A lot of times people need a little push to invest in their health and it is my goal as a trainer/instructor to motivate you to continue your Sports Yoga journey.  In the beginning of your journey, we’ll primarily focus on Sport Yoga, making sure you know how to properly do each yoga pose, and as you get better we’ll be throwing in a couple of curve balls: free weights, stability balls, and other special surprises.

It has been a dream of mine to start and run a company and Sports Yoga Hawaii has definitely made this dream come true. I’ve always thought I’d be starting some type of Marketing/Advertising/Branding company, and I never thought I’d travel back to my Middle and High School years when I wanted to get into athletic training.

Please check out my website: http://sportsyogahawaii.com and sign up for a few classes, or become a fan on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sportsyogahawaii.  And yes I do have a Twitter account: @SportsYogaHI.

One day, I was busy editing a video for a project my boss and I were working on when the COO comes into the office and throws me the Lemon.  At first I was a little shocked because I didn’t see this coming but ultimately I knew that this could happen when I pondered the decision to accept the job.

A few weeks ago I came across this documentary, Lemonade, and I instantly connected to the message.  Check out the movie trailer:

It’s been two and a half months, since getting the Lemon, and like many of the individuals in the documentary, I’ve made the decision to pursue something that I’ve always loved: helping people.

I’ve been coaching High School soccer for the last six years, and there’s no better feeling than watching your players succeed on the field and in the classroom.  Coaching is truly one of my passions.  So I knew that this was an area that I wanted to get into.  But I didn’t know where to start or what to do.  I was constantly thinking to myself, “Do I want to coach a club team?  Do I want to go back to school and get my masters in Education?”  And then it hit me.

Become a Yoga Instructor and work with athletes/individuals to help improve their athletic performance.  I had been doing yoga since May of that year, when I started playing soccer in a league (for the first time since High School).  The next day after each game, my body would be sore and I really didn’t want to move at all.  That’s when I decided to take up yoga and it has changed my life since.

It took a while but I am finally a NESTA Certified Sport Yoga instructor and plan on opening my own yoga company very soon.  The website is in the process of being built and I am ready to start helping people achieve their maximum success.

Just remember, when life throws you lemons, make lemonade.

While I am not surprised of the findings, I somewhat disagree with the fact that your photos can truly depict who you are.  There will be a lot of people who have “no shame” and will post or tag candid photos of themselves and their friends.  But there are other who are conscious about their personal brand and create a persona to portray an image that they desire.

I have a friend who “un-tags” himself in photos and asked us not to tag him in any photos because he is very conscious about his image and I don’t blame him.  Scott Monty said, “What happens in Vegas stays on Google,” referring to an image of college student doing a keg stand.  The implications Scott Monty made was if an employer did a Google search on you, and saw this picture they probably wouldn’t hire you.

I know we all want to have thousands of friends on Facebook because we all want to be seen as popular and posting candid photos of yourself may increase the likelihood of people “friending” you.  But we’re all going to reach that age where we will be conscious of our self image and the things we post.  When that happens the photos you post may not tell your whole story.  It’ll only portray the person you project.

“Personal Branding” has really taken off within the past few years.  All these Web2.0 tools and social media platforms on the Internet, allow for anyone to create and shape their own personal brand.  People like Chris Brogan, Dan Schawbel, Gary Vaynerchuk, etc. have all made names for themselves by building their personal brand online.  Now, if you strive to be like any one of these individuals, it may not be as easy as you think.

There’s a lot of planning that goes into building an online presence such as finding a niche that you are passionate about, deciding what tools to use (blog, Twitter, Facebook, etc.), and most importantly the content you want to provide to others.  And despite all that planning there is no guarantee you’ll reach even half the fame as the aforementioned individuals.

On the Internet, content is KING, and in theory, if you provide quality content that people are looking for, they’ll keep coming back for more.  The problem I see with a lot of the books on how to “brand” yourself on the Internet (how to become a “Trust Agent” or build a personal brand, etc.) is similar to the current state of marketing and advertising: CLUTTER.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the world population is around 6.792 Billion.    Now, think of something you are passionate about and would like to share with the world via a blog, Twitter account, Facebook Page, etc.  Of those other 6.792 billion people how many of those people do you think share that same passion as you?  Just like some of the advertising messages, your personal brand will get lost in the clutter.

I agree 100% with all the authors that building your personal brand is about trust, transparency, and relationship building.  But as more people become comfortable with the social media tools out there, how is your personal brand going to be found?

I envision a shift from trying to think of what you are passionate about to how can I be different from the rest, which may not be who you truly are, thus going against what these author wrote about.  We might see a shift in personal branding from the “authentic you” to the “fabricated you.”

Thoughts?

Dinich wrote about how several universities are reaching out to a third party for some guidance on social networking.  According to the article, Sports Media Challenge “has helped universities and entire conferences embrace sites like Facebook and Twitter as marketing tools and ways of branding their athletic programs, but Sports Media Challenge president Kathleen Hessert also has been asked to help some schools set social networking guidelines for their athletes.”

Coaches and administrators are worried about what their student-athletes may post and often talk to them about what is acceptable and what is not.  But is it the athletic departments job to educate and monitor their student-athletes?  Or should the student-athletes be held responsible for their own actions?

Dinich highlighted Myron Rolle from Florida State who said “For me personally, what I did, I policed my own site. I wanted people to think of me as that upstanding scholar-athlete. Anytime someone was thinking about tagging a picture of me, I’d make sure I’d look at it first and say, ‘OK, is this picture OK? Would my mother appreciate this picture?…I didn’t put any status updates that had curse words or foul language or just wouldn’t be representative of who I am and who I want to be. As much as the school can do, each individual athlete has to look at himself and say, ‘What do I want out there, and what kind of person do I want to look like on these sites?’”

It’s unfortunate that not all student-athletes think like Myron Rolle, and I can see why he is a Rhodes Scholar!  He clearly understands what Scott Monty, the Head of Social Media at Ford, meant when he said: “What happens in Vegas stays on Google.”

I honestly feel it should be up to the individual/student-athlete to monitor their own social content and interactions.  The university can hold meetings, educate their student-athletes all they want, but ultimately it’s not the athletic department who’s going to be posting.  It’s the student-athlete and it’s up to them to create their own image in which the public will view them.

So I ask you, social networking etiquette: who’s responsibility is it?  The universities athletic department?  Or the student-athlete?

If you haven’t heard by now, former University of Hawaii slotback Davone Bess became the latest victim of online identity theft.  According to an article written by the NFL Fanhouse site, Bess wants to press charges on the person who was impersonating him on Twitter.

The impostor, who used the name Lambo_Weezy on Twitter, did everything from exchanging tweets with fans to challenging Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson to a race, all while passing himself off as Bess.

And you know what, there’s probably thousands of impostors out there claiming to be someone their not ruining their reputation.  But this just goes to show how important your online identity is.

This subject hits home for me because I work for a company that specializes in providing individuals with an online identity management platform and I’m also working on an online identity management ebook.  In it I reference Scott Monty, the Head of Social Media for the Ford Motor Company, who said, “Your reputation is the one thing that defines you and only you.  Everything you do, everything you say, everything you are is wrapped up in your reputation.”

Once your reputation is tarnished, you’re done.  Just imagine if this impostor went unnoticed for a few more month and kept tweeting stuff that could potentially hurt Davone’s reputation.

It’s never too late (or too early) to start managing your online identity.  The first step, which is the most critical step, is to own your own domain name and create a place (website) where people can go to find out more information about you.  Your site should have links to all the places where you are on the web.

In Davone’s case, if he had a website that listed all the places where he is on the web, and say for instance Twitter wasn’t one of them, people would have known that that wasn’t really Davone Bess.

If you’re thinking this sounds like a lot of work, trying to create a website, don’t sweat.  chi.mp offers people a free .mp domain name with an identity management platform that makes it easy for you to manage your online identity.  And did I mention that it’s FREE!?  Ideally you want your site to be “yourname”.mp.  My site is davidonoue.mp.

Eminem said it best, “And there’s a million of us just like me who cuss like me; who just don’t give a *beep* like me who dress like me; walk, talk and act like me and just might be the next best thing but not quite me!  ‘Cause I’m Slim Shady, yes I’m the real Shady.  All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating.  So won’t the real Slim Shady please stand up, please stand up, please stand up.”

Your connected to friends, people with the same common interest as you, thought leaders, businesses, organizations, etc.  Social media has allowed you to become part of what Seth Godin calls a tribe.  “A tribe is a group of people who are connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea” (2008).  What happens is you become apart of something that is bigger than you.

So what does all this have to do with social media and college athletics?  Since creating this blog, I’ve been a strong advocate of having college athletic programs use social media to connect with fans in hopes that this will lead to a thriving online community, a tribe.  It’s about making sure fans feel like they are apart of the program which matters, and I came across a site that was remarkable.

The Gonzaga Athletics Department launch an online campaign called, “Inspired Season.”  Go ahead and click on this link and make sure you enter your first and last name, and your phone number (make sure your phone is near by).  Do this now and come back to this blog when your done.  I don’t want to spoil anything.

http://www.gozags.com/inspiredseason/

Here’s why I found this to be remarkable.

1. It’s easy.  The Gonzaga Women’s Basketball team needs your help to be inspired and all you need to do is provide your name and your number.
2. It’s personal.  When the assistant coach walks in with the clip board showing Coach Graves that you’re the only one missing, what does he do?  He calls you and leaves a message telling you that they need you to go to the game.  Coach Graves makes you feel like you are an important part of his team’s success.
3. It’s different.  Most of the time, when the athletic departments want to get people to the game they’ll offer discount ticket promotions, send out press releases, have the coaches speak in front of the media, etc.  How often do you get a personal call from the coach telling you to go to the game?

Gonzaga’s “Inspired Season” got it right on so many levels and goes to show that with a little creativity, making people feel connected to your program can be fun and rewarding.

A freshman at N.C. State started a Facebook group in hopes of attracting a top-ranked high school basketball player from Raleigh.  According to the article, “After 700 people joined the group, this person received a cease and desist letter from N.C. State’s compliance director, Michelle Lee, warning of “further action” if he failed to take down the site since the Facebook group’s purpose violated NCAA’s recruiting policies, the Associated Press reported.

Here’s the article: NCAA Clamps Down on Facebook Group for Violating Recruiting Policies.

I’ve talked about this before on this blog about the NCAA restricting the use of social media.  I personally think the NCAA needs to update their polices to include the use social media, and to be honest I don’t think they have a clue as to what to do.  What if someone in the community, an avid fan of N.C. State who has no current affiliation with the school, created this Facebook page?  Would this person still need to take down the page?

The reason why social media has gained so much traction over the years is because it gives the ordinary person a chance to voice his/her opinion and communicate with others.  If you take away a person’s right to voice their own opinion doesn’t that violate their 1st Amendment and thus go against everything that social media is?

I’m looking at Facebook right now and I see a “Kentucky needs John Wall” fan page and this is what the description says: “This group is in no way attempting to promote Wall to UK but a group for UK fans to unite who agree that UK needs John Wall.  Do not contact John Wall or any recruit in anyway, this is a recruiting violation.”

I see Duke, UNC, Florida State, Kansas, Memphis, etc. just to name a few, so why hasn’t the school and NCAA sent out cease and desist letters?  I wish I had a chance to see the fan page.

The only reason why a Facebook fan page should be taken down, in this situation, is if there is personal contact information like a phone number, email address, IM screen names, etc.  This makes sense because you need to protect the privacy of the player.  Who wants to get 700 emails or phone calls?

Idk…to me as long as no personal information is disclosed, I don’t see why you would need to take a fan page like this down.  Again I didn’t see the fan page so I have no clue as to the content that’s on there.

What do you all think?

For the longest time they’ve been using Twitter like an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed, pulling information off their website and placing it on Twitter.  They even had some of their Assistant Media Relation Directors tweeting live updates at various events.

Anyways, when I opened TweetDeck this is what I saw:

Here’s another good example of using social media to build relationships with you fans, followers, and the general public.  This is simple, engaging, and something different from what they’ve been doing all these years.  Most of their promotional activities were for students/faculty, military, kids, etc. and they were mainly ticket discounts.  Offering something FREE is always attractive and using Twitter to disseminate the message is great.

But why not take full advantage of the offer?  In this case, the UH Athletics Department wants to get information out to the public about all the happenings, and while asking people to reply “GO BOWS” is cute…why not make it more interractive?

What if they used this promotional tool as a way to get more people to follow them?  What is the headline read: FREE TIX to MVB this weekend to the 1st 2 people who get 10 new people to follow us.They must reply to us with your username (@_____).

This generates a little WOM (Word of Mouth) about UH Athletics and also about them being on Twitter.  If those 10 people want to try to win free tickets they’ll tell their friends and you just started something viral.

I like what they did but making it viral would have been better.

Thoughts?

Special thanks to Brent Kawakami for the video link.