Want to Work in Sports Business? Parting Advice for the Class of 2015

Image Credit: Flickr/GotCredit

Last week, I shared advice f\to new graduates from six sports business professionals about how to get a sports business career off on the right foot (see "Getting Your Sports Business Career off to a Great Start: Tips for Standing Out"). Their advice was spot on as the industry pros encouraged new graduates to connect with other professionals to build a network, do the extra tasks that often no one else wants to do, and be passionate about your work.

In this post, I share their reponses to the following question about career preparation:

What is one thing that you know now that you wished you would have known when you began your sports business career?

Their viewpoints shared three themes: selling, connecting (a recurring theme from the last post), and preparing. New graduates and students still in school preparing for their professional careers would be well served to take the following advice.

Sell

When I started working in sports I avoided the sales aspect of the business as much as I could. Over the years I have come to learn that the best opportunities and the most opportunities are in sales. 

Brandon Vonderharr, Partner, Alliance Sports Marketing

I wish I would have known how important it is to be able to “sell” yourself, whether it is a job interview or not and no matter what profession you are in. A big part of success is building relationships with the right people, so if you are able to properly express who you are or why you are the best person to get a job, it will go a LONG way. This continues to be important for me even beyond landing my job and I feel that if I had a better grasp on this pre-graduation I would have been better set up.

Eric Yost, Corporate Account Manager, Sacramento Kings

Connect

I wish I connected with more people at the beginning, because in sports a lot of people move on to another job or other careers and you can build on that. I have worked with many people in my 5 year career period and I probably connect with 15% of them still through social media and other sources. If I started again, I would start an Excel file and put in Name, Phone, Email address and make a point to touch base with them once a year to stay in touch.....being in sports it is always nice to go visit a friend and see a game for FREE since that person works there. 

Mickey Hock, Supervisor of Ticket Sales, Nashville Predators

I wish that I would have volunteered more at local sporting events, for example local golf tournaments, NASCAR, tennis, conference tournaments, and attend more conferences that the sporting world hosts (this one is tough as they are sometimes very expensive to attend).  It is all about meeting people and staying in touch with those people.

Jason Capel, Regional Manager, Learfield Sports

Prepare

What is the key for a successful job interview? I really believe it is all about CONNECTION! Just like finding a date. It’s the ability to connect. It’s in your look. Your eyes and how you smile. Resumes, sometimes, are not the most important. It’s that MOMENT of contact. Even your handshake can be a difference maker! How you answer questions – be truthful. Come PREPARED – YOU HAVE TO SHOW THAT YOU WANT THE JOB! I, for one, want charismatic people who can SMILE, shows a professional and maturity. I love people with a CAN DO attitude. Most companies are looking at the make-up of the person and how they see this individual fitting in with others. If they sense a spark, more than not, the employer is going to teach you their way of doing things. 


WHAT CAN KILL YOUR JOB CHANCES? According to a recent CareerBuilder survey, they said that your body language is what can mostly hurt your chances of landing a job, especially a lack of eye contact. This survey involved more than 2,500 hiring managers and 67% said that failure to make eye contact would make them less likely to hire a job candidate. 

Other non-verbals cited as negative included the following: 

* Lack of smile – 38% 
* Fidgeting too much – 33% 
* Bad posture – 33% 
* Handshake that is too weak – 26% 
* Crossing arms over their chest – 21% 
* Playing with their hair or touching their face – 21%
* Using too many hand gestures – 9% 

Jim Loria, Director of Corporate Sales, Sioux Falls Storm Football

I would tell a new graduate looking to work in sports to be flexible. I have heard it been said that opportunities are rarely perfect, but they often do not present themselves a second time. Do not hold out for a job with your favorite team. First, get the best job you can at the time, do your best at it, and continue to learn and get better at what you do every day. That way, when your dream job comes open, you will be ready to take it.

