Why you need a website

Why you need a website

by Emma Carney (AUS) -
Number of replies: 0

Dear Athletes,

As it is theoretically the end of the racing season - although for many of you it was the season that never really started….Over the next few weeks we will take you back to some topics covered earlier in the year.

Why go over things?…Because now is the time to get this area of yourself organised.

Despite the abnormality of 2020, last week we looked at the importance of keeping some things you would do in a ‘normal’ year - having an end of season break. This week we will return to the importance of planning your personal brand and seeking sponsors – something you should review and plan each year too. This week, I will also give you some homework….

In April, I sent an email covering the all-important topic of ‘personal branding’ previoulsy.

To briefly recap, I described your personal brand as what you represent, and what you want as your legacy. It is important your personal brand also aligns with the values your sponsors or potential sponsors hold in high regard.  With this defined, you then need to plan the messages you want to be sent out. To do this you need to look at 3 key elements from your perspective.

They are -

Your ‘what’ – this is your purpose, your bigger picture, your vision and your messages that engage your audience to your story. Your ‘who’ – These are yourself and the people in your life. Your ‘why’ – This encapsulates your motivation behind why you do what you do.

Portraying your personal brand and its messages then requires you to engage in storytelling. Social media is obviously a key tool for this, but personal websites are also vital in engaging sponsors and supporters.

Something you must do during the off season – if you haven’t already – is buy your unique domain. If you do not have this already, this is your immediate homework! Preferably your name will still be available (a quick google search will let you know), if not an easily recognisable variation of your name will be sufficient.

Once you have secured your personal domain you can start to have a more professional email address and set up a website. Setting up a website can be daunting, but there are many simple online templates you can use, which also provide hosting and 24 hour assistance should you need it.

When starting out, all you need is a simple landing page with contact details and some images of you racing, training and whatever suits your personal branding values of ‘what’, ‘who’ and ‘why’. Once you have a simple page set up, you have something you can provide to sponsors they can engage in. You can set up some simple blog posts on race, training and lifestyle updates you can then update your sponsors with. Your socials are important, but a website shows potential sponsors that you do more than the basics…

I hope the above inspires you to get a website up and going. It is worth it.

Happy domain searching!

Emma