Okay, so maybe it’s not quite time to put away the cold calling lists forever, but we might be getting close. Let’s explore the alternative.

Social media has a powerful way of putting a face to a name, a person behind a brand, and information from around the world at your fingertips.  With the click of a Like, Follow, or making someone a 1^st Connection, you’ve turned a cold lead into a warm one. Through the digital universe you are able to skip the company receptionist and have quick access to the communicator at the company of your choice.

In the sport business anyone can be a future client. There are those who like the sport personally, others who enjoy your entertainment for clients, or even those who help facilitate large group outings in a sport setting.  If everyone you meet has the power of being your next client, how do you decide where it’s best to spend your time?

The information we need to find quality leads most often can’t be found on the front page of a company’s website. Facebook announced they have over 500 million users, Twitter claims over 190 million registered accounts, and LinkedIN rounds out its professional users to well over 50 million.  This all sounds overwhelming to most, so where do you start?

Connect with all your clients on LinkedIn

The How: Keep the LinkedIn.com homepage open while you work throughout the entire day.  Building your connections as you go is a great way to develop your own organic leads list. Looking for a client at a particular company? I bet you can find an employee who works there. Searching for detailed information on a company? Take a peek as most companies now have ‘Company LinkedIn’ pages with all the data you might need.

The Why: If something changes at a company you are connected to or a client you’ve met, you are then notified in your news feed. And let’s say someone leaves their job for another (its been known to happen), you just got yourself a great referral and introduction to your next client.

Engage in conversations in LinkedIn groups where your target clients ‘hang-out’

The How: According to Teehcrunch, there are over 650,000 groups on LinkedIN. Find the ones where your clients are and engage in conversation.  Why not start your own group and control the conversation within your business community?

The Why: The conversations are already taking place, so why not participate.  It’s a great way to meet new business professionals who are looking for your solutions.

Maximizing Facebook Pages

The How: It does require you to use your personal facebook page for business use and not strictly personally which makes a good number of people very nervous.  It is important to learn all the privacy controls on facebook so that you are more comfortable, especically if you’re just starting out.

The Why: Facebook Fan Pages for businesses are everywhere and distribute all sorts of information about your client’s company or prospective companies to help you maximize your partnership. Are they hiring? What did they do for their holiday party? How about the new products they are launching. Facebook equals constant company updates at your fingertips! Do the companies you work with have a Facebook Page? And have you ever checked?

Twitter News Feeds

The How: It is important to keep up to date with news makers (e.g. LA Times, CNN, and Local Paper) and business news sources (e.g: Local Business Journal) in order to  keep constant updates coming into your twitter feed. Learn the power of lists so you can sort who you are following for quick access to a particular topic or subject. Looking to connect with a client’s business, organization, non-profit, or a prospective company? Best place to start is to Google “XYZ twitter account”. Follow them, engage them in a conversation, or ask them a question.

The Why: It soon becomes not The Why, but The Why Not! Twitter provides access to companies in a more direct way, with up to the minute information not readily available elsewhere, and most importantly, instant access to the company’s communicator!

Have we connected yet on LinkedIn? How about Twitter?

Have you had success connecting with clients via social media? Do you think cold calling is becoming extinct? Be sure to share some of your quick tips too!

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About Kristen Sonsma

Kristen Sonsma has spent most of her sports career in ticket sales with experience in the AFL, MLS, and NHL. Connect with her on LinkedIn or on Twitter

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A while back I talked about how using social networks focused on exclusivity like Path and Facebook Groups can give less social media savvy athletes an outlet in case they want to blow off some steam or share things with their intimate family and friends. This week, I want to talk about how exclusivity can help elevate the brand of athletes who are already doing a good job with social media and want to take it to the next level.

Before I begin, I want to make something clear. I am in no way suggesting that athletes ought to focus on using exclusive networks in lieu of mainstream public social networks, but rather as a complement networks like Twitter and Facebook in order to grow their brand in more creative ways.

Now back in 2008 when I first joined Twitter, it wasn’t long before I got an interesting email. It was titled:

Barack Obama is now following you on Twitter!

At the time, I thought I was so cool. A presidential candidate (and now better known as President Obama) was following what lil ‘ol Canadian ME had to say! It made me feel valued and heard. Then, I found out that it was a well thought out marketing campaign. Mr. Obama followed everyone who followed him back. Oh.

