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5 Practical Ways to Prepare for Racing Season
Last week, I wrote about the importance of hitting the ground running at the beginning of the season.
“Starting off the season with a bang (or a full set of grandstands) comes down to two basic principles: build on what you know works and out-prepare your competition.” – Read the entire article here.
I was really happy to get a few emails asking for advice on how, exactly, to take your seasonal preparation to the next level beyond just having your car or track ready for opening night.
Here are five quick ways you can get ahead before the season even starts:
- Public relations. At this time of the year, there isn’t much racing going on. That means that reporters are looking for newsworthy stories. If you have one, now’s the time to put it out there because you’ll get a lot more traction before the racing action heats up.
- Public relations. While we’re on the topic of media, you can also do a little bit of work now to get yourself ready for press release time. Isn’t one of the best parts of getting to victory lane the post-win press release? No? Okay, that’s just me. On the nights you win, you have extra responsibilities, not more time on your hands. Now’s the time to put together your press release template, including the text you’ll use to highlight your marketing partners. It’ll take work off your plate later and ensure that you don’t forget anyone in the bustle of a win.
- Sponsorship. Everyone is thrilled at the beginning of the season, including sponsors. In fact, you may have just brought a marketing partner on board. This is a great time to put together a checklist of marketing deliverables that you’ve promised to sponsors, or bonus activations you’d like to incorporate into your program this season while it’s still fresh in your mind. If you don’t put together a plan that’s easy to follow, you’ll wind up panicking at the busiest point in the season when you may not be able to execute.
- Budget and Scheduling. In our house, budget dictates schedule. Maybe it’s different with your team or track. Either way, a budget is extremely important to making your racing program go. If you don’t already have enough information to put one together, now’s the time to create a system to collect the data you’ll need. Wingless racer Travis Berryhill shared his simple and effective solution here. It’s great for record keeping at the track. If you already have some records, you can also put a more advanced spreadsheet to use here.
- Social Media. There’s not a ton you can do with social media ahead of time, at least not effectively. I suggest deciding how hands-on you want to be this season and creating a plan to make that happen. Are you only going to comment after races about your results? Or will your account report lap-by-lap action? Big difference. Whatever amount of content you plan on producing, you’ll want to decide that up front so you can be consistent throughout the season. If your account will be putting out updates while you’re racing or putting on a drivers’ meeting, you’ll also need to put someone from your team in charge of the account for those times. Have that conversation now.
I hope that gives you some practical ideas for hitting the ground running this season. It might not seem like much, but putting in a little bit of work right now can save you a lot of time when you don’t have much to spare later in the season. It can also help you do the things you always plan on, but never get to.
Let me know what else you do to prepare for the season!
Xo.
Kristin
Hit the Ground Running
Like everything else that runs seasonally, the racing season has a beginning, middle and end. When I was really young, it seemed like Western Pennsylvania weather dictated the beginning (rain), middle (yay!), and end (cold).
But there’s another pattern we often followed – the opening winners, middle-of-the-season winners and the end-of-the-year winners.
There are a number of things that happen over the course of a season. With each race, teams learn and get faster. Drivers get more in tune with their cars. The crew gels and the cars perform better.
There are also the bad things that happen as the season winds on. Wrecks shake up a perfectly great car and an unproven backup is brought out. Teams run out of money and equipment to travel or even be competitive. Confidence bottoms out.
While some teams are getting better, others are struggling. And a few teams are able to benefit from these scenarios. That’s why you’ll sometimes see less dominant teams get a win at the end of the season.
Often, these wins are a combination of preparation and circumstances. But they’re still a little bit of luck.
[Side note: Don’t get me wrong. These victories are not pure luck. It takes a lot of work to ensure you’ll be competitive at the end of the season. And you have to be competitive. It’s rare that every other team will get a flat tire and a back marker will grab the big check. ]Winning at the beginning of the year, though, can be difficult. You’re starting cold.
But it sets the tone for the entire season. It tells your competitors, your fans and your team (and don’t forget your own subconscious, if you want to get woo-woo about it) that you’ve already got your stuff together. And winning is what you plan on doing all year long.
That’s why, growing up, beginning of the season wins were always so important to our family team. And it’s something that’s become even more important to Carl as he’s shifted from competitive to dominant in our area.
If you perform well at the outset, you don’t have to get ahead of your competitors. You just have to stay ahead of them.
