These days social media can play a major part in an athlete's career. Just as players who focus on building their fanbases and a positive social-media reputation are consistently receiving better deals and endorsement opportunities, student athletes with positive online reputations are also better poised to receive good offers and scholarship packages from colleges. It's important to start building that brand as soon as possible. With coaches and scouts actively looking at players' social media channels, players should know what coaches are likely to find—and then focus on creating and sharing a consistent brand message that presents them in the best possible light. We reached out to sports marketing strategist Nic Mayne for his best tips on building a positive social media reputation for student athletes to help jumpstart their career.

Social media factors into recruiting/team placement decisions, and a student's social media should be a positive representation of the team

Social media is an important tool for making an athlete more marketable to teams, coaches, and fans.

‍One of the first things I recommend to players is building a consistent social media brand—which includes a thorough online reputation check to make sure the player is representing him or herself positively. Especially with hockey, where I do most of my work, coaches and scouts are increasingly active on social media networks like Twitter, and building up online influence can even be a way to make first contact with prospective teams. I can promote athletes with highlight videos and gifs on Twitter and have scouts getting a first look right there online.

Of course, the flip side is that social media can also be an incredibly destructive tool. No matter how great your skill level on the ice, on the court or on the field, social media mishaps can cause serious harm to your reputation. If college coaches sense from your social-media posts that you have trouble getting along with others, engage in risky behaviors or show other warning signs, that could easily jeopardize your prospects as a student athlete. (It's no different in the pros, where you see young players getting traded away because they develop a bad reputation from social media mishaps.) The bottom line is this: at any stage in your career, from high-school freshmen to the upper echelons of professional play, if you plan to make sports an important part of your college experience or choose sports as a career, social media needs to become more business than pleasure. You can be yourself, but you need to keep your posts clean and positive. There is no wall between online engagement and real life—in today's environment, it all runs together. So use social media as a tool to show your best side as an athlete and as a person, and the effort will pay off tenfold.

This blog is brought to you by: Nic Mayne, Player Advisor and Sports Marketing Strategist