Where all the fun happens.
Dropping knowledge left and right. But mostly left.
What You Can Learn from Drivers that Cry Poor (Hint: Don’t Do It)
It’s the same story every week – we pick up the racing paper, turn on a podcast, and log into a social media account just to see a driver patting himself on the back for how much he accomplished despite his lack of funds. According to him, he’s running an old chassis with a motor that’s never been freshened, and he hauls it all to and from the track on his own dime.
But he doesn’t have a day job, he’s running a new chassis, and his sponsor bought him that too-new-to-need-freshened motor.
As a publicist, it makes me want to scream for a number of reasons.
I hear it over and over again from clients – the frustration of dealing with drivers that cry poor. They believe that those drivers are gaining fans and patrons – the guy that walks up and buys them a tire because they feel bad for him – by lying about their situations.
But ask yourself this:
How did the people who actually did help non-successful driver X feel when they weren’t thanked? When all they heard was that driver didn’t have any support? Did it belittle their efforts and contributions? You bet.
Having a chip on your shoulder about not having support or real sponsors does nothing but attract pity, at best. If you’re lying about it, it’s worse – it’s demeaning. It depreciates the people that feel they have supported you and makes the fans that cheer for you feel duped when they figure it out.
Yes, there are some people that will give the guy who complains that he’s broke some help here and there. But it’s not a long-term solution, and it’s not free. Help like that comes with a catch. If you accept money, a discount or equipment based on the fact that you just don’t have enough to race on your own, you’ll only have them as long as you’re broke. If you’re successful, they’re out.
I know what you’re thinking: what if they just start liking me for what I do and not just because they feel bad for me? They won’t. Why? Because you’ll run them off in the meantime. They’ll see you on Twitter buying new Nike’s. You’ll take your wife out to a nice dinner. And they imagine that it’s their money funding those purchases. It’s especially raw when many of these people haven’t bought new Nike’s for themselves in a long while.
That’s why need-based sponsorship is never a real solution.
Yes, it’s frustrating to see a guy lie about what he has to get someone to buy him a tire or lend him a motor. It’s frustrating to see guys that don’t have a job ask for people to find him a ride. But whatever they get is fleeting.
Performance-based sponsorship is long-term. As long as you execute the program, whether it’s winning races or showing up for your sponsor’s events, you will have their support.
Don’t whine about not having any sponsors (i.e. devaluing any help you have), and shout from the rooftops how wonderful the people are who already support you. Positive attracts positive, and if you’re generous with crediting others, you have the ability create long-term relationships with generous people.
So how do you cope with drivers that cry poor? I would love to hear about it.
Like this post? Like it below, and don’t forget to share it with your friends!
xo.
Kristin
2013 Knoxville Nationals Driver Twitter Handles
If you’re a sprint car racing fan, there’s no doubt that you’re tuning in to the Knoxville Nationals this week. Below is an updated list of Twitter handles for the 2013 410 Knoxville Nationals drivers that I issued last year.
This list includes drivers on Knoxville’s pre-entry list and their Twitter handles, broken into groups based on their qualifying night as of Tuesday, August 6th. New drivers or drivers that have joined twitter since the 2012 list have been noted in bold.
