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Prove your (sponsorship) worth with real, hard metrics.
It might seem like sponsorship is harder to get these days, but when you think about it, there’s never been a better time to prove what your proposal is worth. Here are a few ways to start thinking about valuing a proposal:
1. Show them how big it is. (Your audience, duh.)
One of the most common gripes about social media is that you can’t link results with input. But one of the reasons that I love social media is that it’s easy to show people how big your audience is – and even where they live and how old they are – with some straightforward metrics.
Audience size. This is pretty straightforward – you can look at your Twitter follower count, your Facebook page likes, Instagram followers, etc. Your audience size isn’t the combined number, and I’ll explain more on that below, but you can prove how many eyeballs you’ll reach on each platform to a potential racing sponsor.
Engagement level. It doesn’t matter how big your audience is if they don’t actually care about what you’re doing. That’s where engagement comes into play. And some platforms, like Facebook, are really good at measuring it. You can see what percent of your fans like your Facebook posts, how many YouTube subscribers watch your videos and more by visiting the analytics section of those platforms. That’s a great way to show a sponsor that your audience is actually engaged with your team and not just a bunch of drones.
Kevin Kelly maintains that, “A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author – in other words, anyone producing works of art – needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.” He ranks engagement as more important than audience size. You can read the whole article here (I recommend skimming the first two paragraphs.)
2. Put a dollar on it.
Do you have any way of monetizing your racing business other than cashing those payout checks (also known as making it rain)? If you sell apparel or refer people to a business that gives you a percentage of sales, you can actually put a monetary value on your fans. It’s not something that I’d suggest focusing on in your fan-base-building efforts (we’re humans, and maybe one or two unicorns, not dollar signs), but it is a great measurement tool for how valuable your fans can be to a potential marketing partner.
Here’s how you can calculate it:
- Write down all of the platforms that you’ve used to mention or promote whatever you’re selling.
- Write down the number of fans and followers you have on each of the platforms. You can get a count on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Aweber or MailChimp…even YouTube.
- Write down the total dollar amount of revenue you generated off the track.
- Divide the revenue by the fan count and you have a dollar amount that every member of your audience is ‘worth’.
Now the obvious caveat is that you know there is some overlap – many people that follow you on Twitter are also your fans on Facebook and subscribe to your YouTube channels. I tend to estimate my ‘audience size’ by 60% of the total count – so if I have 1,000 Facebook fans and 1,000 Twitter fans, I estimate this at 60% of 2,000, or 1,200 total fans. If I sold $2,400 in t-shirts in 2013, I could put the value of my audience at $2 per audience member.
(There is a somewhat complicated way to find the overlap in Facebook fans and your email list that I won’t get into here. Not many racers have email lists, but if you do and want me to show you how, let me know in the comments and I can do a separate post on it.)
One of my clients only mentions his products and services through email, so it becomes easier to track. Although you make your purchase through his website and can find the information there, we’ve found that people only purchase after subscribing to his email list and opening a certain number of emails. In 2013, he sold $21,000 in products to 3,000 subscribers, so he can get a pretty accurate estimate of $7.00 per subscriber. We also took it further to see how many people visited the website over the year to get 3,000 subscribers and can put a value on every unique website visit. Pretty hot stuff.
As exciting as math as is, the payout to a sponsor isn’t going to be the same exact amount. But knowing how engaged your fans are and how willing they are to spend money to be associated with or support you can definitely be proven to a potential sponsor with metrics from social media.
Now, doesn’t growing your fan base seem like an even more important part of getting sponsorship and attracting marketing partners? That, combined with growing your network, is the most important thing you can be doing to become the no-brainer choice for marketing partners. And isn’t that what you want?
With love,
Kristin
If you dread working on sponsorship, you may need to change your job title. (Texas Ranger, anyone?)
For many of us, it’s sponsorship crunch time – where you really have to step your game up and get some deals done for the season. And if you look practically anywhere on the interwebs, you’ll see plenty of people complaining about how difficult it is to go after sponsorship for their race team. Many people have even given up on it.
And it’s true – it’s not easy.
But the truth is, if you want to succeed in racing, you have to get the money to pay the bills somewhere and sponsors are generally where it’s at.
If you dread working on sponsorship, avoid it at all costs (darn you, cute kitten videos every racing video ever uploaded to YouTube), there are a few things you can do to stop procrastinating on it and start moving forward.
Stop thinking of yourself as a salesperson.
