In my previous post I talked about the importance of sponsorship and maintaining good relations with your sponsor. In this article part 2 of 3 I will talk about the process of finding sponsors, attracting sponsors and entering into an agreement with a sponsor.

First and foremost let me clarify something – I am not a professional cyclist, I am a Cat 4 going on Cat 3 cyclist who manages a developmental team. Does that mean that myself or my team is not deserving of sponsorship? It depends on the team or the individual’s tenacity and willingness to work with a private business. I have a experience in advertising and marketing but this is not a requirement for securing sponsorship.

Below you will find my lessons learned from researching self sponsorship and assisting my teammates find sponsors. One thing is clear is that books can be written and courses taught on the subject of sports and athlete sponsorships. However this does not mean the new athlete is not capable of learning and even gaining sponsorships.

How to promote your self or your team

• Be honest about you and your team’s efforts.
  • You might never meet your sponsor in person so they need to feel like you are a trust worthy marketing partner.
• You should have your own personal blog and your team should have their own web site.
  • How else will a potential sponsor be able to check out you or your team.
  • Answer the following questions on your blog or site: Who, What, Where, How and Why.
• Both your blog and team web site should be professional.
  • Your web site or blog does not have to be created by a professional web developer, it wouldn’t hurt, the language, photos and content on your blog and or web site should be of professional quality.
  • Your content should not be offensive to a potential sponsor
  • It is very likely that your blog or web site will be the first impression you make on a potential sponsor.
• Tout you and or your team’s accomplishments as individuals and as a team. This should cover not only your race resume but events that your team hosts and even charities that your team supports.
  • Sponsors want to know what you can do for them. If you show a consistent effort as an athlete this goes a long way to convincing a potential sponsor you are worth their partnership.
• A race resume should include the name of the race your category and your results. It doesn’t have to be anymore detailed then that.
  • While it may mean something to you that you trimmed 10 seconds off your TT it might not to a sponsor. Remember to keep it simple, non technical and honest.

Where to find sponsors

• Sponsors are every where! Potential sponsors include strangers in elevators, local business, start ups, existing corporations…
  • Be prepared at moments notice to summarize you and or your team’s mission and accomplishments.
  • You need to be able to do this in 5 minutes or less and it should not be fast.
  • This is known as the elevator pitch and anymore investors look to this as a means to decide if they want to continue talking to you.
• As a team you need to ask yourselves how far are we going to take this team. Are we a development team or are we heading for the elite and pro ranks?
  • Why is this important? If you are going pro your sponsors will need deeper pockets compared to a developmental team trying to pay Team Kit.
• The first place to start is as friends and family about business owners who could be interested in sponsoring a local team.
  • Just mention that you are on a team that needs sponsor’s and that you would like to tell the prospective business how you think sponsoring your team will benefit their business.
• Your club and your teammates are your best sponsors.
  • If you are a developmental/club team the lion share of your team costs needs to be covered by the teammates. Your club can also take portions of proceeds earned from supported tours to help off set the costs of a club and or developmental team. This really helps juniors who can not afford most of their equipment much less race fees and travel.
• There are services on the interwebs that can help match you and your team to potential sponsors. Please finish the article before you click any of the following links or bust out Google.
  • http://www.loopd.com
  • http://www.sponsorship.com
  • http://www.sponsorspace.com

How to apply for sponsorship

• Write a sponsor letter and include the following
  • State your intentions: I athlete would like to request a sponsorship for?
  • High light key results, events managed, and charities supported
  • Explain why you want to represent the company you are seeking sponsorship from
  • Clearly state what you hope to receive in a sponsorship agreement
  • Close the letter with a call to action such as I will contact you to discuss the above and that you look forward to a mutually beneficial relationship.
• Do not be afraid to contact a sponsor after you have mailed your sponsor letter.
  • Give it a week before you call to follow up if you do not get through call back again but no more than a few times.
• Create a sponsor proposal
• The sponsor proposal is where the rubber hits the road. Once you have agreed to have a meeting with a potential sponsor now you are able to dive into more detail about your self or your team
  • You can provide more details about your self or team such as: Mission, Results and Goals
  • Do not be surprised to hear: “Great what’s in it for me or my company?” you must be prepared to answer this question.
• When applying for a sponsorship http://www.loopd.com/ has an application process you must fill out. This makes it very easy to apply.
• Do not forget to email or mail the potential sponsorship after an interview thanking them for their time.

