Today’s post is the second excerpt from my ebook  “How to become…. Wanted and Rewarded… Take Control and Market Yourself.”  The complete guide to a successful college recruiting experience.

Step Two – Use all the Marketing Tools at your disposal

Marketing 101

The first over arching advice that I can give you (a student-athlete or parent of a student-athlete) regarding marketing and recruiting is DO NOT pay a recruiting service a fee to do it for you!  Everything they can do, you can do, and probably do it better.  I know from my own experience (college coach for 14 years) and the experience of most of my colleagues that the lists provided by recruiting services usually ended up ignored and in the trash can.  There were recruiting services that we used, but NOT services that charged the athletes or their families.  This chapter will give you some direction on how to accomplish this on your own, and do it better than any third party company could.  You will be in control of the message.

The experience of getting recruited to play a collegiate sport can, without a doubt be one of the most exciting and fun times in your high school career.  It is a time to enjoy, and a time to reap the benefits of all your hard work.  Good colleges and universities are coming to your school, your house, and your athletic contests to “court” you.  You will get to meet some of the top coaches and visit some great institutions.  BUT, the bottom line – It is a business, with a transaction.  And as in all transactions there is a “buyer” and a “seller“.

The collegiate coach is the buyer, looking to make the best “purchase” possible.  The buyer (coach) only has a limited amount of “funds” (see my first recruiting post on scholarship limits) to use making purchases.  He will be a very careful and wary shopper.

The seller – that is you.  And as any good salesperson would probably tell you, a good marketing plan will help you make the sale.  You are a high school student (or parent of a high school student) without the time (or inclination) to get your advanced degree in marketing.  What are basics, the most important things to consider then?

The absolute best marketing advice I can give is to make sure you are “selling” a truly remarkable product – YOU! What exactly does that mean? Marketer Extraordinaire, Seth Godin (I wrote about Godin and his recent book, “The Icarus Deception, How High Will You Fly” in a previous post), says in his best selling book “Purple Cow“, “You’re either a Purple Cow or you’re not. You are either remarkable or invisible. Make your choice.”

Regular cows (and regular high school athletes!)  are a dime a dozen – unremarkable – not worth talking about. A Purple Cow – now that is something remarkable – worth talking about, worth noticing.

Exceptional.

Marketing yourself to colleges will be much easier if you are a Purple Cow – If you have done everything in your high school career to be a remarkable student athlete.

What does a college football coach look for when recruiting a high school athlete? What does a remarkable high school football player look like? What will it take to turn you into a Purple Cow?   From my experience being on both sides of this process (College Coach and recruiter and High School Coach) I have a very good idea what qualities will help separate you from the other 250,000 high schools seniors that play football.  I have a very good idea what will make you a “Purple Cow” recruit.

Purple Cow Qualities

• Coachable – Character
• Speed
• Explosion
• Playing Fast
• Athleticism – Quickness
• Academics – Class work (Core GPA) Test Score
• Size
• Effort
• Technique

The next posts will go into detail regarding these qualities, and what you can do NOW to start making yourself remarkable.

You Can Do More… Your Brain is Lying to You… Don’t Believe It!

In addition to these written posts, I have recently launched my YouTube Channel that deals specifically with the recruiting process.  The channel can be found here : The YouCanDoMore YouTube Channel, and the complete playlist can be viewed here.

Any questions, just comment or email!

Jeff Floyd – youcandormore1@yahoo.com

Follow @youcandomore1