Belinda Riseley [00:00:02]:
Hello crew and welcome back to another episode of the Motorsport Sponsorship podcast. I am Belinda Risley and if this is your first time listening to this podcast, thank you. I understand there's so many podcasts, but I do like to hope this podcast is giving you some actionable tips that you can take away and put into process to better your motorsport career team. You're in the right place if you're looking to build a stronger career on and off the track. If you haven't listened to our last episode which talked about five ways to get started with motorsport sponsorship, however, today we're going to be diving deeper into how to actually partner with local businesses. Because truth is, your first few sponsors are likely around the corner, literally. So whether team you're racing carts or cars, local businesses are often the easiest and the best starting point. So in this episode I'm going to walk you through seven simple steps to connect with local businesses and build partnerships that that will benefit both of you.
Belinda Riseley [00:00:59]:
Because at the end of the day, sponsorship is mutually benefit for both parties. So team number one is get clear on your audience. So what does that mean, Belinda, you may ask, before you approach anyone, make sure you have a clear understanding again about your data. Okay, so who sees your go kart? Who's following you currently? Oh, sorry, I shouldn't just say card. Or your car? Who is following you on a lime? Even if your audience is small, it is still relevant. The more data relevant to the prospect. So the local business that you're trying to attract, the better outcome that you're going to have. Local businesses owners care about visibility also within the community.
Belinda Riseley [00:01:47]:
So if you're a part of say the scout group or you're part of, what is the one I'm trying to think of like the light, the Rotary Club, the Rotary Club, they are the things anything that's community orientated love to know about as well. So before you go and approach a local sponsor, make sure that you have all this kind of data around. One, your audience who kind of follows you within that area. And also if you're an influence and or a part of any community group. Number two, really important. They all are really important. But make a list with the local businesses to target. So, so start with businesses basically in your own backyard.
Belinda Riseley [00:02:31]:
So think about your local mechanic, your physio, the dentist, the cafe you're always grabbing a coffee from, the Thai store, the real estate agent, even the bottle shop. But don't overthink it. You're not asking them to fund an entire season or basically we're asked is all I'm asking is for you to I'm not asking them to fund anytime soon. We're basically offering them a marketing opportunity. So they're my creative community based way to get more exposure and to support a local athlete. So once again last week we talked about changing the wording that that sounds a lot better than hey can you please sponsor me because I want to be the next Supercar F1 driver speedway champion. All right, so last week we spoke about ChatGPT or utilizing an AI tool perplexity. So if you haven't already, start to investigate in these free tools that can help you write especially if you are not once again a wordsmith.
Belinda Riseley [00:03:34]:
So point 2 team is I'd love for you to make a list of around about 10 to 15 businesses in a 10 to 30k radius that either yourself or your parents may access on a regular basis. Even better still if you actually know the owners or you know some staff or hey you may even work there yourself. So point number two is make a list of local businesses to target. Number three, identify those benefits that you can offer them. Again, think beyond the yoga the logo, not the yoga the logo. And what real marketing opportunities can you give a bonus Even if you're just getting started, there are still opportunities that you can provide to a prospect going forward. And even if you may be or if your athlete is even between the ages of like 7 and like 15, there's still a lot of benefits and value that you can provide a prospect team. Here are a few ideas.
Belinda Riseley [00:04:31]:
So these are quite generic and again last week we went to more ideas about benefits and in today's show notes I also will include like a free list of over 40 ideas that you can offer. And actually and that might make a point that I do have one around about local businesses. So I'm just going to make a note because you know doing the podcast on the fly so t heading back so what are some few ideas? So since social media shout outs obviously with their product or signage so when you're doing it you can do it sneakily to have their product behind you and or their signage but please don't put that in inside of a so I know I'm just jumping the gun there a little bit but quite often I do see kind of proposals come through and the and like the athlete have included the prospects logo. You don't own that intellectual property and you don't you're not entitled to actually do that team. You could feature them inside your videos or behind the scenes, carousel content or images. You could bring their signage to events and include their flyers. At race day pit area you can create UGC which if you don't know is user generated content they can use in their own social media. And hey, I might actually do a full podcast around that UGC content.