Some time later on, I got my first @mention on there from an NBA athlete. Once again, I was pumped. He responded to one of my questions with a crisp and cool “yup“. I was totally floored.

Even today with tons of athletes responding to fans everywhere, there still isn’t much that can top being recognized by a professional athlete. It can absolutely make a fan’s day. But for athletes who want to get ahead, here’s what they can do:

Leverage Exclusivity to Recognize the ‘Superfans’

With the increase of users and more and more athletes ‘getting it’, getting an @mention may already not mean as much as it once meant anymore. Kids growing up now will find it no big deal that they can holler at their favorite football player on their cell phone because they never had to wait 2 hours in the pouring rain just in hopes to catch a glimpse of their hero and maybe a high five. But for the die hard fans? They’re going to want more than ‘yup’ (I know, spoiled, right?).

Using networks that promote exclusivity and small groups can help give them that. What if instead of an athlete simply replying to your message, they know you personally well enough to ask how your sister or your brother is doing? That would be taking engagement to another level. As an example, I’m going to use Kevin Durant, a fairly well known guy who’s already doing all sorts of great things with his brand (If you’re reading this Kevin, call me!)

1. Create a private Facebook Group called KD’s Superfans, and limit it to 35 members.
2. Announce a contest on his blog asking readers to provide a YouTube clip of themselves proving that they are Durant’s #1 fan.
3. Pick the 35 ‘best’ entrants and give them access to the group.
4. Provide them with exclusive personalized content, goodies, and pre-release versions of his shoes. Ex. if Durant enters the 3 Point Contest, the superfans will be the first to know.
5. Interact with them on a name by name basis.

Athletes are busy people, I get that. Expecting them to know the names of all their fans is impossible. But in the same way that more and more athletes have found 30 minutes out of their day to interact with fans on Twitter, they can spend an hour a week giving a small group of diehard fans some extra love.

The thing is, superfans will become viral brand ambassadors of their own for Durant. They’ll feel proud to be part of the group – an exclusive group that they had to work to get in and will tell everybody they know that they’re in. Unlike President Obama who added everybody in 08, exclusivity can recognize the special fans for who they are and they’ll be happy to return the favor.

What do you think of using exclusivity to recognize the superfans? Are there other ways that exclusive networks can help elevate athletes’ brands? I’d love to hear your thoughts, please let me know in the comments below!

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About Sam Chan

Sam is the community manager of Sports Networker and the Sports Executive Association. He is passionate in all things sports, mobile, and social media. His dream is for the Vancouver Canucks to win a Stanley Cup in his lifetime, although so far, its looking kind of bleak. In the past, he worked with BlackBerry and helped relaunch their Business-to-Business network. With his experience there, he can probably help you change your ringtone, maybe. When he finds time (never), he also writes infrequently at his personal blog. If you would like to talk sports, write a guest post for us, or argue about why iPhone > BlackBerry, you can find him on Twitter, Facebook or email.

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It is the third week of the Overtime Post, and both Lewis and I are on the road this week. Ironically, he went from the east coast to the west, and I’m going from the west to the east. Twitter is great, but nothing beats real hi-fives, fist pumps, and sharing stories in person. If you’re in New York for the week, I’d love to meet you, just shoot me a mail, and don’t get left behind in the offline networking shift!

I took Virgin America for the first time and they have this neat feature of being able to chat with other passengers on the plane according to seat number. Much props to them for trying to make the flight experience more social. It could be a cool tool for networking in the future. I’m literally writing this on a plane so I’m going to keep it short.

This week’s posts:

Monday:

Top 4 Ways to Utilize Social Media to Grow Your Fan Base

Ash tops off a great series with a wrap up post to growing your fan base through social media. I don’t usually do this, but I bookmarked it for the future.You should do the same. They are simple tips, yet we can often get caught in the midst of all the glamour of the latest social network or cool new features. These steps are the core.

Read the full post.

Wednesday:

The Minnesota Vikings PR Soap Opera

Say what you will about Brett Favre and the Vikings but they keep things interesting. And we all thought they were just going to play football and win a super bowl this year.

Read the full post.

Thursday:

Interview with Retired NFL Player Levar Fisher on Business and Family

Levar seems like a great guy and this interview provided a deep look at how to balance life and travel. It’s a must read for anybody who travels and works, and still wants to maintain a healthy lifestyle at home (which, I imagine to be a lot of you).

Read the full post.