Wednesday Qualifiers (by car number):
0 Jonathan Allard – @allard0
1 Sammy Swindell – @1sam91
1a Jacob Allen – @JacobAllen1a
1D Justin Henderson – @Henderson_racin
1K Kyle Larson – @KyleLarsonRacin
2 Dale Blaney – none
2K Kevin Ingle – none
2L Ed Lynch Jr – none
2LX Logan Forler – @forlerracing
2MF Brad Foster – none
2s Lee Sowell – @leesowellracing
4x Dakota Hendrickson – @dakota_joshua
4J Lee Grosz – @leegrosz
05 Bill Boles – none
6 David Gravel – @DavidGravel89G
7x Dustin Selvage – @sprntcar7
7s Jason Sides – @SidesMotorsport
7TAZ Tasker Phillips – none
9 Daryn Pittman – @darynpittman
9W Brandon Wimmer – @brandonwimmer
10V Glen Saville – none
11K Kraig Kinser – @kraigkinser11k
11N Randy Hannagan – @hurricanerhr
12 Lynton Jeffrey – @lyntonjeffrey
12P TJ Peterson – none
15 Donny Schatz – none
17 Josh Baughman – @Josh_Baughman17
17A Austin McCarl – @austinmccarl17a
17W Cole Wood – @wood17w
18 Ian Madsen – @IanMadsen
18T Tony Bruce Jr – @tonybrucejr
19 Bob Weuve – none
19M Brent Marks – @Brent_Marks
20PK Ron Krysl – none
35 Skylar Prochaska – @ProchaskaRacing
35AU Jamie Veal – @jvr35
39 Greg Hodnett – none
40 Caleb Helms – @HelmsRacing40
41 Jason Johnson – @JasonJohnsonRac
45x Johnny Herrera – @racing45x
47 Don Droud Jr. – @dondroudjrracin
48 Danny Dietrich III – @dannydietrich
49 Josh Schneiderman – @jsracing49
49K Brad Sweet – @BradSweet49
51 Paul McMahan – @paulmcmahan
54 Cap Henry – @caphenry
55XM James McFadden – @JamesMcFadden25
56 Davey Heskin – @heskinmotorspor
57 Shane Stewart – @ShaneStewart57
63 Chad Kemenah – @CKR_63
83K Tim Kaeding – @tkaedingracing
93 Dustin Morgan – @dmracing2
99 Brady Bacon – @BradyBacon
Thursday Qualifiers (by car number):
01 Paul Morris – none
1B Robby Wolfgang – @RobbyWolfgang
1T Chris Shirek – @cjn1k
1S Logan Schuchart – @sharkattack1s
2 Garrett Dollansky – @G_DRacing13G
4 Cody Darrah – @CodyDarrah4
4A Jon Agan – @Jon_Agan4
4s Danny Smith – none
o5L Brad Loyet – @LoyetMotorsport
6BR Bill Rose – none
6N Greg Nikitenko – none
6R Ryan Bunton – none
7 Craig Dollansky – @dollanskyracing
7CM Critter Malone – none
7G Kaley Gharst – @KaleyGharst6x
7M Geoff Dodge – @GeoffDodge
10 Rager Phillips – none
11 Steve Kinser – @stevekinser
11c Roger Crockett – @the_Rocket_11
13 Mark Dobmeier – @dobmeierracing
13v Seth Brahmer – none
14AJ Wayne Johnson – none
15H Sam Hafertepe Jr.- @samhafertepejr
17RW Kevin Thomas Jr. – @kevinthomasjr
19s Stevie Smith – @bbandit19
20 AJ Moeller – none
20K Thomas Kennedy – @tj_kennedy_20k
W20 Greg Wilson – @GregWilsonw20
21 Brian Brown – @brianbrown21
23 Jimmy Light – @jimmylight23
23K Rob Kubli – none
24 Terry McCarl – @terrymccarl24
24H Bryan Sebetto – @bryansebetto
24R Rico Abreu – @Rico_Abreu
27 Lance Dewease – @heffnerracing (PR)
28 Brian Paulus – @mpaulus28 (PR)
29 Kerry Madsen – @kmr29
33 Danny Lasoski – @DannyLasoski
44W Austen Wheatley – none
45 Danny Holtgraver – @HoltgraverD4
55 Brooke Tatnell – none
59 Jac Haudenschild – @Haudenschild_R
65 Danny Heskin – none
69 Mike Moore – none
71 Robert Bell – none
71M Joey Saldana – @joeysaldana
71S Kevin Swindell – @kevinswindell
74X Josh Hodges – @joshhodgesracin
80 Trey Gustin – @Gustin_Trey
82 Scott Winters – @The23w
83 Tim Shaffer – @timshaffer83
88 Jarrod Schneiderman – @js_racing88
91 Dusty Zomer – none
96 Bronson Maeschen – @BronsonMaeschen
97g Jody Rosenboom – @JodyRosenboom
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. Need help signing up for or using Twitter? Follow the instructions on our Twitter 101 post here or check out our racing social media services.