And while it’s often more advantageous to sit in second place on the track, that theory doesn’t translate to the pits.
The same goes for promoting races. The earlier you can get a fan into the stands and a driver familiar with your track, the more likely they’ll come back. Often.
So how do you hit the ground running at the beginning of the season? Here are a few of my tips:
Prepare. I can’t emphasize this enough. The only way you can beat anyone before you even get to the track (or open the gates) is in the amount of preparation you’ve done in the garage or at the track.
Test everything you can before opening night. Fire up your generator. Build your spares. Make sure the lights and deep fryers work. Invite me to sample your menu. (It’s for the good of racing, people.)
Get your people on board. Whether it’s your staff or your crew, you’ll see a huge difference in performance when you convey this message: opening night isn’t for shaking the rust off. It’s for setting the tone for the rest of the year.
Have a meeting. Remind them of their tasks and the ways they might need to prepare before opening night (Is their uniform clean? Do they have questions about the program?). Create a positive but productive vibe. This is not a trial run.
Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. At least not without testing. I’m all for improving, overhauling and making positive updates. In fact, that’s one of my favorite things to help tracks with.
But there’s a difference between throwing spaghetti at a wall and investing the time and money to build a beautiful shelf to hold that bowl of spaghetti. You have to know the difference.
If you’re going to try something new, go all the way with it. Test as much of the idea as you can. Research what’s worked and what hasn’t for other people. Have a backup plan or car.
From what I’ve learned over the years, starting off the season with a bang (or a full set of grandstands) comes down to two basic principles: build on what you know works and out-prepare your competition.
One last piece of advice? Read this. You already have a leg up.
Xo.
Kristin
Your Best Assets: Help Others Help You Tell Your Story
When you tell your story effectively, you highlight what makes you unique. What makes you different from your competition.
But because racing itself is unique to many people outside of our industry, we sometimes forget that the racing itself isn’t what makes us unique. It’s just part of our story.
What makes you unique isn’t that:
- You drive a sprint car
- Your events run on Saturday nights
- Your track features five divisions
- Your track has high car counts
These are details. They’re how you do what you do, not what makes you who you are. Right?
One thing that I think we’ve forgotten is that people don’t just come to the tracks to see a cars turn circles. If that were the case, we’d be happy sitting in the stands watching self-driving cars.
They buy tickets for the excitement. The drama. The stories.
They buy tickets for the drivers. And the teams. And the family history. And because little Sarah likes watching the girl driver and little Johnny loves the car with the cow-print paint scheme. And your track is the only place cousin Billy can ear ‘Action Track’ Snacks. (Someone stop me now. I could do this all day.)
If you’re a driver, you’re also probably finding out that companies don’t buy sponsorship just because you have a race car. Or even because you win races. They buy because you and your team align with their values.
People buy because they’re invested in a story. In your story.
If you want to know how to tell yours better yourself, check out a few of the most popular posts I’ve already written on this below.
- Stories Matter. (Especially in Racing.)
- How to promote yourself without feeling like a sell-out.
- The Perfect Social Media Bio
- There’s a time to produce and a time to promote.
But today, I want to talk about something that I hope will help you increase your promoting efforts tenfold. And this isn’t just for race tracks. If you’re a driver/team owner or have a racing business, you’re in the business of promoting what you do, too.
I want you to see the power in helping others tell your story.
Your story is your most powerful tool. We’ve established that. And if your story is created by the people that interact with your business – your drivers, your crew, your marketing partners, your fans, your customers – then imagine how much further you could reach if you put them to work telling your story.
You know that the people around are your best assets. So why don’t they help you promote your race track or your race car?
You have to help them to help you. There are a few ways that you can accomplish this:
Tell your story. You’d think I was beating a dead horse here, but I can’t help myself. Tell everyone what makes you unique. And the hard thing that many of us don’t want to admit? If you’re a track, you need to promote your drivers. And their marketing partners. If you’re a driver, you need to promote the track or series that you race with.
It sounds simple, but it doesn’t happen nearly enough because of the complicated relationships we all have.
It’s tough love time. Get over it.
Be the bigger person and get the ball rolling. They’ll likely promote you back (or look like jerks for ignoring your positive support).
Next, give them the information and tools they need to promote both you and them. There are a ton of ways to do this, from really simple – like creating countdown graphics to your opening night that feature their car numbers – to more complicated. This might include:
- Offering a free class, course or document at the beginning of the season teaching drivers how to use social media and maximize their presence (by interacting more with you, hooray!)
