The Administrator

Social Media: Welcome to The Twitter-verse

With Social Media on the rise it is important to make sure your club is two steps ahead opposed to two steps behind. If you are just entering the Twitter-verse and attempting to become acclimated we recommend setting up your Twitter account to feed directly into your Facebook Page.  With doing so, your Facebook fan's can see you are on Twitter and also opt to follow you on Twitter thus increasing your social media presence.

Here are the instructions on how to set up your twitter tab:

• On Facebook search “Twitter Tab”

• Click “Go to App”

 

• Click “Allow” to grant permission for Twitter to access your page.

• From here if you have more than one page select the page you are wanting to associate “Twitter Tab” with.

• Once it has been installed click on your page

• Edit page

• Click Apps

• Scroll down to the Twitter Tab

• Click Edit settings

• Click Add

• Now when you go back to your page, the Twitter Tab should show up on the right side listed with all of your other apps. 

If you have questions please feel free to reach out to our marketing manager Shaina Horrell.

Professionalism in Amateur Soccer

How many times have you seen a flyer for a tournament, camp, event, etc. in the soccer world that was made by someone who knows nothing about graphic design or marketing?  It happens all the time!  In fact, I bet this week alone you’ve received a handful of awful looking emails advertising a soccer service.  Changing font size, using different colors, etc. does not ensure a good, effective campaign.  It’s mind-blowing how unprofessional the majority of organizations and colleges operate especially when it comes to one of their most important aspects – Marketing!

Don’t you want your image to look great, meaningful, and professional?  Unprofessionalism has unfortunately become the standard for many soccer people, and therefore others have come to accept these sorts of practices as acceptable.  If you really want to succeed in the ever evolving and extremely competitive soccer world, you need to aspire to the highest level of professionalism in how you run your club or company.  Marketing is just one aspect, but it’s an easy way to see who’s professional in their conduct.  In the end it’s pretty simple, you hand me a flyer and one of two things is going to happen: one, it looks great and catches my attention, or two, it’s a piece of junk that was clearly thrown together at the last minute with very little thought and even less expertise.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself to determine if you’re being professional:

• Do you answer emails timely- within a day?

• Do you use proper punctuation and grammar in your written communication (emails, letters, etc.) or are you using short hand type (btw, lol, nm, ttyl)?

• Do you text people to avoid conversations that need to happen?

• Are you making your own marketing materials even when it’s not your specialty?

• Coaches, do you plan your practices (written) or do you throw them together in your head while sitting in the parking lot beforehand?

• What kind of clothes are you wearing to work (office or field)?

• Is your training session set up ready for the players as they arrive?

• Are you early to everything or rushing in at the last second – even worse, are you late?

These are simply just a few questions.  We could honestly go on for hours, but if you consider soccer to be the industry where your career is based, professionalism is a high priority and many individuals and organizations alike need to make some serious changes.  Start by looking at your marketing materials (web site, brochures, flyers, business cards, posters, banners, registration forms, etc.).  If you don’t like what you see, it’s time to make a change.  Professional material is very affordable and well worth the cost.  To get started visit MySoccerGraphics.com, a sibling to MySoccerJob.com".  

Guest Author: David Knapp of MySoccerJob.com

The Designer's Dime: Homepage Content

Hey guys, Magie Brennan here, BSB's graphic designer.  Going to give you a "dime" of my time to talk to y'all about keeping your websites up-to-date, navigable, and looking the best it can be.

The homepage on your website is the first thing every person that visits sees.  It has to be warm, welcoming, and attractive. Website homepages are like billboards or magazine ads: the viewer takes less than three seconds to glance at it and pass by it.  If it's intriguing enough, they'll look at it longer. The biggest issue administrators or webmasters face is wanting to pack all the information and everything you could possibly imagine about your club/organization all on the homepage.

This is where I come in running and screaming in slow-motion "NOOOOO!!!"

The homepage is the foundation, let your other navigation links do the rest of the work.  It should have the core basics about your club, with the interior pages having all the details.

Here is a an example of a clean homepage http://www.ussoccer.com/ (although I'm not fond of the second menu on the bottom, we can overlook that for now).  Why is this a good clean homepage, you ask? Well, let me tell you.

• It's not busy, it's not packed with information
• It's quick and straight to the point.
• You can learn more (if you're inclined) by clicking the links in the menu, rather than having to scroll down forever and ever on the homepage.

Here's what I think the homepage needs for BSB customers:

• Opening/welcoming statement or a short "About Us"
• The programs you provide, short description that links to another page
• Twitter feed/news update headlines/blog headlines
• A feature of some sort (feature story, tournament recap, player/team spotlight for example). Don't make it too long, link the rest of the story to another page.
• Your contact info in the footer at all times, and whatever social media you're connected to.