Like it? Like it below, and share with your friends. Plus, subscribe to our email list for updates you can’t get anywhere else!
2012 Drivers not Pre-Registered in 2013:
02 Mike Reinke – none
5w Lucas Wolfe – @lucaswolfe5w
7K Jeff Swindell – @JeffSwindell
8 Casey Mack – none
16 Dustin Clark – none
17M Marty Perovich – @team_one7
47AU Trevor Reynolds – none
51 Fred Rahmer – none
81 Austin Johnson – none
96AU Bruce White – none
140 Ricky Logan – none
5 Terri O’Connell – @goterrio
10 Sheldon Haudenschild – @haud93
17B Bill Balog – none
17M Joey Moughan – @jracer2m
21m Jason Meyers – @jasonmeyers14
22x Geoff Ensign – @ensignmotorspts
23 Seth Bergman – @bergmanracing
24x Josh Higday – @jhigday24
35 Tyler Walker – @tylerwalkerms
53D Jack Dover – @JackDoverRacing
55x Trey Starks – @treystarks55
71AU Domain Ramsay – none
71R Ryan Anderson – none
DirtyMouth is changing. Here’s what you can expect…
In the last year, I’ve been very lucky. My consulting business has exploded, and I’ve been booked with work for months in advance. I’ve dug deep, worked nights, weekends and on the road, and set aside the work I normally do for my business, including this blog. Not to mention most of the fun stuff in life. All work, no play.
But I woke up one morning a few weeks ago and realized I had created the lifestyle I wanted and had no time to enjoy it. So I took a step back, and took a sharp left turn (my favorite!). I turned down every project that I didn’t love, put together a work/life strategy and committed to complementing my business with fun projects.
What does this mean for DirtyMouth and the content I create here? Not only will you see more consistent posts, I’ll be doing more of the type of writing I love with an emphasis on long, detail-heavy posts with data and research. You’ll be seeing less beginner information and more in-depth content that serious racers can use to apply business sense to all of this racing nonsense.
I hope you’ll love it, too.
How to Create a Video – Quickly and with No Experience – for your Racing PR Program
Over the last few weeks I’ve been extremely busy with a few projects, including shooting and editing video for one of my clients, PreciseRacing.com. The racing parts supplier was looking for a way to add interactive elements to their brand and video fit the bill.
Shooting video is easy, and it can add so many layers to your racing PR program – from branding to marketing to actual, direct sales. To create videos that will make people want to subscribe to, you should have a mix of messages, not a stream of sales pitches.
What are some of the things you can do with video?
- Action Views – nothing beats on-the-track racing action, with the exception of a really good interview, for race fans. You can also show fast-forwarded material of your crew working on the car at the track or in the shop, washing it, loading it, etc.
- Interviews – ask questions to your driver, crew, owner or even fans. Or, create question slides in your video editor and answer fan-submitted questions!
- Tours – give fans an inside look at your trailer, race shop and other places that would be interesting to a race fan.
- How-Tos – show fans how you do certain tasks on the racecar that they might not know about.
To shoot the video, you can use an actual video camera like the Sony Bloggie Sport (I use a Flip for track videos, but they have discontinued it) or use a regular camera that has video capability. For the PreciseRacing.com videos, I used a Nikon Coolpix. I’ve also used a Panasonic Lumix with pretty good success. All of these choices can be found for under $200 via the Amazon links provided.
Then, you’ll need to edit it. Keep editing and added features to a minimum to maintain an authentic look and feel to your videos – a true ‘behind-the-scenes’ – and keep the viewer from getting distracted. You’re also more likely to do videos more frequently if you’re not spending hours on editing every time.