Mac Maddox, Manager of Group & Season Ticket Sales, Oklahoma City Thunder

It's Time

Class of 2015- It's now your time to make your mark in the industry you have chosen by selling connecting, and preparing. The advice shared by Brandon, Eric, Mickey, Jason, Jim, and Mac in the two-part series on starting your career is a useful guide for any early career professional. Thank you again to these six pros for giving back to the newest sports marketers by giving their perspective on career launch and management.

Getting Your Sports Business Career Off to a Great Start: Tips for Standing Out

It is the time of year for new beginnings- many high school seniors prepare for college and commencement ceremonies on college campuses across the country turn out graduates about to embark on their professional careers. Thousands in both situations have aspirations to work in sports business. The allure of being associated with sports is strong. The challenge is that it attracts a great deal of competition from others chasing the same goal. 

Given this scenario, what can a person do to differentiate himself or herself to get ahead at the outset of the next stage of their life? For answers to this question, I asked some sports business professionals to share advice to new graduates. Specifically, the question I posed to them was:

What advice do you have for new graduates looking to land their first professional job on how they can stand out to a prospective employer?

Six professionals holding various roles and at different points in their careers weighed in; consider it their gift to the Class of 2015. Three themes emerged from their advice: Connect with people, be willing to take extra steps that others will  not take, and be passionate about what you do.

Connect

Be a sponge. Come in excited about the opportunity and show your new employer that you are willing to learn everything you possibly can early on. Dedicate yourself to whatever the position may be, ask meaningful questions, and pick up new information wherever you can.

Also, be proactive in meeting the people you will be working with. Building relationships with these people early on will go a long way with employers, as they will see that you can work with others and can be a part of the team.

Eric Yost, Corporate Account Manager, Sacramento Kings

I would suggest young adults seeking their first job in sports is to use the resources that have a connection with other people in the sports industry (example: teachers, professors, family members, intern bosses, etc.). I was told when I interned for the Nashville Sports Council to get your resume to the top of the pile for the job is to use the people you have worked for to help you. When you are applying for a job, you are not the only one applying, most of the time you are competing against thousands of other individuals some with more experience than you, so think "how can I beat those other people out?" 

Mickey Hock, Supervisor of Ticket Sales, Nashville Predators

Take the Extra Step

When you are looking to stand out to a prospective employer, do not discount the little things. Spend as much time working on the details as you do the "big ticket" items like your resume. What can kill a potential candidate are things like poorly written e-mails, bad non-verbal communication, or not being prepared for an interview. Those that spend as much time on the details as anything else are the ones that really stand out.

Mac Maddox, Manager of Group & Season Ticket Sales, Oklahoma City Thunder

I receive several unsolicited resumes and cover letters to the companies general email address daily. Among those applications I rarely receive one that doesn't look generic. I like to see that an applicant has done their homework to learn a little about our company and about the person they are directing the application to. 

Beyond that I would recommend picking up the phone and making a phone call. Most companies have bios online or a LinkedIn profile. While I have received literally hundreds of applications I can count on one hand the number of phone calls that I have received about job inquiries. 

Brandon Vonderharr, Partner, Alliance Sports Marketing

If you know the specific industry that you want to be in, volunteer as much as you can at their events if possible.  If that is not possible do your homework and find out all of the major players in the business or industry.  Reach out to them with a written note to share with them your interest in getting a job in their industry or business. Connect with them via LinkedIn.  See if you can set up a face to face meeting or call with someone on the staff that is doing the hiring to learn more about the position.  Try to stay in touch with that person (not pester) but once every quarter reach out to see if there is any positions coming down the pipe.  One or all of these might be the one thing that you need to be top of mind when they see your resume come across their desk. 

Jason Capel, Regional Manager, Learfield Sports

Passion

I would tell any graduate to find a job you'll be passionate about. You need to have fun in your job. But no job is perfect. You will see, just like a sports team locker room, every employer has highly paid personnel and average paid members. There will be bickering. Regardless, it is YOU that DRIVES your CAR and it is the DRIVE in YOU that fills up your SUCCESS TANK each and every day. 

