Posts Tagged ‘Athlete Branding’

What a crazy question right?!? As of 2009, the easy answer is no way. But why can certain websites online make millions of dollars in revenue annually? There is a very simple answer to this question: Traffic. Traffic is gold. Now there are a lot of methods and reasons to why a certain website versus another receives more traffic than another. From the genericness of the domain name, how well the site is optimized to offline brand marketing budgets, traffic ultimately produces revenue.

Why couldn’t we take the same revenue methods of these extremely successful websites and mimic it for Professional athletes? We can and ProtegeBranding.com does. There is a great deal of uniqueness in dealing with an athletes’ website. They have a substantial following already (which equals immediate traffic) along with (hopefully) obtaining their definitive domain name. We have the ability to capture their fan base from other social and media networks to consistently keep traffic on the rise.

Lets break down some numbers and have some hypothetical fun:

Steve Nash is making $12,250,000 for the 2009-2010 season. It is safe to say he made close to 1 Million dollars in endorsements this year ( educated guess). For the sake of the article lets call his total revenue at 13,250,000.00 this year.

He does not currently have a site promoting himself as a brand. He does have SteveNash.org which is dedicated to his foundation! Kudos. Steve Nash has roughly 520,000 fans on his face book page. He has roughly 110,000 followers on Twitter. ( He is gaining over 1,000 followers on each platform everyday.) Below is a quick snap shot of another memorabilia site selling Steve Nash articles (most likely without his permission and non of the profits going to him or his foundation). Having his own site allows him to control his own memorabilia and unique products he could sell. So lets say on average his products would profit $99.00 per item in his e-store. With a total of 630,000 followers, is it reasonable to say that 3% of his fans will purchase something from his site annually? I think so. That totals to $1,871,100. Yeah, crazy right. Now lets say he decided to have a paid membership on his site which gives fans an up close look at his season through video. He will only video blog 2x week and the cost would be $5.00/month. Safe to say that 15,000 of his fans will be members? I think so. That equates to $45,000.00/month for his membership which totals an annual revenue of $540,000. Now lets say we decide to have a monthly webinar in the Suns locker room with some of the players to discuss his upcoming games. The cost of this webinar will be $15.00/webinar. Lets say 1,000 fans login per month on this webinar. That equates to roughly $15,000.00/webinar which totals $180,000 annually.

Now let’s say he decided to shoot instructional videos and sell them on his site. He makes 15- 1:30 clips on his point of view of basketball, skills and workouts. The cost of the instructional videos will be $1.99 per video, which will be sold on iTunes. Lets say 10% of his fans purchase 2 videos each which totals $125,370. With the type of traffic Steve Nash would generate to his site, it is safe to say he would receive more than 500,000 unique monthly visitors. This usually equates to 6-8k per month in online advertising (easily). With a couple other online revenue generators that ProtegeBranding.com uses we could safely add another $250,000 a year in sales based on PPC campaigns, affiliate marketing and other development ventures.

From only drawing conclusions through the fan base he has already on two social networks, our modest revenue model for Steve Nash would be $3,062,470 annually. Obviously we came a little short compared to his salary. Since online revenue generation is solely based on traffic and conversion, his site awareness would increase monthly and would consistently gain in daily unique visits to his site. This would directly effect the site revenue in a positive manner.

I am very hesitant in writing articles like these because of how real and powerful the numbers are. I have had agents claim they can do the same process for their clients and have failed miserably. With that being said, there are agents that I have been in contact with that understand the value of the internet. It’s only a matter of time before every professional athlete/icon is utilizing their own platform as a means to connect with their fans and produce revenue effectively.

Till next time,

Chris Gruler

Become a fan of ProtegeBranding.com here!

An athlete holds a valuable asset at their finger tips in which most do not utilize. There has always been a disconnect with Professional Athletes and how to quickly and precisely reach their fans in real time. Whether they have a web platform to interact with their fans on a regular basis, there is still a need for “real time” updates. Our athletes do this effectively through their personal blogs but there always seems to be a time lag in when athletes can actually post to their site.

Social Media can be simply defined as media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. [Wiki- Social Media]

Below are the Top Five ways (my opinion) for Professional Athletes to use Social Media:

1. Twitter: Twitter has became pretty popular among athletes within the past year and gives fans a real time advantage on knowing what their favorite athletes are up to. Shaquille O’Neal does this very well. He actually incites fans to meet him out pre-game and passes out tickets to the first person to touch him. And plus he pokes fun at people sometimes. Pretty innovative if you ask me. Props to him.

