In recent years, the world of college sports has seen a significant transformation, as college athletes now have the opportunity to profit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL) through endorsements, sponsorships, and other revenue-generating activities. As a result, many college athletes are now exploring new opportunities to monetize their personal brands and achieve financial success while still pursuing their academic and athletic careers. Despite controversial beliefs on this topic of conversation, NIL can be utilized as an opportunity for college athletes to learn important life skills such as entrepreneurship, financial management, and marketing, take control of creating a brand for themselves, and gain experience in business communication–not to mention networking opportunities. 

Related: The 5 Most Interesting NIL Deals to Date

With such a  big world of NIL opportunities out there, it may seem easy to secure deals…but typically we only see high performers getting lucrative payouts. It is most common to see the sports with a large following and media presence, like football and basketball, generating the most NIL revenue for athletes. Ultimately, the amount of NIL money earned by athletes is most commonly varied on factores of their level of success in sport, social media presence, and marketability. While it may be more challenging for non-famous athletes to secure NIL deals, there are still ways for these athletes to make some money from their name, image, and likeness (NIL).  Even if you're not a five-star recruit or All-American, here are four ways to make the most of your brand.

1. Use Your Resources

The first step to cash in is to utilize your resources, and this doesn't have to be hard–most universities now have an NIL team staff or connections to companies willing to work with athletes. There are also companies like Opendorse and INFLCR that can help you so seek out whatever resources you need.

2. Keep Grinding

Athletes who want NIL deals need to maintain focus on sports performance, ensuring that the hard work is done to produce outcomes for one's team, themselves, and NIL opportunities. This gives an athlete the credibility to stand on when reaching out to businesses. So keep up with practice, lifts, and your usual athletic obligations as you build your NIL empire!

Related: Looking for Cash? 7 Myths and Facts About NIL

3. Build Your Online Brand

The next major step is to begin building a social media brand presence. If you're leveraging your following to attract brands and sponsors, there are smaller brands out there willing to work with lower-profile, but business savvy athletes. In order to find these smaller brands one has to do their research for the types of brands they want to work with. Social media branding is such an important factor nowadays, and athletes need to understand what they want their personal brand to say about themselves. Your profiles should communicate what your values are in life and what you want to share with the world. If that's not currently the case, consider a rebrand. 

4. Network

Athletes wanting to secure NIL deals need to be willing to reach out to these companies. Create a professional introductory message to send through Linkedin, Instagram, Twitter, email, etc. The worst thing these brands can do is say no and you have another connection for your future. Networking is key in business and can open doors to countless opportunities. Non-famous athletes should highly focus on partnering with local businesses or brands in their community to promote products or services. This is a connection brands love to have with local athletes. 

Overall, non-famous athletes can maximize their NIL opportunities by bringing what they have to the table confidently and knowing what partnerships they are searching for. Ultimately, the ability for all athletes to earn NIL money represents a significant step in recognizing every athlete's value, opening new opportunities and learning–even for those athletes who don't regularly grace headlines.

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* Originally published on May 23, 2023, by Amanda Fassold