Life After Football: What comes next?

by Michelle Hill | February 24th, 2010 | 1 Comment »

toniluca Super Bowl XLIV is a mere memory now. Faint echoes of “Who Dat” ring in our ears. We’ve seen a Brees blow through and we’ve seen the burning Bush. For fans, the season is over and we’re wondering what to do on Sunday afternoons. We could relive the season by watching games of our favorite teams on DVD but it just doesn’t hold the same magic. We could spend our days anticipating the draft or go on a hot wing fast in defiance of another season ending. We could turn our attention to other sports but football is football.

Reputation Management: Athletes Facing Controversy

by Lewis Howes | February 23rd, 2010 | 1 Comment »

(This is a guest article by Wesley Mallette)

Athletes in trouble. We see it every day in the news and find ourselves wondering aloud, “Wow. Did they really just say/do that?”

The vast majority of athletes will face a crisis of some proportion during their career or post-career. How they handle it is everything, and who manages them through it plays a major factor in the outcome, hence the need for true strategic communications professionals (i.e., seasoned PR people) on their team of advisors.

Too many athletes rely on less than qualified “handlers” to counsel them through the eye of the storm of controversy. They are foolish enough to follow the non-expert advice of, “We can handle this. Here’s what we’ll say/won’t say and this is what we’ll do. This will blow over.” Their reactions and responses will range from avoidance, vehement denial, finger pointing, and… the answer that is really not an option, “No comment.” Bad advice or no advice, we’ve seen it all too often and athletes are left wishing they could do it over again. Ask Tiger. Ask Roger Clemens. Ask Gilbert Arenas. Take your pick. There are hundreds of case studies in what NOT to do.

LeBron is Missing a Massive Opportunity

by Sam Taggart | February 16th, 2010 | 12 Comments »

Let me start by saying that LeBron James is doing just fine for himself. LeBron can pretty much do whatever he wants (e.g. get dunked on at his own camp and confiscate the video, walk off the court without shaking hands after losing the Eastern conference finals, back out of the Slam Dunk Competition) and people will still love him. The LBJ brand is very much intact and thriving. The man has tons of endorsements. However, is “doing just fine” good enough for the most exciting and athletic player in the game right now? LeBron has never settled for “just fine,” so why start now?

That’s not to say that LeBron James owes us anything. His play on the court is an absolute spectacle. I’ve never seen anyone like him. He’s exciting, unselfish, and completely dynamic. So, whatever LBJ chooses to do is up to him. All I’m saying is, I think LeBron could take it up another notch. I can’t imagine the kind of pressure on an athlete like LeBron James is under. But he’s chosen the path of greatness, a lot is expected of great people.

Super Bowl Commercials Play Role in Branding

by Gail Sideman | February 5th, 2010 | No Comments »

ramseymohsen A few days ago a reporter called and asked how I would advise a professional athlete if he wanted to endorse a hot-button topic in a forum as big as a Super Bowl audience.

My answer was not textbook public relations.

(I will reveal the outlet and topic upon its publication).

The reasons that athletes and coaches endorse products and services are as varied as the people themselves. Some do it because they patronize and truly believe in said organizations. Others pitch products because it fattens their bank accounts; some make themselves available for endorsements to keep their face in front of possible post-sports employers.

It’s a Numbers Game – Sports Vanity Toll Free Numbers

by Tim Evans | February 4th, 2010 | No Comments »

Travis Nicholson! We all know there are numerous ways to brand your sports business. From a professionally designed and well optimized website, to having consistent social networking usernames across a variety of social media platforms, you are well on your way to promoting your brand.

With a passion for domain names over the years, I have been able to appreciate what it means to have a unique vanity toll-free number. With domain names, you can have a maximum of 64-characters (numbers and letter combinations) to create a domain name, but with a toll free number, you only have seven digits to work with. Because of this length limitation, at least at the level of a true 800#, there are no numbers left in the 800# database left that have been unused.

So how do you find an 800# to market your business? I’ve been using TollFreeNumbers.com over the years because it allows you to search for that perfect number and it lets you know if it is available.

Athlete Branding & Owning a Domain Name

by Tim Evans | December 8th, 2009 | 4 Comments »

Why an athlete should care about their domain name and personal brand.

As long as domain names have been around, professional athlete domain names have been valued property by domain speculators (domainers), cyber squatters, and sports fans. If you do a whois search for most professional athletes, no matter what the sport, chances are that the domain is registered. Even college athletes who have a shot at the professional level as well as high school recruits who haven’t committed to a school are having their domain names registered.

Where To Find Sports Domain Names

by Tim Evans | November 24th, 2009 | No Comments »

The domain name industry has come a long way in the last 20 years. In the early 1990s, an individual needed to write in and request a domain name and there was a limit of five names. A few years later, Network Solutions came on the scene and you could register a domain name, but had to commit to a two-year registration fee of $70 – it was so primitive back then that they would even allow you to register names and they would send you an invoice for the domain. There was no obligation on the invoice, so if you didn’t pay it, the domain would back into the pool of available names.

Athlete Web Design with Tim Evans

by Lewis Howes | November 16th, 2009 | No Comments »

I am constantly amazed at the lack of presence a number of high level professional athletes have online. Many of the players are missing out on a bigger opportunity to have a great website, and drive fans to their hub, however, a lot of them don’t even own their domain name. I’ll share more reasons on this in a later post.

Athletes, in general, seem to not care about web design, owning their domain name, or branding their image online. Do you agree or disagree on this? Let me know your thoughts on who is doing it right, and who is doing it wrong online. I’ll let you tell me what you think they are missing out in the comments section below. Check out what Tim Evans from Athlete Web Design has to say in this video, and make sure you check out his site to see what he has done for other pro athletes.

Want to learn more? Athlete Web Design works with athletes and sports professionals to build custom designed websites to build and promote an online brand. Check out how they could help you here, or follow them on Twitter and Facebook.