www.pawrestling.net/ writes one of the best.

HALF-NELSON REPORT

By Joe Baranik

When? 2010-Collegiate Wrestling Back Again: From the early 70's, to the mid-80's college wrestling was at its peak. There were nearly 750 college teams that had programs. Teams in the South East Conference such as Auburn, Tennessee were in the top 10 in the country. Kentucky was tough along with Florida and LSU. Yale had some tough guys, UCLA was a decent team and Notre Dame was coming on. Syracuse with "Mean Gene the Pinning Machine Mills" was a national power. Collegiate wrestling was thriving. Indiana State had big Bruce Baumgartner and all 14 schools in the PA State Athletic Conference had squads along with Temple University in Philadelphia.

Then the wheels came off with the unintended consequences of the Title 9 law in 1979. The initial law was great; in essence it said that females should have equal opportunity to participate in high school and college athletics. Then the law got amended to include an equal number of male and female athletes. With 120 football players at that time on scholarship, it became impossible to have that many women athletes to equal the numbers of male athletes, so male sports began to be dropped in droves in the mid to late 80's. Also, football wanted to increase their budgets and in no way wanted their rosters cut.

Finally, today, it appears the bleeding has stopped. Sure there may be some more college wrestling programs discontinued, but the trend is turning in wrestling's favor. In my opinion, here are the top five reasons college wrestling is making a come back, and the trickle down effect will only strengthen middle and high school wrestling.

1) 600 college wrestling programs have been added since 2000. Just recently, Shorter College in Georgia (Div. II) announced that they will add wrestling next season to become the only 4-year college in Georgia to offer the sport. Darton College, a junior college in Georgia, added wrestling 3 years ago and are coming on strong. Plus, according to the NWCA News, Quachita Baptist University (Div. II) will become the first college in Arkansas to offer wrestling next season. "To be the first institution in the state to have collegiate wrestling will give us a stronghold on it," said Quachita Athletic Director David Sharp. Greg Hatcher, President of the Arkansas Wrestling Association, has announced the non-profit association will provide mats, uniforms and other assistance to help Quachita's wrestling program get under way. The association also has donated mats to more than 40 Arkansas high schools to help launch their wrestling programs. Hatcher is founder and owner of the Hatcher Agency, the largest health insurance agency in Arkansas. He lettered in wrestling, soccer and baseball at Alma College in Alma, Michigan. Emphasizing that "wrestling creates leaders," Hatcher said the opportunity for wrestlers to "go one-on-one with no one to bail you out" helps build confidence and discipline as well as "great self-defense skills." He also cited wrestling's fitness benefits for student-athletes. Hatcher also is the author of "55 Steps to Outrageous Service."

Also, Tiffin College, a Division II college in Ohio, is competing in their first year of the program and showing great promise.

2) College administrators are finally realizing how much football costs and how little wrestling costs and the return you can make on your investment. Boston University eliminated their football program about 7 years ago in order to keep a number of their other sports including wrestling. Just last month, Hoffstra discontinued their football program because they were spending $4.5 million per year. Also, last month, Northeastern University in Boston dropped football. TCU, who went 11-1 this year and was ranked 4th in the country before losing to Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl, spends $16.6 million on their program and only has a seating capacity of 44,000. They admit that their budget pales compared to their neighbors in the Big 12 such as Texas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M. In addition, Florida State, a member of the ACC (6 member schools offer wrestling) just agreed to pay their new coach $9million over the next 5 years. Don't you think the Seminoles could afford a wrestling program? As strong as Florida high school wrestling has become, there is no college in the state that sponsors a college team.

3) Never has there been more money spent on college wrestling. In the last 5 years, a myriad of colleges have gotten either new wrestling rooms or a whole new facility to include weight & cardio rooms, locker rooms and video analysis and study lounges. Michigan just opened a brand new building just for wrestling and virtually every program in the Big 10 has a new or remodeled wrestling room. Numerous other programs across the country have recently upgraded or added new wrestling practice areas including Old Dominion University, Army, Campbell University, West Virginia, Virginia, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Cornell. This fall, the University of North Carolina will open a brand new building for wrestling.

4) Fans in the Stands. So far, this wrestling season attendance is on the upswing. Over 11,000 people witnessed the Iowa vs Iowa State dual in Ames, Iowa, over 5,000 watched the Lehigh vs PSU match in Bethlehem, Cornell sold out its first home match in November with 6th ranked Maryland when over 1,000 fans attended the meet in their multi-million dollar wrestling-only facility. Penn St. crowded in nearly 5,000 fans with their first home match in the Cael Sanderson era against Bloomsburg and LHU bolstered nearly 2,000 fans for their home match with PSU on January 4th.

One must keep in mind, that there is very little to nil pre-match hype for college matches in the national media or on Sports Center like for football or men's and women's basketball. Can you imagine if the national media would hype a big match a few days in advance? I believe the crowds would double.

5) Finally, the powers to be in wrestling such as the NWCA, USA Wrestling, The National Wrestling Hall of Fame and the NHSCA realize the importance of promoting and marketing our product-Wrestling! More specifically: college wrestling. I am convinced, that the bigger college wrestling gets, the bigger high school wrestling becomes, which will trickle down to middle schools and elementary leagues and into international wrestling. Dan Gable and the Iowa dynasty got spectators to come out en mass, J. Robinson proved you can get crowds anywhere if you work at it and now RIOT Sports founder Jim Harshaw is taking the importance of promoting wrestling to the next level. I must add, yours truly has been an advocate and pro-active in growing this sport for the past 30 years.

6) Wrestling has gained more credibility and influence because we are getting more former wrestlers who are becoming athletic directors and administrators. Such examples of former wrestlers who have climbed to the top in administration include Bob Bowlsby, Athletic Director at Stanford; Pat Pecora, AD at UPJ and head wrestling coach; Tom Bold, assistant AD at Brown University; Andy Noel, AD at Cornell University; Steve Erber, Associate AD at Cornell; Gene Nighman, Assistant AD at Cornell; Dan Gable, Assistant AD at Iowa; and Charlie Heller, Superintendent at Titusville School District.

In closing, let me leave you with a quote from Olympic gold and silver medalist Ben Peterson: "Please be reminded that anyone can add energy to a wrestling program and responsibilities can be shared, but leadership and an undying hope is needed in this sport that is so similar to life."

Until February, remember as Neil Turner likes to say "As iron sharpens iron, one wrestler sharpens another." And, as of 01/05/10, we are reminded on Cornell's wrestling web page that there is only 71 days, 11 hours, 35 minutes and 25 seconds until the 2010 NCAA Wrestling Championships.

Finally, keep your grades up, your weight down and Go 4 the PIN! (For comments email baranikjj@sapc.edu)

 

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1) Assuming you're safe. In these lean times budgets are being slashed and programs are being cut. Don't think you're insulated. Take action to minimize your risk (raise money, strengthen your fan base, create multiple means of communicating with thousands of fans)

2) DIY Approach. You don't have to be the Bob Villa of your program and fix everything yourself. Learn to delegate. Choose three simple tasks that you can outsource to a student, parent or supporter.

3) Believing that better technique will strengthen your program. Head wrestling coach at the University of Minesota J Robinson said it best (paraphrased) "Wrestling will not survive based on how well we teach single-leg and double-leg takedowns but on how well we market the sport."

4) Looking for instant results. Strengthening your program through marketing, fundraising and "fan raising" is a process, not an event. Just because you send a press release or email newsletter doesn't mean you're done. Just like building an athlete, building a program is a process.