If you have a Mac, basic editing should only take you a few minutes – just import the video using iMovie and quickly add a face-in or fade-out, a logo to the corner of the screen or crop the video if necessary. You can also add transitions and text. If you’re a PC person, use the video editing software that comes with the camera. You can also use YouTube’s built-in video editor.
Some of the things I’ve learned through trial and error:
- If you can use a microphone for interviews, do it. It will always sound better. We use the hands-free Audio Technica Pro70.
- Turn your head away from the camera as little as possible to prevent your audio from dropping off. If you’re going to refer to something, try to place it in front of you instead of beside or behind you.
- Keep your eyes closed until you’re ready to start talking, then open them and begin. It keeps you from blinking right before you speak, which means your eyes will be open in the lead-in frame.
- Don’t try to memorize a script unless you’re doing a commercial piece (think: sponsor videos!). It’s hard, it probably won’t work and your viewers will be able to tell you’re doing it. It doesn’t seem authentic.
- Keep the video under two minutes unless you’re doing a long, documentary-style shoot or a commercial product. Your audience will check out after that.
For me, being on camera was the hardest part of shooting this video. I’ve been doing media training for my clients for almost 5 years now, interviewed plenty of people as a PR person, and have actually been interviewed a few times…but being on camera all by myself for more than 10 seconds was scary.
My advice if you’re nervous – honestly, just do it. Then delete it and immediately do it again – that one will be a keeper. This has worked for my clients, and it worked for me in this series. Hopefully you agree.
You can learn more about creating a presence on YouTube and uploading video in my racing social media series here.
Like it? Like it below and share it with your friends!
Knoxville Nationals Social Media Report Card
Donny Schatz was the big winner at the Knoxville Nationals last week, banking the $150,000 check that over the nearly 100 teams gunning for the coveted A-Main win. But who was the big winner on social media, specifically on Twitter? Since Schatz doesn’t participate in the Twitter conversation, we know it wasn’t the #15 team.
Looking at the pre- and post-race data from last week’s Knoxville Nationals Driver Twitter list, I’ve highlighted a few of the racing social media standouts below.
Photo from Shane Stewart's Twitter Feed
Number of New Followers:
Standouts: Kyle Larson (+372) and Shane Stewart (+256)
Surprises: Justin Henderson (+105)
Although Larson and Stewart are the two standouts above, Brad Sweet actually gained the most followers with 429 new Twitter fans. But, I don’t classify that as a standout performance as Sweet’s many new followers only made up 2.7% of his followers versus Larson’s gain of 5.8% or Stewart’s gain of 8.9%. He also only tweeted twice throughout the entire Nationals week, while Larson was active 59 times and Stewart put out 75 tweets. Sweet’s gains were based solely on his name, and not his social media performance.
Larson and Stewart supplemented their fantastic on-track performances with great information online. Larson had a stream of commentary on the event and other drivers’ performances, autograph session announcements, and a photo. Stewart did the same, tweeting responses to fans and other drivers, Larson included, and more photos.
Henderson was a surprise gainer last week as a Knoxville, gaining 105 new followers or 13.8% of his Twitter fan base. Henderson did so with a combination of on-track performance, winning Friday night’s A-Main, and providing racing updates.
Most Effective Tweeting:
Standouts: Joey Saldana and Brian Brown
Surprises: Tim Shaffer
Photo from Kyle Larson's Twitter Account
To be considered the most effective, Saldana and Brown gained more than 10 followers per tweet and inspired interactions with and retweets by their followers. Saldana was the big winner, generating more than 19 new followers per tweet, which included pictures and responses to fan and media tweets. Brown gained 12 new followers per tweet by interacting with media and commenting on his results.
Shaffer was surprisingly effective, gaining more than 6 new followers per tweet, mostly because of his prior absence on Twitter – for the first time since he joined the social media jungle, his team provided consistent updates for fans. The account doesn’t interact with anyone – literally, it follows 0 people – but hopefully that’s what’s up next for the more than 1,400 followers he’s already gained.