Friday:

Incorporating Social Media into Televised Sports

I am definitely one of those junkies that gets over excited on Twitter during sports games. Just a heads up in April, May, and June for those kind people that follow me (Hint, playoffs).

Read the full post.

Friday Bonus:

Interview with Boston Celtics’ Peter Stringer on Social Media

Shaq and Nate Robinson’s contributions on social media have been a real pleasant treat for Boston Celtics fans. And here’s an unpleasant trick from them.

Read the full post.

The Links:

Kevin Love Records First 30-30 Game since the ’80s

It really makes you wonder if Kevin Love needs to work on his networking skills or send his coach a promotional dvd of his game, because he’s averaging less than 30 minutes a game.

NHL All Star Game to Include Schoolyard Fantasy Draft

I’ve been saying for years that All Star games are a snore. It’s just not entertaining and fans in recent years have made a mockery of the silly voting system. While this is not such a big deal, I love that Brendan Shanahan is injecting creativity back into the game. Now if only he could get accountable reffing going…

Facebook Set to Enter into Email

What does this mean? It means that Facebook is changing everything again. But no, really, it’s something to keep in mind, especially those who work in engagement for their respective teams.

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About Sam Chan

Sam is the community manager of Sports Networker and the Sports Executive Association. He is passionate in all things sports, mobile, and social media. His dream is for the Vancouver Canucks to win a Stanley Cup in his lifetime, although so far, its looking kind of bleak. In the past, he worked with BlackBerry and helped relaunch their Business-to-Business network. With his experience there, he can probably help you change your ringtone, maybe. When he finds time (never), he also writes infrequently at his personal blog. If you would like to talk sports, write a guest post for us, or argue about why iPhone > BlackBerry, you can find him on Twitter, Facebook or email.

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I’m a big Ohio State football fan.

Whenever I get a chance to watch my Buckeyes crush opponents on television these days, I always catch myself checking my Twitter stream or Facebook feed in between plays and during commercial breaks. I may catch a commercial here or there, but for the most part, I am too busy socializing online about the game to pay attention.

Social media has become a regular part in my sports-watching experience. For kids growing up now, it’s a whole new ballgame than the one we grew up where we had to bear through every single advertisement impatiently wondering if there will be another first down. The geniuses at Espresso’s Infiltrators capture this essence perfectly in the deck below. They go through the age of sports that us ‘old folks’ went through and compare it with the new age of social media: sports 2.0.

Those who know me know I am very passionate about social media and its potential on the sports industry. Even today, I feel like we are only at the tip of the iceberg in terms of how social media can change our experience with sports. How has social media personally affected how you enjoy sports? I would love to hear your comments below.

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About Lewis Howes

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Being that I’m a huge sports fan and an avid social media user, I always wonder why there are no good sports-themed social networks. Many have tried, but none have succeeded.

In my opinion, sports and social media are a perfect marriage. Sports fans love to talk about sports. We spend hours of every day watching, reading, and talking about the teams and players that matter to us. Sports fans also love to show and demonstrate our pride. We want to show the world our allegiances. And most importantly, there are plenty of instances where sports and social media have succeeded!

I spoke to my boss and great friend AJ Vaynerchuk about it. He brought up a valid question: “is there really a problem there that needs to be fixed?”

I’m not sure of the answer, but I’m going to talk it through right now:

Sports and Social Media Work.

Sports and social media can mix. I’ve seen it first-hand. In a year and change, the New York Jets’ (disclaimer: VaynerMedia client) have developed a community of over 241,000 passionate fans. Fans post thoughts, photos, and videos to the wall hundreds of times per day and comment/like thousands of times in the same time period. There is a real community there. There are real relationships, between the Jets and their fans, and between the fans themselves. The page is a social network at the micro level.

There are many other teams and leagues with impressive Facebook communities as well. The NBA & NHL (VaynerMedia Client) both have vibrant fanbases on Facebook, and so do teams like the New England Patriots and the San Diego Chargers. The point is that sports and social media have proven to mix.

Don’t Forget About Forums, Message Boards, and Chats…

For example, take a look at the conversation around last week’s Eagles-Falcons game on ESPN.com. Over the course of a week, primarily, there were over 1,000 comments left in a thread about one specific football game.

What about the Something Awful Forums or the message boards on CBSSports.com? There are many online sports communities based around forums and message boards. Members create profiles and talk in the same threads, establishing names and identities for themselves. They come back on a daily basis and create relationships with other visitors.

Is There a Need?