5) Believing that a good athlete= Good coach- Don't rest your hopes upon hiring the best athlete you can find to be an assistant coach. Find the best program administrator (think communication skills, organization skills, and action-oriented people).

6) Seat-of-the-pants approach - Good businesses operate based upon replicable and profitable systems. So do good programs.

7) Do the Talking- Successful leaders are good listeners. Do more listening and decision-making becomes more informed and easier.

 

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This is going to be short and simple because you don't have time to worry about this kind of stuff right? You're putting out other, more important fires today, right ? I ask you this... what is more important than building a community of supporters around your program? So, here's the quick list:

1. Start a Facebook Fan Page (not Group). Thousands of your fans are already on Facebook and getting their news there (and yes, you have thousands of fans). Pages have tons of funtionality that you really don't need to worry about until you get over 100 fans. At that point you can get a custom URL (like www.facebook.com/riotsportsmarketing). Then you can add tabs and links to your online donations page, your email newsletter sign-up page, your text message alerts sign-up pages, etc. These are more advanced for those wanting to start a riot. For now, just start a Facebook Fan Page and invite some friends.
* www.Facebook.com/Pages

2. Get a Twitter account. Some experts recommend getting a Twitter account just so that no one else can claim your name and use it erroneously. This is a good method for me to scare you into getting started on Twitter too! I didn't use mine for the first 6 months I had it. I gradually worked my way into it and discovered that there is real value in Twitter. There is a conversation going on in the Twitterverse about your sport, your program, and your community. You should have a voice there too.
* www.twitter.com

3. Start a blog. I know, I know. You think blogs are for political junkies, techie geeks and business people. Wrong. they are for you and your fans. You're reading one right now. Blogs are simply this- a simple means of posting news quickly in a chronological order (newest posts at the top). Everyone wants a beautiful website with a dozen pages. Each page that you create just adds work to your plate. You have to maintain and update these pages or your site will look dead. An out-of-date site is worse than no website. I know that you have "a guy" that is doing this for you but what about when his kid graduates or when he's on vacation and you win the big tournament? Create a blog where you can post information quickly and easily so that your fans have a reliable place to get up-to-date information regularly.

Yes, I know that you have fires to put out that are right at your feet. But the biggest fire is raging up ahead (called budget cuts, Title IX or indifferent administrators). Start building!

 

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As I pack my bags for the NCAA Division I National Championships (the most electrifying event in all of sports), I look forward to hearing the Oklahoma State, Iowa, Iowa State, Penn State, Lehigh and Cornell contingents roar for their warriors as they fight for supremecy on the mats. These progams all have strong followings and good attendance at their home competitions. Why? Because they're good. Everyone loves a winner. However, to have good attendance you don't have to be a winner. You just have to know how to get your fan base excited.

Ohio University had a huge turnout for the Ohio U. vs. Kent State dual. Neither are in the top 10 the nation but they know how to rally their fan base.

Just because you are not involved in the highest level of competition doesn't mean that you can't have a strong following and good attendance. So stop using the excuse that you're not good enough. Good enough is good enough. So get marketing!

 

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With budgets being slashed and programs being cut, strengthening his program is the most important thing a coach can do. Riot Sports Marketing, a recognized leader in marketing for Olympic sports programs, is presenting a free webinar on Tuesday, April 13 at 7pm EST. During this live webinar, Riot Chief Instigator Jim Harshaw will be teaching coaches how to work smarter, not harder and the top three ways to market their program to raise more money.

Harshaw, a former Division I All American in wrestling at UVA, feels that "it is time for coaches to take it upon themselves to strengthen their program. Funding will go to some sports while others suffer. If coaches had a simple and efficient means of marketing their programs without taking up any more of their time, the result would be more media coverage, a stronger fan base, and a larger donor pool. Riot Sports Marketing teaches coaches how to market their programs with the most impact for the least amount of time and effort."

Coaches interested in joining this free 30 minute webinar can sign up at www.riotsportsmarketing.com.

 

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Here we go again with the band-aid solution.

 

Step 1: Program gets cut
Step 2: Raise mountains of cash
Step 3: Pray for reinstatement

 

This temporary solution lasts only as long as it takes for the administration to find another way to cut the program or until the cash runs out. It is unfortunately a necessary short-term solution but it fails to address the real problem. It has happened before, it's happening now and will happen again. How do you make your program relevant? To be relevant you have to have to have:

 

1. media that cares
2. fans who care
3. student-body who cares
4. donors who give

 

In addition to a coaching staff, warm-ups and shoes, every program should have a Facebook Fan Page, an email newsletter, an annual fundraising campaign and a PR campaign.

In business it is said that it costs seven times more to get a new customer than to retain a current one. It is the same in athletics.

 

Break the cycle.

 

 

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Thoughts from Omaha: Once again, if you haven't experienced the 3-day Div. I NCAA Wrestling Championships, make plans to attend next year in Pennsylvania Proud Philadelphia at the Wachovia Center. It really is one of the premiere events in sports.

 

The Quest Center in Omaha is one of the nicest arenas I have ever been in. It had an indoor walk-way over the street below connecting the Hilton Hotel where the WIN Memorabilia Show took place and access to the arena. It also had a huge convention center connecting the building which was great for the NCAA Fan Fest. And what a treat for the fans? They had the NCAA team trophy on display, physical activities for the kids such as combatant fights with pads to use, basketball shooting contests and a football throwing and kicking contest. The Big 10 and Big 12 had a freestyle match using post-grads from those schools competing for the U.S.A. World Team which drew a packed audience of over 3,000 fans. Free posters were given out for autograph sessions each day to help the young folk get to know the past great collegiate wrestlers. Such college superstars were there including 3x NCAA champions Gray Simons, Ed Banach and Barry Davis along with NCAA champions Jim and Bill Sheer and Olympians John Peterson, Nate Carr and Bruce Baumgartner.

 

The wrestling action is unbelievable. The intensity, scrambles, the flexibility used to defend takedowns such as full splits, the "funks" and "re-funks" must drive officials crazy. And the emotion from the coaches, parents and fans is extraordinary. I must give credit to the Iowa Hawkeyes; they wrestle the full 420 seconds! At least five of their opponents let up thinking they had the win in the books, but the Iowa dynamos just keep on coming like warriors.

 

The greatest moment for me and probably most spectators was the comeback by Jayson Ness (133) of Minnesota in the finals as he was down 4-1 with less than 30 seconds in the match. He proceeded to gain an escape, maneuver for a takedown with 10 seconds remaining and hold Daniel Dennis of Iowa on his back for the 2 second count he needed before time expired to win 6-4. Another thrilling moment was watching Kyle Dake of Cornell become a national champion as a rare true freshman. After his win, he ran to the edge of steps of the platform and when he saw the TV crew trying to stop him for an interview, he jumped off the platform to avoid them and ran to the stands and jumped up into his dad's waiting arms for an emotional embrace. His father showed great strength in lifting his son up in midair! I hope the people watching at home saw that exciting moment.

