liljon said:
To answer your question gambling has definitely made me more seasoned and able to perform under the gun but as I get older I see other players that perform under that same type of pressure that Ive never seen gamble. I guess what Im trying to say that If I was gonna start over I would have rather been the guy who put all this enegy into marketing myself to where there was stability in the long run for my family rather then being able to be called " thats the non pro that I would want to shoot the nine for my case money" if I had to pick one.... Look at the money that had gone through my hands in the last five years and what do I have to show for it??? The answer is nothing to really speak of... If I could start over and put my energy into smiling, dressing nice, shaking hands, and being able to perform too I might be in a different boat then I am in now..... The thread appeals to me b/c I have an associates in marketing management and "chose" to be a road player or gambler... When they did that rite up in SI Nov 05 I thought that was awesome and would open some doors for me with pool.... It really did nothing except confrim that I was a gambler and gave me "black eye" with potential sponsers around here. These people in my area (local corporate people) new I played pool but really didnt think I did what I did until that article was released. My question now is "Is it really worth it to change my image and try to be a professional without a sponser?" The only way currently to answer yes is if some of the ideas in this thread could be implemented and taken advantage of.... Thats why I have been reading closely all day.... JOHN
John: If you believe you are good enough to compete in tournaments and do well, and perhaps have won a few already, then I encourage you to make a "business plan" for yourself.
Put your stats and goals down on paper, aswell as how many hours you practise and how you practise.
How many hours a week you practise drills, breakshots, straightpool, do challengematches, play tournaments and do physical exercise will show potensial sponsors that you are taking your sport seriously, and that you can show progress in practise and that you are aware of your strenghts and weaknesses. It's easy to make a excel-file for this.
I have made myself such a file and every minute I spend on a pooltable, or with mental training (books), motivation (dvd's) is logged in this file. When I play matches, I keep stats of every miss I do, so I know if most of my misses are easy shots because of bad shot-rutine or because of bad position play. I have only done this for 2 months, but my game has really improved on those months. (How great for a good player to show potensial sponsors that they actually improve their game in practise, and have stats for break & run ++)
Make a marketing plan about how you are gonna promote yourselves to the public (website, press releases, newsletter to press and people who signs up), and what is your marketing goals. How can your partners benefit on your marketing?
After some time with working on these things, take your friend in the marketing business out for a long lunch or dinner and ask for ideas and if he is willing to help you become a real professional.
I think almost every good player can succeed with working like this, but it takes a lot of heart (tnx Buddy Hall), hard work, dicipline, strong will and luck.
There is no doubt that it's easier to sleep till 4 and then go to the poolhall and wait for a fish
and i recently made the same agrument about too many associations,tournaments and organizations all working against each other and acting like grade school kids.