Personal Branding In The Age Of NIL For Student-Athletes
You may have noticed a new tab on this website for Personal Branding and NIL. It’s something that’s been on my mind quite a bit lately as I’ve been more and more involved with Football Alumni of Michigan. It’s been really rewarding helping former players and interfacing with the current team as well, as we did this weekend with our annual mentoring event where we get to talk to the current team about careers and life. This isn’t the first time I’ve written about personal branding here, but it’s time to home in on why it’s so important for student-athletes.
As most people following college sports these days know, NIL has made things, let’s just say... a little chaotic? The landscape includes collectives formed at larger schools pooling money to sign players for big money, numerous commercial endeavors for players, transfer portal madness, accusations of tampering between coaches, and upcoming revenue sharing. It’s the Wild West, isn't it? You’ve got college QBs making $2,000,000 per year who demand $4,000,000, get told “See ya” by the coach, and it becomes a national feeding frenzy online.
The NCAA doesn’t seem able to really rein any of this craziness in or manage it. And, as author John U. Bacon has said, why would they be if they are both the sheriff and the saloon keeper? There’s an inherent conflict of interest there. Athletes were taken advantage of for so long that now there’s a HUGE overcorrection going on. Now, don’t get me wrong: I believe that players being able to benefit and make money in exchange for the value they bring to their teams and universities is only fair at this point. The student-athlete was getting increasingly exploited as the money got bigger and bigger.
But I also believe that a piece of this landscape, which was supposed to be the spirit of NIL in the first place, has been all but missing: a home for a player to claim on the Internet that is his or her own. And not just the Livvy Dunnes or Will Johnsons of the world.
Personal Branding In The Age Of NIL For Student-Athletes
Not just personal brands for those at the top of their sport - personal brands for many. And it’s up to the student-athlete themselves to claim it.
And what IS a personal brand? It’s you and who you are. What you stand for - your story. What you like, what you believe in. What you plan to do, what skills and value you bring to the table, your standards, what you intend to contribute to the world. And yes, it’s your Name, Image and Likeness.
It’s really never going to be in the best interest of a university to teach student-athletes how to benefit from their own Name, Image, and Likeness if the university doesn't get a cut itself. Maybe it should be in their interest, but it won’t be - at least it won’t be their primary interest at best. The universities are also in the business of worrying about themselves, and they currently need as much money as possible to survive and compete. I started having conversations with people I know in athletics from my past about my idea of helping student-athletes develop a personal brand with an owned online asset—a WEBSITE. Unanimously, everyone thought it was a great idea that is badly needed, so that’s what we’ve put together here.
I called Deon Johnson, who came in as a freshman when I was a junior at Michigan back in 1990. Deon is the co-founder of Sound Mind Sound Body—a premier athletic academy here in Metro Detroit. Deon’s son Will is about to go in the first round of the NFL draft. Aaron Lax and I presented at SMSB a mere two weeks after my first text to Deon, telling him I had something I thought was important to present to the kids and parents. And I’ll add that we were really impressed - SMSB is doing GREAT work. From their website: “The Sound Mind Sound Body (SMSB) Foundation was founded in Detroit, Michigan in 2004 using sports as a vehicle to connect with students to learn that equal amounts of energy must be applied to both books and ball.”
Plenty of People Talking About You, Getting the Clicks…
You see, when someone does a Google search for a student-athlete at any level, even high school if they are starting to get noticed and recruited, they are going to get results of people talking about these kids. As they progress, if they play a college sport, the chatter gets even louder. Try it—think of a player on a college team you follow—maybe not the star QB of a top 10 team, but just any solid contributor. You’ll get plenty of results. People are talking about these student-athletes online. People love sports. But these discussions are happening on multiple websites like 24/7, On3, Rivals, ESPN, Barstool or a myriad of others which get the clicks and make money controlling the narrative about these kids. Meanwhile, the student-athletes themselves are not getting a piece of that chatter. It’s all happening on websites that the student-athlete doesn’t own.
Why shouldn’t the student-athlete get a share of that traffic for themselves? If someone is searching for Joe Smith, shouldn't they be able to find Joe Smith himself? Instead, they find what everyone else is saying about Joe Smith. Before July 1, 2021, Joe Smith wouldn’t have been allowed to have a website that he could monetize around his personal brand and use to get noticed. On July 1, 2021, the NCAA adopted an interim policy permitting student-athletes to engage in NIL-related activities and earn money from endorsements and other commercial ventures. How crazy is it that before that date an EA Sports, for years, could put a photo of a student-athlete on video game packaging, sell millions of units, and the kid got NOTHING for the use of his image?
The Time Is Now
So now is the time, while a young person is a student-athlete, to have a personal brand WITH a website that tells their story—who they are, what they stand for, their family, their interests, their goals, their grind, their skills, their team... all of it. This way THEY can get a piece of the traffic meant for them—in a search result for someone looking for THEM. And it’s not just about getting a piece of the traffic. It’s about having dibs on controlling the narrative and telling the world who they are. Not letting other people who don’t even know them do it. In demonstrating that they are intentional about telling their story and that there is substance behind their Name, Image, and Likeness, they can help make themselves stand out.
And here’s the kicker. The beauty of this approach is as a student-athlete if you own your own home online with a website, then when the day comes that you’re done playing, you will be better prepared for the transition to the next phase of your life! The fact is, while you’re a student-athlete, people are interested in what you’re doing. But the moment you’re done being a student-athlete, the cold reality is that the interest drops off a little. The real world is different and unforgiving. So while the spotlight is on you, your sport, and your team, capture some of that attention in a sustainable way that will last. Build a community around your personal brand so that when you’re done playing and ready for your next chapter, you already have people familiar with you because they’ve been following YOU. They will be interested to see your next step if you tell your story well. You’ll have a platform that you own, and then whatever path you choose, you’ll already have your personal brand with a community built around it.
Anyone Can Do This At Any Level
THAT is your opportunity in the NIL world. THAT is the true spirit of NIL. Control over YOUR opportunities, and that opportunity starts with personal branding. It doesn’t matter if you are the starting QB at Michigan or the second-string right guard at Ferris State. You are still doing something people are interested in. Ferris State as an example is a smaller sports brand that has: 1) a local community around the school, 2) a student body that is interested in the sports teams there, 3) alumni who will always be interested, and 4) you still have your community back home that will love to follow your journey! No matter the sport and the level, you’ll have an opportunity made up of those four elements at a minimum.
So there it is. And I am going to end this article with a bit of a pitch: if you’re interested in talking to us about this to help you do it, reach out to us. We are indeed available for hire to help you.
M10 Social is owned by Doug Cohen in West Bloomfield, MI and provides social media and digital marketing services from the Frameable Faces Photography studio Doug owns with his wife Ally. You can set up a call or meeting with Doug and Aaron Lax for personal branding by reaching out to Doug via mobile at tel:248-346-4121 or via email at doug@M10Social.com.