 

Newspaper coverage of the event was good as the Omaha World-Herald dispatched 5 writers to cover the 3 days of grappling that included half-page colored photos. The crowds were great for all 6 sessions with few seats available and hundreds of people outside were jockeying for tickets. Next year looks to be an even harder ticket since Philadelphia is in such a large metropolitan region. When you look at the population base and the popularity of the sport in New York, New Jersey, the Washington DC area and of course Pennsylvania, a new attendance record for the NCAA Wrestling Championships is a great possibility. An added bonus is the fact that this region encompasses the largest media market in the world. It will make it convenient for TV outlets, newspapers and hopefully radio stations to access information and feed it out to the public. Maybe USA Today Newspaper will jump on the bandwagon. That paper has done a dismal job the last few years of covering the tournament. And once again, ESPN did a fabulous job of covering the quarter-finals, semis and finals live!! Go ESPN, You Rock!

 

The celebrities at the championships included actor Billy Baldwin, who was there to cheer on his alma mater Binghamton University where he wrestled. Baldwin was very accessible to the fans. Also, NFL lineman and World champion Stephen Neal was on hand to root on Cal-St. Bakersfield where he was an NCAA champion. Neal has 3 Super Bowl rings as a member of the New England Patriots-not bad for a guy who never played football in college. Bakersfield wore black singlets to protest their school's decision to drop wrestling because of state budgetary issues. Neal said he is trying to get the program saved and has a meeting with the school president in the coming weeks. Both Neal and Baldwin served as honorary coaches for the Big 12 vs. Big 10 Freestyle match. Another celeb in the stands was Robin Ficker, the famous heckler of pro basketball who now devotes all his fan spirit to the Maryland wrestlers where his son was a member of the team. Ficker is a lawyer and former representative in the Maryland House of Delegates. He attended all of the Terrapin's home matches as well as a dual at Virginia and the ACC Tournament. He gives all the wrestlers nicknames and is very creative with his chants. As Max Olson reported in the Omaha World-Herald, he especially supports Hudson (Taylor) River. "Girls run and hide. Brave men shiver. Get ready, here comes the Hudson River."

 

Another interesting celebrity fan was in disguise. The Big Red of Cornell had a person dressed up in a full-body, red spandex outfit with a white singlet over top, a headgear, and sunglasses with white rims. This wild fan got the large section of Cornell faithful all fired up by leading the cheers for Dake and Mark Lewnes in the finals.

I found it fascinating that Brent Metcalf (149), champ for Iowa and Chase Pami of Cal Poly, who was a runner-up at 157, both played football in high school. I also discovered that Jermail Porter, who placed 6th last year for Kent State, now is a member of the Kansas City Chiefs. Remarkably, he never played football in his life! The 6'6", 340 lb. tackle is not a starter, but stay tuned.

 

A great quote from Binghamton's first semi-finalist, Justin Lister (157) a sophomore, "Believing is the hard part; you can't do anything until you believe in yourself." I saw a fitting quote on a shirt worn by an Iowa fan. It read "Show up-Dominate-Go Home."

Finally, I ran into my college coach while at LHU, Neil Turner, wrestling ambassador, who runs the Mat-Town USA Wrestling Club in Lock Haven, PA "Where the Mats are Always Down" and he is the director of the high school division of the NWCA. Coach Turner wants to see wrestling get so big that they have to bring the wood in to put down over the wrestling mats to play basketball!

 

I will defer Lesson #2 on the Extraordinary Success of Former "Wrestlers" from A to Z for my November column. Until then, keep your grades up, your weight down and be like Jayson Ness - Go 4 the PIN!

 

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Everyone wants a website. "You need a website," everyone says. "If you don't have a website," everyone says, "you're non-existent."

 

"Everyone" is wrong.

 

Websites are cumbersome. Even the simplest website is technically intimidating not to mention time consuming to maintain. Consider the fact that if I don't set aside time to come to see it then I'll never know what is on it! If you don't have a website already, spare yourself the headache.

 

The widely used but oft misused Facebook Fan Page is the solution for the organization with limited resources (both time and human):

 

* They have more functionality than any traditional website (add photos, video, events, schedule, online donation button, discussion forum etc).
* They are free and anyone with minimal technical know-how can maintain one.
* Anyone (even the aforementioned "everyone") can view it with or without a Facebook account
* Get a custom domain name (www.your-organization.com) for it

 

Post an update on a traditional site and, like the proverbial tree in the woods, you can wonder if it actually makes a noise. Post it on your Facebook Fan Page and all of your fans will see it, can share it and comment on it.

 

Make life easier. Ignore everyone.

 

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No one talks about a boring organization- whether it is a team, school, non-profit or business. What are people saying about your organization?

 

 

* Are you breaking the mold?
* Are you making noise?
* Are you applying thinking that is different than status quo?
* What can you do to make an uninterested onlooker stop?
* Is it possible that no one outside of your organization knows about your mission?
* Is it possible that no one outside of your organization knows cares?
* How can you make something worth looking at happen today?
* And what about tomorrow?
* Can you outsource this?
* Have you tried?

 

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Mike Novogratz, Al Bevilacqua and Co. pulled off a wrestling event the likes of which have never happened before. They are both action-oriented, "get things done" people to whom the wrestling community owes a debt of gratitude. The Beat the Streets Gala was a truly unbelievable event. Riot Sports Marketing supported their efforts to reach the wrestling community, grow attendance and raise money. Here is what Al Bevilacqua had to say...

"I am convinced and I think our Board is convinced that Riot Sports Marketing allowed us in our most recent Gala & Benefit to double our attendance and total donations. Last year we had a little over 450 people attend where we raised $450,000.

As of now, as donations are still "trickling in" where we have raised over $900,000 with over 1000 people on the Intrepid.

If we can move a few new cities to become successful it will be provide the validity nationwide that we can reverse the downward curve of participation that wrestling is experiencing in its High Schools and Colleges."

Sincerely,
Al Bevilacqua
A USA Wrestling member since 1971...."

Create a following. Start a Riot! www.riotsportsmarketing.com

 

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Even if you have not, masses and masses of people have flocked to Twitter to communicate, share, connect and converse. Contrary to popular belief it's not all posts about what people had for dinner or how they got poison ivy from wiping with the wrong leaves on last weekend's camping trip.

Here's an example- I recently had an issue with an online printing company that I have used for a long time. They partnered with an outside company that somehow got my credit card information and made me a "subscriber"- to what, I don't know. But I was paying for it. I was charged $14.95 seven times over the course of a few months for a total of almost $90! I tweeted my frustration and hoped to spread the word about my poor treatment. Smart social media users themselves, they found my tweet, replied to me and offered to help me not only cancel the subscription but get my money back! Pretty cool! Good customer service and smart brand protection. And now I love them again. And I tweeted that too.

What are people saying about you? Your organization? Your favorite team, athlete or enemy? Do a quick Twitter search here:

Find out what's being tweeted about (fill in the blank)

 

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I want you to start a blog. Forget about the preconceived notions that you have about a blog being for political junkies, small businesses or sports marketing consultants that provide an awesome service. Blogs are for everyone nowadays.  Granted, most are full of the kind of people who like to hear themselves talk.  The good ones are written by people with something to say.  And, if you have a vision for your sports team, club or athletics department, then you have something to say.  And we, your fans, alumni, community and prospective supporters, want to listen. What would you post?

1. Your mission- this cannot be done in one post
2. Interviews with athletes, coaches, administrators, alumni, parents and members
3. Links to organizations that are like-minded
4. Links to articles and resources that your followers would want to see
5. History of your team or club
6. Outcomes you expect
7. Video
   
8. Your schedule
9. Personal musings
   
10. Fund raising messages

See... it's not hard.  Brainstorm a bit here... what am I missing?

