Sposorship -specific suggestions please

[ManDownUnder]

as part of a longer term plan - really draw attention to yourself.

Bike a neon red or pink, leathers the same, talk it up around the track. You've got the personality to carry it off....

Once you have the eyes of the world on you, real estate on the bike (and you) will go up in price. Tell the advertisers (and prospects) it's all part of the plan. You realised they needed eyes on their ads - so you have arranged it.

[riffer]

There's a heap of guys here that can help you with graphic design work and building a press kit (me included).

Get me some info and pics and I'll help ya with getting it together mate.

I may be going through this myself in a few months as a mate and I are working over winter building a blown 350 chev-powered T-bucket racer for the drags later this year...

and it's scary how much parts can cost, especially when we are looking at getting low 9's - mid 8's out of it. And we're lucky as we have access to a CNC machine and good operator who will build us parts for free if we design them, as he's a mechanical engineer and my mate's father.

[motobob]

Mooch has got good info in his Post. Key thing is what can you offer your potential sponsors that would make them come on board. Their customers are important to them so what the cust enjoys is key to gaining sponsorship. Pity laps on the back aren't practical or of general interest. The level of presentation at Motorcycle events is low so you can't offer hospitality unless you have a big budget.

You could involve some of your local businesses for Auckland events as long as they sell products that Bikers will buy and steer them in that direction. A sign writer as a key sponsor would be important so that you can present the other sponsors well. Most businesses would kick in small donations of $500 if you can present them well and feed them at the event.

Of course there are massage Parlours that may be interested in the great unwashed horde called Bikers. I think one guy out of Hamilton tried this. That would be one Hospitality Tent with a difference.

Another idea is to organise fund raising events where you get a cut of the ticket sales or have businesses of goods to auction off at an event. Seen this done well for schools and clubs. You need a good pool of people for this one though.

Have a chat to Shaun Harris to see how he got dollars to run his team. That must have cost a small fortune to run.

[gav]

Yeah mate, put an ad here on KiwiBiker, how much you need anyway?

[FROSTY:Me]

to run a complete season will cost around $8000 -allowing nothing for breakdowns
Broken down costs are.
Fuel --to and from and also to run the bike -$2000 (120 return to Taupo 200 To manfeild) also south island transport
Entry fees -4 x club series amcc 4x club series pmcc 5 x nationals 2x street meets $1500
Accomodation $1200 --10nights around NZ
Tyres 5 sets $2500 ($500 recovery for used tyres)
Ferry tickets $240
General maintainence/oil/filters/brake pads $500

[Karma]

Accomodation $1200 --10nights around NZ

I've got only four letters for you Frosty...


Y.M.C.A!! It's fun to stay at the... Y.M.C.A!!

[MadDuck]

Maybe the sponsors that support you guys need something for their money.

PlaceMakers arent in Paeroa but maybe they should be...its the lead up to the V8s. Whos got the balls to take it to these marketing people?

[MadDuck]

I've got only four letters for you Frosty...


Y.M.C.A!! It's fun to stay at the... Y.M.C.A!!

its only impossible if you think it is

[MadDuck]

Get off your damn asses. Theres sponsors out there if you know how to market yourselfs properly.

Enough of the wow is me!

[MadDuck]

you know this post pisses me off

Get out there people. Ask, send letters, beg. You just never know! But have a decent portfolio and a direction. Bad answer is "I wanna race"

What are you giving your sponsors?

[FROSTY:Me]

madduck--no woe is me from this boy
Asking folks for ideas -ideas are good things.
As for the costs --no woe is me-its a factual breakdown of costs.
Ohh folks sorry I guess I wasn't being clear. The cv thing etc -all understood completely.
The-whats in it for me thing I also understand.
Just shaking the KB brains trust up for ideas as to specific places to contact and different aproaches that might not have been thought of

[Brian d marge]

I had a thread there about racing expenses , was largely ignored but This is what I had in mind , Racing costs money !

I use Quicken and have a fully detailed budget ( which I ignore if I see a bright shiny thing that I just must have !)

Quicken will do the tax side of things as well , Very usefull when giving a sponsor a detailed view of what they can get back in tax.

As for sponsors ( my wife pays me to leave the house so I am sweet for this season)

But look at it from the business side , Why should I pay you money ? what am I going to get out of this deal and IF I do sling you anything what proof is there that I will get anything back ???

If you can front up to a business with cold hard facts that you will see an increase in sales by X amount by slinging me a few crumbs of you annual budget ,,,

That will take some research and marketing skills ( try a questionaire ,,then see how many people answer with umm dunno really ,,,,,,after you have spent both time and money preparing the questions !!! )

One Idea I was thinking about was.. kids, looking after the kids of familys who raced /went to races , this would leave mum and dad free to get on with racing /watching .

Or providing a COMFORTABLE area for paying people to watch the races from , ( food /drinks /Service )

Just a few thoughts
Good luck

As 8 k is a lot of money !!!!!

Stephen

[Mrs Busa Pete]

1/ What about getting a advertising page going on this site i'm sure there are a few people in bussiness for themself and i for 1 would support one of our own.And i also work for myself so would pay to have my business card posted on the site

2/ What about a Auction ie if all kbers donated an item to be auction you would a have a wicked one i mean how many members are on this site one thing each .Just find a location i could probably help with auctioner same sort of thing that you had here but on a bigger scale.I might be able to help with a location.You can pm me if any of this sounds ok.

[Racey Rider]

you know this post pisses me off

I don't think this thread was posted just to line Frostys pockets with gold.
I see it as another good motivation tool to incourage all us racers to think about our sponsorship options. and most importantly,, do Something!

Thanks for listing your costings Frosty. Helps put mine into perspective. (and sell it to the wife)
Have listed mine in another thread.

[Mooch]

Heh ,frosty , forgot to mention that the marketing worked , the driver went from racing clubman type events, through to NZ touring cars and on to V8 Supercars. Lots of natural driving ability yes, targeted marketing yes ... We call that a Win / Win situation in IT.

I've been thinking about this more. Ok, you’re into bike racing which has minimal TV coverage which doesn't help as much with the big spender corporate. I've been to the odd corporate event or two. Often the big spenders will also sponsor the lower levels. One sponsor ran a Trans Tasman series (Those Formula Holden single seater thingies). As well as the main race they sponsored a couple of minor races /cars as well. You could target a couple of the main motorcycle racer sponsors to see if they would sponsor you. Say you already have a following of 3,200 KBer’s with high deposal incomes to spend on products . It would give there customers someone to cheer for in the other races of the day and your $8k pa plus rebuilds / new bikes won't seem much to them at all.

The other way would be to find a sponsor for youe whole racing class. This may actually be easier to find than an individual. Maybe target IT / telecommunications companies , it has a very high percentage of customers that are petrol heads going by KB and a few performance car forums I’m on. (And with my NZ IT staff, over %50 are into wheels and engines)

Just think , how much effort would 20 minor sponsors take compared to 1 or 2 major , it's your time , it's up to you.

I'm back in NZ in Mid April, so I'd have no problems in doing a promo video for you, I could catch you at Manfield / or maybe Taupo. You've put the time into helping / up skilling KBer's, I'll put the time in for you. I’m too heavy and old to race , but I sure enjoy watching other people do it well.