How to promote yourself without feeling like a sell-out.

by | Feb 5, 2015 | Mindset, Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Social Media

Quick Note: Just a reminder that DirtyMouth will be at RPM doing quick and dirty consulting sessions and much more at RPM from February 16th and 17th. Sign up for a session here. I’ve gotten a few requests for non-promoter coaching while I’m in town, too. If that’s of interest, please shoot me an email at Kristin@DirtyMouthCommunications.com and we can setup a quick intro call to see if it’s a fit. Now, on to the good stuff… — How to promote yourself without feeling like a sell-out. We all know that racer – the one that repeatedly finds a way to tell everyone else how great he is. He’s on Twitter, Facebook and, sometimes, a victory lane microphone lamenting how hard he’s worked, how much he’s sacrificed and why he deserves to win over, well, you. When the topic of self-promotion comes up on almost every coaching call I do, we inevitably end up talking about that guy (or girl). And almost everyone, myself included, has that moment where we think everyone else believes that guy. They’re buying it, right? They think she’s as great as she thinks she is. “And I don’t want to be that guy, so I’m just not going to promote myself at all.” – said me, and lots of clients.  But in reality, that’s not the case. Most people can see right through the clutter and call it what it is. Bull. (Even though it’s interesting to watch sometimes…) So how do you promote yourself without selling out or blowing smoke or being that guy? Listen before you talk. This is important in all...

There’s a time to produce and a time to promote.

by | Jan 22, 2015 | Media and Public Relations, Mindset, Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Social Media

Without one, it’s really tough to successfully do the other. You might not see it directly as a racer – in theory you can do the work of building a fast race car and win races without ever promoting. But that’s just theory. How many successful racers do you know that pay the bills just by winning races? I don’t know any at all. Purse structures don’t support that model. Without some level of promotion, you can’t pay for your racing, except for out of your own pocket. (Which I would also argue makes you a successful person, not necessarily a successful racer. Nothing – nothing at all – wrong with that. But recognize the distinction.) Successful racers pay for their programs off the track with apparel sales, sponsorship packages, product partnerships and more. And how do they do that? Promotion. You can’t sell tickets to your race track, t-shirts or sponsorship packages for your race team, and race car parts or shock dyno services for your racing business if no one knows who you are, what you do and why they should want to be a part of that. You can’t pay the bills without promotion. But here’s the catch you’ve probably already considered– you can’t promote without producing. At least, not for long. If all you do is promote your race track but you don’t do the work, you won’t continue to sell tickets. Twitter won’t find your fans working restrooms. You can’t make promises to marketing partners without doing the work. You can’t tell people about your speed shop if you don’t have any parts. You can’t...

Before You Move on to 2015…Do This:

by | Jan 1, 2015 | Mindset, Thoughts and Rants

I have to say, I’m pretty excited to roll into 2015. In the past few weeks, I’ve gotten busy on goal-setting for the new year.  I’ve got a few projects up my sleeve for both racers and promoters, and I’m pumped to share those with you over the next few months. But before that all happens, I want to take a moment to avoid one of the biggest mistakes that I make each year: not celebrating the goals I met from the previous year. If you don’t recognize your past successes, you’re subconsciously telling yourself that you won’t celebrate future ones, either. How motivated do you think you’ll be, then, to achieve those goals if there’s nothing in it for you in the end? You must celebrate your accomplishments to know what success looks (and feels) like. Here are a few highlights from my 2014 – the good and the bad – and the lessons I learned: Growing the community. DirtyMouth became a real, live thing in 2014 and the response was amazing. There are so many people, from clients to friends, which I’m proud to be associated with – and a lot of those people came to me through this blog. From page views and social media statistics to subscribers, the numbers far exceeded my expectations. But there is still tons of room for growth. Actually, that’s my main focus for 2015: continuing to grow and serve this community, to make a real impact on this sport. (So, if you find this or any other piece of content from DirtyMouth helpful, I encourage you to share it. Let’s make...

