dannyfrankszzz said:Hi, I was wondering if anyone knew about how to go about getting
sponsorship for road racing.Is it simply a question of going out and winning a few races and
getting noticed?
Unless you win most of your races, they *won't* notice you. *YOU* have to
make it happen.
Decide what you want in terms of sponsorship - goods in kind are easier to
get than oodles of cash. Approach several (read,Hundreds) of companies who
can supply what you need, and ask for it. Don't wait for them to come to
you - find out who the Marketing Director of the company is, and who their
PR company is. Call them, get in front of them and talk.
The important thing is to consider the project from 'What can YOU do for the
sponsor' angle. Why should (for example) Shimano give you free components?
The answer, of course, is publicity and coverage - but you'll have to tell
THEM how you will get that for them.
And.... you'll have to repeat that for every sponsor that you want.
And.... you'll have to deliver on your promises.
As a real world example, watch Formula 1 drivers; regardless of the millions
they earn, they always have to make sure that they wear the correct baseball
cap during the interviews at the end of the race - because that's the deal
with the sponsors.
This advice is not given from a knowledge of cycle racing... it's the same
for any level of sponsorship. There may be some special 'cycling' tricks to
sponsorship, but you can't beat the basics.
HTH,
Pete.