When finding that first job, it is most important to be surrounded by caring people that are willing to teach and guide you. It's crazy to say this but learning the ropes the right way from the beginning is a "Foundation" that will serve you all throughout your career. There is a reason why many sports teams like to hire away assistant coaches from the New England Patriots, Duke University Basketball, Alabama College Football, San Antonio Spurs, St. Louis Cardinals. It's called "Bloodlines!" Everyone knows in the industry that these members were taught the right way! 

When going into that first job, try to bring ideas and solutions to correct a problem! Separate yourself from the competition and even from your colleagues. Also be the best person ever when it comes to "Communications and Follow Thru." NEVER EVER LET YOUR SUPERVISOR COME TO YOU AND ASK FOR A FOLLOW UP ON A PREVIOUS TASK. You lose "Equity Points" that can be hard to regain back. 

Jim Loria, Director of Corporate Sales, Sioux Falls Storm

There's More

This post is the first in a two-post series on starting a career in sports business. In the next post, Eric, Mickey, Mac, Brandon, Jason, and Jim share what they wish they had known at the beginning of their careers that they know now.

Image Credit: Flickr- L. 

Don't Strike Out with Your Lead-Off Communication when Networking

If you ask sports business professionals for advice on how one can best position himself or herself to work in the industry, to a person their advice will include something about building a network of contacts. What you know is important because it will ultimately determine your performance, but who you know is crucial for providing "foot in the door" opportunities to launch your career. A valuable tool for networking today is LinkedIn.It is a valuable networking platform for professionals. LinkedIn expands our connectivity by removing geographic barriers to interacting with other people who have shared interests. LinkedIn extends the reach of our personal brands, increasing exposure in the marketplace and potentially leading to new opportunities.

For students, practitioners, and scholars in sports business, social networking sites like LinkedIn provide opportunities to learn, share best practices, and position your personal brand to compete for jobs. Among the features of LinkedIn that activate these opportunities is LinkedIn Groups. For example, a search of the term "sports business" returned 711 results. The point is that if you want to network with others interested in some aspect of sports business, there is probably a group you can join. And, if there is not, you can start one!

All of the benefits mentioned about LinkedIn are contingent on one thing: Applying common sense networking principles. Unfortunately, not everyone uses their common sense, and they fail to realize the full potential LinkedIn holds as a connector of people.

What not to Say
How do people fail with LinkedIn? The number one mistake can be summed up in the following phrase:

I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.

Yuck! This phrase, the default networking language LinkedIn has crafted for its users, is disastrous for your personal brand when it is used as a stand-alone invitation to connect with someone. Yes, it seems innocent enough, and the statement does specify what you want. But, this "pick up line" can be interpreted in other ways:

• You are lazy - It is too much trouble for you to write a personalized note explaining why you want to connect
• You want something - The other person has no idea about your motives for reaching out because you have given no explanation for the invitation connection.
• You are not really interested in adding to your contacts - Without showing some interest and effort, you seem to be going through the motions of networking.

The only thing worse than getting this impersonal LinkedIn connection request is getting it from this person:

Do you recognize him or her? Worse yet, is this you? I know you are much better looking than this silhouette. I don't want to network with graphics, I want to network with real people!

Make it Personal

When reaching out to someone with a connection request on LinkedIn, approach it as you would a face-to-face encounter. A personalized message is essential to making a positive first impression. Give the person on the other end a reason to want to connect with you. Among the critical elements of a connection request are:

• Delete LinkedIn's connection template and replace with a message in your own words
• Introduce yourself
• State a common interest or common connections such as you are both members of a particular LinkedIn group
• Briefly explain why you wish to connect

Let's face it, you would not initiate communication with someone you do not know in the following ways:

• Hi, I'm Sharon- will you hire me?
• This is Joe here- will you marry me?
• My name is Steve- can you lend me $10,000?