Offseason Got You Down? Beat the Funk.

by | Dec 19, 2014 | Mindset

Few of us look forward to the offseason. Ask anyone in racing in the middle of June if they’d like to stand in the middle of an empty race track or stay home on a Friday night, and they’ll certainly tell you politely what they think of that. But once it’s here, it’s nice to take a break. For about a week. Until you start going a little stir crazy. What you do in the offseason can set the tone for what you do the rest of the year. It’s the foundation of your season. Here are a few ways to beat the funk and get your offseason on-track: Start with winter maintenance. You’ve probably already gotten to work on your winter maintenance, so this one is a given. If you’re a racer, that might mean stripping your car down to the chassis, doing regular upkeep or building a new one from the ground up. If you’re a promoter, that might mean assessing your facilities and starting winter projects like reinforcing and painting grandstands and improving bathrooms. Go deeper. Now is probably the only time of the year for in-depth assessment and building instead of maintaining. You can go much deeper than usual with components that change over the season, like setups, tires, shocks and engines. Have your shocks dyno’d. Check your electrical and fluid systems. Have your engine tuned. Make sure you know what you have before you move forward. Gather data. Everything you’ve measured this season – from fan attendance to setup information – take the time to catalog it. Identify your strengths and weaknesses, and opportunities...

It’s Trade Show Season! Make the Most of Your Trip

by | Dec 4, 2014 | Mindset, Thoughts and Rants

For most dirt track and asphalt racers, the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show next week will be one of the biggest business events of the off-season. And if you’re a racing promoter, you might already be in Reno for the RPM Promoter’s Workshops – another great industry event. I’ll be attending PRI next week in a few capacities – as a buyer and as a rep for a few of my industry clients. My newest client will also be there, debuting a major initiative that’ll benefit the entire industry. I’m excited to be able to share that news soon! I’ll also be meeting with a few new potential clients to see if we’re a good fit and what that relationship might look like going forward. This year’s show will be different from those in the past, when I’ve had a looser strategy. And that’s what I want to touch on today – setting a game plan and making it happen. Whether you’re headed to a trade show, networking event or team holiday party, it’s important to make the most of your opportunities. I wrote an article last year on five ways to get the most out of your trip or event, and it’s definitely worth reading again. It touches on: Saving your sanity by avoiding shiny object syndrome. Taking notes using my (simple) system – so you’ll be able to actually use them later. Skipping (most) presentations. You can’t replicate the opportunity to meet new people and strengthen existing relationships in person. Making a plan and sticking to it, while still allowing for spur-of-the-moment opportunities. Preparing information about...

Consistency Wins Championships (and Other Fun Things. Like Money.)

by | Nov 20, 2014 | Media and Public Relations, Mindset, Motorsports Marketing for Tracks, Teams and Businesses, Racing Social Media, Racing Sponsorship

“Bad marketing done consistently will beat good marketing done inconsistently.” – I’m not sure who said it, or even where I first read it, but I like it. A lot. It’s a good reminder to me that just showing up consistently is more than most people will do. On every level of racing, there are champions. Championships are designed to name and reward the best performer over the course of a season. How many times, though, have you seen or heard someone gripe about a champion who didn’t win that many races? That’s why championships can be so controversial, and why NASCAR in particular has struggled with how to determine a champion over the last decade. We all know that consistency is the key to winning championships, even if that means you rarely, if ever, see the top of the podium. In racing, I get that. But for me, this ‘consistent bad marketing’ principle can be frustrating. And eye-opening. Because while I’m toiling away, whittling every sentence to perfection, other people are showing up more often. See, I’m a perfectionist. A lot of times, this is a great thing. My clients especially love it. But some times it slows me down, waiting to release things or submit a piece of work until every little detail is perfect. (By the way, I’m not trying to say that others are doing bad marketing and I’m doing good – often, we’re just different. In fact, that’s DirtyMouth in a nutshell. The reason that I created my business and started publishing (free!) content here is that in many ways, I don’t think we do...