Need advice on sending out student web site?

Momof2015,

Welcome to the High School Baseball Web as a member!

I don't think a delay of several weeks in sending a link to your son's website is going to make a difference if you'll have a better video on it by then. A recruiter who is unfamiliar with your son is going to use it to acquaint himself with him; and, unless your son is planning on participating in a showcase or tournament between now and then, the timing of its arrival is relatively unimportant. If, however, an upcoming showcase/tournament is approaching, it becomes more important to get your son on their radar than being concerned about the quality of the video.

Recognizing that about all a website can do is introduce a player to recruiters, your son's primary focus at this point ought to be (1) doing the best he can academically, (2) working hard during the off season to improve as a player, (3) securing a spot on the best summer team he can, and (4) communicating with recruiters at schools of highest interest; making certain that he's in their database and that they know how they can get a look at him in person.

Best of luck to him!

In a phrase: leverage content...

• Get the web site out now and promote it to your audience
• When the video is ready, send out another promotion to your audience

Always use new content as a reason to re-promote.

BTW: install Google Analytics (it's free). It will allow you to view the amount of activity into the website, and from each source.

I assume you will send another e-mail when the content is uploaded? 

Most of the schools will be primarly interested in his hitting and arm strength.

Good luck.

Academics should be good; last quarter GPA 96+, joining NHS, in a quite rigorous private school (that's where all his college $ is going!), working on Eagle Scout project. He's started this fall working out at school fitness equipment room, to beef up his build; I advised with the importance of first impressions, he doesn't want to look scrawny in a field of other players. Stands about 6"1' (really). He missed the chance to play on a team last summer, but spent that time instead with a scout who does private coaching, and made noticable improvement on some skills. He has strong skills, and is very coachable, which I gather is a big plus. He'll be working on getting on to a summer team for this coming year as this is the critical window for him, but is trying to get eagle project and and college research done over the next couple months. Parents have been trying to look ahead for opportunities, camps, deadlines, d1/2/3 requirements, etc. But it looks like college contacts should be bumped up to the next month ahead... 

A general suggestion to anyone reading this: Send an email if your content change is meaningful and use common sense in the process. College recruiters at many programs receive dozens of emails a day from interested players. As a player, try asking yourself the question: "Will this really help this recruiter better appreciate who I am and what I'm doing that's relevant to his program?" Believe me, he'll appreciate it.

Keep in mind that these are guys who consider themselves "baseball people" They're a tough-minded group, and they resist being dazzled and sold. Their antennae are up all the time to detect people who are trying to sell something they can't produce, and they're quite confident of their ability to recognize talent, themselves. Otherwise, they wouldn't be doing what they're doing.

Caveat marketor.

I feel a web site is a very good idea, I set one up for my son when he was in HS and only used it to publish various information about my son that I felt recruiters could use.  For example, I had a most recent photo of him in his school uniform; profile information (e.g. height, weight, throwing velocities, running times, etc.); I showed historical and current stats and since the HS coach posted the teams individual stats on MaxPreps, I had a link go directly to that; I listed and kept game times updated so those who wanted to see him play would know when and where; and any accolades he received were shown and links to the source (for a bit of "selling" his accomplishments).  I did put a couple short live game action videos, but from the feedback that I got the other stuff I mentioned was more useful and important towards the recruiting process and I feel it really helped an number of recruiters stay in touch and know what's going on with his baseball.

My son went on to play for a top D1 program and is playing pro-ball now, so I like to think this approach was quite helpful to that end.

So basically, I would simply suggest you use a web site for your son as a place to find as much "information" about your son as it's related to baseball (historical and present) . . .including contact information of course.  

I wish the best for you and your son and hope he gets to live his dream as my son has.

PS:  I just remembered that I also published his GPA and SAT/ACT scores when they became available, since that's also important for college recruiting.

I resemble that remark.

For my 2015 a 3 min home made video showing hitting and defensive skills (catcher) was up loaded to youtube.  An intro letter along with the link to the video was sent to his schools of choice (10) and 100% percent of them responded with some kind of note acknowledging the intro.  For the most part these coaches are bombarded with these types of emails and will only spend a limited amount time reviewing.  A good short video showing the skill set of the player goes a long way. Once coaches see the skill set, if interested. further evaluation and communication will be done.

My 2015 has gotten a lot of attention from this process.

Just one idea though.

Good Luck

All suggestions helpful, thanks!

   Neither parent is a computer wiz for setting up indep web site, we went with a regional service we know. But, first video shows field work while wearing black sweat pants - no way for a coach to look at or be able to evaluate muscle tone, leg action or movement, balance, etc. Also no images of catching/throwing to another position, just someone off camera, which doesnt help gauge fielding response or throwing accuracy well. My thought is we get one shot at securing a coach's attention with initial information/web site/video, so trying to do it properly.

   Still learning as we go, hopefully we'll catch up quickly. And because I can be a helicopter parent, will stay away from any video shooting sessions or showcases! That's his dad's gig... 

We did the website routine.  We had YouTube videos.  We emailed colleges.

I do not believe that any colleges initially responded as a result of emails or viewing the website/YouTube.

As best I can recall, colleges found out about our son via showcases or coach word of mouth only.

Only then, did they look at the website, etc.

Joemktgson has a website and conducts mailings:

-he knows who has come to the website and what pages visited

-he knows who has opened emails, and clicked on links back to the website

-he knows who has viewed videos, articles, etc.

Role of both digital tools: to support the showcases and camps, to communicate schedule changes, to promote accomplishments. And to provide joemktgson with visibility as to who is viewing what when.

Does a lack of opens or clicks mean lack of interest? You can't draw that conclusion. However, when you see Coach X open and click on each link repeatedly, you could surmise that there is interest. How valuable is that information to you?

Do we believe that these emails play a role? We don't have to believe: we have data.

BTW: we all know those mass camp invite emails. The sending organization can definitely see who has opened the email, who has clicked through from the email, and the amount of time spent on the camp invite page. You don't think they're using that information to discern interest, as well as improve their mailings?

Does Dad help? Dad's in Marketing, and Marketing is quickly becoming a technology-based and data-driven function. Dad is not a techie, but is simply applying those principles to joemktgson's outbound marketing efforts.

Do you need to be a techie? No. GoDaddy and similar tools have made things quite easy.

Embrace the technology. Use it. It's a tool that is a part of your son's overall marketing mix.

Sidebar: we have found that head coaches and level assistant coaches open and click on emails at a far higher rate than the lower level assistant coaches. Not a representative sample, but a fascinating observation.