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Everyone is talking about the death of traditional media and the rise of social media. (Especially us consultants... I'm aware of the irony).  Their are 100 ways to leverage social media but what is right for your team, department or organization?  Too many, and you spread yourself thin.  Not enough, and you are practically non-existent.

Things to consider:

• Outcomes- what are the outcomes that you want?  Stronger donor relationships, better attendance, more media coverage, a closer knit community of supporters?  ("Who is Your Target Market")

• Budget- do you have someone who can dedicate themselves to this full-time? Part-time? Can you outsource this? Will this be something that you will be doing? If so, how often will you set aside time?

• Competition- what is your competition doing? Is this a way for you to get ahead or just catch up? What are they doing that is effective? 

Set aside time for strategic, high-level planning. Then attack!

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Social media is flat out the most powerful way for college, high school and even youth sports teams to grow their fan base, increase awareness and increase fundraising. When you have lots of people who like your Facebook page, subscribe to your newsletter, and follow you on Twitter then you have more people to whom you can directly communicate, spread your message, promote events and get things done.



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There are lots of actions that you can take to grow your team's Facebook page. I'm going to give you 5. They are listed in order of actionableness (yeah, I made that up).
Utilizing the "Share" Link: On the bottom of the left column on your page is a link that says "Share". Click that link and a window pops up that gives you two options for sharing a link to your page. You're going to do both. First, you can post it to your profile by simply typing a message and clicking the "Share" button. Do that and your personal friends will see it. Then, click the "Send as a Message Instead" link on the bottom of that pop-up window. Here you can choose which of your friends that you want to send a message to with the page link. Send the message to all of your coaching staff, athletes, alumni and parents. Ask them specifically to do exactly what I just told you to do. (Copy and paste the first 7 sentences of this paragrpah into that message to them).

Your Alter Ego: You have fans that don't even know that they want to be fans yet. Facebook recently launched what I believe to be the best feature ever for page owners. You can go to your page, click "Use Facebook as..." and take on the persona of your organization, team or athletic department. Pretty cool! Now, find a page where your fans and potential fans are hanging out (like another sports team or local school page), "like" it, and comment on recent posts. By becoming part of the conversation, your organization builds awareness to fans who never even knew you had a page! Readers can click on your name to visit your page (and hopefully "like" it). Further, click "Home" and you will find that your organization now has a news feed of it's own. Posts from the pages that your organization "likes" show up there so you do not have to go hunting for pages on which to comment.

Be Findable: Put links to your Facebook page into your email signature, email newsletter campaigns and websites. (Tell your webmaster to go here)

Facebook Ads: Finally, try some Facebook Ads. Click on "Promote with an Ad" on the right side of your page. You can select who sees the ad based on city, gender, age, and interest. Start with two ads and a $25 campaign to test it out with training wheels.

Sign-up now for next weeks webinar: Case Studies in Social Media Sports Marketing: Examples and Lessons

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What would happen if you had NO fans? None. Scary thought, isn't it? Here are 9 reasons why you should show you them that you care.

 

1. Fans donate money. You didn't think that those donations came from your opponents' fans did you?
2. Fans pay the bills. They buy tickets, gear and that crap you sell for fundraisers.
3. It gives your administration a reason to care. No fans? No administrative support.
4. More fans equals more fun. It's fun to be recognized for our efforts, even if it isn't the sole reason for which we work our tails off.
5. They talk. Fans talk about you and make more fans. No talking. No fans. No money. No administrative support. You get the idea...
6. Because you never know. You never know when the "game changer" fan will come along. You know, the fan who connects you with just the right person that changes everything. Or the fan who owns a company that has exactly what you need. Or the fan whose private equity firm just closed a $1 billion deal.
7. Because its the right thing to do. If they care enough to give their time and/or money to you, shouldn't you give them the courtesy of showing them that you care?

 

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Urban Meyer, Pete Carroll, Pat Summitt, John Calipari, Jay Paterno,  are all high profile coaches in high profile sports with high-paying, high-stress jobs. They are all excellent leaders as evidenced by their having reached a high level of excellence within their respective sport. Every coach could all learn a lot by observing their actions and taking a few notes.

Watch more video of Riot Vblog on riotsportsmarketing.com

These coaches work insane hours and, in order to be successful, they must spend their time wisely. The last thing they need to do is to focus on social media, let alone be active on Twitter. It's a big waste of time. They work for athletic departments who have full-time marketing and promotions staff working to drive attendance, sell more tickets, connect with their fans, grow their fan base, increase value to sponsors, and bring in more money.

But...what if I told you that all of these highly successful coaches are active on Twitter? What if I told you that they see Twitter as important because they understand the value of having fans. That they understand that fans are the lifeblood of any athletic program?

"But they need the fans more than we do so that they can support their huge budgets," you say.
Are you somehow different? Do you not need more fans to support a larger budget? Is it somehow ok for you to ignore your community of followers while complaining of not having enough money to reach your goals?

If you are not convinced of the value of building your fan base through social media, learn from those who are doing your job at a very high level.

Download our free social media sports marketing Quick Start Guide to learn more about building your fan base through social media.

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Coaches and administrators often ask me about the ROI of social media. The easy response is to ask them the ROI of their tv, radio, schedule card, and team poster campaigns. These can be tracked but rarely are. So many like to sell cookies and "stuff" because they can see the return on their investment with no effort (even it if is not significant per the energy spent) ROI of social media and communication (fan-raising) is rarely tracked, unfortunately.
However, you can immediately see the size of your fans, followers and subscribers where as you don't know how many people got your poster or heard your radio public service announcement. Regardless of the apparent vagueries that accompany the ROI of marketing, there is one very tangible means of generating real cash on a recurring basis through your social media properties.

Sponsorships.

Visit riotsportsmarketing.com for more videos

College and high school sports teams are the rallying point of local communities and businesses want to be associated with them. Put a little effort into growing your Facebook Page and email list and you will have not only a stronger fan base but a platform from which to solicit sponsors. It is likely that you already have sponsors or businesses that support in some way. What if you could give them recognition through mentioning them on Facebook? Thanking them in your email newsletter or Tweeting their link and handle?

USA Track and Field is hosting the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships. They posted the following on their Facebook Page: "It's TV time! Tune in to ESPN to watch the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships presented by BMW! One minute till showtime!"

Do you think that this recognition to the 60k USATF Facebook fans figures into their sponsorship package? I would think so.

You may not have 60k fans on your Facebook page but you're also not luring the likes of BMW. But you can get 1,000 fans easily. Even 10k depending on the size of your organization. (The local wrestling club that I run has over 3,000)

So, as I usually do, I will give you some actionable steps to take...

1. Maximize your Facebook following by asking... no, requiring your athletes to click the "Share" button on the bottom left column of your Page. They should share it both as a wall post and as a Facebook message to their relevant friends.
2. Ask each athlete to collect 20 email addresses of friends and family who want to receive your email newsletter.
3. After doing the above, you should have grown your following by over 1,000 fans more than you previously had. Now, go to your sponsors and sell them on the benefits of being associated with your great organization. You can recognize them with a public thank you, an event sponsorship (like BMW above), posting a video interview, and/or sharing a link to their website.

This is called fundraising through fan-raising.
Good luck!!

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There's a buzz word in the marketing world called a "Call to Action." That means, just because you are offering something, that does not mean that people will buy it, register for it, click it, or otherwise take action. You must have a call to action. So, if you have a "Donate Now" button on your website or a "Become a Member" link and nobody is clicking on it, it's likely that you have either no call to action or a poor one.

