Finding Sponsors: Making the Most of 'Matching' Sites
When you're in the midst of going over your racing budget and thinking about sponsorship, have you ever found yourself thinking things like,
"How in the world do I find new sponsors?"
"I'm in the top 5 every week, why can't I get new sponsors?"
"My name is in all the series press releases, why are sponsors not calling me?"
However aggressive you are in seeking new sponsors, these questions creep into everyone's mind from time to time. The ultimate answer to all of them is, no matter how many times you win, where in the pack you run, or how many times your name is dropped in a PR, you will find more sponsorship by SEEKING it than waiting for it to find you... So, YOU need to go find them! BUT WAIT... There's a WHOLE NEW INDUSTRY that may provide you with just what you're looking for!
Over the past few years, as sponsorship dollars have seemed harder to come by at all levels of racing, many websites have popped up that serve to connect 'properties' with 'sponsors'. This is not just a motorsports thing folks, it's happening all over in the world of sponsorship and this 'matchmaking' industry seems to be in only the 'start-up' phase!
NOTE: The tips that you're about to read aren't just out of the reaches of the mind of RacingIn.com... they're actually based on OUR actual use of one service and the subsequent research of many others
So, we wanted to write a little about the general concept of 'Sponsor Matching Services' and offer our tips for how, if you choose to use one, they might best benefit you. Please Note, we are NOT going to list any of these services here because undoubtedly, we would miss one or two... but we know this... many are promoting themselves quite effectively, so you can probably name 2 or 3 of them off the top of your head!
The basic concept behind these matching services is that 'The Property' (you, the racer, track, series, etc...) builds a 'Profile' and 'The Service' then works to interact with Potential Sponsors to review all of the properties listed on their site. In addition to providing many properties the chance to get noticed, these services also serve to 'streamline' the sponsorship process for sponsors so that they are able to present them the most targeted opportunities based on what that sponsor is looking for. In most cases, there is a fee involved to build a profile, though some services offer a very basic profile at no charge with the ability to 'upgrade' to a more detailed property profile.
Now, although we've heard some negative things from racers about fee-based sponsorship matching, we've also heard some interesting success stories as well, so we do believe there is some potential benefit in this new industry. Ultimately, we're not writing this to either promote or pass judgment on anyone... We're simply writing this tip to give you our thoughts on the issues you might want to research if you do decide to look to this new and growing industry for assistance.
6 Quick Questions to Ask About a Sponsor Matching Service
1) Can you give me references of success stories? Don't just accept, "Yeah, xxx sponsor has paid out XXX thousands of dollars to racers all over the nation!" Ask for specific racers or properties you might be able to talk to in order to learn more about what exactly the sponsor was looking for to see if you might be able to offer the same.
2) Can you tell me how many sponsors are ACTIVELY searching your site for opportunities and who those specific sponsors are? The idea here is, if you're going to pay a fee to list your 'property' with a service, we believe you have the right to know if the folks they're working with are representing sponsors you ALREADY have deals with or if they're a whole set of new sponsors that you think your property could bring benefits to.
3) What percentage of the deals your service facilitates are trade and what percentage are cash? Ultimately, this may not matter to you because if you can get good equipment in exchange for sticking a sticker on your car or website, that's mostly as good as cash to buy the same equipment in the first place.
4) How do I know if my profile is being reviewed by sponsors? At a minimum, with today's technology, most websites should be able to tell you how many times your individual profile was viewed. At RacingIn.com, we get requests from racers all the time asking how many times their pages have been viewed and we are ready and willing to provide that information. It may take us a few days to respond to all requests, but we'll definitely provide it! (Just click 'contact' at the bottom,right of this page to send us a request.)
5) If there's a membership fee, what else do you get for your money? Many sites that we've looked at that are fee-based simply seem to be match-makers, pure and simple.... However, some sites do seem to offer the ability to at least get some money saving coupons or special offers from the sponsors that they work with, regardless of whether or not you actually get sponsored. The way we look at it, even if a site is not able to find you a sponsor, if they're providing the equivalent of your membership fee in savings on parts you're planning on buying anyway, that's definitely a good thing!
6) Once I join, can I interact DIRECTLY with sponsors or do I have to wait for them to engage me? If the service allows you to send questions, comments or sales pitches directly to a sponsor representative (even if you're sending it to an 'anonymous address'), that's much better than simply 'posting and hoping' you get noticed/engaged. Ultimately, if you simply have to 'wait to be engaged', you may want to ask exactly how often sponsors search for opportunities and how the site promotes new opportunities to the sponsors they interact with.
The bottom line is this... if you were looking for a new car to race, you'd ask A LOT of questions before choosing the one you are going to buy... If you're going to order a steak at a restaurant, you're going to ask how each is prepared before you decide which one to order... If you're going to invest in a sponsorship-matching services, make sure you know why you choose the one you're choosing.
The BIGGEST TIP we can give you!
Whatever you choose to do in regards to these sponsor services, DO NOT ASSUME THAT JUST BECAUSE YOU JOIN YOU WILL GET SPONSORED! We haven't heard of any with a 100% success rate for every paid member, but if you are a sponsor matching service with a 100% matching rate, please, CLICK HERE to tell us your story!
The biggest benefit that we see of this industry is that it does allow for the potential DIRECT NETWORKING between properties and sponsors... and THAT is a good thing! The more that a racer, series, or track can interact DIRECTLY with the person who signs the agreements, the better the chance that they'll get a chance to tell their story 'beyong the profile page'.
FINALLY, here's a fact we don't want you to EVER forget:
According to a study published by the IEG Sponsorship Report in September of 2010, only 26% of Sponsorships were initiated by the Sponsor or a Sponsor's Agency. On the flip side, 59% were initiated by the Property or an agency of the Property
Given that fact, remember, whether you choose to use a sponsorship matching service or not, the MOST EFFECTIVE way of finding sponsors is to cold call until you're sick of cold-calling and then do it some more!
As frustrating as it is, the road to YES is paved with tens and even hundreds of 'NO's'... And sometimes the 'YES's' come when you least expect them!
Do you have any feedback about this sponsorship tip? Just CLICK HERE to join in the conversation on our Sponsorship Tips Forum Board!
