I'm not really sure where to post this but after Scene asked for some advice the other day, I sent him this email and thought it may help out a few people:
Your brand and website: Your starting point will be based on whether or not you have money and also how much money you have to invest to begin with. Your brand name is important because this is what people will know you by. If your name is more memorable and isn't cheesy or cliché, you'll be in a better starting position. You'll more than likely want a logo to represent your brand name, again, this could be anything, but this will more than likely be used in press releases, particularly when you become more popular, so a better logo is more likely to give out a better sense of professionalism surrounding your brand. Your website is also very important. Again, this is a key part in beginning to build your brand. Content should be easy to find and read. There should be sufficient space for partners as and what you're in a position to want to display their logos and/or adverts etc. Quality content will help you build a fan base of regular visitors which is vital for you to help market your organisation.
Picking the right teams: It's important that you get a proper understanding of a scene before you enter it. It's also important to understand where is best to enter the scene. From experience, I prefer to approach teams or players myself rather than having them come to me. This means I know who they are and how good they are. To start off with, you'll obviously have to aim low. For console, your best bet is to just shop around and see who is available. If you're lucky you'll be able to attract a team without any kind of financial input. They may not be that good but everyone has to start somewhere. On PC, your best bet is to get a server sponsor. There are a lot of game hosting companies and therefore, it's a competitive market and companies are willing to give up a free server every now and then if it means that they'll sell three more servers in the next month. Once you've got a server, you should be able to attract a medium skilled team off the back of this. From experience, this is the minimum requirement for a team looking to join an organisation on games like 1.6, CSS and CoD 4. Whoever you pick up, make sure you research them so they do not take advantage of you.
Getting to know the scene: For this, I think it's vital to understand how the community boards work. For example, Cadred has a certain culture and if you do not abide by this, you're liable to leave yourself open to insults and such. Websites like Cadred can also be a useful tool to track results from LAN events to help you get to know a scene better.
Always be professional: Remember that you're representing your organisation at all times. Whether it be in game, at LAN or on a forum. I always type in full English and where possible, avoid confrontation that could become offensive. Doing so should give people a more professional opinion of you as a manager and your organisation.
Sustainability: Many organisations fail because they try to live above their means. For example, they'll have £1000 in the bank and they'll spend that to get one team to one event in an effort to attract a sponsor. While I acknowledge that this may work on the odd occasion, it'll more than likely leave you £1000 worse off and in no better position. It takes time to build a brand that is marketable to potential sponsors and partners. You should support teams that you'll be able to support on an ongoing basis.
Build a rapport: Something that players value almost as much as support is a strong rapport with their manager. This can be the difference between them leaving you to join another team and them staying with you for years. How you do this is down to you, but just things like taking an interest in their team, helping them out where necessary and keeping them updated about the organisation are all things I do with my teams and players. The amount of free time you have will have an effect in this area, but at the same time, I would recommend that you draw a line with some things. Don't become their bitch and have to do their dirty work. Trust is an important factor in your relationship and this can easily be broken. Always be honest with things like LAN support because once you've let down a team or player, they'll be reluctant to trust you again but not only that, word can spread extremely quickly and a damaged reputation can take years to fix.
Marketing your organisation: Once you start to get consistent web traffic, you may be in a position to attract sponsors. I cannot really advise you on the best way to do this. It's mostly down to your own strengths and weaknesses. However, what I will say is that you have to understand the bottom line of what all businesses want and that is to make a profit. Whether you call a company, send a proposal or meet them face to face, their underlying interest will be whether or not you can make a profit for them. It's unlikely that they will want to hear about all the ins and outs of your team, at least not in the first contact. Be persistent. It's likely that you will face a lot of rejections but as you grow and adapt your marketing strategy, you'll hopefully achieve the success that you're looking for.
Edit: Something I thought I'd add that never really gets asked.
Why run an organisation?: Everyone has different motives for running an organisation. For me, I kind of fell into a management role as a way of remaining involved with the gaming scene while being unable to compete myself. It also gave me the chance to experience the thrill of competition with flexible hours. As time progressed, I wanted a chance to really prove myself as a gaming manager and that is what drove me forward. Essentially, being a gaming manager doesn't make you a gamer, it makes you a businessman operating in a very niche market. You have to rely on a range of skills to succeed as well as a fair amount of luck and a lot of commitment. Other people will have different motives. I know a lot of people do this because they want to one day make a living out of eSports management. Although this is a rare achievement, managers like ODEE of dignitas and Kboy of Fnatic have proven that this dream is achievable if you're a class above the rest of your competition.
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