We’re talking sponsorship with Adam Dayson, a freelance marketing guy who has spent years managing athletes for Monster Energy.
He’s seen the best (and the worst) of sponsorship!
“I want to get sponsored… but it seems impossible.
What advice can you give me to make it happen?”
Adam has seen the best and the worst of mountain bike sponsorship.
Here’s his advice for anyone looking to get sponsored in mountain biking:
You’ve got one shot kid.
First up. Remember that you only get one shot to impress!
Whoever it is that you’re asking for sponsorship will probably receive requests all the time. They’ll be hard to get hold of and their contact details will be hard to find. If you are lucky to reach the right person you have one chance and you need to stand out from the crowd.
My biggest pet hate his one liner emails saying “pleaze sponsor me, i lerned knwo handers today and my frends say i am the best rider in the hole of alton, ill put your stickers on my helmet”.
If you do nothing else, get someone to spell check your emails.
An email just won’t cut it
Once you’ve found the right person to speak to you should show them why you are a great ambassador. You should show case how you are going to help raise awareness of their brand and influence other people to become fans and buy their products.
An email alone just isn’t going to cut it. Instead, try some of this:
- Create an athlete portfolio showcasing your best results, your media coverage and your social media following. Social media is a great way to show a brand that you have a fan base out there and that you’re are an influencer.
- If you have any great videos be sure to include links to these so they can see you in action.
- In your opening email be sure to come across as professional and capture their attention.
- Present them with other opportunities that will arise from sponsoring you. That means other brands you work with, video projects you are working on, editorial you are working on with magazines or websites or maybe even a big movie or TV show you will feature in. Show them that you’re doing the work already and they can benefit from it so it will be easy for them.
Cash money
Remember that what you’re asking for costs money.
Sponsorship is a great way to support the industry and work with great talent but it is also part of someone’s marketing plan. Even if you are just getting free product, this still comes at cost to the company and so they want to receive a return on their investment.
Work your ass off
All of this sounds like a lot of work right? Well being a professional athlete isn’t just about riding everyday with your friends and making cool edits (although there is a lot of this to be had).
The best guys out their work really hard for what they have achieved, train everyday to be on top of the podium to capture the attention of sponsors or work with great photographers and film makers to showcase their riding around the world and build a fan base that sponsors want to tap in to.
But you don’t know any photographers or film makers? So many of the riders you see today killing it were once in the same place.
The difference is that they built a great riding scene around them. They’ve helped friends become pro athletes, others become leading photographers and film makers and others become industry product designers.
Just take a look at the s4p crew – they were all once just a bunch of friends in the woods and together have supported each other with their specific talents to live the dream.
Last but not least.
Want my advice? Go dig some jumps, ride with your friends, take some rad photo’s and film some great edits.
When you think you are ready, create an awesome proposal and use your one shot to get the attention of the Team Manager.
Good luck!
