Admin

This is a continuation of the first article on sponsorship located at http://www.pocketbikeforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=145

To go racing and have a sponsor you should treat yourself as a business. And to conduct yourself as a business you need a business name. Go ahead and make one up that is indicitave of what you do. Your next step is to go register your business name and obtain a bank account in the business name.

When you are looking for a sponsor you need to understand a few things. The sponsor will be a business owner or manager. They will expect you to be professional in your dealings with them.

The first thing you need to do is to contact the sponsor. You can do this a number of ways, phone, email, in person or a letter. Since business people are busy or like to pretend they are busy you should choose the best method for approaching them without wasting time. Personally I feel this would be a letter delivered via snail mail.

This can't be a letter you wrote on on lined paper. To further your professional look you should have letterhead and business cards printed professionally. Professional printing has quality that you cannot achieve on your ink jet or laser printer. Anyone should be able to tell the difference between the two, and a professional will in less than a second. With your letter include a business card.

What should your letter have on it? You should have your full name, address, phone number and email address. You should also have your registered business name on the top of the letter. Explain to the prospective sponsor what you do, when you do it and where you do it. Do not go into a lot of detail about places or events, you must keep it brief. Keeping it brief and to the point will get your point across faster and give you more of an opportunity to have your letter read than to have it tossed inot the garbage.

More points to consider are using a spell checker and grammer check as well. Having read resumes for years and hiring people both without meeting them and interviewing people, I have told people that the reason I am not hiring them is due to their unprofessional resumes and applications. The reason they were not hired is because they did not spend the time to be careful and spell words properly.

Your letter or application is the first introduction you will have with your prospect. If you come off looking like a 12 year old who can't spell, your letter won't make it past the first 30 seconds of reading. Remember that first impressions are made within the first six seconds.

When you meet your prospect you must appear to be professional as well. A suit may be too much, but remember if you are over dressed you can always take off your jacket and/or tie. If you show up in jeans there isn't anything you can do but look the way you are.

Shake hands firmly with your prospect, look them in the eye and explain what you can do for them. This is all about them, not you at this point. What happens next will be a discussion about what they do to help you to help them. No matter how you look at it, it is always about them.

Things you can discuss with the prospect are funds, travel expenses, major purchases, advertising material for both you and for them. How do they want you to put their name out there? Do they want a small sticker on your helmet? Or do they want your bike painted in their colors with their name on it?

Good luck!

As a personal note, if anyone needs help with letters, registering a business name or has any questions please feel free to message and I'll do the best I can.

This article was written by Bruce Peresky for pocketbikeforum.com. Copying is permitted provided you give credit to http://www.pocketbikeforum.com

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Bigbone57

Nice to know you support this Ideal AdminDude; sometimes shooting from the hip levels the playing field..........