The Non-League Footballer: Building an off-pitch brand

What’s up everyone,

Firstly, to all my American subscribers and those who also partake in the holiday festivities, I hope you enjoyed a great Thanksgiving and wonderful weekend!

I also hope everyone is enjoying this World Cup, let me know who you’re supporting in the comments section and your prediction for who will win!

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Keeping in the theme of football, we’re going to pivot from last week’s international focus and look at the non-league levels in England. All of my clients currently play in the non-league pyramid from Steps 5 up to 3. Building a brand outside of their sport is something athletes around the world regardless of sport or level have paid extra close attention to over the last decade, with this extending to non-league. Despite not all non-league players being classified as professional, there is still an opportunity for these athletes to build their profiles off the pitch.

Currently, I’m in the process of working with my client-athletes on exploring ways for them to build their brands in conjunction with their aspiring football careers. While we haven’t established anything concrete at the moment, these are methods we will be pursuing, based on my own research and education around the subject. This is not intended as a blueprint to success or a sure-fire way to build your brand, it is mainly a sharing of my findings and what I’m experimenting with while working with athletes at this level of football. Working with non-league footballers who want to progress up the football pyramid, I believe focusing on their individual development and club takes first priority, however what I discuss below are all methods that I believe can be done in conjunction with that journey.

YouTube & Vlogging

In my opinion, this is one of the easiest and more accessible methods for athletes to start building their profile and adding to their brand. It is very easy to get started with YouTube and basic editing skills are simple for beginners to pick up. Most videos we see on YouTube now are filmed with an iPhone, and edited with basic software that can be used for free online. What I’ve noticed is that ‘day in the life’ videos are very popular amongst athletes, influencers, musicians, and other entrepreneurs. If this was a route that any non-league footballers wanted to utilize, I would suggest perhaps starting out with matchday or training day vlogs to see how you cope with making videos on a consistent basis. Giving your followers a behind the scenes look into what your life is like on matchdays and during training sessions could be a interesting way to build an audience.

Filming this kind of content is a great way to connect with your followers on a more personal level, and can help to establish a solid audience for future endeavors. However, not everyone is going to be comfortable with showing their day-to-day life, and that is perfectly fine, everyone is different. This does not mean YouTube is not for you however, as I’ve also noticed that training/instructional videos are becoming more popular with athletes, musicians, artists, etc. These kinds of videos would be far less personal, and would allow you to share your expertise in a sport that you have had some success in. If done right and the athlete has a genuine interest in this field, it could potentially lead to a second career following their playing days, as personal trainers that are sport-skill specific are becoming increasingly popular season after season.

As mentioned above this is not to say that starting a YouTube channel will get an athlete millions of views and subscribers simply because they play football. Just like with their sport, the time and effort needs to be there, and should only be seriously undertaken if it is something they are genuinely interested in doing.

Brand Ambassador

This method is probably a little harder to achieve as it relies on the acceptance and interest of another party. Different brands have different criteria when bringing on an individual to represent their brand, most of which might not apply to non-league footballers. What I am finding is that most brands who would be willing to work with non-league footballers, are looking for someone with a decent social media following, and are not that large of a brand themselves. This should also present some interest to the athlete, as it gives them the chance to grow with a younger company and really establish themselves as part of that brand.

I think the best position to take advantage of this method is the goalkeeper. There just seem to be so many start-up glove manufacturers that finding one for a keeper at Step 4 or 3 would not be a tall task. We are currently looking at some options for our keeper, and what I’m noticing is that the majority of interested glove brands would be offering a discount code for the athlete and their followers to use at checkout. While this isn’t a lucrative deal at all, it isn’t really supposed to, it is really supposed to be something that the athlete can align themselves with, and vice versa for the brand.

It is important to remember, that just because you’re a decent player means you’ll get the opportunity to be a brand ambassador. It has to be right for all parties involved, and can’t be something that is relied on to make you “rich”. What I’m suggesting is that athletes shouldn’t be discouraged by being in non-league to pursue these kinds of opportunities. For my Bermudian clients for example, there is a whole market of small businesses in Bermuda that could be interested in partnering with an athlete that has a sizeable following on social media, and is still progressing in their sport.

Camps

Similarly to being a brand ambassador, this method would be easier for athletes with some kind of existing clout in their sport. Parents would want to send their children to the camp of an athlete who has played at a respectable level, something they would also want their children to succeed at. While this might be difficult for non-league players in England, where there are countless professionals who would garner far more interest if they were to ever launch their own camp. However, this doesn’t seem to be something that footballers have ever really explored, but is incredibly popular in the US where hundreds of NBA players have annual summer camps during their offseason.

I mention this as an avenue because it is something that I believe could work quite well in Bermuda from any Bermudian athlete. Focusing on football, this could be done by a non-league Bermudian playing in England when they come back for the offseason, and hosted in partnership with a local club. Assuming the event is successful, it could turn into an annual event that could become part of that athlete’s brand going forward. Similarly to a YouTube training channel, it could prompt the athlete to pursue a career as a sport-specific skill trainer in the future.

Esports

Arguably one of the more popular methods among current professional athletes, esports has become an immensely popular industry over the past few years. With platforms like Twitch, streaming has become easy to perform and highly accessible, with professional athletes streaming on their own channels and signing with and investing in professional esports teams. I’m not suggesting that non-league footballers start their own esports team, just like Mesut Ozil has done, but I do believe there is an avenue for success here with non-league footballers. Creating your own channel on Twitch could be a great way to get started, and would require the same effort and attention that comes with building a YouTube channel.

I suggest this as a means to adding to an athlete’s off-pitch brand as it can be done in their spare time, outside of matches, club training, and individual extras that I recommend all athletes do if they wish to progress. Similarly to YouTube, platforms such as Twitch make it easy for beginners to get started and these videos can also be uploaded to a corresponding YouTube channel.

I’d like to remind everyone that while I believe it is important for the modern-day athlete to build their brands outside of their sport, they should only do so if it is something they are genuinely interested in. More importantly, as a non-league athlete they should put their individual development and team first, if progressing up the football pyramid is something they want to achieve. Balance is crucial here, but it can be done and is not impossible, just as long as it is something the athlete is absolutely 100% committed to.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s edition of Learning the Venture, and wish ABSG basketball team, The Reapers, luck in their match this coming Saturday! The review of that game will come to you next Wednesday, with your normal edition scheduled for Friday as usual.

Until then!

Cheers,

Jason