Racey Rider
29th May 2005, 16:19
Bottom line!
The more sponsors we get involved with our sport, the more other potential sponsors will see it as a place worth getting involved with.
To me, it seems Sponsorship, (by those that have it), is one of those not talked about subjects.
"How'd you get it?" "How much did you get?" are the first questions that everyone is interested to know. Maybe I'm wrong, but the sharing of such info seems to be a No Go area for most racers.
I don't know much, but I'm happy to share some thoughts about how I went about finding my First sponsorship deal. It is my hope that others will also put something in the pot as to how they approached the subject. Together we can all benefit for each others experiences.
I think there are plenty of NZ businesses that could benefit from a Motorcycle sport sponsorship promotion. And the more we get involved, the easier it will be to get others on board.
So a few ideas from me,
#1. Don't expect money for nothing!
Any business sponsoring you needs to get a return on the $$ put in.
So you can put their stickers on your bike. Big Deal! Is that going to make them profit? How?! You need to think like a business owner. You need to tell them why you think it will benefit their business. Personally I think you need to do more that just put their stickers on your bike. What else can you do for them? Extra promotion? Surveys? What else?
#2. What businesses would benefit from your promotion?
I for example, live in New Plymouth. But most of my racing is done at Manfeild, Feilding. So it's not much use me expecting a NP only business to run promotion on my bike when their name is being shown to people who live 200+ Km away. What I needed was a National business, that has potential customers all over the areas I ride at.
#3. Act professionally.
Don't just ring up some business with some vague ideas, and the hope of a pot of gold. Get something written down, showing you've thought it through. A nice pic of you and your bike so they know who they're dealing with. If you can, a computer created pic of your bike with their signage on it. And put together a 'Contract Proposal', a discussion document at this stage. The contract may be changed in it's final form, but the Proposal should show that you are thinking about their interests in the deal. Think ahead. How will you fulfill your part of the deal? How will you be accountable? What happens if you have a crash and the signage needs re-doing? If you are unable to continue the race series for whatever reason, what will be the contract/repayment situation?
#4. Don't ask for too much.
Better to start with a little and prove your worth, then to ask for too much.
The word NO is easy to say. They probably don't know you, and it may be their first time thinking about the benefits of sponsorship. Once you have secured a small amount for a series, treat your sponsors well with regular contact, (ie race reports, pic's, offers of extra value), and maybe the next time round you will be in a postion to be offered more. Even if they don't, you should be able to get a good Sponsorship reference off them to help you with approaching another company.
But beware - treat them badly, and word gets around!
#5. Give them Time.
Businesses normally need time to adminster things like this. Don't expect it to be sorted the week before race day. I suggest a minimum of 6 weeks between your first introductory letter, and the start of a race series. 2-3 months would be better. For bigger sponsorship packages, 12 months out from a event would be the minimum some companies would consider. But most of us are not quite in that league yet.
But give yourself, and them plenty of time to sort things out. If they are put under time pressure, remember point #4, NO is very easy to say.
How I put this together to secure my First sponsorship deal.
The fact that I wouldn't be racing this year unless I could come up with a sponsor was a big driving force in my success. It's easy to sit back (when you've got a little bit of money) and wish something would happen. but when you've got NO money,, and you Know it won't happen,, it does kick you into action.
Thinking about what companies might benefit from sponsoring me, I came up with a top 5 list. I had met someone from one of the companies (Web Farm/Free parking (http://www.freeparking.biz/)) 4 years earlier, so that was the first one approached.
Using the ideas above I sent in a proposal 4 weeks before the start of the VIC club winter series. As I said, things take time, and it was two days after the first round was over that Webfarm accepted my sponsorship proposal. So with a bit of rewording to cover the remainer of the winter series, the deal was signed.
Contract attached if you're interested.
Hopefully this will be helpful to some, and I hope others will share their experiences.
Cheers.
Racey
The more sponsors we get involved with our sport, the more other potential sponsors will see it as a place worth getting involved with.
To me, it seems Sponsorship, (by those that have it), is one of those not talked about subjects.
"How'd you get it?" "How much did you get?" are the first questions that everyone is interested to know. Maybe I'm wrong, but the sharing of such info seems to be a No Go area for most racers.
I don't know much, but I'm happy to share some thoughts about how I went about finding my First sponsorship deal. It is my hope that others will also put something in the pot as to how they approached the subject. Together we can all benefit for each others experiences.
I think there are plenty of NZ businesses that could benefit from a Motorcycle sport sponsorship promotion. And the more we get involved, the easier it will be to get others on board.
So a few ideas from me,
#1. Don't expect money for nothing!
Any business sponsoring you needs to get a return on the $$ put in.
So you can put their stickers on your bike. Big Deal! Is that going to make them profit? How?! You need to think like a business owner. You need to tell them why you think it will benefit their business. Personally I think you need to do more that just put their stickers on your bike. What else can you do for them? Extra promotion? Surveys? What else?
#2. What businesses would benefit from your promotion?
I for example, live in New Plymouth. But most of my racing is done at Manfeild, Feilding. So it's not much use me expecting a NP only business to run promotion on my bike when their name is being shown to people who live 200+ Km away. What I needed was a National business, that has potential customers all over the areas I ride at.
#3. Act professionally.
Don't just ring up some business with some vague ideas, and the hope of a pot of gold. Get something written down, showing you've thought it through. A nice pic of you and your bike so they know who they're dealing with. If you can, a computer created pic of your bike with their signage on it. And put together a 'Contract Proposal', a discussion document at this stage. The contract may be changed in it's final form, but the Proposal should show that you are thinking about their interests in the deal. Think ahead. How will you fulfill your part of the deal? How will you be accountable? What happens if you have a crash and the signage needs re-doing? If you are unable to continue the race series for whatever reason, what will be the contract/repayment situation?
#4. Don't ask for too much.
Better to start with a little and prove your worth, then to ask for too much.
The word NO is easy to say. They probably don't know you, and it may be their first time thinking about the benefits of sponsorship. Once you have secured a small amount for a series, treat your sponsors well with regular contact, (ie race reports, pic's, offers of extra value), and maybe the next time round you will be in a postion to be offered more. Even if they don't, you should be able to get a good Sponsorship reference off them to help you with approaching another company.
But beware - treat them badly, and word gets around!
#5. Give them Time.
Businesses normally need time to adminster things like this. Don't expect it to be sorted the week before race day. I suggest a minimum of 6 weeks between your first introductory letter, and the start of a race series. 2-3 months would be better. For bigger sponsorship packages, 12 months out from a event would be the minimum some companies would consider. But most of us are not quite in that league yet.
But give yourself, and them plenty of time to sort things out. If they are put under time pressure, remember point #4, NO is very easy to say.
How I put this together to secure my First sponsorship deal.
The fact that I wouldn't be racing this year unless I could come up with a sponsor was a big driving force in my success. It's easy to sit back (when you've got a little bit of money) and wish something would happen. but when you've got NO money,, and you Know it won't happen,, it does kick you into action.
Thinking about what companies might benefit from sponsoring me, I came up with a top 5 list. I had met someone from one of the companies (Web Farm/Free parking (http://www.freeparking.biz/)) 4 years earlier, so that was the first one approached.
Using the ideas above I sent in a proposal 4 weeks before the start of the VIC club winter series. As I said, things take time, and it was two days after the first round was over that Webfarm accepted my sponsorship proposal. So with a bit of rewording to cover the remainer of the winter series, the deal was signed.
Contract attached if you're interested.
Hopefully this will be helpful to some, and I hope others will share their experiences.
Cheers.
Racey