2. Facebook: Facebook has easily over taken the whole MySpace craze and actually has great “credibility” in athletes’ eyes. Not only can they have their own personal pages but now more athletes are jumping on the Fan Page bandwagon. The great thing about fan pages is that they are indexed by Google and will show up in a fans live feed every time their Fan Page is updated. Group pages on Facebook do not offer these options. Pretty powerful tool if you ask me.

3. Email: Email is NOT dead!! Let me say that again…Email is NOT dead!! We are just tired of reading text unless it is a subject we have sincere interest in, right!?!. The great thing about athletes is they don’t have this problem. Fans always want to hear what they say, good or bad. Now it’s different for businesses such as mine. I have to constantly find innovative ways to keep my following interested in what I have to say. Tough task for us, not so much for an athlete.

4. Video: LOVE, LOVE, LOVE using video. This probably will be number one within two months. The only reason it’s not is because we cant get video into the hands of fans as quickly as text (for now). There is Twit Vid and Protege Brandings’ athletes do utilize this but that’s only one platform. If an athlete shoots video through their iPhone they can upload it to their You Tube channel but who how long it will take a fan to find it? Every fan loves to see video. They love it even more because there is no reading involved. Here is an example of Jamie Varner discussing his upcoming fight (shot from his iPhone).

5. Blog: The only way this is successful in my opinion is using the blogs’ RSS feed. There are other effective ways to get information in front of fans through an athletes’ blog but it’s typically done through the methods listed above. Protege Brandings’ clients typically have a great following and fans will get updated through their feed once a new blog is posted. Plus, you complement this by posting through their other social networks to make sure a higher percentage of fans receive the notification.

The main component of keeping fans in the loop is constantly updating them with semi-personable doings in real time. Lets assume that the majority of athletes either own an iPhone or Blackberry, these phones allow athletes to update the majority of the avenues listed above in real time in a matter of seconds. The only one that is difficult is the email updates. You technically could send an email from your phone depending on the type of email marketing platform you use. It’s just not as time efficient as Twitter or Facebook postings. All of Protege Brandings’ athletes are using Word Press and can easily post to their blog from their phone using the Word Press Application. Jamie Varner is one of our clients that does this beautifully.

I would love to hear some feedback on this article as I am interested to hear what your thoughts are on the subject. I hope you enjoyed the read.

Till next time,

Chris Gruler

I recently began writing an article that will be published by the end of the year. The article highlights how few professional athletes own Internet property.

Click here to read a draft of the article. I am currently in the process of having some top level domain advisers as well as professional athletes contribute to the article (not yet included). I’d love to hear your thoughts.

You are an amazing high school athlete, or you have a son/daughter with serious potential to get a scholarship in their respective sport. You have just started to do research regarding the best ways to get yourself or your son/daughter more visible to colleges. Whether you’re interested in recruiting services or actual sports camps at a prospective college, these are viable options which have shown to be successful in the past.

With internet technology and methods of recruitment continually changing, ProtegeBranding.com has developed a Player Profile Web site that enables athletes to be proactive in their careers and the recruiting process.

Let me explain the theory and model of our Player Profile Web sites….

While many online services are geared towards simply delivering scholarships (some are good, some are bad), we wanted to give you a “keys to the car” platform which enables you to send college coaches your Player Profile Web site with a simple click. The majority of the online services claim to have a database of thousands of college coaches and will regularly email “your” player page on your behalf. While this is technically true, do you know the conversion rate of how many coaches actually open these emails? It’s surprisingly minuscule.

Do you think our friend Pat Murphy at ASU has time to open an email, click on the player link, and then be forced to log in to the Web platform which privately hosts your recruiting site? No chance. In an effort to shamelessly add to their email database, other services will require a coach to create an account to actually be able to open up your profile page. Maybe you’ll get lucky and he does already have an account. Great, but unfortunately that means he has already seen at least one profile that is identical to yours.

Put yourself or your son/daughter in a position where Pat Murphy actually looks at your site and remembers it. With our Player Profile Web sites you will be able to send any coach a direct link to your personal site and he will immediately be able to see your videos, photos and other pertinent information. Coaches are inundated with bland profiles that require logins and sign ups – here is your chance to be unique and make a statement.

With Player Profiles you will have your own domain name, control what videos you post, and be able to blog whenever you want!

Click below to reserve your domain name!

Our intention is not to bash or belittle other recruiting sites and services. Some of them actually do a great job and are helpful in placing an athlete in front of the right college. However, it is extremely important for our clients and potential site owners to always have control over their online branding process. The majority of recruiting sites do not do that.