A very simple definition of networking is "building good relationships." Commit to using LinkedIn as a channel to do just that. In order to build relationships, focus on communication quality. Make your interactions personal and show genuine interest in others. Online networking might be relatively new, but it is built on timeless principles of human relationships. Take an interest in others, make your personal brand personal, and enjoy the process of building good relationships.

Note: This post is adapted from a post on the Marketing DR Blog from September 11, 2013.

5 Myths of Personal Branding

Note: This post appeared recently on the Marketing DR blog. We are sharing here given the importance of personal branding for practitioners, students, and scholars of sports business.

Personal branding has taken off as a practice for managing one's professional identity. The ease of communicating via social media channels has lowered the barriers to building a personal brand. I was first exposed to the concept of personal branding in 1997 through Tom Peters' seminal article "The Brand Called You." The ideas in Peters' article were a little unsettling- could you really market yourself like Levi's markets blue jeans? I was skeptical, but the confluence of less loyalty to employees among corporations and the emergence of the "new economy" brought about by the Internet convinced me that personal branding was going to be very relevant. Today, I encourage my students to apply marketing and branding principles learned in their coursework to managing their professional brands.

There are obstacles to putting personal branding into practice. Fortunately, most of the obstacles can be found between our ears- they are our own perceptions and fears about the importance of establishing and managing a personal brand. In my work with students and professionals looking to establish their personal brands, I have observed five misconceptions, or myths about personal branding:

1. Personal Branding is Bragging
Some people are reluctant to embrace personal branding because the idea of promoting one’s abilities and performance can be difficult for someone who is modest or does not like to “toot her own horn.” Yes, promotion is part of personal branding, but a great brand’s true value resides in the product itself and the benefits of the product to users. Promotion is how we communicate our brand’s meaning and makeup to the world, and that messaging needs to be real and relevant.

Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Dizzy Dean was once asked how many games he and his brother, Paul, also a pitcher both playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, would win in in the 1934 season. Dizzy Dean predicted they would win 45 games between them and went on to say “It ain’t bragging if you can back it up.” The brothers won 49 games between them that season, and the Cardinals won the World Series. I would say Dizzy Dean wasn’t bragging- his message related the value he and his brother could bring to the team. Personal branding is not bragging; it is backing up your meaning and makeup while communicating your value.

2. Personal Branding = Your Social Media Presence

The huge user numbers for major social networking sites can lead people astray, thinking social media is the key to personal branding success. Social media is a communication channel- nothing more. We can tirelessly work to post updates on Facebook, send tweets on Twitter, make connections on LinkedIn, and so on, but those efforts represent only a small part of the overall management of a personal brand. Social media plays a major role in the implementation of your personal brand, but your brand is not the words you say and images you share through social media. 

Personal branding is a process for identifying, developing, and communicating your unique value. The “identifying” and “developing” have to happen before there is anything to “communicate.” Thus, personal branding is by necessity more than one’s social media presence. You can have a brand without using social media, but you cannot communicate using social media independently of your brand.

3. Personal Branding is for Celebrities

You may have heard of personal branding but dismissed it because you believed it was something that only celebrities and other high profile people need to be concerned with their brand image and reputation. And, you are correct- celebrities in entertainment, sports, politics, business, and other fields use personal branding to communicate with their followers and maintain their status as opinion leaders. Social media has given opinion leaders in the “offline world” another channel for exerting their influence. 

Remember, most people who have popular social brands already had well known personal brands. For example, Justin Timberlake has more than 23 million fans on Facebook and 22 million followers on Twitter. His brand is so strong online because of the value he has offered through his singing, acting, and performing for nearly 20 years. Social media has elevated the stature of personal brands like Justin Timberlake because fans and admirers can connect with him as well as other people who share an affinity for him. You, too can build a reputation for offering value to others... and it does not require you be a celebrity.