- Collecting driver’s social media handles and pages when they do their annual registration so you can tag and mention them in your updates
- Offering a weekly prize for the best post promoting your business
- Creating a designated hashtag where fans can ask their favorite drivers questions
- Featuring them on marketing materials. You think the driver on the cover of your schedule doesn’t give out every copy he has?
These are just a few suggestions.
And drivers, don’t think you can’t use these, too. Ask your marketing partners what social media tool they love to be featured on. And then feature them. Share feedback from your fans. Retweet your local track’s statuses.
Promoting is what built our sport. Help others help you to continue building it, and you’ll get rewarded in the process.
Win, win.
xo.
Kristin
P.S. Have you helped someone promote you in a way I didn’t mention? Would love to hear about it in the comments.
Do you know where your customer is?
Do you know where he (or she) is right now? Is he at work? Is she at spinning class? Is he in the garage? Is she poring over her son’s sponsorship materials while cooking dinner?
It might seem silly to think about, but if you don’t know where you customer is – right now – how will you reach them?
I had a great chat today with a seasoned member of the racing industry and he mentioned the importance of knowing, and utilizing, the basics of marketing. He’s completely right.
All of the fantastic tools we have today – social media, mobile marketing, digital billboards, direct mail – are only that. Tools. They’ll only be effective if you have a blueprint to work off of.
Sure, you may hit a few nails on the head, but you won’t build anything remarkable – or functional – by swinging a hammer in the dark.
Last year at this time, I made a fantastic investment of time, money and effort into a marketing course that helped me to build my business and brand immensely. What surprised me most was that this very high-end course started with the most basic marketing principle: know thy customer.
You’d think that someone with my experience and training in marketing, this would be an exercise I’d automatically skip over. But it was the most eye-opening practice I’d done to date.
Because on most days, I could tell anyone that asked who my audience was. But once I sat down and gave a single audience member a name – along with details like age, occupation, hobby, hopes, fears and dreams – I knew exactly what they’d be doing on a Thursday night. And where I could find them, online or not.
Have more than one customer? Good. Me too. And they each get a different name, piece of content and medium through which I (try to) reach them.
If you’re a racer, you offer different things to your customers. Race fans, for example, buy apparel and sponsors buy marketing packages. And they’re different people, race fans and sponsors, that’ll find you in different ways or be drawn to you for different reasons.
Same goes as a promoter. You, my friend, have plenty of different customers: fans, drivers, vendors, marketing partners, series, and media members. Even township and fair boards.
Sponsors need to hear about your drivers and fans. Fans need to hear about your drivers and marketing partners. Drivers need to hear about payouts and formats. Media members need to hear almost everything.
They all need to hear different things in different ways.
The days of marketing to everyone in one single dimension are gone. You’ve got to tell your story, over and over again, via a variety of channels to be able to reach your customers.
It might seem overwhelming, but if you want your business to thrive, you’ve got to start at ground zero with customer number one.
And if you know them, you can help them know you.
Xo,
Kristin
P.S. If I’m your customer, I’m currently uploading this blog post and watching this week’s episode of the only reason I pay for television: Justified. Hope that helps 
Opening Pandora’s Box: Dealing with Negative Social Feedback
One of the most frequent questions that I’ve gotten when talking to promoters about using social media is the fear that they’re opening themselves up to very public negative feedback. It might seem pessimistic to be so concerned with negative feedback, but I know from firsthand experience that criticism and complaints – from racers, fans, employees, etc. – make up the majority of the feedback that promoters get.
Maybe this is your biggest concern. Or maybe you’re working with decision makers who have that concern. Either way, it’s a reasonable argument. So what do you say to someone that is afraid to use social for fear that all of the complaints they get in person will get blown up online?
The reality is, if you start to build a community online you will encounter a few bad eggs. But not showing up for that reason is like not putting on a race because you’re afraid of wrecks.
They’re going to happen.
That it’s not always a bad thing, though. Here’s why:
Instead of fighting the racing grapevine – the rumors that will get spread without you being able to right them – you’ll have the opportunity to dispel tension publicly and handle it professionally.
You’ll also give supporters an opportunity to argue your case for you, so that you may not even have to get involved at all. Race fans are passionate – some critical, some extremely supportive. You’re giving them both the opportunity to give you feedback online.
