Expedition Sponsorship: Is it really wheeling for free?
Written by Lance Blair
We all have that image of a dream rig covered in stickers, out on some epic adventure, writing our magazine articles or filming our TV show and not a penny came out of our pockets. Or maybe you have heard one of the thousands of people say something like “well I hit tons of trails and do cool stuff, company X should give me some gear”. Well what if I told you that hour for hour you will work harder when sponsored than if you just paid for things yourself? Follow along and you will see why.
First we need to clear up a few misconceptions with some questions you need to hear. Why you? Who really cares what you do or say? What have you done before that was worth knowing about? If you can't come up with some very high quality answers that you only need about 10 seconds to give, then read on, but keep those questions in mind.
It is important to know why a company might sponsor you and who your competition is. Magazine ads, racers, non-profits, the owners' brother in law, and even those people who pay full retail and then go post an excellent writeup on a forum or website, these are all your competition for those precious marketing dollars. And worst of all, most of these are easier and more proven than you as an unknown.
Companies sponsor in exchange for brand building exposure. Increasing sales is an indirect result (if you can show a direct result that is very powerful). You have to bring eyeballs to their product as well as influence wallets. This happens through shows, print, TV and the web. Plain and simple: if you can't reach more people than a magazine ad then you have little chance.
So if I haven't scared you away yet, and you have some good answers to the “why you” question, then let's get down to 7 tips I can offer to get you those sponsor relationships:
I lick my lips to find them very salty. The sweat from my face is now running down my face in an unsteady stream and it’s becoming all too obvious I’m rather out of shape, but this is no time for giving up. It’s all I can do to just hold on much less move up. Before I knew what had happened I was sitting in my harness, rope taut, heart pumping, smiling from ear to ear. I was about ten feet from completing the lead of the second pitch of what may be most famous route in the Gunks’, High Exposure, and this is exactly what I had come for. The rush of the challenge and the satisfaction of overcoming them are what makes adventure travel so appealing to so many.
What is adventure travel? Adventure travel takes many forms, from climbing Mt. Fuji to SCUBA diving the Great Barrier Reef. That said, what is considered adventure varies person-to-person. The point of adventure travel is that you are seeing areas that are generally not a major tourist destination and participating in activities that may push you outside your comfort zone.
We all have that image of a dream rig covered in stickers, out on some epic adventure, writing our magazine articles or filming our TV show and not a penny came out of our pockets. Or maybe you have heard one of the thousands of people say something like “well I hit tons of trails and do cool stuff, company X should give me some gear”. Well what if I told you that hour for hour you will work harder when sponsored than if you just paid for things yourself? Follow along and you will see why.
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