Good sponsorship article

This is not a 30 second skim, it's an article well worth reading if you are involved in racing and are not independently wealthy.

http://yostautosport.com/?page_id=153

It's aimed at the industry as much as it is racers, but there's some real meat in there on how best to get a good partnership going. I've been on both sides of the fence, and I've got some ways to improve.

Spend the time. It's worth it. It starts off with a bit of a rant about the current state of sponsorship before it settles down in to how to do it right.

saved the site, will read the thing after work tonight.

I've got a great partnership with a local shop. It helps that we were friends prior - I think we're both making sure we're holding up our end of the bargain.

Gonna read it after work.

I might even go so far as to call that a great sponsorship article, and should bookmark it for the next time I see somebody post about their 'novel' sponsorship idea they want other people to buy into. Of course, this article obviously functions as a promotional tool in and of itself, growing their own brand image in the minds of all the people who read it.

This article details most of why I'm generally a bit of a sponsorship skeptic, from either side of the deal. But even knowing that this is also essentially a sponsorship pitch, it still succeeded in making me think that they're the type of team I too would want to partner with if I ever found myself in a position to do so. So it worked on both the benevolent and strategic fronts.

This is probably one of the most noteworthy lines to me:

The Article said: Partnerships should be designed to make a program better, not to allow it to exist in the first place.

In reply to Keith Tanner:

That's an excellent article.

Thanks for sharing. Found a lot of opportunities for improvement for myself in there.

I was pitched to sponsor a local race team. All they wanted was $18,000 to get their engine out of hock so they could go racing. I asked what would happen if the engine blew during the first event. After some squirming and muttering, it was "Well we would expect you to buy another motor, we don't have the money for one." I pointed out that $18,000 was almost one year's budget for a cable tv system in my area. Silence. I passed on this great opportunity.

That was a fantastic article, all around. I've come across the same "Sponsorship" model in other interests of mine in the past. It was of so little benefit to be on the receiving end of that I don't think I ever accepted anything.

Years ago when I was road racing motorcycles and doing fairly well, I approached a frequent flyer/high roller customer of the shop where I worked about some help with my program. He owned a good sized auto repair/mods/wheels business and was getting into bikes, and he was receptive. He signed on for the first half of my season covering a couple sets of tires, race fuel, lubes and fluids. My end of the deal was to try to win races. This included pushing hard in the rain, and generally having to perform when I'd sometimes have preferred not to. He and his pals would congregate in my paddock spot, and what it did serve to do was make racing a lot less fun. When I finished the last Sunday sprint race that marked the halfway point of my season, I took my gloves as soon as I reentered the pits and was scraping his die-cuts off. I had seen it as a having some prestige, but it essentially made racing a job. I never entertained sponsorship again.

Currently I have only the SCCA-mandated mandated stickers on my prototype 2 race car, except for those from Radial Tire Company in Silver Spring MD. They've been selling me sets of Hoosier slicks at a good price and mounting/balancing/flipping while I wait for free, for 6 years. Other than their stickers it's privateer white, and proud of it.

Keith I read the article and started thinking hey I'm on board with what this guy is saying, should I ever bump into him I'll tell him I like the article. Then I finally realized who the writer was, I actually know the guy, he and Jordon are locals. I couldn't agree more. I see so many dufi that think somebody is supposed to pay for their hobby, it really is akin to walking into restaurant and saying hey I like to eat and I'll put you in my blog if you feed me for free.

Motomoron I too had a similar experience while racing bikes, fortunately for me I only had to see it, I watched a top support team demand their rider go out onto a track that clearly was unsafe, even by bike standards. When I saw it unfold I stood their glaring at the team owner who was not known for mincing words, as I was a nobody club racer I'm sure I went unnoticed. Had they said something I would have let me know that signing someone's check doesn't entitle you to demand they totally risk their life and if its so F######g safe you ride the bike. It happened 25 years ago and I'm still bent about it. So yes before you think you're going to be on the sponsorship gravy train you might want to think about all the ramifications.

I've managed to network; I pay for parts and services but by working with people they give me lots of great advice for free and take the extra time with me. Now you might think hey it's just good customer service but it goes further than that, having a relationship means I can be totally upfront about where I stand. Conversations may include "for your needs just get an el cheapo item off the net" or "I don't need it for a couple of months" it's all about give and take. Granted I make my living negotiating contracts for services so I'm more at ease taking with people about this kind of stuff, it has to work for both of parties or it quickly turns sour.

Tom