And that leads me to my last point. I got much more negative feedback as a promoter in person – mostly people trying to bully you into doing what they want – than I did online. And I got much more positive feedback online than in person.
If that I’m making that equation confusing, it all adds up to this: less negative feedback and more positive support than what you’re probably used to.
If you’re not reassured, that’s okay. Here are a few practical tips on how to handle negative feedback or problems online:
First, be there to respond. If you’re not there at all, you can’t defend yourself or your business.
Second, handle it the same way you would in person or at the track. Or, at least, what you’d say or do at the track in front of a crowd.
Someone has a problem? Consider whether it even deserves to be acknowledged with more than an ‘I’m sorry you feel that way.’
Is it something that you can control? Is it something you’re planning on fixing? Can you make it right for them? If so, then do that. And do it publically, if possible.
If it’s a complaint not worth addressing – “I would come to your race track if only the cars turned right!” – then stick to something brief and positive.
Same theory goes if there’s a problem or decision that was made at the track and you need to defend it.
And if you make a mistake? Apologize. And do what you can to make it right. If you said something you shouldn’t have, take the offending post or tweet down, and leave the apology up.
I’d encourage you to take a minute and think before you respond to any negative feedback online. Be brief and courteous, and firm if you need to be, just like you would be in real life.
Because the internet, in fact, is now real life.
I hope that helps. As always, shoot me any feedback or questions you have, or post them below in the comments.
Xo.
Kristin
Dirt Classic Fans’ Vote Race: Fresh and New Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated
As many of you know, last year I had the opportunity to help produce the Dirt Classic Presented by Kasey Kahne with Jarrod Adams of Adams Investing and Alan Kreitzer of Lincoln Speedway.
Together we created a solid foundation for the entire brand from scratch, crafting everything from
logos and social media profiles to the race format and purse structure.
Everything, and I do mean everything, was built into an overall promoting strategy designed to build awareness for the initial event and create a brand experience that customers (drivers + fans + marketing partners) would want to experience year after year.
This year, the Dirt Classic will once again be an event produced by DirtyMouth. And as we work on the event, I’m thrilled to see how solidly we built this strategic foundation for ourselves.
Because of that solid foundation, we’re able to innovate with tactics.
Instead of rolling out a brand-new social media strategy, we’re able to tweak and innovate with individual tactics. Instead of a new advertising strategy, we can optimize to reduce costs and test new ads. Instead of a new race format, we’re able to modify the existing one to create better track conditions and more exciting racing.
One of the fun new promotions we’ve introduced this year, for example, is the Fans’ Vote Race. The race will be a five-lap, $400-to-win dash for four cars as voted in by the fans on the DirtClassic.com website.
Most importantly, though, it offers us a new tactic to promote the event through engagement with fans and drivers.
It’s great for us – it doesn’t add a large percentage to the purse or time to the event. It’s great for the fans – they get to see their favorite drivers compete in an extra race. And it’s great for the racers – they get extra pay, with $100-to-start, and extra exposure in the showcase, with the added bonus of extra time on the track.
The promotion allows fans to express their passion for their favorite drivers in a way that the teams, not the event promoters, are directly rewarded. The drivers, too, can spread the word about the Fans’ Vote Race, themselves, and our event by promoting the opportunity on social media.
It’s a simple and easy to execute, and it’s not even new in the grand scheme of motorsports. But it’s new to our event and our fans.
And that’s the sweet spot we’re trying to find: simple, engaging and fun.
Freshening up the way you engage with your audience, whether you’re a team, series or track promoter, or media outlet, doesn’t have to be overly complicated if you expand on what already works for you.
We’ve just announced the Fans’ Vote Race in the last week, and the response has been, frankly, overwhelming. In the form of hundreds of votes. And (mostly) extremely positive feedback. In full disclosure, though, we have gotten complaints and criticisms about pay, laps, number of drivers, which drivers are on our forms….you name it.
But we’re not afraid to try something new just because of a few negative opinions. Or, the fear that someone will copy our idea. If you do something new, you’ll likely encounter both of these speed bumps.
In fact, that’s part of the fun of experimenting and learning. The more you do it, the less you worry about either. Because the payoff is big.
I hope you’ll consider taking the leap, too.
Xo.
Kristin
P.S. Trying something new this season? Would love to hear about it via email or in the comments below!
Connect!