I’ve always loved writing, and I try to do it as much as I can. It’s an incredibly effective way to get your message out to the world and express yourself – sometimes the only way to really have your message heard. I try to write every day. I enjoy it so much, I even do it on holidays – as I write this, I’m sitting next to my wife, Hilary, looking out at the beach from a deck chair in Bali, Indonesia. Incredibly, I find it relaxing to spend a holiday writing. Hilary is not convinced yet…
In 2013, I published my first book, and I plan on publishing a few more. The next one is on its way.
Most of my writing focuses on having a Game Plan for life, which is a core belief of mine: ensuring you have a way of achieving what you want to achieve, and engaging people, resources, and ideas to help you do so.
Here’s some of the stuff I’ve written.
Game Plan Marketing: Why there’s never been a better time to grow your sports organisation and what to do to make it happen.
I wrote this book based on the 12 years of experience I had in working for and leading sports organisations. To this day, I continue this work as a volunteer, as it’s something I’m very passionate about.
Over the years, I discovered many sports organisations have great products, but their marketing sucks! I wanted to give these organisations practical advice that would help them build viable, sustainable businesses working to help their communities.
The book offers practical solutions for small to medium sports organisations wanting to punch above their marketing weight while staying in smaller budgets.
Game Plan Marketing provides a simple, five-step approach to developing a compelling brand message, using effective marketing systems, and identifying revenue opportunities. It’s backed up with lots of useful resources on this very website.
By implementing an effective Game Plan, sports managers, administrators, and volunteers have room to love their involvement in sport again, without worrying about money, sponsors, or finding members.
This book will leave you feeling relieved to have a practical solution, and inspired about the future.
You can find out more and make an order here
After the game: How to remain highly valued, professionally successful and financially secure when your career as an athlete ends, is written for professional, elite athletes and those who work with them.
One of the biggest fears for athletes is what they’ll do when their career in the game is over, or worse still, cut short by injury. Unfortunately, this fear is greatest towards the end of often very successful careers, when athletes are most vulnerable. Research by many professional and elite sports competitions and leagues around the world show that for both the athlete and the sport, addressing the emotional, psychological, and financial needs of retiring athletes is one of their biggest concerns.
In America’s NFL, up to 78% of players are under financial duress two years after completing their careers (source: forbes.com, 9 February, 2015). Athletes in other US leagues are not far behind, with well over 60% of NBA and Major League baseball players in similar circumstances. While statistics in other parts of the world are not widely available, its clear that the transition from professional and elite sport to ‘normal life’ is challenging at best for any athlete. Rarely a week goes by when a ‘former athlete’ is not creating headlines for all the wrong reasons.
A very small percentage of athletes have their futures assured thanks to financial rewards from their careers or lucrative promotional/media work based on their profile as an athlete. For the vast majority, this isn’t an option. Even those who are financially catered for face the emotional challenges of leaving a high performance environment, loss of self-worth, and dealing with life outside of the spotlight. This book addresses the direct needs of this specific target market, with solutions identified through interviews with over 200 athletes.
The book’s target market not only includes the athletes in these situations, but the people ‘around the edge’ of professional and elite sport as well, including agents, managers, sponsors, professional leagues, and peak sports bodies.
This book will be published in mid-2017.