Even worse? Stop thinking of yourself as someone looking for a handout.
Sponsorship is not free money, people. (What’s paid money? I don’t know all this knowledge.)
In other words, sponsorship is not something for nothing. It’s generally not money in exchange for slapping a logo on a racecar and calling it a day anymore, either.
Sponsorship should be creating value in exchange for value. It is, essentially, solving a problem for your marketing partner.
So, start thinking of yourself as a problem solver instead of a salesperson.
Almost everyone cringes at the idea of sales. It sounds sleazy, even if it’s not. It makes me think of sales calls, slamming doors, and every other awkward situation you can imagine. It sounds embarrassing, tiring and desperate.
But problem solvers? They sound awesome.
Problem solving takes strategy. And skill. And creativity.
Problem solvers sound like mother-freaking geniuses.
And since that’s what you’re doing when you’re doing sponsorship right, you can safely put on your new fancy-pants title and start tackling your work like a problem-solver.
Now let’s talk the problems you might be solving. (<-Since you brought it up.)
The general goal with racing sponsorship, or motorsports marketing as I prefer to think of it, is that your marketing partner should be making more money after they start working with you than before.
There are a variety of ways that this might happen:
- They reach new customers -> they sell more
- They reach better, more-qualified customers -> they sell more higher-priced offerings
- They reach existing customers and deepen their relationship -> they sell more, maybe moving them into higher-priced products or services
- They tell new and existing customers about a new product or service -> they sell more
- They reach other businesses they want to partner with -> they sell more, or pay less for a vendor relationship
All of these examples are ways that you and your race team can solve a problem for a business.
Knowing the problem that business wants to solve the first step in the problem-solving equation we call sponsorship. Step two is coming up with a solution (that naturally and reasonably involves you, because duh.) Step three is showing the potential sponsor how you can solve their problem and the value that’s associated with doing so. It’s How to Get Sponsored 101.
Because when you’re providing value, offering a solution to their problem, you’re helping them. Not the other way around.
So you can stop feeling like you’re being choked by a necktie and start feeling like a problem-solving Texas Ranger. (Don’t fight it.)
With love,
Kristin
P.S. If anyone comes up with a clever Chuck Norris sponsorship joke, I will be your friend FOREVER.
2014 Chili Bowl Nationals Driver Twitter Handles
If you’re a sprint car racing fan, there’s no doubt that you’re tuning in to the Chili Bowl Nationals this week. Here is a list of Twitter handles for the 2014 Chili Bowl Nationals drivers based on the pre-entry list. They are arranged by car number.
0 – Glenn Styres – @GlennStyres
0K – Don O’Keefe Jr – @DOK_LOKENT
1 – Sammy Swindell – @1SAM91
1az – Stevie Sussex III –@Sussex45
1ST – J.J. Yeley – @jjyeley1
1TX-TBA – none
1W-Paul White – none
1X-Bryan Debrick- none
2A-Jason Howell- none
2B-Tyler Reddick – @TylerReddick
2D-Troy DeCaire – @TroyDeCaire
2DD-Josh Hawkins – none
2H-Casey Shuman – @caseyshuman
2P-Payton Pierce – @paytonpierce18p
2R-Levi Roberts – @leviroberts2
2S – Danny Stratton – none
2X – Clint Woolbright – none
3 – Darren Hagen – @D_hagen
3B – Jayme Barnes – none
3DD – Dave Darland – @DaveDarland
3F – Tanner Swanson- @tannerswanson17
3G – Matt Harms – none
3T – Tim Barber – none
4 – Jon Stanbrough – none
4B – Chris Shirek – @ChrisShirek1k
4C – TBD Driver – none
4E – Bobby East – @BobbyEast5
4F – Chad Frewaldt – none
4K – Kevin Thomas Jr – @kevinthomasjr
0 (R) Tyler Brehm – None
