The sponsor game. Growing up in New Jersey, I didn’t have a lot of help with that over the years, and I made many mistakes. But I learned a lot and became better at it because of it.
In a nutshell, what I’ve learned over the past fifteen years, is that gaining sponsorship is this: Figure out how to help a company sell more stuff and get more people through their doors. That’s the golden rule. That’s the easiest way to describe what sponsorships mean. Sounds easy, but it took me a while to figure that out.
There are a lot of ways for an angler to do that. From local to regional tournaments to the guys who want to tour full-time, adhere to this rule: Present to a company how you’ll help them sell more stuff. It’s tough for them to walk away from that.
It’s broader than just wearing a patch on your vest. It’s exposure. They are getting their name out. You can do that in several ways: logo positioning – jerseys, wraps on trucks and boats, the web, but they should be trackable. Figure out how many eyeballs are seeing it. If you wear an X-brand hat on a cable show, you can determine how many homes that show reaches.
Trackable sales are another form of sponsorship. One of my first bait sponsors was Mann’s bait company. I started taking their products to local accounts that weren’t carrying their products. A dozen tackle shops in my area weren’t carrying them. I’d go in with a handful of baits, explain why they’d be great in our area, and leave them samples. They’d call me back wanting to carry them, and I’d connect them with Manns. That was trackable.
Another way to track sales are coupons with bar codes. I carry coupons from Dick’s Sporting Goods wherever I go and give them out to everyone. Every time that coupon is scanned, it’s trackable. Dick’s can see how many sales I impacted at the end of the year.
Exposure through print media and the web is another way to help a company. It’s straightforward to do. Many local newspapers want people to write about the local fishing scene. Early on in my career, I contacted the Philadelphia Carrier Post, told the sports editor who I was and what I was about, and asked if I could write a column. One thing led to another, and I was soon writing a column where I could plug my sponsors.
The web works the same way, plus Facebook, Twitter, and others. Guest-write for websites and actively promote sponsors in social media. It all goes back to how to help a company. You bring eyeballs to them through the web, print, and person.
I think many people are intimidated by sponsorships, but if you keep these things in mind, it’s not that hard.
It’s about finding contacts. You love company X’s products, and you don’t know anybody there. You create a killer resume and send it in, and it gets thrown away. Instead, find out who does the sponsors, the promotions, the marketing – that’s the person you want to contact.
I suggest creating a “package” that contains a cover letter, small bio, photo, business card, and maybe one or two articles you’ve had published. The cover letter is the most important. Write three to five paragraphs on how you’re going help that crucial person to sell more products. Never ask for anything -ever. Just get across to them you love their product and how you’re going to help them sell more of it. If you can’t do that, your letter will get tossed out. Address it to that contact person. And then follow up with a phone call in about a week and ask, “Did you review my package?” Have your plan in front of you on how you will help them sell more stuff.
You don’t have to have a marketing degree or professional sales background. You have to have a logical plan on how you’re going to help them sell more stuff. It doesn’t matter if you’re a welder, a businessman, a bus driver; it’s hard to say for a potential sponsor “no” to more sales. That’s critical.
Who cares if you’ve won eighteen tournaments or caught the state record? It’s all about how much sales you can bring to their company.