Thoughts on entering into an agreement

• Agreements can be as simple as a handshake and a check hand off from a very nice local business owner or a legally binding contract.
  • Be very careful with casual agreements many a friend, marriage and business has been destroyed when all parties do not understand what is expected of each other.
• In my part 1 of this article I explained that road racing was a business even in the amateur ranks.
  • If you are sponsored by anyone you have agreed to do something.
  • If you are not sure you want this kind of responsibility then you need to hire a sports agent or leave this up to some one on your team who is willing and able.
  • The best intentions can make for big messes.
• You must be prepared to live up to the agreement.
  • Do what you say you are going to do, its that easy. This means don’t make wild claims such as guaranteeing wins in races.
• Think hard about seeking legal advice.
  • One of the cool things about racing and cycling is that it attracts quite a few professionals.
  • I wouldn’t be surprised that an attorney races for you, rides with your club or a teammate is friends with one.
• Be a great steward!
  • Once you are sponsored you are expected to speak well about your sponsor and promote their products, services and interests.
  • Do this with smile on your face.

Some final thoughts

• If its to good to be true it is.
  • If you are uncomfortable with a sponsors claims or promises walk away its that simple.
  • Trust your first impressions it will serve you well.
• There are no industries off limits to sponsorship.
  • I actually disagree with this as my team has had opportunities with some unlikely sponsors that I think would not be a good fit.
  • However if you look at the pro teams they have been sponsored by all kinds of industries that don’t have anything to do with cycling.
  • Look to companies that have decision makers who have a passion for cycling.
• The bigger the sponsor the more demands.
  • I recently spoke with another racer who shared with me that their team had taken a wrong turn when they agreed to a sponsorship from an internationally recognized brand.

In part 3 I will introduce my sponsors and the sponsors of my team! Untill then Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

If you have any questions or your own experiences to share I would love to hear from you. Just leave a comment.

Yeah its the off season and I am excited about it. Time to relax and spend some time not riding.

I know this is counter to what some would have you believe. I will be riding but I will also be running, lifting weights, stretching, hiking, yoga, Mountain Biking, plyometrics and a lot of core. I have several teammates who are also going to be giving P90X, Yoga and Cyclo Cross a try this off season.

I learned this last season from other coaches who are not cyclists or competitive cyclists that there is more to being fast and fit than just riding your bike as fast as you can as long as you can.

We need time to rejuvenate, recover, rebuild and rethink the past season.

The one lesson I have learned from my career and from cycling is that everything learned and experienced is iterative. Next seasons progress isn’t just due to this off season but the previous seasons. So the more you try, train and race the better chance you have reaching your goals.

No matter what kind of training you may embark on this off season just believe in it.

If you are a self coached cyclist I strongly recommend that you bring some structure to your training this season as well. You can purchase training programs at http://home.TrainingPeaks.com or you can try out http://www.cyclo-club.com/.

Training Peaks is used by most of the major cycling and triathlete coaches and has amazing abilities to receive uploaded data from many cycling computers, power meters and heart rate monitors. If you don’t have a coach or want to purchase a training plan Training Peaks offers there Annual Training Plan (ATP) Wizard to create your own plan(s). The ATP Wizard uses much of what is taught in Joe Friel’s training Bible series of books for the self coached. My only complaint about Training Peaks is that as it has grown as a service so has the complexity of this web application and logging service.

The Cyclo Club is an amazing resource for both recreational cyclists and those just getting into racing. Annual membership is on par with Training Peaks but you get quite a bit of information on Auxiliary training such as core, yoga, flexibility, nutrition and breathing! Most all of the information is available as a video stream, download or even pod cast. I have learned much from the owner Graeme Street that has made a difference in my ability to cultivate even more on and off bike assets. If I had anything negative to say about Cyclo Club is that it was hard to find things and the search engine was not very useful. The site went through a recent redesign along with some search engine tuning. So things are much easier to find. Forums on the site don’r seemed to be as active as others I use.

What ever training you use train smart.

Good luck this winter and work hard!

Wow it has been a very busy fall for me and my family. Between family needs, training, working and team business I started to forget about taking care of my business. Yep I have a modest business that is focused on visual communication. I have reshaped this business, GSR Solutions, several times over the years but at its heart it remains the same. A free lance moniker used to support my cycling addiction.

As I said before, its modest and I decided this year its too modest to support my cycling addiction alone.

For those of us who race competitively for very long come to grips with the cost of our hobby. Do not be fooled, if you race and race for a team you are in a business. You are a one man PR and Marketing Army. That is if you have sponsors. If you have not been doing this for your sponsors they wont be sponsors for long.

My team MainStreetVelo.com is sponsored by a very diverse group of local businesses in Central Kentucky. I along with other members of MSV will communicate our team’s progress to them over the next season. We will also make our sponsor’s aware of marketing opportunities when they arise. I hope to come up with other creative approaches to help improve our sponsor’s brands.

While the team is sponsored I and my daughter are as well. I started another business in an effort to teach my young daughter a few things about running a business and how to earn money to help support her cycling efforts.

While writing about and planning for the 2010 season I decided to send my meager cycling resume to several new National Sports Brands seeking sponsorship. I was pleasantly surprised that I was offered real sponsorships as an individual!

In my next articles I will introduce to you my new sponsors and the process I used to promote myself and some of the things I will do to promote my new sponsors.