1B Bobby Brewer – None
1JR Joe Ramaker – @JoeRamaker
1K Trevor Kobylarz – @TK_0549
2 (R) Stratton Briggs – None
3 Chris Windom – @Chris_Windom
3E TBD Driver
3F Ned Fry – None
4 Aaron Pierce – None
4AU (R) Mathew Smith – none
4J Tim Crawley – none
4R (R) Ryan Greth -none
5$ Danny Smith – none
5C Colten Cottle – @Cottle5
5D Zach Daum – @DaumMotorsports
5E (R) James Edens – @edens52
5K (R) Tucker Klaasmeyer – none
5N (R) Jeffrey Newell – @Jeffrey47Newell
5S Kyle Steffens – @kylesteffens8
6M Justin Mallo – None
7 Shannon McQueen – none
7D Michelle Decker – none
7JR J.D. Black – none
7K Robby Parish – none
7L Layne Himebaugh – @LayneH94L
7N D.J. Netto – @DjNetto88
7S (R) Kory Schudy – none
7X TBD Driver
8 Alex Sewell – @Ajsewell73
8C (R) Kris Schudy – none
8J Jonathan Beason – none
8K Blake Hahn – @BlakeH52
8L Frank Flud – @81racing
8OK (R) Gage Walker – @Carlos_Walker33
09 (R) Matt Juhl – @JuhlRacing09
9D Sean Dodenhoff – none
9M Cory Mallo – @Skeaterdog
11A Andrew Felker – @AndrewFelker11a
11B (R) Josh Baughman – @Josh_Baughman17
11C Chett Gehrke – @ChettGehke
11CA(R) Chris Andrews – none
11H Garrett Hood – none
12S Bryan Severs -none
13AU (R) Matt Hunter – none
14 Tony Rossi- none
14D David McIntosh – none
14E Eric Fenton – @ejokie72
14W Matt Westfall – @mtttw
15 Tim Siner – @Siner_15
15B Danny Burke – none
15D Andrew Deal – @1TheRealDeal5d
15W Brandon Waelti – none
16 Thomas Meseraull – @TMezdriftz
17 Michael Koontz – @MichaelKoontz1
17B TBD Driver
17E Blake Edwards – none
17J (R) Chase Johnson – @chasejohnson24
17K Alex Schutte – @Schutte28
17R Dave Darland – @DaveDarland
17S (R) Dominic Scelzi – @DominicScelzi41
17W Cole Wood – @wood17w
19 Steven Drevicki – @SteveDrevicki
V20 (R) Domain Ramsay – none
20 Tadd Holliman – none
20X Jimmy Harris – none
21 Daryn Pittman – @DarynPittman
21H (R) Ty Hulsey – @tyhulsey
23 Jimmy Light – @jimmylight23
24 Tracy Hines – @Tracyhinesracin
24L C.J. Leary – @CJ_Leary_30
25 Dylan Peterson – none
25B Steve Buckwalter – @SteveBuckwalter
26 Shane Golobic – @ShaneGolobic
27R Kyle O’Gara – @kyleogara
28 (R) Greg Fitzpatrick- none
29S Brian Harvey – none
31 David Budres – @davidbudres
31B Travis Berryhill – @tbspeed11
32 Casey Shuman – @caseyshuman
32A Garrett Aitken – @garacing32
32D Danny Jennings – @dannyjenningz
33 Davey Ray – @DaveyRay33
33D (R) Lee Dakus – none
33H Cameron Hagin – @Racer35
35 (R) Logan Hupp – @LoganHupp52
38 Billy Wease – @BillyWease12
39 Joey Saldana – @JS71MRacing
45X (R) C.J. Johnson – none
50 Daniel Adler – none
52 (R) Richard McCormick – none
52C (R) Isaac Chapple – @IsaacChapple52
55D (R) Nick Drake – none
55F Taylor Ferns – @TaylorFerns
56X Mark Chisholm – @Thechizontour
56XX (R) Lance Bennett – none
57D Daniel Robinson – none
62 Taylor Simas – none
63 Bryan Clauson – @BryanClausonInc
63NZ Michael Pickens – none
69 A.J. Fike – @FikeAj
71S Sheldon Haudenschild – @haud93
71X Jac Haudenschild – @Haudenschild_R
73 (R) Jason McDougal – @Jasonmcdougal73
75X Landon Simon – @LandonSimon24
76M Brad Noffsinger – @bnoffy
77 Alex Bright – @AlexBright77
78 Nick Wean – none
79J (R) Jacob Patton – @JacobPatton79
80 Josh Hawkins – @Hawk80Racing
81B Ryan Beechler – @BeechlerRyan
82 Eric Johnson -none
82H Mike Hess-none
83 Kurt Blackaby -none
85 Matt Johnson – @Mjons
85S Shane Hollingsworth-none
86 Chris Ennis – @ChrisEnnisRacin
87C Coby Hughes – @RiggsRacing
91 Dereck King -none
91T Tyler Thomas – @TylerThomas91
91W (R) Mickey Walker – @larrybyrds
92 Brenden Bright – @BrendanYeates
93 Dustin Morgan – @DMRacing2
93H Harley Hollan – none
94 Darren Kingston – none
95 (R) Jim Radney – @HyperRacing44
96 Cody Brewer -none
98 P.J. Jones -none
99 Brady Bacon – @BradyBacon
99G Justin Grosz – @JGrosz99g
If I missed a Twitter account or a driver that registered late that needs to be added, please feel free to let me know in the comments section below. Like it? Like it below, and share with your friends.
