Millennials can do anything they set their minds to, right? That’s the motto fellow millennial Anthony Iliakostas had when creating his successful online show Law and Batting Order (LABO). Starting the show from nothing in December of 2011, he now has an audience of over 1,500 and has over 20,000 total video views. I spoke with Anthony about his adventures of starting the show from nothing, how he networked to make connections, advice he has for fellow millennials, and how he’s used social media (ah, the great tool of millennials!) to keep expanding his audience.
What is Law & Batting Order?
“Law and Batting Order” is a web-show that I created which discusses legal developments in sports. Whether there’s a news headline of a notable NFL player involved in a major crime or a labor dispute in a major sports league, I break the legal rules and issues down in plain English so that anybody can understand; my web-show is meant to appeal to lawyers, law students, and die-hard sports fans.
What gave you the inspiration for LABO?
There’s quite an interesting story to LABO. I was starting my first year at New York Law School with the intention of wanting to become a sports agent after I graduated. A few ESPN “30 Under 30” films made me quickly change my mind on becoming a sports agent, so I regrouped and pondered on how I could get my foot in the sports law door. I had no connections in the sports law industry, but I figured my best way of fostering relationships was to attend sports law-related events. November 2011 was my first shot at that as I attended my law school’s 3rd annual sports law symposium. I met many industry professionals and all of them provided the same consistent and valuable advice, which is to build your brand by doing something unique and creative. This was such crucial advice because sports law is inherently a niche legal field, so what you do and how you make the best of your experience will make or break how you’ll succeed. This was the notion and thought that inspired me to create LABO.
Why your own online show and not just joining someone else’s?
There were no other sports law web-shows at the time LABO was conceived. However, even if there were, I felt I had to prove to myself that my passion for sports law was legitimate. Plus, being a communications major from Fordham, I had this yearning for creativity and frankly, what better way of doing that than by creating a web-show from scratch. I definitely have no regrets about the decision.
What was the first step you took in creating LABO?
Right after I attended the 3rd Annual NYLS Sports Law Symposium in November 2011, I came home and pondered the thought of how I would build my brand in sports law. I knew I had no connections to anyone in the legal industry, so really, my thought was from pure scratch. After some contemplation, I thought creating a blog would be my best way of building that brand. After hours of research, I was dismayed to see the number of sports law blogs and I knew that adding another sports law blog to the list would make mine not only get lost in the pile, but it would shoot down any possibility of me having a viable sports law career. Then I thought, what if I created a sports law video blog? There were (and still are) no sports law video blogs on the Internet and I knew this was my chance to break ground and show that I was different from everybody else.
In late November 2011, I started conceiving the LABO blueprint, from website design to logo design and much more. LABO was officially born on December 23, 2011. To date, just like day 1, I still write, edit, produce, film, publish, and market LABO all on my own. I’ve accumulated over 20,000 cumulative videos views, I’ve surpassed 100 episodes, and more importantly, I’m entering year 5 of LABO. Talk about consistency! LABO is my bread and butter. I wake up every morning thankful for the blessing that is Law and Batting Order and I’m so proud of the work, devotion, energy, and time I’ve put into creating this web-show.
How have you grown your audience?
A lot of social media marketing. It started with creating the LABO Facebook page and asking my friends from my personal Facebook page to “like” LABO on Facebook. Then, I created the LABO Twitter account and slowly began networking with sports lawyers and law students through that avenue. I additionally created a newsletter and my mailing list consisted of former professors from my days at Fordham, NYLS professors, friends, family, and classmates. I even created t-shirts with LABO logo in the front and all the social media links on the back and surprisingly, that worked! This was grassroots marketing at its finest.
Over time, the audience numbers grew and marketing became more sophisticated, to the point that even during job interviews, I slipped my LABO business card so that people knew that LABO was part of my identity. At conferences, I’m constantly getting the word out about LABO, whether it’s through a simple handshake or a lengthy discussion.My marketing efforts have worked in my favor. What started with just reaching to an audience via Facebook and Twitter has now expanded to include Instagram and Snapchat. It’s definitely a lot of work, but it’s so much fun to come up with creative and innovative ideas that increase the size of LABO Nation (LABO’s fanbase), improve the LABO brand, and, above all, improve the quality of my content.
What advice do you have for fellow millennials looking to start their own business?
Be unique and creative. Be ambitious. And most importantly, have fun. You have to love what you do. You can’t mercilessly put yourself in a situation where you’ll feel unhappy and not love what you do. If you force yourself to do something you absolutely detest, then you’re wasting your time and energy. Don’t pursue a career or hobby merely for utilitarian purposes. Do it because you have it in you to succeed. Take it from me: I love sports law and I love journalism. By fusing the two together, I’m doing something I love and never imagined doing.
I also advocate networking and meeting new people who share the same passions as you do. In my case, I talked to plenty of sports lawyers, law students, and legal bloggers. I learned about their daily practices and I talked to them about how I built the LABO brand from scratch. Their insight and wisdom has molded me into a better person and has allowed me to improve LABO.
Finally, do your homework. Conduct research on how to be successful. Create a blueprint of how you want to make your brand valuable. Ploymint certainly makes those resources available. I also highly advocate following Gary Vaynerchuk on social media. The man is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to creating success in your everyday business practices, especially when it involves utilizing social media. I’m a millennial and I thrive off social media. His tips have been very valuable, and if you’re a millennial too, then you’ll be doing yourself a huge disservice if you don’t at least listen to what he has to say.
Check out LABO every Sunday, and be sure to connect with LABO and Anthony on Twitter.