Maybe these existing places are enough. Maybe I’m trying to solve a problem that does not exist. Through Facebook, we have the ability to connect with fans of teams we like, as well as with the teams themselves. Through forums and message boards, we can argue freely and trash talk about issues we care about. What else could a sports social network provide that doesn’t exist already? What could intrigue me enough to create one more account to log in to, one more online identity to maintain?

When you look at niche communities that are successful, they exist because they provide locations for enthusiasts of specific genres to interact, when these places do not otherwise exist. Take Flixster, for example. Flixster is an online community for movie fans. Flixster can exist because there are few other prominent places online for fans to go and create identities for themselves. But sports fans have a variety of existing places and communities we can go. Why create one more?

We’re all sports fans here. I would love to hear what you have to say about why there are no great sports social networks. Which features would you look for in a sports social network? Would you even be interested in joining one? Do you think it’s possible that fantasy sports have taken the place of a sports social network?

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About Sam Taggart

Sam is a Creative Strategist for VaynerMedia, a social media agency based in New York City. Sam previously worked as an Account Executive for the New York Jets as well as the New Jersey Nets and spent time working with former NBA player Jalen Rose as well as NFL safety Kerry Rhodes. He now focuses on creative strategy across VaynerMedia's portfolio. You can follow Sam at http://twitter.com/gosam & visit VaynerMedia at http://www.vaynermedia.com.

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(This is a guest post by Daniel McLaren)

When talking to people about their social media plans, most will talk about Facebook and Twitter. Yes, these are the most popular platforms and we are all aware that Facebook has recently topped the 500 million mark.

But is this the right audience for your team?

Taking a step back from the technology and looking at who your target audience is and where they hanging out is the first step that any organization should take. You may be surprised with the results and it will certainly impact on your plans.

A recent report by The Neilson Group makes for interesting reading, especially if you a team or organization with international aspirations.

It gives a really good insight into the online activities within social networking in some of the world’s biggest online users. Research by Ogilvy on the Asian region shows that Facebook’s reach is around 59M whilst other platforms attract 68M users.

China is completely different since Facebook is virtually non-existant. QQ is the major platform with over 330M users with others such as Kaixin (30M) and Renren (30M) popular choices.

You should also how at how people consume their online activities. In Vietnam, Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan, the vast majority consume online content via mobile phones.

What this highlights is that there is more to life than Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.  Thinking ahead to the next FIFA World Cup in Brazil, have you have thought about having a strategy that uses Orkut? Or if you have a major sports event or tour in Germany would you use VZnet Netwerke, or Tuenti in Spain?

Yes, Facebook dominates the social networking landscape but if you are concentrating your efforts in other countries to further your fan base or to create business opportunities, make sure you have done your research first.

I was lucky enough to have Matt Owen, Community Manager at Liverpool Football Club speak at a recent event of mine (they host the UK’s most popular sports Facebook page at over 1.7m ‘likes’). An interesting point he raised was they use Facebook to predominantly target their non-game attending fans. Not only that but they use tools such as Facebook Insights demographic data when it comes to decisions on overseas pre-season tours (go to where the fans are!).

The lesson here is to make sure you work out your business objectives is, then find out where your fan base (target audience) is hanging out before you decide on the technology to use.

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Daniel McLaren is the founder of ‘The UK Sports Network’ and a Sports Consultant at social media agency called Spearfish Labs. He is an experienced sports events professional and passionate about social media. A lover of all sports, player of a few and ardent Manchester United fan. He runs several groups on LinkedIn including ‘The UK Sports Network‘ and ‘Social Media & Sport‘ which total over 1800 members. He tweets regularly on @danielmclaren.

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About Lewis Howes

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We’re now starting to see more and more teams getting involved with social media. This is great, but I think it’s time they start to look beyond only utilizing the major platforms (Twitter, YouTube, Facebook) and really start to embrace more emerging and niche platforms (Ustream, Tumblr, Flickr).

Every platform offers something different and therefore appeals to different types of people. Facebook and Twitter are (currently) more popular than others and should demand more time and resources, but surely the fans that use these emerging platforms deserve some love too? And surely there is value in these platforms for teams?

One team that has had great success through getting involved in a niche network is Manchester City FC with their use of Flickr. They are the first team I have seen using this platform, if you have seen any others please let me know. They use Flickr as a way to embrace their fans creative side allowing them to use photography and design to express their feelings about the club.

