Show them the level of reach you have through various channels to promote their product to other users.  Are you an event organizer or a member of an association or club that promotes your particular sport?  Consider taking on a leadership position in the club so you’re more known and recognized.  Being the president or vice president of such a club shows that other people look to you for leadership.  That’s a great way to promote and push product for a company.

Other ways you can express your reach is through social media like Facebook, Youtube and Twitter.  Show them the connections you have through these mediums and use them to your advantage.  I don’t know half the people I’m connected with on Facebook but judging by the ATV’s in their profile picture, somehow they figured out I work in this industry.  Posting updates, pictures and reviews of product is a great way to prove your influence to a company.

Now to be fair, just talking about how many friends you have on Facebook or followers you have on Youtube wont necessarily benefit you the first time around.  But if you use the first season as a trial period with a company and they get to see the representation you offer through updates, reviews, pictures and talking them up to your friends, they’re likely to take notice.

It’s kind of like the old mantra “the squeaky wheel gets the oil.”  Don’t be irritatingly present, just keep in contact.  90% of the companies you would seek sponsorship from are on Facebook and eager to interact with their customers.  Be LOUD in terms of your representation of them.  Find new and creative ways to promote their products to others.  If you can prove that their investment in you lead to additional sales, they’ll be more interested in doing more for you in the future.

If you receive ANY level of sponsorship from a company it falls in one of two categories; either they believe you have the skill and influence to attract others and ultimately sell product or they just want to help you out and promote their sport.

When all is said and done sponsorship is about selling product.  Companies offer a discount to athletes because they believe that person will represent their brand well and ultimately help them sell product.  Even for those fortunate enough to receive product for free, that company believes that associating their name with that person will ultimately persuade consumers to use their product. Nike does it, energy drink companies do it and probably every company in your sport does it.

Red Bull pays Travis Pastrana millions to be able to associate their brand with his name.  Any time his warm and friendly smile is on TV or in a magazine, people will be seeing that little silver and blue logo somewhere in frame.  For top athletes it’s about brand recognition and the only way they will maintain those lucrative sponsorship deals is if they find a way to brand themselves in such a way that they remain a fan favorite long after their glory days are over.

Unfortunately the ranks of amateur sponsorship is where most of us fall and it also seems to be where there is the greatest level of misunderstanding.  Yes, companies will sponsor even amateurs.  It’s their way of promoting their sports and building lasting relationships with consumers

It is true that as time goes on and one receives more exposure or better results, a sponsor may in fact increase their level of support for that rider.  This is where the misunderstanding takes place.  It is not BECAUSE that rider has merely done better, but because the company believes that there is a greater marketing opportunity with that individual because of the number of eyes that may be on him or her as they move up in their particular field…that’s it.  A Pro racer that finishes in the back of the pack has more eyes on him than an amateur finishing at the top of his class.  The amateur may hoist a number 1 over their head at the end of the day but it’s the pro class guy that is more likely to get valuable media attention and put a company’s brand in front of the masses.

Yes, from time to time a company will extend a discount or offer product to a rider just to help them out.  That’s the luxury of being in business and in no way should it create the mindset that they deserver free product or large discounts all the time.  Most companies want to support the sport they’re involved in and find that they can still make a profit while helping out amateur riders by offering discounts.

That shouldn’t deter the athlete from doing everything in their power to market and promote that company, if anything they should do it all the more because the company is more so doing them a favor.  When a company has the top industry professionals using their product already, they don’t need the novice beginner or even intermediate level athlete’s exposure.  What they do want to do is help those athletes along in their career and build relationships so that one day if they do make it to the top, they can both benefit from a long standing relationship where everybody wins.

My best advice for seeking sponsorship is to take on the “its not about me” mentality.  If you don’t like someone’s offer and you don’t believe in their product enough to stick with it even at a lower discount, don’t fight it or complain about it.  Move on to someone else and see if you can get a better discount elsewhere.  Chances are there will be someone else that will come along that will be more than happy to accept their offer.  Companies like working with people who are appreciative of anything they can get.  It’s often times those people that build lasting relationships that benefit both the rider and the company over the long haul.