If you want people to act, you must motivate them to do so. You have to talk to them, sell them, and then call upon them to take action. Tell people that you are running a fundraising campaign (or new member drive or whatever it is that you want) and that they should "click here" to help you raise money for your trip to Katmandu's for the annual toad licking conference.

Without a call to action, that button is just taking up space.

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There was an article in the Wall Street Journal last week about the Cornell University Wrestling team. The title was "What Makes Cornell So Good?"

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There are a lot of things that coaches spend their time on. Most of them will not make you good. It is the same when you are an athlete, a business owner or a parent. There is a difference between working hard, and working smart. Working smart does not often payoff today. Bummer. We like to build now and see results today. Sometimes we have to zoom out and look at the big picture. Sometimes we have to focus on different things. In the case of Cornell Wrestling, it took years of building to reach the elite. Their focus has been different from that of the average team. To squeeze the most possible potential out of their situation, Head Coach Rob Koll could not go about things the exact same way as the average coach. He could not do the status quo. He could not reach the elite by doing the same thing as his competitors. The same thing as the guy next to him.
So.... what makes Cornell Wrestling so good? I will bring you some juicy insight into this in the coming weeks. In the meantime, consider this. Their athletic director Andy Noel credits generous donations from key alumni. Further, consider that they bring in significant revenue from ticket sales (for an Olympic sport) and have over 9,000 Facebook fans.

What will make you good?

Want to learn how to get more fans? Download our free Social Media Sports Marketing and Fundraising Quick Start Guide.

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It’s easy to go about your day doing the things that you did yesterday which are the same things that you’ll do tomorrow. It’s comfortable. It’s easy… even if it’s hard, it’s easy. Returning emails, filling out forms, running practices. It’s what coaches do. But what is it that’s in the back of your brain that you want to do. That thing that you know that, if you do it, it will make you better, your program better. But it’s hard. It’s uncomfortable. It’s outside of your routine. Maybe it’s a meeting that you know you should schedule or a call that you should make. Or maybe it is just believing that you can achieve great things despite your position today.

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In my experience, I talk with coaches who know that their team's success lies in their ability to cultivate a community of supporters around their athletic program yet they avoid doing the very things that they need to do to make it happen. That may mean learning how to use Twitter to connect with fans or other social media sports marketing and fundraising tactics.

Whatever that task is for you, today, be uncomfortable. Because if you do, you’ll sleep better tonight.

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Ever wonder what makes a fan a fan? I mean, why would someone support a team of people that, often times, does not even know that you the fan are there? Maslow's hierarchy of needs tells us all that we need to know. People need to belong and they need to have love and companionship. "Misery loves company," they say and that's true of happiness and every emotion in between.

So think of that when you are wondering how to grow your fan base (yes, businesses have fans too. Think Mac, Greatful Dead and VW), think about how you can serve your fans and give them what they want. No. Think about how you can give them what they need.

Host events. Give them insider information. Give them a "shout out". Show them you care. If you have to, do it one-by-one.

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The most limited resource for any coach is time. You always have practices to plan, budgeting to do, schedules to make, travel to plan, money to raise, athletes issues to deal with, meetings with athletic administrators... and don't even get me started on dealing with parents. Unfortunately, none of the tasks above includes anything about the most precious asset to your team: your fans.

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Coaches work hard to get their program to the next level. When working with our athletes, we often say to our hardest working prodigies, "Work smarter, not harder." What does that mean? And how can you turn that back around on yourself?
"Work smarter, not harder" simply means making wise use of your time and energy. If you're job is to dig a hole and you're digging in the wrong spot, you'll never reach your goal. Working smarter means taking pause to lift your head, look around and evaluate your situation. So take this advice. Turn off your computer and your phone then lock the door. Pull out a blank sheet of paper and a pen. At the top, write down your goals (bear with me- this is not a goal-setting lesson). Then write down what you need to attain those goals. If your goals are, for example, to win a certain championship then you may need quality training, better facilities, more/better athletes, etc. If your goal is to teach life lessons and build quality people, then you may need to host a Positive Coaching Alliance workshop, travel to competitions with unique cultural benefits, or otherwise help your athletes develop into confident and positive people.
No matter your goals, you likely need support. You need money and you need people to realize your team's full potential. When you care about your fans and supporters then the financial and human resources will follow.
What do you need to do today in order to cultivate a fan base and provide the financing for your team? Take action.

• Have an active Facebook Fan Page for your sports team
  
• Secure sponsorships for your team
  
• Cultivate a fan base
  

Register today for a webinar co-hosted with USA Wrestling's 2010 State Chairman of the Year Anthony Flatt:
Increasing Attendance, Media Coverage and Fundraising for Sports Organization through Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Text)

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In the 1960's there was a sport marketing revolution. A man named Roone Arledge from ABC Sports took a chance. ABC would broadcast college football games nationwide that were previously only broadcast regionally due to the regional nature of fan bases, particularly college fan bases. How would they make a game between Penn State and Florida interesting to viewers in California?

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"Heretofore, television has done a remarkable job of bringing the game to the viewer—now we are going to take the viewer to the game!!," stated Arledge.  "We have a supply of human drama that would make the producer of a dramatic show drool."

Think about it. You don't watch sports to see a quarterback throw a ball, a volleyball player set the ball or a wrestler shoot a double-leg takedown. NO! You watch because you have a relationship with that person or team. Even if you've never met the players, you may have attended the same university, your father was a fan when you were a kid, you watched interviews of the team, you know the backstory or are somehow emotionally connected to the athletes.

Do not think for a moment that your fans are any different.

If you want more fans then build a relationship with them. Connect with them and let them connect with you.

For example, what if the head coach of your favorite team sent you a message and copied thousands of other fans on this message? This is what happens on Twitter everyday!  How would that change your relationship with that team? Would that make an indifferent fan an engaged fan? Would that make an avid fan a rabid fan? Absolutely! An rabid fan for life!

Roone Arledge continued: "...the viewer must meet the players, but he will meet them as he would if he were at the game. This will be accomplished by using a blowup of the cover of the actual game program and introducing the individual players by means of pictures of them in their normal street attire..."

You can do better than this! Buy a Flip Camera and do in-person interviews at practice, at school or in a casual setting. Let your fans get to know your personnel- athletes, coaches, trainers, administrators, other fans, sponsors (that would be stoked to get in front of your audience) and alumni.

Arledge also stated, "…We will utilize every production technique…to heighten the viewer's feeling of actually sitting in the stands and participating personally in the excitement and color…In short, we are going to add show business to sports!"

Don't worry about production techniques. Authentic "Youtube-quality" video's tend to go viral more than highly produced videos anyway.

The point here is that you can learn from what the professionals are doing. For decades, professional sports marketers have understood that they must give their fans an experience in order to keep them and move them up the escalator from fringe fan to fanatic. You can do this now too!

Watch our tutorial and download the free guide on video marketing for your team.

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Hey Guys, Jim again with Riotsportsmarketing.com. It's a beautiful day outside so I'm working from my back porch. You may hear some lawn mowers in the background of the video.