Flickr gives Manchester City fans the chance to see all the latest images from the clubs official stream as well as inviting them to share their own images and get involved in discussion. Some of the images that have been posted in the Flickr group have even been taken on board by the club and helped inspire new PR and retail campaigns.

Another team who have started to get involved with an emerging platform is the New York Knicks on Tumblr. Personally I’m a big fan of Tumblr and feel it has huge potential because it offers a great way to find and share information.

It allows users to easily post a range of content with just a few clicks – everything from photos and video, to links and even short voice recordings making it the perfect way to keep fans up-to-date. Currently the Knicks mainly use Tumblr as a way to share videos, short blogs and promotions. I’d like to see them mix up posts a bit more and maybe include a few behind the scenes images, quotes and audio clips from the coaches and players.

It may be a while before Tumblr becomes main stream, but once it does I’m sure it will be a powerful tool for both teams and brands.

Conclusion

Obviously the major platforms shouldn’t be overlooked. Every team that isn’t involved with them is missing out on a big opportunity because they offer great value for both the teams and fans.

However, I feel that niche and emerging platforms allow teams to build up closer relationships with fans and also open up many new engagement and participation opportunities. Teams can choose to share images on Flickr, post short blogs on Tumblr or run live chats or showing live training sessions on Ustream – there’s plenty of potential and opportunity out there.

What do you think?  Is there value for fans and teams on niche and emerging platforms? Have you seen any examples of teams or athletes getting involved? What platforms do you feel offer potential?

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About Ash Read

Ash is the co-founder of FundSport.com a grassroots sports community providing sports clubs and athletes from around the world with professional, easy-to-understand advice and articles on all aspects of grassroots sport including sponsorship, fundraising, the Internet, social media, club management, PR and marketing. As well as being passionate about the development of grassroots sport Ash also has a keen involvement in the sports social media industry. You can follow Ash on Twitter at @ashread14

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(This is a guest article by Cabe Flesher)

As the old saying goes, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know” and this can’t ring more true than in the wide world of sports, specifically sponsorships sales.  We are out there everyday trying to get in the door somehow and we have all heard the phrase, “Oh, I know someone I can call or email”.

Well, speaking from the trenches, it’s best to build on that network as much as possible.  Networking now isn’t always about hitting the latest local networking event, which we all know is filled with the same sales people trying to sell each other and vying for the for real buyers in the room.  It’s more about reaching out to our peers on a national level trying to develop a bond there that will someday pay off.  Let’s face it we got into sponsorships because we want to get paid.  So however you can achieve that should be your goal.

Now I am not saying that we are all devious in our actions, but in order to reach the goals that have been set by our glorious managers and leaders, we must expand every possible aspect to our job.  So developing our national network is key to assisting in those goals.  How do we do that?  It’s up to you to figure that out as I have sat through enough day long seminars by so called “gurus” of the sales world to know that the only expert in how you hit your goals is you.  My advice though isn’t that you have to listen to it all and take what you want, how you want, to get what you want.

The ways that have worked for me include emails to peers within the league that I work in.  Just reaching out and saying hi works, but be prepared to swap some good leads.  This is a business and we all have to give in order to get.  To quote the great Bill Murray in Caddie Shack when he offers his infinite golf wisdom to the “Dali Lama himself” he too wants something in return when he asks, “How about a little something for da effort”.  Another successful strategy had been to milk social networking sites for all that they are worth.  Get to know sites like Linkedin.  Avoid reaching out excessively, because you don’t want to be known as “that guy”.  You know the one that is always posting things about what they are doing or constantly harassing his or her peers for leads or info.  We have all dealt with that person.

The economy is tough right now and in order to get in with new organizations we must do all we can.  This is just one man’s opinion, but any advice is worth listening to in this economic climate.  Especially coming from someone who is still in the trenches…

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Cabe Flesher has been working in sports sales for more than five years now with knowledge of markets both large and small.  He has developed partnership plans at many levels to numerous organizations.  He currently is working in the NBA in the San Francisco Bay Area. Feel free to connect with him on LinkedIn.

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About Lewis Howes

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This is a video with my top ways to use social media.  To be honest with you, I don’t talk about how this relates to the sports industry at all.  However, all of these principles apply to your sports industry and social media marketing online.  They also apply to helping you build your personal brand and get a job within the sports industry.

Did you have anything to add to the conversation?  Did I leave anything important out?  If so, please share them in the comments section below, and feel free to share this video with your friends.

About Lewis Howes

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