Letter From September SponsorEdge.com Newsletter
With the recent news about spectators losing their lives and others seriously injured (for more information visit www.fast-aid.org/california-200.html ), I am reflecting on how tight knit the Motorsports Industry really is. It seems as if the industry is large simply because there is racing all across our country, but the reality is, you realize how small we are when a tragedy strikes. As spectators, racers, vendors and sponsors walk through the gates at a race, we know the risk of getting hurt is present. We understand the risks but we go anyway. Most of the time people come and go to the races without harm, have a great time and talk the whole way home about the experience. There are those rare occasions in which someone is injured.
This also has me thinking about how much the industry gives back. Take a moment and look at the websites and Facebook accounts of people in the industry. Most have a charity or organization they donate to, raise funds for or even started an organization on their own. I cannot think of another industry that pulls together to help each other out when the need arises, the way the Motorsports community does.
How many of you have helped a competitor with a spare part so they can get on the track to compete? How many of you have raised funds for a charity or even donated winnings to an organization you belong to? How many of you have held your breath until you know a racer is okay after a crash and checked on them later? We have seen first-hand a racer pull his competitor from a burning truck and risk his own safety. I have been around racing a long time and there isn’t one racer I can think of who hasn’t done one or all of the above at least a time or two.
Take a few moments to look at industry websites, social media profiles, press releases, etc. Everywhere you look you see ribbons of different colors, you see logos of charities, you see donate here buttons on home pages. You can also find interviews of racers who give back to their communities. These charities span a variety of subjects from cancer, to humane treatment of animals, to saving trails and everything in between. I know the news likes to report all the bad things going on in the world, but if you take a moment to look, you will see an enormous amount of selflessness happening all around us.
Click Here To Read September SponsorEdge.com Newsletter
Cindy Lenz
President & Corporate Relations
SponsorEdge.com
Email: cindy@sponsoredge.com
www.sponsoredge.com
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Racer Parents: Funding Your Kids Racing - Searching, Landing and Keeping Sponsorships - Realistically
After working many years as a motorsports marketing consultant, I have seen trends change in the sport on both the racer side and the sponsorship side. The growing trend of course on the racer side is parents starting their kids in racing at an early age, with hundreds upon thousands of kids under the age of 16 racing at various levels in the sport. The growing trend in sponsorship now is that companies looking to get involved in motorsports want and expect much more than a decal on the car; they want the complete package - a sales and spokesperson that can also win in a race car, get them measureable exposure and a return on their investment. So the average young racer and their parents need to work twice as hard at landing and managing sponsors than ever before.
I hear repeatedly from parents of young racers; “Well we have got Johnny as far as we can afford out of our own pockets and we really have to have sponsorship to continue racing.” Or “Can you help us find some sponsorship, we will take anything we can get – or we are going to have to park the race car.” I usually answer these questions with; “What have to been doing to find sponsors, and why did you wait until you were practically broke to start looking?” And “Have you been taking any of your racing budget to put towards marketing your program and Johnny?”
The answer from the parent is usually, “What marketing budget? – Every ounce of money we have goes into the race car.” Or this: “We emailed a couple of companies asking for sponsorship, but we never get any response, and we just don’t have the time to keep calling and emailing.” If I had a dollar for every time I hear that - I would have enough to sponsor a Cup team!
Bottom line is racing is expensive – at any level. If your child has talent, he or she is going to require top equipment and they will potentially want or need to move up the ranks; which costs more and more as your child advances in the sport. Finding sponsorship is inevitable. As a parent you want to give your child what they need to keep their racing dream alive, up to the point of selling the farm. (Yes, I have actually known parents who sold a family farm so their son could race, and three years later they are living in a small tract house and their son decided he would rather hang out with his skateboard buddies on the weekends than go racing.)
So what do you do? How can you find a sponsor willing to fund your child’s racing program? First there are things you need to have in place before you even pick up the phone or write that first email.
1.) A professional looking website for your program, with quality images, showing that you have a way to promote your sponsors. This is also an immediate way to show a sponsor you are talking to or emailing what you have to offer them.
2.) A professional looking marketing package/presentation (Showing first what your program can do for the sponsor, not what the sponsor can do for your program) make this no larger than 10-15 pages and digital for easy emailing.
3.) Documented media coverage, links to articles, scanned clippings etc. posted on your website and in your marketing package to show that you get exposure and can get more.
4.) Making free appearances at high-profile, family-friendly events with your race car and your young racer signing autographs; and make sure you have hero cards with your website on them for take-aways. Your young racer should be dressed in a team logo polo or his/her driving suit, and take plenty of pictures with other kids. You never know whose kid that could be (potential sponsor?)
5.) Have your young racer support a charity. Sponsors support charities, and you may get some support through showing YOUR support.
6.) Utilize your contacts, community and business relationships – sometimes it is all about ‘who you know’.
7.) Take a small deal, like free product and work hard to build it into a bigger program. Nine times out of ten, if you show that you can help a company sell product, they will spend actual dollars with you next year.