4. Personal Branding Requires You to Act Differently

The prospect of having to “act” like a brand is unsettling to many people. Their thinking is often something like “I’m a person, not a pair of running shoes!” Personal branding might be avoided by some people because of a perception that it requires them to act out of character. Thoughts like “putting on airs,” “phony,” or “arrogant” may cross the minds of those who believe that personal branding requires us to maintain a persona that could differ from who we really are. But, the most admired brands in the world are known for being remarkably consistent (think Amazon, Apple, Disney, and Google). They are authentic.

Building a great brand is not about coming up with a clever slogan or tagline, creating eye-catching brochures, or designing a slick website. Great brands make promises to customers and deliver on those promises. Do they fail sometimes? Of course they do, but even when a customer service failure occurs these companies work hard to recover from those failures to restore customer trust in their brand.  So, contrary to the myth that personal branding would require you to act differently, you must act yourself- be authentic! 

5. Personal Branding is All about Appearances

A brand is a multi-dimensional concept, with one dimension being observable characteristics or features. Product and service brands use tactics such as logos, color schemes, slogans, distinctive packaging designs, unique fonts, and brand characters to strengthen people’s association with their brands. These tactics help establish mental connection between a brand as observed by the senses and its Meaning and Makeup. Likewise, tactics can be used to associate your personal brand with what you. Your appearance, business cards, wardrobe, and résumé are some of the tactics used communicate your personal brand. But, there is a tendency sometimes to put too much emphasis on these outward expressions of a personal brand.

History can be an effective teacher, and to debunk the myth of personal branding being all about appearances we go back in time to the late 1990s. The commercial Internet began to grow and created opportunities to develop online business models. Entrepreneurs did just that, attracting great interest from investors seeking to profit from the Internet’s growth. But by 2001, many dot-com companies were going bankrupt, having burned through their investment capital while making little (and often no) profits. One reason some companies failed was they spent excessively on marketing, attempting to use marketing tactics like those of popular brands such as Coca-Cola and Chevrolet. The difference between dot-com brands and established brands was that the established brands enjoyed the benefits of decades of marketing. They did not buy their exposure overnight; it was payoff for years of delivering value to customers through their products and advertising.

Let Go of the Myths

Any of these five myths of personal branding could be persuasive in delaying or even foregoing the decision to develop one's personal brand. Do not let the myths define your brand through inaction. Embrace your responsibility as manager of the world's most important brand: You.

What is Networking?

If you were to ask 100 sports business professionals their advice on how students can best prepare for a career in the industry, two responses are nearly universal:

1. Get experience
2. Build a professional network of contacts

Both pieces of advice are outstanding and among the most useful a student can receive. If you teach sports marketing or sports management, there is a feeling of validation experienced when guest speakers tell students about the importance of experience and networking. But, that does not help meet the pressing challenge of grasping what networking is and how to go about building a professional network.

Networking is...
Whether done face-to-face or online, networking sounds a bit mysterious to the newcomer who is about to launch his or her professional career. Questions arise like "Who do I network with?" and "What am I supposed to do?" are not uncommon. Let's remove the mystery- I like the description of networking given by Terrance Williams in a post on the blog New Grad Life: Networking is building good relationships."  Networking is not about how many business cards you can collect or how many "big name" connections you have on LinkedIn. It is an ongoing process of relationship building with people who share common interests and goals.

Students' Views of Networking
I have included networking as a component in my undergraduate sports marketing course for the past four years. The emergence of LinkedIn as a social networking site for business professionals coupled with the importance networking in the sports industry prompted me to incorporate networking into my class. I quickly realized that students' familiarity with social media via their Facebook usage did not prepare them to be successful at networking on LinkedIn. In fact, I was unsure how prepared they were to network in general.

I address this uncertainty by collecting data on students views of networking. Each semester, I gather data on networking about two weeks into the class. I distribute a survey with three items:

1. Complete the following sentence: Networking is _____.
2. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being very uncomfortable and 10 being very comfortable, I would rate my comfort level with networking with people face-to-face as a _____ because _____.
3. What I need to become better at networking is _____. 