The Best of 2013. (Because hellloooo 2014.)
In this silly, happy, stressful time we call New Year’s, I wanted to recap a year in DirtyMouth blog posts. Some of you are new to this blog (sign up for the newsletter if so!), and you might not know how we roll here. So if you’re looking for something to read that will help propel you forward in racing, and maybe in life, I’ve summarized a few of the best, most popular musings this year.
All I ask is that if you have something you’d like to read more about in 2014, please post in the comments with what that is or shoot me an email. And maybe tell me why, if you’re feeling so bold. I have plans for lots of different projects and content, but any direction for what should come first and loudest would be great!
Happy New Year’s!
Kristin
Sponsorship and Marketing
Finding a Sponsor is Like Online Dating (Or, why sponsorship templates don’t work.)
Searching for sponsors this off-season? Ask yourself these 2 questions.
Warm Up Prospective Sponsors (Snuggie not required)
What You Can Learn from Drivers that Cry Poor (Hint: Don’t Do It)
Mindset and Goals
Fourth Quarter Intervention: Are you where you wanted to be in 2013?
How to deal with people who (kindly) don’t support your racing dream.
Turn people off. It works, believe me.
Change: It’s hard, scary, and totally worth it. Also: Donuts and Bacon
Fans and Social Media
My 2013 Goal Check-In/Slap in the Face
First of all, I just want to wish everyone a happy holiday season! I hope you’re able to relax, eat bacon and watch lots of World of Outlaws coverage on CBS Sports.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a post on doing a fourth quarter intervention where you take stock of your year-to-date goals and see if there’s anything else you’d like to accomplish before the ball drops on 2013.
And since I’m so good at taking my own advice, I did the same for myself (<- completely false.)
In the days that lead up to our trip to Indy for IMIS/PRI, I was frantically searching for paperwork (scraps of post-its) that I filed (threw in my desk) for our trip. I ended up doing a full clean-out (tilted drawer into trash can) and found a piece of paper that I hadn’t thought about in months: my goals for 2013. I had set ambitious goals for my income and savings, personal relationships, public relations and sponsorship, etc. I was pretty shocked.
In all honestly, I’ve been pretty down on myself lately. I haven’t been hitting my billing goals in the last few weeks – even though I have clients waiting to give me more work. I haven’t been posting here as often as usual because the admin section of the website has been down. Related -> I haven’t fixed the admin section of the website. I haven’t released the new website redesign I’ve been working on for months. I haven’t started projects I know would be well-received and I haven’t pushed Start on projects that are already complete for fear of failure or rejection.
It’s been a tough month for me mentally, in which I felt like I didn’t achieve nearly what I should have in 2013. So finding this piece of paper was a huge slap in the face.
Because those goals that I set for myself almost a year ago? I knocked every single one of them out of the park.
Consider my mind sufficiently blown.
One of the best character traits that I believe all successful racing people have is drive. Motivation. The desire to grow, change, succeed and accomplish things. But we’re not all blessed with the ability to put that in perspective. Because the need to constantly improve and push for the next goal, the next win, the next great thing, sometimes overrides our ability to appreciate what we already have achieved.
I learned that the hard way this year.
Before you look ahead to what you want to do next year, take a second and look at all you accomplished in 2013. And pour yourself a glass of nog to celebrate your success. Because if you’re the type of person that’s reading this blog, I guarantee you’ve earned it.
Thanks for making this year great for me and my little family. Your kind words and support mean more than you know!
Cheers,
Kristin
P.S. Once you’ve washed down that eggnog, please let me know if there’s something more you’d like to know, read about, discuss or learn here in 2014. Interviews? How-to’s? Guides? Videos? Podcasts? I’m working on some new projects for next year and am open to suggestions of any kind. Leave a comment or shoot me an email.