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When you do your job, you learn how to do it well. Facebook should be no different. I see so many teams that create Facebook Pages but let them languish. I've discussed several ways to get more likes on Facebook. I want to show you a great way to use Facebook to grow the awareness of your team within your community and to let more people know about your Page and hopefully get more likes.
The demonstration in the video is using the Cavalier Wrestling Club, a non-profit wrestling organization. First, go to your page and click "Use Facebook as (your page)". Now, you are no longer using Facebook as yourself but as your page.
Next, visit the page of another organization that your your fans or prospective fans might like. Find a recent post and, if you are genuinely interested or have something to add, make a comment.
Now, anyone who has liked that page will see that post on their own news feed as well as any accompanying comments, such as yours. When they see your comment, they may click on your page name and visit your page. Once there, if you have interesting content and show signs of activity, visitors tend to click the like button.
That's it!
I suggest that you do this on a regular basis. At least once per week you should visit several key pages. You can make it easy by liking the pages then click "Home" to view the news feed of the pages that you (your organization) has liked. This makes it easy to scroll through to find good content on which to comment.
There are a few simple tactics that you can use to get more likes and, more importantly, increase awareness of what you are doing. This is one of them. Check it out! Take action today!
Join me this Tuesday evening (April 19, 2011) at 9 PM ET for an "over-the-shoulder" view of me sharing several more ways to get more likes on Facebook. And how to turn likes into money. REGISTER NOW!

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Until recent years, amateur sports, more specifically "Olympic" sports (wrestling, swimming, volleyball, etc), had good reason to complain that the revenue sports (football and basketball) got all of the attention. The media gave them more press, athletic departments spent more on marketing, and they had more fans.

Now the playing field is level.

We know so much about revenue sports because they are marketed and promoted, fans are cultivated and we know the programs from the inside out. This In his book Social Nation Mzinga founder Barry Libert talks about open and transparent leadership. Through the philosophy that he outlines in his book, all organizations can and should cultivate their own followings. Heck, if a business can do it, then sports teams can do it! Think about it... businesses are trying to sell you something, trying to get you to buy their product. Sports teams are trying to entertain you, trying to get you to be a fan. It is much more innocent and people are much more open to their solicitation as a fan. However, the ultimate goal is still money. Money buys equipment, insurance, plane tickets, entry fees, food, coaches and... you get the point.

Money = stuff. Stuff = opportunity. Opportunity = life changing lessons and the building of the next generation. And where does money come from?

Fans.

How do you get fans? Well.... Social Nation outlines "how to", case studies, and even includes a self-assessment.

I would recommend adding Social Nation to your reading list. Apply the principles to your program and you will watch your following grow.

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There is no question that mobile is changing everything. From the way we communicate with friends to the way we get our information, smart phones and even regular cell phones have, are and will continue to be a major influence in how we conduct our lives.

• 86% of Americans own a mobile phone
• There were over 5 billion mobile subscribers in 2010 (there are 6.8 billion people in the world)
• Over the next five years, more people will connect to the internet via mobile than by a computer

If you want your fans to be educated, involved and engaged, then your team needs to be mobile too. It doesn't have to be complicated. Let's break down a few options that you have for making it easy for your fans to be fans by using mobile technology.

1)  Text Message Alerts: Ninety-five percent of text messages are read within the first 15 minutes of their receipt. This is far higher than email and direct mail... combined! Send fans text messages about important events, announcements or results. Sign-up for an account with EZ Texting, iZigg or Clubtexting (or just Google "mobile marketing"). You will have the options to put a subscription form on your website or have users subscribe with a keyword ("Text TEAM to 654321 to receive alerts"). Sending messages and managing your list is usually done through a simple web interface.

2) Mobile App: For your ever growing population of smart phone users among your fan base, you can take it the next step. Create a mobile app, which is really just a mobile website. These can be simple and created in a few minutes yourself or as complex as you want to make it. I suggest starting out simple with a base package from Widgetbox, MobileRoadie or bMobilized.com. You can create an mobile website that acts just like an "app". When a user pulls up your website on their mobile phone, they can be redirected to your mobile site automatically. Or if they pull up your mobile website directly, they can add it to their home screen just like an app. The best thing is, if you have an RSS feed (from a blog), a Twitter account or a Facebook Page, you can have updates from those sites show up on your mobile app with no additional work on your part!

3) Be social: Twitter, Facebook, and Foursquare are social and, now, inherently mobile. There are tons of mobile apps that people use to access their own social networks. So, be social and your fans with smart phones will be able to follow you.

If you want more funding, more community support, more attendance, more awareness... if it is fans that you want, then mobile (and social) is where you need to be. The fact is, the more mobile that you are, the easier it is to be a fan.

Take action today and go mobile!

Click here to get your free guide and video tutorial on mobile marketing for your team today!

(statistical sources: iZigg, ITU Feb 2010, Morgan Stanley)

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Facebook Ads is a great way to buy fans. Actually, I shouldn't call it "buying fans". You are really just buying awareness. The fans (or prospective fans) decide if they want to "like" you. If you are doing any sort of marketing, you are already buying awareness by using the expensive currency that is your time. Facebook Ads just changes the currency.

If you are unfamiliar with Facebook Ads, they are the ads that appear on the right side of Facebook. They have four parts: a title, an image, the body and a destination URL. You are able to promote your website, your Facebook Page, or a Facebook Event (or an application but that is mostly irrelevant for our purposes here).

If you want to try Facebook Ads to promote your team, here is what I suggest:

1. Create an ad to promote your Facebook Page. When people like your page, then they will continue to get your news in their news feed. If you promote your website, they may visit once and never come back. (Plus, by clicking the like button on your ad, they do not have to leave the page that they are currently viewing).
2. In the body, use the wording "Click "like" to show your support for XYZ Team". Verbiage here is important.
3. Target your community. The ad creator is really simple. You just choose who you want to target by age, gender, location and interests. Tip: Older demographics are more expensive (because they have more money to spend) as are narrower niches.
4. Set your budget a few pennies above the lowest suggested bid. Or you can even go lower and see where that gets you. If it goes nowhere after a few days, bump up your bid.

If this sounds scary and like something that you could screw up, just set a maximum budget with which you are comfortable- $25 or $50. When your money runs out, go into the ads manager to review your metrics and see how you did. Did you get more likes? What were you paying for them? Personally, I think that $1 is way too much. I have had several campaigns for clients that got a CPC (cost-per-click) of less than $0.30/click.

Here's the real question: If you had 1,000 more likes what would that mean for your team?

There would be 1,000 more people that...

• Are aware of your team, your events, your fundraisers and your value to the community
• Might attend your events (buying tickets and concessions)
• You can leverage when talking with local businesses about the brand recognition that they will receive by sponsoring your team

Also, do not just think of the short-term value. When you bring fans together, educate them and engage them, there is a long-term benefit that will help your program be sustainable and successful in more ways that can be measured in dollars and cents.

Take action today. Start a Facebook Ads campaign.

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So, you take over your new position, move into your new office and notice that you need a new printer cartridge. You call your predecessor and he tells you, "Just stop by the front office and Joe will give you a new one." You introduce yourself to Joe and ask for a new printer cartridge. Joe hands you a form and requires it being filled out in triplicate and submitted a week prior to your needing the order fulfilled.

Joe and your predecessor worked together for 8 years. Their kids went to school together and spend their summers together at the pool. Your predecessor knew Joe and Joe knew him. Their relationship was built upon trust and, for that reason, your predecessor was able to work more effectively.

This relationship is a microcosm of the relationship between you and your community of supporters. If you get pissed off because your fans don't show up in droves or donate their estate to your program, maybe it's you or at least the relationship between you and them.

