Post
by Dutch Geezer » Sun Nov 19, 2006 8:59 pm
Here are some of my own personal thoughts that might be useful to anyone in this position. If anyone thinks my ideas are rubbish dont bother slagging them off, put your energy to a better use and put up your own thoughts for people to consider
The slalom world is quite small, there is very little TV time given to canoeing as a whole, so the chances of getting a big firm to sponsor you are quite slim, unless you have a good inside contact. I personally would not waste a lot of time or money on big firms until you had something special to offer them.
Find an angle, gimmick, something which makes you unique and of interest to potential sponsors.
If you are looking at local firms, get their logo's and do some computer images of your boat and kit with their logo on it. Impress on them that their logo on your boat will be seen all the time it is on your car travelling all over the country. if you dont have the computer skills, find someone who has and learn fast.
Get the local paper on side, offer them something in return for free advertising. A weekly diary, competition reports, anything to keep your name and picture appearing in the LOCAL paper. Blow your own trumpet, you will be the next british "Campbell Walsh / Helen Reeves stood on the olympic podium in 2012". (sorry Campbell).
Try and find companies who have sponsored paddlers in the past and see if there is still any interest there. if they say no, you could always ask why they decided to move away from canoeing ? It might help you to target other companies.
Approach your local business link, look them up on the internet. They have lots of contacts with small local companies, ask if they have any clients they could put you in touch with.
Think of it like a job application where you are sending a CV, you have 20 seconds to make an impression before the paper is scrunched up and filed in the bin. if you do have computer skills and can make a website, put all the action photo's on there and give them the link to that page. you could always show the page with their details on it so they can see the potential for themselves.
Have a look at the books on writing a CV, they tell you to find out about the company, get a contact name, make each application very personal and tailored to that company. Work clever, have one set of text that can be easily amended to suit different businesses.
Text speak is easy for your friends to understand, but some 50 year old finance director might not be quite so hip. Try and send it in english and dont put all your trust in Microsoft spell checkers, paddle or peddle is just one example that a spell checker will not pick up.
I would post an application on Monday and send an email copy on the Wednesday, email is easier to forward through a company. If it arrives on a monday, will they have time to look at it or will it be put to one side and forgotten about. Same with a friday, the weekend is coming, get the loose ends tied up and go at lunchtime, deal with it on monday!.
I would keep a list of all the applications I send off. If a company says no, you could contact them and ask if they would give you some feedback on your application, who knows once you get dialogue going anything could happen. If they dont reply at all, its debateable as to whether to waste any more time on them, definetly not money.
Speak with the teachers who teach business studies at your school , who knows they may have ideas or be willing to help. Has any one ever done a project on getting sponsorship
Most of all though remember that sponsorship is a 2 way thing, they want something in return and if you want to keep any sponsorship you do get, you will have to be prepared to give back time and effort in promoting them.
Make sure you keep it all in balance, there is no point putting all your energy into getting sponsorship if you are too tired or dejected to train.
Maybe other people could add ideas.
