by Kristin Swartzlander | Jul 9, 2015 | Mindset
It’s hard to believe that we’re already at the mid-point of the season, especially with the weather challenges we’ve had in the Pennsylvania area with rain, and lots of it. In fact, our team has had more rain outs on our schedule than races. Weather – be it rain or the heat waves that my Southern clients are facing – doesn’t stop me from doing business, although it does make it more challenging to help tracks and racers make money when they can’t race. In fact, this year has been the busiest one yet for me and DirtyMouth, despite the challenges. When 2015 rolled in, I had high hopes. I put together a strategy and a set of goals to shoot for, and I made that into a giant post-it that hangs in my office. It’s been extremely helpful to have a visual reminder of where I want to go. The theme I picked for the year was ‘Growth’. I wanted to grow my audience as big as possible so that I a) knew what the industry needed and b) could grow the business. But lately, every time I glance at it, it hasn’t seemed to resonate. The problem? The business grew faster, and in different ways, than I expected it to. So, last Friday I took 2 hours ‘off’ for the Fourth of July to sit down and do a mid-season review. Here are three things I learned: There’s a big difference between a vision and a plan. I know where I want to go with DirtyMouth. I haven’t fully shared that vision because, frankly, it’s scary and vulnerable to...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Jul 3, 2015 | Racing Social Media
Working on as many social media accounts as I do, I’ve used tons of tools to help clients get the most bang for their buck in terms of time, budget and effort. There are thousands of them out there, but not all of them work the way they say they do. That’s why I’m the guinea pig testing hundreds of tools and platforms! Here are five of my favorite (FREE!) pre-tested tools that will help you take your social media game to the next level: For Social Media Graphics: Canva.com Images are crucial to social media success, especially in racing. What’s more visual than our sport? Takeadvantage of the opportunity to show off your goods with Canva. Canva is one of the easiest to use design websites out there. But that’s not the only reason I love them. One of my favorite features are their templates. Whether you want a new Facebook profile image, Twitter cover photo or just a photo that looks great on your updates, Canva has templates for all of them. They even have a ‘design school’ that walks you through how to use the site and gives great ideas for different graphics packages. I love one of their recent posts – Steal These 50 Branding Kits – which helps you to see the importance of consistent branding across all channels, from your social media to your – cough! – racing sponsorship proposals. Make it custom to your team or track by combining your own images with their beautiful fonts and graphics. For Social Media Scheduling: Hootsuite.com This should read: for making sure that you regularly activate...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Jun 26, 2015 | Mindset, Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Social Media
Does washing your car make you go faster? Not on the street, it doesn’t. But, having been around the back gate of racing for as long as I have, I do believe it makes you go faster on the track on an average night. It’s not that it makes you more appealing to fans and, thus, leads to sponsorship support for better equipment. Although there’s truth to that argument. It’s not that you have better aerodynamics. At least not in dirt track racing. It’s not just that you end up looking at every inch of your car and likely notice good and bad things sooner. Although that’s true, too. And it’s not that other cars are distracted by the glittering sheen of your body panels (SQUIRREL!). It’s the mindset that makes all the difference. Washing your car is a seemingly unnecessary task that takes time. It takes energy and effort. It takes at least $10 at the Buffalo Express Lube in Sarver. And it requires these things of you before you do anything else you need to do. But the type of people who wash their race car before they do anything else are the people who understand what it takes to win. It takes more than building a car. It takes more than showing up on a Saturday night. It takes more than the minimum. Whether you’re a driver, a track promoter or a business operator, there are tasks that are the equivalent of washing your race car. I would argue that marketing is the car wash of all three of these categories. It’s not enough to do your...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Jun 19, 2015 | Media and Public Relations, Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Social Media
Over the past few years, I’ve worked with a number of race tracks across the country. One of the subjects that comes up over and over again is live updating. I’ve had countless conversations with members of the industry who emphatically believe that live results published on social media are hurting our sport. With apps like Meerkat and Periscope, fans can now stream live video (for free!) right from the track or pits. You might not be surprised by this, but I disagree with the argument that live updating stops fans from buying tickets. Fans come to the race track for the experience, not just for the results. Mistake that, and you’re missing out. It’s my opinion that live results are meant for fans who can’t make it to the track that night, whether they’re in a wedding or another state. They’re not for fans who just choose to stay home that night because they can find out who won on Twitter. In fact if results, or even a little bit of video, are satisfying enough to stop someone who would normally buy a ticket from walking through the gates, I think that says something worth thinking about. Either that person isn’t a serious race fan, or they don’t find the experience worth paying for. If the first, are they really someone you want to cater to? Are they adding to the atmosphere at your track? If the second, maybe the product isn’t enticing enough to bring that fan there in person. Is the entertainment experience at the level it needs to be at? It’s a question we all need...
by Kristin Swartzlander | Jun 12, 2015 | Racing Social Media
There’s a concept in business that assumes that you can make an arguably good living if you have 1,000 true fans. They buy from you. But most of all, they buy into you. No matter what. True fans don’t just show up in good weather. They walk to the gate and buy their tickets when everyone else is sitting in the parking lot in the rain, at best. Regular fans will buy a t-shirt. True fans buy every design you issue, even when all you have left is a size too big. Regular fans want their logo on your car or billboard when you’re winning and times are good. True fans continue to petition for your sponsorship program even when there are layoffs and budget cuts. I saw a tweet the other day that reminded me of this concept. It’s from an Eldora Speedway fan – a raving one, it seems: That’s one of many tweets that goes out every weekend from race tracks across the country. At least, the ones that are willing to acknowledge their raving fans, like Eldora did here by retweeting it. There are two key factors that I believe go into creating true fans, and encouraging regular fans to become true, raving fans. You need a product worth raving about, and the means with which fans can rave about it. I don’t know that 1,000 true fans is an accurate number in racing. For some race tracks, averaging 1,000 fans at every event would mean success. For others, that would be a failure. But it doesn’t really matter what that number means to you. The most important thing is...
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