Most athletes start in the wrong place. They pick a profile picture, cut a highlight reel, maybe pay a cousin $50 for a logo. Then they open the app to post and have nothing to say.
I see this every day. I review one athlete's profile daily, and the pattern barely changes: a clean bio, a sharp header photo, and nine posts that could belong to anyone on the roster.
So here's my unpopular take. Stop working on your brand for a minute. Work on the person. The brand is the easy part, and it only works once you know who it's describing.
I wasn't the best player in Denmark
I got cut from my D3 team junior year. A couple of years later I was playing pro ball in Denmark, and I was nowhere near the best player in that league.
A soda company put me on billboards anyway. Bus stops, print ads, all over the country. High socks, headband, shaved head, big grin. I'd walk past my own face on the way to practice.
Nobody at that company cared about my scoring average. They wanted a guy people could pick out from across the street. That only works if you know exactly who that guy is and keep showing up as him.
Highlights are the weakest thing on your page
Every athlete posts highlights. Coaches already have your film. A highlight proves you can play, but it gives nobody a reason to follow you, sign you, or pick you over the kid with the same vertical.
Years ago I opened the Nuggets and Avalanche social accounts. Highlights were the easy part, because the league hands you those. The real job was giving fans a reason to care about the person in the jersey. That's still the job. You're just the one doing it now.
What changes when you know who you are
Content gets easier. You stop chasing trends because you have a point of view. Your posts come from your actual week: the 6 a.m. lift, the teammate you stuck up for, the thing your grandma says before every game.
People can follow along. Coaches, fans, and brands all scan for one thing. Is this the same person every time? A page that jumps from motivational quotes to memes to a random car post reads like three different accounts, and nobody follows three accounts to keep up with one kid.
Bad deals filter themselves out. Brands pay for fit. When your page is clearly you, the right partner sees it in ten seconds. The wrong one moves on before you ever have to turn down money you'd regret taking.
Your sport has an expiration date
Mine lasted three years and six countries. When it ended, I had to answer the question most athletes put off: who are you when nobody's keeping score?
If your page is only your sport, it retires when you do. If your page is you, it follows you to college, into a job, and into whatever comes after that.
Do this before you post again
Skip the logo this week. Do these instead.
Write down three words that describe you away from your sport. No positions, no stats, and no "hard worker." Everybody says hard worker.
Text the two people who know you best: "Give me three words that describe me. Don't overthink it." Compare their lists to yours. Where they overlap is your starting point. Where they don't is worth a second look.
Open your grid and scroll your last nine posts. Count how many show the person on that list. Fewer than three means your next nine are already planned for you.
Pick one word from the overlap and post something this week that proves it. Show it with something you did, and leave the word itself out of the caption.
Once you know the person, the brand finally has something to stand on.
Want an outside opinion? Comment REVIEW on any of my posts. I pick one profile a day and tell you straight what your page says about you.