If you have any questions at all please leave me a comment below or email me at chris@protegebranding.com. I will be happy to answer you to the best of my ability.

Please visit a live version at: ChrisRGruler.com (Imagine if this was your site and you sent it to Pat Murphy!)

Or even better, take the first step in being proactive and purchase it here! ProtegeBranding.com can completely customize your Player Profile Web site however you choose. From logo creation, color schemes, to eCommerce capabilities, “no” is not an answer for your site. Just email me your thoughts and ideas and we will produce a quote for you ASAP. You can also check out our Customized Player Profile Web site.

Regards,

CG

Once burned, Gruler’s learned
By Rick Hurd
Staff columnist
Article Launched: 10/02/2008 06:56:20 PM PDT

NOBODY SAID WISDOM comes disguised as something warm and fuzzy.

Heck, it’s usually quite the opposite. Usually, it’s dark and painful and an experience that you wouldn’t imagine sharing for all the money in the world.

Until, that is, you realize you’ve attained it. Then, you can look back at being 22 years old and getting discarded by the only profession you ever cared for as being a good thing. Then, as Liberty High product Chris Gruler says now, recalling how you were betrayed by your most valuable asset — the one that had netted you $2.5 million — doesn’t lead to irrational thoughts.

“Two years ago, when I was going through my spell, I remember saying that I’d give my bonus away in a heartbeat to be a starting pitcher in the major leagues,” Gruler says. “Now?”

Now? Well, it’s amazing what time and tough love can do. Then, Gruler was an angry, confused bonus-baby-turned-bust with a drinking problem. Now, at 25, he comes across as a grateful and self-assured professional who’s trying to use his experience as a vehicle to teach others.

He’s doing so through ProtégéBranding.com, a business he has founded with close friend Erik Averil that seeks to help athletes maximize the value of their name. And at least initially, this latest venture seems to carry as much promise as Gruler’s baseball career once did. Former All-Star second baseman Roberto Alomar and track star Allyson Felix already are counted as clients.

“We wanted to create streams of income through athletes through the Internet,” Gruler said by phone from his Arizona-based offices. “A lot of athletes don’t understand the value that their name has, and that’s something we’re trying to capture from every one of our clients. We deal with Web development, unique memorabilia, and content that we can sell to help the athlete connect with fans on a personal level. It’s been quite an educational process.”

Yes, but nothing like the one he received in the days that followed the unceremonious end of his baseball career. That moment came when Gruler’s cell phone rang on a February afternoon in 2006, and the voice on the other end, a representative of the Cincinnati Reds, delivered harsh news.

“You’re finished!”

It was, Gruler says now, his nightmare come to life. Four years earlier, the Reds had made him the third overall selection — behind Pittsburgh’s Bryan Bullington and Tampa Bay’s B.J. Upton — in baseball’s amateur draft. He sported a 96-mph fastball and a curve that was so devastating that Reds Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench said it was better than fellow Hall of Famer Tom Seaver’s.

But Gruler’s right shoulder derailed his route to Cooperstown. He noticed it was tired after his first professional season, and it never felt right again. He had multiple surgeries to fix the problem, only to run into more complications. The bottom line, he acknowledges now, is that “my shoulder was unable to hold up to the rigors of professional baseball.”

And in the immediate aftermath, Gruler says he couldn’t deal with that reality. He says he developed a drinking problem “as a way to mask my pain,” that he couldn’t sleep, that his mind never stopped racing. It was a runaway pattern that didn’t change until, at his parents insistence, he started journaling his feelings.

The result, he says, was “250 pages of jibberish,” much of which he says will be recounted in a book he’s in the process of writing. But more important than the content in the book were the lessons he came to realize, the ones he is trying to apply in this new stage of his life.

“He’s always been a compassionate, genuine guy, but some struggles he’s gone through have helped him understand that you’re not defined by the sports you play but by the character you build,” Averil says. “To see him go from being a first-round draft pick to a solid human being who looks out for other people’s best interests, that’s really what it’s all about.”

That discovery also seems to have restored Gruler’s good feelings for the game, and that, in turn, seems to have refueled his passion for life.

“The whole part of starting this business was to help other athletes not have to go through what I went through,” he says. “We want to set them up so that when their sport is gone, they have other streams of income and a sense that what they did mattered. My own personal experience has played a huge role in where we are. Would I give all the knowledge I have now for a chance to pitch in the majors? I can’t really say I would.”

Clearly, wisdom is a pretty powerful thing.