By Kendall Fisher(opens in new tab), executive producer at Grow Wire
There are few things that compare to meeting your childhood hero.
Sure, a signed baseball or poster might come close. But what if you could actually shake hands and hold a conversation with the person who inspired you the most? Even better, what if you could then take a photo with that person to share across your social media networks and pin as your profile picture for—oh, I don’t know—the rest of time?
Well, that’s exactly the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity Steiner Sports(opens in new tab) offers.
Brooklyn native Brandon Steiner started the sports marketing company with just $4,000, a Macintosh computer and the original goal of selling authentic, hand-signed collectibles.
Fast forward 31 years, and Steiner Sports is now a $50 million corporation and the leading producer of sports memorabilia. Steiner also added a branch of the company that extends beyond material objects.
Steiner Sports now sells the experience.
Capitalizing on the explosion of social media(opens in new tab), Steiner realized the worth of a photo can actually outweigh signed memorabilia. So, he used his connections in the B2B sector and pitched athlete appearances to companies with the goal of creating stand-out networking events that spark a conversation among clients and customers.
The result? Growth—for Steiner Sports and for the businesses they partner with.
Of course, none of this happened without Steiner’s fair share of doubt, challenges and tribulations.
Watch the video above for the full story of Brandon Steiner and how he grew Steiner Sports into the impressive sports marketing franchise it is today.
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