Takeaway:
Sure, it’s not surprising that those who performed well on the track were rewarded with followers on Twitter, with Brown, Larson, and Henderson directly feeling the effects of a good finish. Schatz is leaving opportunities on the table by removing himself from the conversation, giving up the potential to reach fans for his team and his sponsors – don’t make the same mistake.
Overall, it’s providing content that fans and media enjoyed and found valuable – like Larson, Saldana and Stewart did – and really interacting with your followers that sets you apart in racing social media.
Like it? Like it below, sign up for the DirtyMouth newsletter above and share with your friends!
Knoxville Media and Officials Twitter List
Yesterday, I posted a comprehensive list of sprint car drivers competing in the Knoxville Nationals and their Twitter handles. If you enjoy hearing sports information directly from athletes, there are definitely some racing social media heavy-hitters on that list.
Today’s list will focus on the people that cover dirt track racing, whether they’re in the media or are involved with a track or series, and will be providing updates and commentary from Knoxville this week. Just like the drivers, some of them are motorsports social media professionals while others are a bit more unfiltered.
This is by no means a comprehensive list, and if you’d like to be added to it, please provide your information in the comments section.
If you want to get more information from anyone and everyone who is tweeting about the Nationals this week, I recommend periodically check the #KnoxvilleNats and #KnoxvilleNationals hashtags. You’ll probably find some gems in there. Feel free to retweet them!
Media and Officials (alphabetically):
Brad Doty – @braddoty18 — If you’ve seen him on Speed Channel or heard him announce, well, anything, you know that Brad Doty provides great commentary. The author’s Twitter feed offers equally great gems in the form of firsthand information, retweets and responses to comments. You won’t get any pictures from Doty, though, as his self-proclaimed ‘old phone’ won’t take them.
Chris Dolack – @ChrisDolack — As the World of Outlaws and DIRTcar Racing public relations rep, Dolack offers a bit more than the official feed, answering questions and providing information about drivers from the tour during their run for the Knoxville Nationals trophy.
Jim Chiappelli – @jim_chiappelli Like Winged Nation, his @Speed producer has been posting great updates on the business side of the sport as well as observations and photos from the events. He’s got a producer’s eye for content, obviously, and always has something interesting to add to the conversation.
Knoxville Nationals – @knoxvillenats — The official Twitter account of the 52nd Goodyear Knoxville Nationals provides lots of interesting trivia and information regarding this weeks events in addition to results. Like many of the official feeds, they’re a bit light on interactivity but they’re worth following.
Knoxville Raceway – @knoxvilleraces — The official Twitter account of Knoxville Raceway. They’ve got all of the official results and information going out on this feed, plus answers to comments and questions.
Ralph Sheheen – @ralphsheheen — As a motorsports content producer and broadcaster, Sheheen knows how to offer commentary that fans want without regurgitating results. He also interacts with many drivers, media members and fans on the account.
Sprint News – @SprntCarNews — If you’re a fan of Central PA sprint car racing, Sprint News provides updates that will appeal mostly to the PA Posse crowd including updates on and photos of Posse drivers.
TJSlideways.com – @tjslideways — A news site of all things sprint car racing, this account is as discerning about providing relevant information, whether it’s retweets or firsthand info, for sprint car fans.
Turn 2 Media – @t2media — Turn 2 Media provides live online video broadcasting from Knoxville, and the team is very interactive in terms of customer service and commentary.
Winged Nation – @WingedNation — This weekly sprint car radio show, hosted by Steve Post and Kendra Jacobs, is taking the show on the road this week at the Knoxville Nationals. The account deals with both the business side of the events, with coverage of the forums and sponsorship announcements, and provides a running commentary on what the two hosts are up to this week.
World of Outlaws – @worldofoutlaws — The official Twitter page of the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, the WoO offers more than just official results. The series offers videos, which often include racing highlights and interviews.
If we missed someone you think will add to the conversation, please let me know in the comments section below. Need help signing up for or using Twitter? Follow the instructions on our Twitter 101 post here or check out our racing social media services.
Like it? Like it below, and share with your friends!
Connect!