Transaction or Relationship?
Extending the marketing literature to networking yields two views:

1. Transactional - Networking is exchange of information or influence for short-term benefit
2. Relational - Networking activities are not outcome dependent; they are done to build mutually beneficial relationships

A content analysis of students' definitions of networking finds that the transactional view dominates- 74% of definitions collected use words that are consistent with a transactional view of networking. Only 32% of definitions make reference to relational characteristics of networking (The fact that the sum exceeds 100% reflects that some students had transactional and relational characteristics in their definitions).

Networking as Transaction. Here are two definitions representative of a transactional view of networking:

• "Seizing every opportunity to professionally connect with an individual providing you with valuable professional contacts. It's a small world."
• "Building a contact base with several people that could lead to more future contacts."

 These definitions are consistent with perceptions of networking as being like notches, with the objective to acquire as many notches as possible, that they are like prizes in some way.

Networking as Relationship. While most definitions emphasized networking as a transaction, some students come into networking with an understanding of its relational benefits:

• Making advantageous relationships.”
• When you go around engaging with other business people to form a relationship. This relationship can be the start of a friendship as well as a great career opportunity."

Like the transactional view, networking as a relationship acknowledges there are times we will make "withdrawls" to benefit us (e.g., request a recommendation letter or ask for an introduction to a prospective employer). But, we also need to make deposits with people in our network, otherwise our goodwill account can become overdrawn!

Quantity versus Quality
The distinction between networking as transaction or relationship can be described as a quantity versus quality issue- should we focus on building a large network or develop a smaller one with deeper interactions? There are merits to both sides of the question, and some might even answer "both." Don't let this question stifle your networking efforts, though. You can figure out the answer that serves you better as your networking progresses, but either way get off the couch or from behind the screen and network!

Encourage Graduates to be Tremendous

College graduation season is upon us. It is an exciting time as students and their families celebrate the culmination of a journey that entailed hours of attending classes, engaging in studying, taking exams, and writing papers. Graduation closes one chapter and serves as a bridge to the next- the launch of one's professional career. This year, that bridge has the stability of a monkey bridge as competition is stout for entry level opportunities. The National Association of Colleges and Employers projects that 1,791,000 students will graduate college in 2013, and the employment outlook for new college graduates is not very promising. One estimate puts the number of new graduates being hired this year at 2.1 percent higher than 2012 but far short of an earlier projection of a 13 percent rise. The realities of the current labor market require new grads to think about how to best position their personal brand to stand out.

My advice to this year's college graduates (and anyone else working on their personal brand) is simply "Be Tremendous." The inspiration for this advice is Charlie "Tremendous" Jones. He was a top insurance salesman before beginning his own personal development company. He also was an author; his book Life is Tremendous has sold nearly 2 million copies since its release in 1968. Jones was a voracious reader and encouraged others to do the same to build knowledge and expand thinking. He pointed out that the average American reads one or two books a year, so if we read one book a month we put ourselves far ahead the norm.

Quotes are a form of "mind candy." They provide quick bursts of energy and focus that can help shake us from the doldrums. For me, Charlie "Tremendous" Jones is the source of one of the most powerful quotes I have ever come across:

 "You are the same today as you'll be in five years except for two things: The books you read and the people you meet."

College graduates working on launching their professional career will be well served to follow Jones's advice. While one's college career might signal the conclusion of formal education, we should never cease in our quest to learn. Reading books is crucial to broadening our horizons. Yes, we want to expand our knowledge in our chosen field, but reading in general is beneficial to furthering intellectual development.

When it comes to the people you meet, students aspiring to become sports business professionals are well versed in the importance of networking to make contacts that can lead to an entry level opportunity. Social networking sites such as LinkedIn expand the geographic reach and ease of connecting with others. At the same time, face-to-face networking remains a powerful connector. Expanding your network is vital, but keep in mind the important outcome is now who you know, but who knows you. Go beyond a commitment to meet people and strive to add value to the people you meet.