Relationships are built on trust and trust is non-transferable from one person to the next. You build trust with your fans by being there for them... and I mean being there for them more than they are there for you (because sometimes, they won't be there for you... sorry, it's part of coaching. Parents, you can relate.). You build trust by pulling back the curtain and sharing behind-the-scenes content, such as video of your pre-game prep. You send tweets that show real emotion and are not filtered through your pre-wired mental-bureaucracy that has been installed by your institution. When your fans know you as well as Joe knows your predecessor, then you can expect better attendance, increased support and stronger fundraising.

You can put your head down and trudge forward with the belief that if you just teach your athletes better technique, you will be successful. Or you can build relationships, network with your community and open the doors to true, lasting success.

Take action today and build a lasting relationship with your supporters based on trust.

Download my free guide to to video marketing. Learn how to create an Youtube Channel and upload video as well as what you should share with fans and how to do it. Click here now and download it free!

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What do fans want to know? What would they love to know? When you educate and inform your fans you will have a fan base that is ready to take action to support you (hence start a Riot!), buy tickets, and support your team fundraisers. Pull back the curtain and let them see the inner-workings of your team. Give them a sense that they are a community of fans who belong together by uniting them around a common cause- your team. Twitter is a great way to do this. I hear lots of coaches and administrators ask what they could post on Twitter. First, understand that you should not be a one-way pipeline of information. The beauty of Twitter is that you can engage with your fans in a way that is not otherwise possible. Other than that, fire away!

1. Post-game stats
2. Pre-game hype
3. Live in-game updates
4. Injury report for your team
5. Injury report for opposing team
6. Quotes from athletes
7. Quotes from coaches
8. How practice went last week
9. What you will do at today's practice
10. Report on popular alumni
11. Ask for fan feedback
12. Hotel info for roadtrips
13. Fundraising requests
14. Congrats to other teams at your school
15. Team superlatives
16. @mention super-fans
17. Retweet fans or even the competition
18. Share your team's hashtag (#)
19. Share a hashtag relevant to your sport, community or an event
20. Tweet or retweet info relevant to your sport
21. Pictures
22. Links to videos
23. Links to useful or interesting websites
24. Introduce fans to each other "@Fan1 meet @Fan 2  You're from the same city!"
25. A link to a Twitter list that your followers might want to follow
26. Alert fans to an interesting event
27. A link to your Facebook Page
28. A link to your email newsletter sign-up form
29. A link to your text message alerts sign-up form
30. A link to your mobile website
31. Flashbacks

The point is, the options are virtually limitless. This is a conversation. Take action today. Join the discussion on Twitter! Get access to our on-demand Twitter webinar.

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I was talking with the director of a large national organization recently. "We're doing the social media thing," he explained. "The challenge is keeping it up-to-date."
I will be working with him on a paradigm shift before we even begin to talk about strategy. Social media is not something that you have to keep up-to-date like a website or brochure. Social media is where you engage and where you offer value. What do I mean? Here are some examples:

* Respond to questions posted on Facebook or Twitter: like a handshake or a handwritten note, these encounters go a long way
* Ask questions of your followers and fans by soliciting feedback and crowdsourcing ideas: show them that they are valued
* Post good content: respect their time
* Offer discounts or specials for those in your community
* Enjoy it. I'm mean really enjoy your community. Like a smile over the phone, it comes through.

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I discovered a new term (and an interesting person in the process) the other day. Un-marketing. I'm not sure if Scott Stratten coined it or not but the term sums up what you need to do. If you want to drive ticket sales, get more members, maximize fundraising or increase attendance then you have to stop marketing and start engaging. That is possible now more than ever with the new communication channels available today.

Be interesting.
Write something I want to read.
Make my life easier.
Do something cool.
Exist where I already am.
And... talk to me.

Then I might buy, sign-up, donate or show up.

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I'm not talking about selling cookies or coupon books.  I'm talking about raising real cash to make real progress.

1. Get emotional: The frustrating part about raising money is that logic doesn't work.  Appeal to donors' emotional side and they'll open their wallets.
2. Say Thank you: If you want them back and to donate more next time, you had better say thank you.
3. Communicate: Make it easy for your donor base to receive communication from you.  Let them know the human interest stories from within your program.
4.  Build personal relationships:  In addition to #3, contact large donors and prospects personally to build the relationship.
5. Immortalize donors: Put their name on a brick, a locker, a plaque or just your website. 
6. Get over it and make the ask:  You heard me.

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I talk with coaches everyday. I visit the websites of high school and college sports teams and athletic departments. Unfortunately, I see so many team websites that are absolutely worthless. Is your website worthless? Here are a few characteristics of a worthless website.

• Out-of-date: If your website has no new information, it is worse than having no website at all. Think about when you go to a team website and see three month old information! I recommend starting a blog and linking it to your website (or, if your site has a blog feature, get posting!). Blogs are easy to update.
• No social media icons above the fold: You should have social media channels- Facebook and Twitter. You should have linked icons on your homepage. And they should be above the fold (visible without having to scroll). Vistors are looking for ways to stay connected to organizations in whom they are interested. Make it easy for them!
• Pics and Video: You should have some media other than text on your site. People absolutely love video (so does Google search if you're interested in SEO).

When your site is optimized (not worthless), you'll have more fans, increaes awareness and dramatically increase your fundraising.

Take action today. Get your website optimized for your fans!

Get access to our free Facebook Guide for sports teams.

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Dr. David Hoch, CMAA, recently retired as the Athletic Director at Loch Raven High School in Baltimore County, Md. One of the nation's most highly respected athletic directors, he has published 360 articles in professional magazines and publications as well as presented dozens of times at various national and state conferences. He wrote a book titled "Blueprint for Better Coaching", a sort of coaching guidebook. I recently asked him a few questions about both the book as well as his views on the profession of coaching. Enjoy!

Jim: I recently hosted a webinar with David Jacobson of Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA). One of the PCA's tenets is that of the double-goal coach "whose first goal is winning, and whose second, more-important goal is teaching life lessons through sports." Beyond instructing athletes at their particular sport, what role do you see a coach playing in the lives of student-athletes?

David: Perhaps it is only a minor issue of semantics with respect to the Positive Coaching Alliance’s coaching goals, but I totally ascribe to the philosophy of education-based athletics. Education-based athletics is the foundation of the National Federation of High School Associations and National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association conceptual approach. As such, teaching life-long lessons doesn’t come second, it is just as important, if not more so than winning.

That being said, almost everyone can teach sport-specific skills. Coaches can attend clinics, work summer camps, read books, watch videos and go on-line in order to improve their knowledge, learn more about strategy, and expand their abilities conducting practice sessions and making substitutions during games.

More importantly, it is the major responsibility of athletic directors to find, hire and mentor
coaches of all ages and with varying levels of experience to provide the leadership for an
education-based athletic experience for the young people. When this is done, athletes can and should gain a wide-range of values, qualities and abilities through participation.

If we – administrators, athletic directors and coaches – are not helping young people gain
leadership skills, learn the value and importance of sportsmanship and get involved with
community service and so many other great outcomes, there is no reason to have athletic
programs in high schools.

In addition, from the moment that a coach is hired, he or she is a role model for young people – there is no choice! Being a role model is part of being a high school coach and it is a major responsibility!

High school administrators who simply hire and evaluate coaches based upon wins and
championships are being hypocritical, falling to the pressure of parents or the community, or are totally clueless. When coaches and administrators put the interests, development and well-being of the student-athletes first, you have a vital athletic program.