8.) Network, Network, Network! There are many ways to network where you will find potential sponsors. Through local business associations, attending trade shows, as well as online. There are safe and professional ways to market your program and your young racer through websites such as SponsorEdge.com; which was created by racing professionals to assist companies to find the right program and racer for their marketing needs, and for racers and teams to connect with a database of companies and potential sponsors.
9.) Research, Research, Research! There is a bevy of information on the web, and learn what types of companies are looking to spend marketing and advertising dollars in the youth and teen market.
10.) Educate, Educate, Educate! Seek out other parents who have landed sponsors for their kid’s racing and ask them for advice. Talk to your series promoters and find out why a certain company is sponsoring that particular series and event. Look for articles and blogs on the web about finding and managing sponsors. Take a marketing class or webinar. Learn the language that companies use in advertising and marketing - terms like ROI and 'activation' and know what they mean. Before you pitch a company, learn everything you can about a company, understand how they market themselves and find out what they expect to gain out of their advertising and promotions. You can usually find press releases on their websites that say just that.
11.) Even if you are turned down by a company, ask if you can add them to your racing email list, and keep them updated. They may be so impressed, by next season they might say YES.
12.) Teach your young racer how to properly represent his or her sponsor. Get them education and experience with public speaking. How to address the media, interact with race fans, and the community.
13.) Take good care of existing sponsors- spring for race tickets; bring your racer and the car to their company picnic, and document all that you do for them on your website.
14.) Make the sponsor an integral and important part of your program and find the common ground, IE; “A new business looking to grow – grow with our team/driver.”
15.) Last but not least – Don’t sell the farm! Do what you can afford! Sponsors are there to assist your budget, do not expect them to pay for everything – that rarely happens! If you need to scale back your racing, use that time to do some PR, networking and marketing. It will pay off!
Please post your questions and comments about this subject here on the sponsoredge.com blog- let us know your frustrations as a parent of a racer and what you have been through finding sponsorship - share info and ideas and find support from other racing parents.
Written By: Annamarie Malfitana-Strawhand, Director or Web Development For SponsorEdge.com
I hear repeatedly from parents of young racers; “Well we have got Johnny as far as we can afford out of our own pockets and we really have to have sponsorship to continue racing.” Or “Can you help us find some sponsorship, we will take anything we can get – or we are going to have to park the race car.” I usually answer these questions with; “What have to been doing to find sponsors, and why did you wait until you were practically broke to start looking?” And “Have you been taking any of your racing budget to put towards marketing your program and Johnny?”
The answer from the parent is usually, “What marketing budget? – Every ounce of money we have goes into the race car.” Or this: “We emailed a couple of companies asking for sponsorship, but we never get any response, and we just don’t have the time to keep calling and emailing.” If I had a dollar for every time I hear that - I would have enough to sponsor a Cup team!
Bottom line is racing is expensive – at any level. If your child has talent, he or she is going to require top equipment and they will potentially want or need to move up the ranks; which costs more and more as your child advances in the sport. Finding sponsorship is inevitable. As a parent you want to give your child what they need to keep their racing dream alive, up to the point of selling the farm. (Yes, I have actually known parents who sold a family farm so their son could race, and three years later they are living in a small tract house and their son decided he would rather hang out with his skateboard buddies on the weekends than go racing.)
So what do you do? How can you find a sponsor willing to fund your child’s racing program? First there are things you need to have in place before you even pick up the phone or write that first email.
1.) A professional looking website for your program, with quality images, showing that you have a way to promote your sponsors. This is also an immediate way to show a sponsor you are talking to or emailing what you have to offer them.
2.) A professional looking marketing package/presentation (Showing first what your program can do for the sponsor, not what the sponsor can do for your program) make this no larger than 10-15 pages and digital for easy emailing.
3.) Documented media coverage, links to articles, scanned clippings etc. posted on your website and in your marketing package to show that you get exposure and can get more.
Public appearances and taking the time to interact with the fans is crucial.
4.) Making free appearances at high-profile, family-friendly events with your race car and your young racer signing autographs; and make sure you have hero cards with your website on them for take-aways. Your young racer should be dressed in a team logo polo or his/her driving suit, and take plenty of pictures with other kids. You never know whose kid that could be (potential sponsor?)
5.) Have your young racer support a charity. Sponsors support charities, and you may get some support through showing YOUR support.
6.) Utilize your contacts, community and business relationships – sometimes it is all about ‘who you know’.
7.) Take a small deal, like free product and work hard to build it into a bigger program. Nine times out of ten, if you show that you can help a company sell product, they will spend actual dollars with you next year.
8.) Network, Network, Network! There are many ways to network where you will find potential sponsors. Through local business associations, attending trade shows, as well as online. There are safe and professional ways to market your program and your young racer through websites such as SponsorEdge.com; which was created by racing professionals to assist companies to find the right program and racer for their marketing needs, and for racers and teams to connect with a database of companies and potential sponsors.