Best wishes to the Class of 2013. You have worked hard and now your time has come... your time to Be Tremendous, that is.

Sell Your Brand, not Your Objective

Today is May 1- graduation month for thousands of college students. It is a rite of passage from being a student to embarking on a professional career. And, a time to craft one's story for prospective employers. The traditional vehicle for communicating our personal brand story is the résumé. That document forces us to reduce our education, experiences, accomplishments, and interests to a single page. It is almost scary to think about how influential one page is in deciding whether an applicant is considered or cast aside. The significance of one's résumé getting noticed is even greater for aspiring sports marketing professionals given the high number of applicants for any given open position.

It is crucial to write a résumé that sells your brand. That challenge begins with the manner in which you introduce your brand. The standard "headline" on a résumé is an objective statement. It is usually a one-sentence pronouncement of what the person seeks. And, most objective statements are boring and full of abstract language. The result? The résumé writer has succeeded in sounding like most other people but have done little to communicate their value. In fact, many career and human resources experts say leave the objective statement off the résumé because it does little to define the person.

You need a headline that introduces your brand to prospective employers, but an objective statement just does not cut it. Here is an alternative suggested by Todd Henry, a creativity expert and author of The Accidental Creative. Henry advocates writing a 7-word bio. The idea is simple: distill want you do and who you are into a 7-word description. I see it as a cross between mission and position. More importantly, it has much more potential to define who you are and how you uniquely add value than the standard objective statement. Drilling down to 7 words forces us to strip away words we likely do not use otherwise that make their way into objective statements. In other words, cut to the chase and define who you are. What is the payoff of having a 7-word bio? It provides grounding and focus that guides decisions on what you adopt as priorities and how you manage relationships.

If you know a graduate preparing to launch his or her career, please share the idea of a 7-word bio. More importantly, the 7-word bio concept is not limited in usefulness to résumés. All of us can bring clarity to our personal brand by thinking in these terms. What are your 7 words?

Your Story is Your Brand

Yesterday, my friend and colleague Dr. Colby Jubenville spoke to my sports marketing students. His visit has become a tradition in my class as I look to Colby to share his insights as a former football coach and mentor to graduate sport management students. Among the points Colby made to the class was the importance of telling your story. After all, our personal brand and identity are comprised largely of the stories of the events, trials, and accomplishments of our lives. Our story makes each of us unique, enabling us to stand out in a crowded field of personal brands that all want the same thing: a shot at working in sports business.

One of the most poignant suggestions Dr. Jubenville made with regard to the importance of our brand story is that if it is difficult to tell or reads more like a short story than a novel, we must work on creating more content. How? By getting off the couch or from behind the screen and experiencing life! For students aspiring to launch a career in sports business, it means acquiring relevant experiences and becoming immersed in the industry. A suggestion that fits point was made by Rob Farinella, founder and president of Atlanta-based Blue Sky Agency, who says people wanting to work in sports business should become a fan of sports business. Read publications and blogs on sports marketing, follow sports business professionals on Twitter, join relevant groups on LinkedIn. In other words, let sports business consume you like baseball fanatics track batting averages and ERA. The knowledge gained and interactions experienced if this strategy is followed will help in building one's brand as a prospective sports business professional.

In addition to committing to following sports business, we build brand stories through what we do. For students wanting to position themselves for sports business careers that means attending presentations by business experts (regardless of whether it is sports related), reaching out to meet and learn from people already in the industry, and volunteering to gain experiences that add to knowledge. Our stories arise from what happen to us; it is hard to write a story about "nothing"... unless you are Jerry Seinfeld and George Costanza!

We should always be working on our brand story. One of the best pieces of advice is this quote from Charles "Tremendous" Jones: "You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read." You are author of the most important story that needs to be told- your personal brand story. Your story is your brand; prepare for your career now by working on the stories that define you.