College Recruiting & Social Media

It seems that every high school and college student-athlete is using some form of social media almost constantly.  With the advent of smart phones, it is easier now than ever before to communicate and share opinions and thoughts.  With this greater opportunity comes a greater responsibility to be wise.  

If a high school athlete desires to have as many good scholarship options as possible, then it is important that they are wise in their social media use.  For college athletes, if they want to have as many good employment options as possible, then they need to be responsible when they post to their social media accounts.  

I recently presented at the Indiana High School Athletic Association’s Student-Athlete Leadership Conference.  My topic was social media and college recruiting.  The bottom line is that the choices we make today will shape our tomorrows.  What do we want our tomorrow to look like.  We each have a brand.  We each have a story to tell about ourselves.  What are we going to tell the world?

Here is the power point presentation that we used at the conference…

• Power Point Presentation

SWEET TWEET

ATTENTION CORPORATE TYPES: THIS is how you do "that viral social media relations thing the kids are talking about." Meijer's handle wasn't linked in any of these tweets, yet within five minutes they had responded in the most amazing and appropriate way imaginable. We don't need Harlem Shake videos. Your jingles are annoying. No one cares about your hashtag. Just find this dude and hire him. Unless you're Meijer, in which case you already hired him, but probably for way too little money. PAY THIS MAN.

What is "this" that is being talked about?  Who is "this" man that needs to get paid?  The above excerpt is from a posting on my second favorite blog in the world, MGoBlog (for the record, even though I am not an SEC football fan, Clay Travis' OutKick the Coverage is my favorite).  This is a posting about one of my favorite companies in the world, Meijer.  At the Walmart-esque Meijer, I can get all kinds of great Michigan gear and trinkets while buying inexpensive bottles of Faygo to wash down the fresh assortment of pies or deluxe mixed nuts.  Every time my wife and I go to Michigan to visit, we make repeated stops at Meijer but I digress!  Anyway according to this post on MGoBlog, Meijer demonstrated an acute awareness of how to stay relevant with its customer base and utilize social media in a practical way.  I highly recommend that you read the post especially is you use social media at all in order to sell something or enhance your brand.  It is also worth reading if you like the Michigan based Meijer or if you are a fan of Michigan Football.  

Read about the Meijer Tweet -- "THIS WEEK IN THE TWITTERVERSE"

DON'T BE A TWIT ... twitter rules to live by

I am fairly new to the world of social media, especially twitter.  I have an account and have composed some tweets.  However, don't expect me to twit anyone back.  I also just learned in the last week that "dm" isn't short for "you da man".  "Direct Message" makes more sense. I kind of thought that it was strange when people would keep asking me to "dm" them.  Okay, whatever dawg...u da man!  Anyway, I believe the twitter universe is here for the long haul and I must get used to it.  More importantly, my players have embraced it so I guess I need to learn a little something about it.  I came across two great articles about tweeting.  The first is "100 Twitter Rules To Live By", which was written by Darren Rovell (a sports business expert for CNBC).   The second "50 Twitter Tips for Division I Student Athletes" was written by Tom Satkowiak, who works in the athletic media relations off at the University of Tennessee, is a good read for anyone but especially college athletes.  Some of my favorites are: