WHAT DO PEOPLE SAY ABOUT YOUR BRAND?

What are your favorite brands? 
Nike? Apple? Facebook? BMW? Vitamin Water? 

What traits come to mind when you think about your favorite brands? 
Elite? Durable? Stylish? Performance? Quality?

Do you consider people to be brands?  Well they are!  The most obvious is Michael Jordan (heck, his company is called the Jordan Brand).  What about Donald Trump, Jay-Z, and LeBron James?  Do you consider them brands?  I certainly do.  Why?  Because the characteristics that come to mind when you think of them as individuals are automatically associated with the product they endorse. Make sense?  You won’t see Donald Trump endorsing Wrangler Jeans.

If you want to be successful, both on and off the court, you need to start viewing yourself as a brand as well.  Think of it as “brand you.”  Everything you do affects your brand in some way (either positively or negatively).  The way you dress, the way you act, and even the way you play.


You need to take your brand very seriously if you want to make it to the top.  And just to clarify, I believe in being authentic.  I am not telling you to act like someone else or to try to please others just for the sake of it.  You need to be real.  You need to be genuine.  You need to believe in your own brand, and equally important, set the standards of your brand.  You need to decide what characteristics you find most important and then live up to them every day of your life.

Is your goal to play college basketball?  Then carry yourself as if you already do!  Hold yourself to the same standard of excellence as an elite college basketball player would… now… don’t wait.  Carry yourself with the same honor, character, humbleness and work ethic as college superstars Evan Turner (Ohio State) or Wesley Johnson (Syracuse).  Those two represent everything that is right with college basketball.  Evan and Wesley know the importance of their brand. And now both are surefire lottery picks. 


(Thanks Alan Stein)