A Driver’s Life for Me: If You Want to Get Noticed, You’ve Got To Be Noticeable

The Great Sponsor Search

by: Lisa Klassen

 

 

I sat in the ACT booth at last year’s SEMA show signing autographs and smiling for photos. With nearly every signature came the question: “How did you get all of your sponsors?” It wasn’t that long ago that I didn’t have any sponsors. I was a punky kid, sneaking into the Vegas show, handing out photocopies with a picture of my rally car. “Hey, check out my website!” was my favorite line as I handed out another flier to an unsuspecting passerby. That was the start of the great sponsor hunt, and since so many seem interested, I thought I would share some pointers.

The Look

The most important principle to understand is that you and your car are an advertising vehicle for potential backers. As such, sponsors usually want someone who stands out from the crowd but will be a good representative. They want to see how you run your team and how you behave, so take care of your car and crew. Keep your ride clean and take care of your sponsors’ vinyl. While nonessential, matching team shirts still look very professional, as does a tidy service area

Be a Messenger

Learn how to communicate effectively. Sponsors will sign a lesser driver over a better one because the less-skilled pilot had great communication skills and was media savvy. Although drivers would like to think it’s all about the guy behind the wheel, the reality is we’re racing for our sponsors. It’s our job to promote them in return for their support. When a potential sponsor evaluates how you handle your team, they can reasonably assume that’s how you will treat their company.

Love the Media

A trick to learning effective interviewing is to watch motorsports on television and take note of how each driver conducts the Q&A. One of the most important things to do is to interject your sponsors into everyday speech – Rhys Millen is extremely good at doing this. Whenever he talks about his car, it’s not simply “the Solstice” but “the Red Bull Pontiac Solstice GXP.” If you don’t have sponsors yet, a team name is a good substitute.

As a new racer, plenty of resources are available to help develop your career. The first must-have is a website; there are plenty of free web hosting services that have easy-to-use software to help anyone build a page. The best sites contain these basics: news, a biography, information about the car, a schedule of events, photos and contact info. What really make a website standout are videos, merchandise, and extras like a blog. It is of critical importance to place links to your sponsors’ sites prominently throughout your site. I’ve been running my websites for nearly four years and every single one of my sponsors has said that the content on positively affected their decision to sign up.

MySpace and other networking services are excellent ways to meet other racers, make new fans and get noticed. Another great self-promotion tool is to take part in message boards. You should remember to keep your sponsors and industry contacts in the loop, and always let them know what’s going on through email updates. Whenever you send out messages, always be sure to include links to your site and those of your sponsors. And when you create an account for your team, remember that you are a professional, representing your team.

Set Goals

Aside from you and your car, the most important thing you need to develop is a prospectus that tells your sponsors who you are and what you would like to accomplish. Create a header with the name of you and/or your team for the top of the page. Use formal English and a business letter format.

Your introduction should briefly say something about you and your goals. Be specific in the next paragraph: What series are you going to run? What car will you drive? Then take another paragraph for yourself: Who are you? What have you accomplished? What makes you stand out? The final paragraph should address specific sponsorship requests: What exactly do you need? How are you and said company a good match? What can you do for them? This final question is the most important. Emphasize it in closing. Make sure your contact information is included.

When attending auto shows like SEMA, I often make about 20 copies of this prospectus and put them into binders to hand out to serious sponsors. Remember, appearance is everything. And when you ask for something, keep it realistic. Companies will offer you mostly product at first, but may also offer cash as you develop a relationship with them.

Stay tuned for part 2, where I’ll sit down with some of my sponsors and ask them what they’re looking for and what you need to seal the deal - LK

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