When an individual isn’t totally consumed with winning and adding to personal records, coaching can be one of the most important and rewarding professions. It may take several years – and in many cases, you may never know, but the impact that a coach has upon young people can be enormous and profound. But this only happens when a coach totally ascribes to education-based athletics.

Jim: What moved you to write a book? And can you tell us a bit about the book itself?

David: Since I totally believe in and am passionate about the concept of education-based athletics, it really was an easy and natural leap to tackle the project. Besides, several of my coaches often kidded that I should put the contents of many of my counseling, mentoring and educational sessions and efforts into a written form for other coaches.

The concept of the book existed for quite a while. Therefore, when Athletic Management asked if I would be interested and provided me with the opportunity, it was full steam ahead. As with a great deal of writing, the concept and ideas were easy. There were times, however, during the actual writing in which I struggled with wording, restructuring paragraphs and all of the technical aspects of the process. Producing a good, quality copy is hard work. But overall, it personally was a great experience and a labor of love.

The text is not a how to teach skills and it isn’t sport-specific. Blueprint for Better Coaching
offers coaches ideas and help with communication skills with athletes, parents, administrators
and the media. It covers areas of risk management, off-season responsibilities, the importance of planning and time management and many other aspects of coaching.

In the various chapters, there are numerous tie-ins and examples of the concept of education-based athletics. It covers the necessity of coaches serving as role models, instilling the importance of sportsmanship and using teachable moments with their athletes.

…And since Blueprint for Better Coaching has been well-received and I enjoyed the process, I’m well into writing the second one – to include topics and chapters not included in Blueprint.

Jim: What is one thing that you know now that you did not know when you began your career that you would share with a young coach or athletic director?

David: While this seems like a simple, straight-forward question, it is one that is almost impossible to concisely answer. It is quite natural for young, beginning coaches to enter the profession with enthusiasm, energy and chomping at the bit to create a winning team. Usually, the basis for their approach or coaching philosophy comes from what they did as a player – what they know, what they have done and what they are comfortable with. But is this fundamentally sound and good for the athlete?

Also as a young coach starts out, he or she quickly and suddenly is exposed to so many additional ideas, approaches, and individuals and soon realizes that coaching entails more than simply teaching sport-specific skills and strategy. He soon comes to a cross road – does he constantly look to learn more about the craft of coaching, improving his teaching and interpersonal skills or does he stubbornly, conceitedly forge ahead thinking that he already has all the answers.

Hopefully, a young coach embraces the former. The point is that there is always something more to learn, areas to improve upon in both coaching and athletic administration. Once you feel that you have all the answers, well … you’re in trouble.

One former principal, under whom I worked for several years as an athletic director, was fond of stating: Learning is a life-long journey and not a one-time destination. While this principal was obviously targeting students with this maxim, he occasionally reminded his teaching staff that it also applied to them. It also extended to coaches and athletic directors.

I absolutely love and have used Lee Iacocca’s, the former CEO of the Chrysler Corporation
during the 1980’s, quote throughout my career. Naturally, he was referring to the auto industry, but I honestly think that it applies to most avenues in life. “You are either moving forward or falling behind, because there is no such thing as remaining static.”

So … advice to a young coach or athletic director? Seek knowledge and wisdom from respected veterans, read, take courses and constantly challenge yourself to learn more and then to apply it. Oh, and listen! You learn so much more by keeping an open mind, gathering and processing information and ideas than you do from asserting that you have all the answers.

And what do I know now that I didn’t when I started? While I did have unbridled enthusiasm, energy and desire, in hindsight, I really didn’t know too much. I made mistakes and had a number of good people, who pulled me aside and helped mentor me. No one is perfect and you will make mistakes – learn from them and continue going forward. Always keep the primary goal in sight – all of your efforts should be directed at helping young people grow and develop – it’s not about how many wins that you amass.

And hopefully, I have more to learn!

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I recently wrote about how coaches can use networking skills to advance their program and securing sports sponsorships through social media. One of the things that helps when networking and selling is a little psychology. I recently read Small Message, Big Impact by Terry Sjodin.

She discusses how to serve the needs of decision-makers to get them to do what you want them to do. Here are a few pointers from the chapter on building a persuasive case.

 

1. Time: How will what you want save this person time?
2. Money: How will what you want save this person money (or make them money)?
3. Sanity: How will what you want save this person sanity? Make their life or job easier?
4. Security: How will what you want provide this person more security? Financially? Are you dependable? Will you be around tomorrow? Is this a safe partnership?
5. Fun: How are you going to make their life or job fun?
6. Ease of use: Is what you want done easy? Or can you make things easy for this person?

I've found that if you can satisfy one of these six needs, then your sale will be much easier, whether you are selling an athlete on training harder, a parent on volunteering or your athletic director on purchasing something.

Take action today. Determine what you need, how you can help someone that can help you,  then make the sale!

If you want to learn how to help your fans save time and make it easy for them to follow you, then register for our Mobile Marketing for Sports Teams webinar that takes place Wednesday, June 1, 2011 at 9 PM ET.

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Coaches are technicians. They are the engineers of the sports world. They enjoy putting their heads down and plowing forward by training their team, teaching techniques and ensconcing themselves into the daily routine of athlete development. Unfortunately, that is a small part of preparing for overall program success.

I regularly preach the value of CEO skills for coaches. Networking is one of the most overlooked of them. Whether novice or experienced, every coach can improve his/her networking skills.

Contrary to popular belief, networking does not just mean getting to know someone. Just because you introduce yourself to a person in a key position that could open doors for you, does not mean that they will. Here is the most important piece of networking that you must remember if you want this skill to move your program forward.

Do something for them first without expectation of their being in your debt. Help them. Give them something of value. Make them feel special. Then, maybe, just maybe they will feel compelled to return the favor or, bettter yet, do something for you because they like you. 

Here are four examples of how you can use networking skills to advance your program and make your job easier:

• Potential sponsor: You have an ideal business in town that you think could sponsor your team. After you have done the first part of networking, which is introducing yourself (or having an introduction arranged), but before you make any type of ask, find a way to offer something of value to them. If they are a B2C business, mention on your team Facebook Page that you met the owner and include a link to his website. Give value first and do it with a genuine heart. Don't be surprised if in return, they volunteer their help, financially or otherwise. 
• Administrator: Having good relationships with our administration is key to getting things done. Make your athletic director feel special and recognized for her efforts. Invite her to practice so that you can introduce her directly to your team. Discuss the role of the AD in the success of your program. If you are an athletic director, bring the principal or vice-president "backstage" to experience behind-the-scenes at a special event.
• Unaccommodating teacher/professor: If there is a particular teacher or professor at your institution that seems to go out of his way to make life difficult for student-athletes, be sure to go out of your way to understand him first. Then, determine an appropriate way to bring him into the fold and help him develop a relationship with your athletes. Make him an "honorary coach" for a competition, for example.
• Uninterested Reporter: You likely want more media coverage for your team or athletic department. And you probably have that reporter in town that just will not give you the coverage that you want. Instead of expecting them to come to you, you should go to them. Call or email her to compliment her on a completely unrelated story. If she has a blog, comment on it. By making her feel important and valued, you are more likely to get what you need.

While some people are naturally more social, true networking skills are developed over time. Take some time today to go out of your way for someone that can be a strategic partner in your program's success.

Take action today. Network.

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