Things to consider:

• Keep the welcoming statement or the "About Us" introduction on the homepage simple, and link it at the end to a more detailed description on another page.
• If you have a blog or news updates, keep that on another page and have the headlines of the blog/updates only on the homepage... and either over to the side or on the bottom.
• Make sure to break things up so it doesn't look like a big block of text.
• Try not to clutter with too many images.
• If you're thinking "does this need to be here?", you've already answered your question.  Put it on another page.

That's it for now, check back in next time!

Next Designer's Dime Topic: Menu Navigation, How Many Is Too Many?

If you have any questions or topics you would like me to cover for future blogs, shoot me an email at magie.brennan@bluesombrero.com

 

Inspiring Confidence In Your Game Performance

One of my favorite television shows is Necessary Roughness, a TV series that follows a therapist who helps athletes overcome the mental obstacles blocking them from performing like superstars.

The TV series highlights the importance confidence has in being successful in sports. Sports psychologists will tell you that 10% of the game is physical.  It is the mental 90% that truly makes the difference in achieving success. 

Therefore, you can only imagine how feelings of disappointment, shouts of “unlucky” after goal attempts and a pressure to win can take a toll on a player’s execution.

All athletes at some point face a question of confidence in their abilities.  However, athletes that are successful have developed mechanisms to deal with confidence issues.

I want to share with you three confidence building exercises that I use to tackle this problem.  These include three quick and easy drills to tally achievements, visualize best game responses and use optimistic self-talk. I created these drills after observing the performance of Brazilian players who exhibited a sense of confidence that far exceeded their skill set.  As a result of their confidence, their play on the field reflected (exceed their abilities). 

To strengthen the self-belief in your players, I would like to encourage coaches to test out these exercises. 

Track the Ball: For each season, I write down my soccer goals, and I jot down every small accomplishment that I achieve towards these aims.  It helps me to keep my progress in perspective and motivates me to focus on my target.

Picture the Goal: From creating collages of great players and energetic moves to daydreaming about making amazing crosses, finishing goals and dribbling past opponents, I spend time imagining my actions on the field. 

Announce the Win: Every player engages in their own mental conversation.  What are your players saying to themselves before, during and after the game?  It is common for me to speak winning the ball in my mind before the ball arrives in my area or a phrase of supportive encouragement if I make an error.  Since incorporating this positive dialogue, it has become easier for me to brush off missteps and become a magnet for being in the right place at the right time to score goals.

I can tell you firsthand that enhancing the confidence of your athletes will yield more than great field play and team victories.  You will have equipped these players with tools to help them to record, dream and speak their way to achieving goals in other areas of their lives.

- Qiana Martin

Qiana Martin is an international athlete, global soccer ambassador, Fila Body Toning Spokesmodel and owner of Eat Soccer.  Her for-profit and non-profit efforts introduce new communities to, and inspire participants of, the beautiful game.  Most recently, Qiana released her Soccer Mental 90 and Soccer Mission: View the Match downloads on iTunes. To learn more about Qiana’s work on and off the field, connect with her on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.

Facebook Pages vs. Facebook Groups

What is the difference between Facebook pages and Facebook groups? From a social media marketing stand point a lot! Why choose one over the other, is a great question and it comes down to your needs.

Pages: Facebook pages are traditionally used to promote a brand or business and are a great social media marketing tool for your club. If you are looking to draw potential players/athletes towards your club from your rival down the street, this is a great place to start. Facebook’s latest explanation of Pages describes them as “a public profile that enables you to share your business and products with Facebook users.”  Anyone can see your page, whether you have a Facebook Profile or not. You also have a “wall” to post information, comments, and questions, this allows for your viewers to interact with what you post.

People can “Like” your page and become a fan. Your page will then show up in their news feed to keep them up to date on the newest and coolest things going on with the club. Your fans can then champion your brand by suggesting it to their friends to also “like” the page. In other words allow your viewers to work for you. You can tag other people and pages, dependent on security settings, in posts.  This will then show on your Facebook Wall and their profile wall, gaining again more exposure for your brand. You can also add applications to your page, for example, a welcome page, questions/polls, reviews, and contacts to just name a few. You want your page to be a one stop shop for all of your viewers.

Groups: According to Facebook, groups are “for members of groups to connect, share and even collaborate on a given topic or idea.” If you are not working to promote your brand or club, but are looking to communicate in privacy between a couple of people then a group is probably your best choice.  Groups have different settings but most times you have to request to join a group or be added by the creator of the group or another group member, which in short, is a lot less visible to viewers. Overall if you want to promote your club to as many people as possible and want your viewers to be interactive with you, then a fan page is the best choice.

These are just a couple differences between groups and pages. Both pages and groups serve different purposes and it is up to you to decide which direction you want to take to promote your club, choose wisely.

If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to Shaina Horrell: Marketing Manager at Blue Sombrero: Shaina.horrell@bluesombrero.com.