9.) Research, Research, Research! There is a bevy of information on the web, and learn what types of companies are looking to spend marketing and advertising dollars in the youth and teen market.
Getting your young racer public speaking experience is a must!
10.) Educate, Educate, Educate! Seek out other parents who have landed sponsors for their kid’s racing and ask them for advice. Talk to your series promoters and find out why a certain company is sponsoring that particular series and event. Look for articles and blogs on the web about finding and managing sponsors. Take a marketing class or webinar. Learn the language that companies use in advertising and marketing - terms like ROI and 'activation' and know what they mean. Before you pitch a company, learn everything you can about a company, understand how they market themselves and find out what they expect to gain out of their advertising and promotions. You can usually find press releases on their websites that say just that.
11.) Even if you are turned down by a company, ask if you can add them to your racing email list, and keep them updated. They may be so impressed, by next season they might say YES.
12.) Teach your young racer how to properly represent his or her sponsor. Get them education and experience with public speaking. How to address the media, interact with race fans, and the community.
13.) Take good care of existing sponsors- spring for race tickets; bring your racer and the car to their company picnic, and document all that you do for them on your website.
14.) Make the sponsor an integral and important part of your program and find the common ground, IE; “A new business looking to grow – grow with our team/driver.”
15.) Last but not least – Don’t sell the farm! Do what you can afford! Sponsors are there to assist your budget, do not expect them to pay for everything – that rarely happens! If you need to scale back your racing, use that time to do some PR, networking and marketing. It will pay off!
Please post your questions and comments about this subject here on the sponsoredge.com blog- let us know your frustrations as a parent of a racer and what you have been through finding sponsorship - share info and ideas and find support from other racing parents.
Written By: Annamarie Malfitana-Strawhand, Director or Web Development For SponsorEdge.com
Thursday, April 29, 2010
SponsorEdge.com takes another step towards being the most complete resource available for our members. After months of planning, we have officially launched the new HOT DEALS Program. This program is designed to give SponsorEdge.com Members discounts on the products and services they need to grow their motorsports programs.
"The Hot Deals Program is another way for us to help connect the motorsports industry. We wanted this to be easy for everyone to use. The Sponsor Members will be able to update their HOT DEAL whenever they want by just entering the information on their profile and it will automatically transfer over to the Hot Deals page.", says Jeff Lenz, VP Sales / Marketing for SponsorEdge.com.
Understanding how difficult it is to obtain the proper amount of sponsorship today, the Hot Deals program is another way for racers to put more into their race programs. It is also a way for every member, whether that is a racer, track, series or other companies to receive valuable discounts on the products and services they either need or are already using.
"This is truly a Win-Win program for everyone in the motorsports industry", says Cindy Lenz, President of SponsorEdge.com. "It really doesn't matter what size your company is or even if you have been involved in motorsports before or not. This is an incredible opportunity to offer new products, clear out old products or even to test new marketing strategies."
Already a member? Great, just log on and start taking advantage of these Hot Deals right away.
Not a member yet? That's ok, go to sponsoredge.com and become a member today. Then log on to take advantage of these Hot Deals, as well as all the other great benefits to being a SponsorEdge.com member.
"The Hot Deals Program is another way for us to help connect the motorsports industry. We wanted this to be easy for everyone to use. The Sponsor Members will be able to update their HOT DEAL whenever they want by just entering the information on their profile and it will automatically transfer over to the Hot Deals page.", says Jeff Lenz, VP Sales / Marketing for SponsorEdge.com.
Understanding how difficult it is to obtain the proper amount of sponsorship today, the Hot Deals program is another way for racers to put more into their race programs. It is also a way for every member, whether that is a racer, track, series or other companies to receive valuable discounts on the products and services they either need or are already using.
"This is truly a Win-Win program for everyone in the motorsports industry", says Cindy Lenz, President of SponsorEdge.com. "It really doesn't matter what size your company is or even if you have been involved in motorsports before or not. This is an incredible opportunity to offer new products, clear out old products or even to test new marketing strategies."
Already a member? Great, just log on and start taking advantage of these Hot Deals right away.
Not a member yet? That's ok, go to sponsoredge.com and become a member today. Then log on to take advantage of these Hot Deals, as well as all the other great benefits to being a SponsorEdge.com member.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Welcome to the SponsorEdge.com Blog!
We are so very excited to include this blog as an added feature to SponsorEdge.com! The newest and most complete networking, sponsorship matching and connecting site for motorsports on the web! With this blog you will find great tips and advice on how to effectively market and promote yourself as a race driver, team, track, event, or series to sponsors through the SponsorEdge.com site, within the racing industry as well as the mainstream market. You will also get inside info from top sponsors in the sport on how they make their decisions to spend marketing dollars, and what they look for and expect in their programs. Companies and agencies can also benefit from insider information from top racing professionals who have run successful motorsports marketing and activation programs. At SponsorEdge.com we believe strongly in offering information and education reagarding sponsorship, marketing and promotion to our members and within the racing community in an effort to help the sport continue to grow and thrive. Look for great things to come!
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