Heading to IMIS/PRI? Here are five ways to get the most out of your trip.
As far as conferences go, the International Motorsports Industry Show (IMIS) and the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) trade show have set themselves apart as the premier gatherings for racers and industry folk alike.
Events like IMIS and PRI provide valuable networking opportunities, key insights into the industry on and off the track, and for most of us two shots of motivation and inspiration for the next racing season. Now that the two shows are combined, there’s an unprecedented number of opportunities to meet new people and learn new things, but it’s also overwhelming to decide how to spend your time, especially if you’re not able to attend the entire show.
Having attended for the past few years, here are a few tips that I have for getting the most out of your trip to IMIS/PRI:
1. Save Your Sanity. Generally I would tell you I can’t help you here – let’s just say that would be the arguably bat-shit crazy leading the blind – but in the specific case of trade shows, I can give you some advice.
The whole point of these conferences is to provide a ton of information about a ton of different subjects so that everyone can have access to pretty much everything they need in one place. But it’s a gift and a curse – if you try to learn a ton of information about a ton of different topics at once, you probably won’t absorb much of anything.
I make this mistake myself – I try to go to every class that even remotely interests me so that I have that information in case I need it sometime in the future. But I take so many notes and record so many snippets of lectures that I just set it all aside when I get home to sort out later. I get excited about the info, then overwhelmed by how much of it is there and walk away. And I rarely go back to it – sometimes missing the very opportunities that I went there to find.
It completely defeats the purpose.
The hard, unfiltered truth is that you won’t be able to take it all in. So choose a few topics that you want to learn about this year, I recommend a maximum of four, and let go of the rest. The more you try to do, the thinner you’re spreading yourself. Then, only go to the seminars and talks that directly relate to the handful of goals that you’re looking to achieve the next year.
2. Use my note-taking system. You won’t achieve any of your goals without taking action. So I take two kinds of notes – one for general information that relates to your goals and milestones and a second set of notes that you can’t put into action in the next few weeks. Sometimes I do two columns in one notebook, sometimes I do two separate notebooks and sometimes I take one set and highlight action items as I go.
Another tip? If you’ve got multiple people in your group going to the same seminar, have everyone take notes. You’ll be surprised at how different the final product will be.
3. Skip classes. You did this plenty in high school and you turned out alright. At least that’s what your mom says.
Don’t go sit in presentations all day, and not just to save your sanity. Some of the best information you’ll get is the conversations you’ll have at the vendor booths and in the hallways (read: happy hour). There’s definitely value in what you’ll learn from seminars, but getting ahead in racing depends just as much on rubbing shoulders and building relationships.
4. Make a plan. Stick to it (or don’t.) If you wait until you get to Indy to decide what booths you’re going to visit and what seminars you’ll attend you’ll get very overwhelmed, especially with the shows combining this year. So sit down and look at the website before you leave to decide on a basic schedule.
But don’t be afraid to ditch your plan once you get there – you never know where you’ll get invited or what you’ll find out about at the show. Don’t pass up opportunities just because you put a schedule into your iPhone.
5. Prepare your elevator speech. Then identify the elevators. If you’re looking to meet people, like product manufacturers or potential sponsors and customers, you’re going to have to introduce yourself over and over again. Be prepared.
Here are a few tips for crafting a good set of answers:
- Think about who you are and who you aren’t.
- Think about what you want people to know about your story. What’s important for them to know and what doesn’t matter?
- Practice your message (a lot).
- Define a few different approaches, and test them out. See what piques people’s interest and what makes people’s eyes glaze over. After a while, you can hone your pitch to what works best.
Identifying the elevators – or the people who actually want to hear what you have to say – is extremely important. Spending your time pitching yourself to people who aren’t interested is a waste. It doesn’t benefit you and it doesn’t benefit the other person, either – it might even leave a bad taste in their mouth. Quickly reading body language and cues can help save you time and energy.
6. Listen at least as much as you talk. You’ll build more relationships by listening than you will by telling people how great you are. I trust that you know what I mean here.
See you there?
IMIS/PRI is a ton of fun, and I hope this helps you get the most of your experience.
I’ll be at the show on Thursday and Friday, and out and about in Indy on Saturday. Leave a comment below, hit me up on Twitter at @kswartzlander or shoot me an email at Kristin@dirtymouthcommunications.com if you want to meet up and chat about racing and the business side of our great sport. I’d love to see you there!
Connect!