by Kristin Swartzlander | Dec 24, 2015 | Thoughts and Rants
I’m tired, friends. In fact, I’m borderline exhausted. And I’m pretty thankful for that, because I can chalk up this lack of brain function to a whirlwind of a year. A whirlwind of a year that I have you all to thank for. So much has changed since one year ago, and I would never have guessed how it has played out. In 2015, I worked with more than 25 race tracks and close to 30 drivers and teams, conquered my fear of public speaking did 3 speaking engagements, wrote 59 blog posts, welcomed nearly 200 sponsorship seekers into our free DirtyMouth Sponsorship Success Community, reached more than 300 racing promoters, helped produce a very successful 2nd annual Dirt Classic, created the first in a series of workshops to help racers achieve their dreams, supported our own race team and marketing partners in finding success on and off the the track and watched Carl Bowser’s first television commercial hit the air waves, and so much more. Whew. I still didn’t even realize how much has happened, along with things I can’t even talk about yet, until I started writing that! I bet you’d experience the same if you took a few moments to reflect on your year – surprise and gratefulness. In fact, I wrote a post last year about what you need to do before you move into the new year, with your new motivation and your new goals: count the successes you’ve had this year. It’s still relevant. Read it. It’s so easy to move on without taking stock of how far you’ve come and how much you’ve learned. I know – I work...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Dec 17, 2015 | Mindset, Racing Sponsorship
It’s selling season, in case you haven’t noticed by the glut of marketing materials, the number of trade shows and expos, and the amount of time you and I are spending thinking about how to make our businesses and race teams work in 2016. And my email box reflects that, too. The questions I’m getting most right now are about selling – creating offerings, making an effective sponsorship proposal, targeting customers and potential marketing partners, pitching, and the mindset and all of the tactics that go into the many things we need to know to be able to sell. One thing I wanted to address today are two principles we touched on in my most recent on-demand workshop on creating the perfect sponsorship offerings: knowing who your customer is, and, knowing what you’re selling. Gone are the days when we can create a product that we think is fantastic and then go out and find someone to buy it. Discretionary income is not the same as it used to be -even if we have extra money for something we didn’t know we needed prior to you showing up to sell it to us, we now need to see return on investment for that extra money. And we need you to prove it to us, whether we’re a consumer or a business. And how will you do that if you don’t know who we are? So why do we still sell sponsorship and marketing that way? “Here is the great thing I have, and here is why you need it.” – Doesn’t work anymore. The more effective sales strategy today is a...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Dec 10, 2015 | Mindset
Invest in yourself. It might sound oversimplified, but I think it’s true. When you invest in yourself you’ll reap dividends in many areas of your racing program. At first you might not see a clear result for your action or investment, but over time the benefits will compound exponentially. Think it’s all about investing money? Think again. I believe pretty strongly that we will get better results when we have skin in the game and that’s why I spend a healthy five figures each year on education and training that I pass along to you, but time and effort are often just as valuable an investment as cold, hard cash. Would you run a car with dirty fuel and expect it to perform at its best over the long run? It’s the same as running your body and mind with junk food. How about running a chassis 200 races, day after day – will it flex out in the way that your body and brain do after months, or years, with no time off? I say, probably yes. When you invest in yourself, your racing program will improve – sometimes immediately, and sometimes over the long run. I believe, with the ‘investments’ I’m detailing below, your racing program can benefit on the track with better performance from you as a driver and better performing equipment, and off the track with better funding, Here are a few ways that you might consider investing in yourself in 2016 and beyond: Learn new things. Read a book on any area of your program you want to improve, whether that’s on improving your own mindset, building a fan base, understanding shock...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Dec 3, 2015 | Racing Sponsorship
Each week, we field lots of questions on marketing, sponsorship, PR and social media via the blog, email and on the Sponsorship Success Facebook Community. One of the topics that I frequently get questions on is regarding paint schemes. For example: Will my current paint scheme attract or repel future sponsors? Should I make my car look ’empty’ so that sponsors see the opportunity? Should I let my sponsors determine the color scheme? Should I pick a signature color scheme or topic theme (example: non-profit partner) if I don’t have a title sponsor? And the list goes on and on. Before we get so deep into the paint scheme conversation, I think it’s pivotal to note: your paint scheme should not be your primary focus unless that’s your primary offering. (And, by the way, I don’t think it should be your primary offering when you’re looking to grow from beginner to intermediate and advanced. To go to the next level, you need a dynamic program that engages beyond a logo on a car.) What I really want you, as a sponsorship seeker or seller, to think about is this: what purpose or role do I want my paint scheme to have in my marketing program as a whole? The answers to those questions above depend heavily on what you’re selling to marketing partners. And what you’re selling to marketing partners depends heavily on what your marketing partners’ goals are. Think about it this way: how would an advertising agency answer similar questions? When a company approaches their marketing program, they have virtually an unlimited number of ways to spend their marketing budget....
by Kristin Swartzlander | Nov 27, 2015 | Thoughts and Rants
What ever turns out like we thought it would? Whether it’s the Thanksgiving turkey or your racing season, we all have expectations, we all face challenges and, often, we’re surprised by our results. Good or bad, what happens almost never matches what we envisioned in our minds. Isn’t that kind of magical? On this day where we gather together to give thanks, I want to specifically thank you for being here. For being a part of my journey and for allowing me to be a part of yours. For helping me and for allowing me to help you. For sharing my vision – our vision – for the future of our community. If you had described to me a few years ago the opportunities I’ve had, the people I’ve gotten to meet and the family that I’ve become a part of, I don’t know that I would have believed you. For all of those things, and many more, I’m so grateful. But the best part? I’m most grateful for the magic. Because who knows where it’ll take us next. xo. Kristin ...
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