The goal of every Jiu Jitsu competitor is to be a World Champion. Here are my thoughts on the 6 key foundations that will accelerate your growth towards this goal and maximize your opportunities in the sport.

6 Tips to Grow Your Athlete Profile

Pre-Covid, there had never been a better time to make money from Jiu Jitsu. Covid put a halt to the growth of Jiu Jitsu, but as we come out of the other side of the pandemic, we see the sport exploding once again.

To maximize your revenue opportunities, you need a big profile. One of the most common inquiries we receive, after factories in Pakistan trying to sell us ‘premium, best-quality gis’, is athletes asking for sponsorship. Hopefully, this article will give you some ideas about how to grow your social profile in the sport to attract sponsors, superfights, seminars, and other opportunities.

Why Do You Need to Raise Your Profile?

Well, you don’t have to raise your profile. You could just train and compete and have no online presence. Some people may decide this is desirable. However, you wouldn’t be giving yourself the best chance of being successful.

Tip 1: Engagement > Followers

From the position of a brand looking to sponsor an athlete, the brand is looking for more than the number of followers on Instagram you have. There is no point having 100k followers if your posts are getting 10 likes and 2 comments.

Ensure your content is original and authentic. Think outside the box and push the boundaries when you are showing techniques, rolling, etc. Whenever you post content to any channel, you need to ask one question – will people engage with this? You need people interacting with your posts, liking, sharing, and commenting. This is what will get the maximum organic visibility.

This is key to attracting good sponsors. A good sponsor will pay an athlete a lot for great exposure of their brand. You do not have to win everything.

Tip 2: YouTube

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket with Instagram. Once you get to 1000 YouTube subscribers, you can monetize the platform, meaning ads will be shown on your videos, and you can be paid for the more views your videos get. It’s worth checking out free tutorials on YouTube that will show you the best practices to grow your channel fast. While it's always good to be on top of technical improvements, always remember: authentic, original content is king.

Top tip: Breaking down footage from competitions is a golden ticket. Check out the popularity of BJJ Scout. If you can analyze your matches, talking people through techniques and your thought process during the match, people will love it. They can’t get enough. Especially if you are submitting people who have a decent profile too.

Tip 3: Work Harder Than Everyone Else

Compete as much as you can, study as much as you can, train as much as you can, train at as many different gyms as you can, travel, and train/compete as much as your budget allows. Dedicate time to learning social media marketing for yourself.

Make friends and connections in the sport and create a good impression with people. Show you are valuable and easy to work with. This will pay big dividends in the future. If there is an opportunity for a super-fight after a short notice pull-out, the promoter wants someone he can pick up the phone to with a day’s notice. If you’re that person, you will quickly get more opportunities. It doesn’t matter if you are losing; obviously, it’s going to help if you're submitting everyone in the first minute. But as long as you put on an entertaining match and are not boring/stalling and are constantly trying to win and submit, you will be held in high esteem by competition organizers, fans, and athletes alike.

The more connections you build up now—with fellow competitors, event organizers, and your followers—the better your chances of success will be when you open a gym or want to do a seminar tour. People will want to support you, and it will also mean you can demand more from sponsors.

Tip 4: Find a Good Sponsor

You want a sponsor who can add value to your image, not retract from it. When negotiating a contract, find out what they will do for your marketing, not just a salary. You don’t want to be getting paid to wear a low-quality gi with zero benefits. Go after a sponsor whose brand you like so that you are comfortable and proud to wear that gi.

You want to ask questions like, will they help promote you in their brand’s marketing? For example, email campaigns, create video content with you, regular photoshoots, blogs, interviews, and documentaries. A good sponsor will even get you super-fights and onto shows.

Tip 5: Attitude

Work hard, have an exciting style, and be really easy to work with. Never let anyone down, and always try to put on a show. Be genuinely nice to people. People can spot someone being nice only because they can give them something. The connections you form will pay off in the future, and you'll be remembered well. Everyone will want to support you.

Tip 6: Relocate

Probably the biggest factor leading to athlete success is their gym. Take ATOS, for example. If every day you're training with the likes of Andre Galvao, Kaynan Duarte, Andy Murasaki, and Lucas Barbosa, your game will improve 10x faster than training at a regular gym. Iron sharpens iron, as they say, and it’s 100% true.

The other benefits of training at a top gym are the access to opportunities. There is a certain amount of prestige that comes with training at a top gym. ‘So-and-so is a purple belt in the Danaher Death Squad; he trains with Gordon.’ This will open doors in terms of super-fights, seminars, and plus hanging around with world-class athletes will develop you as a person and athlete. It will open up countless doors you would not have access to at a random gym.

Relocating will also be a good test of character for you. If you can leave your family and friends and life behind to train Jiu Jitsu full-time and earn little money in a new environment where you do not know anyone, your personality will become much stronger for it. You will find that anything in life will be easier after that. Plus, you will develop invaluable interpersonal skills, making friends with people from a wide range of backgrounds and countries.

I hope you found this interesting,

James