Belinda Riseley [00:06:01]:
You can obviously provide them with hospitality tickets or race day tickets or simply invite them down to your Pete garage on the day. But not only the owners but also the staff as well and of course organize some giveaways or discounts for your followers. And we are doing cross promotion with that prospect or hopefully new sponsor coming on board. So tell your offering depending on whether they're smaller shop, medium size, service provider or well known brand. But the goal overall is the same to make it feel like a smart marketing move, not a donation. So please remember that sponsorship is marketing and not a donation. Number four make the first engagement casual, not a pitch. So quite often I get most of my athletes going okay, well what do I go in and say? And it's pretty much just for you and walk in there saying hey I'm a motorsport athlete looking to partner with local small businesses.
Belinda Riseley [00:07:01]:
I'd love the opportunity to talk to you further. Please don't open with hi, can you sponsor me? Because again it is not a donation and as soon as you say that word sponsors no doubt that prospect is going to shut down, close the door or issue out. So instead drop in for a coffee, have a conversation, follow them on social media, start interacting again. I can't express how important it is that you spend so much time allocate time to actually spend on sponsorship. It is not just a one step process process. Unfortunately it takes six to 12 months to actually get a yes. It takes over 13 touch points. There is a lot that goes behind the scenes actually getting somebody on board with you permanently.
Belinda Riseley [00:07:46]:
You can do simple things like leave a review if you are a customer, help them build their business. At the end of the day can you give them a Google review? Can you write them a testimonial? Can you provide them some social media support? Do you have a hidden hobby or interest that you can help them build their business and simply send a message or email complimenting something that they've done locally as well. Team build a little bit of wealth before you make that ask again. You're not going just to walk up to a random and say hey can I marry? There's a whole nurturing, the dating, the courting process that has to occur before you actually ask for that sale. These little Small touch points go a long way, especially small business owners who are constantly being pitched to or also just trying to make their own business succeed. So please be mindful of that and just think about ways that you can make their business more profitable and that how can you have that first step in working with them, making that process a lot smoother? Number five is start a conversation, not a sales pitch. So once you have won them up a little bit, reach out directly. So try.
Belinda Riseley [00:09:01]:
Hey Melinda, I'm a local motorsport athlete and I've been thinking about creative ways to promote businesses in our local area. I'd love to have a quick chat about something I think could benefit your brand while supporting my racing journey. Would you be open to a quick call or coffee team? It's short, it's respectful and it focuses on them and not just your needs. I cannot tell you how many times I get proposals, I get emails, even phone calls about, hey, can you help me, help me, help me, help me without knowing what is the mutual benefit for me to help them. All right, so know that in the back of your mind that you need to have an understanding of again, your benefits, basically your packages and your programs. What are your values and what does it look like working with you going forward? So number six, I kind of just touched on that face is about giving them options and keep it simple, simple. You don't need to have multi tier packages. Again, there's a lot of steps, as you can see before you even are sitting down, having that nice cup of tea or coffee with them to talk about next steps.
Belinda Riseley [00:10:13]:
Okay. So once you get into that environment of having that conversation inside the most sponsorship club, I have a whole script around about. Not a script I don't like to talk, I'd say a guideline around kind of combination open conversation starters that you can have with a prospect to get the information you require in order to go back and to have to develop your proposals. So Team 6, as I said, is giving them options. So if you do have that coffee with them and they're like, hey, I'd love to know what, what is this basically going to cost me? You need to have a kind of figure inside your head. So one of the first things that we do when we're starting to work at our sponsorship strategy is to work at our financials. And in that we break down our expenses. So having a clear understanding of what our expenses are is going to help you state to the prospect what is this going to cost them Specifically, I always love to promote that aligning a sponsor to a product, for example, like making them the tire partner or making them the fuel partner or making them the food partner, depending on the type of the business and, and what that alignment would be because then they can get emotionally attached to that investment as opposed to having gold, silver and bronze which it's kind of just a bit flat and it's not as personal.
Belinda Riseley [00:11:42]:
All right, so link those levels to actual marketing deliverables. Once you've actually said okay, I'd love for you to come on board and be my tire partner and it's going to be, you know, starting from around about $500. You also need to know again what are those marketing deliverables going to be? So things like how many shout outs are they going to get for that $500 per year, how much content, whether it's media coverage, whether it is actually online, what kind of signage or logo or visibility are you going to provide them for that $500 or how many corporate hospitalities tickets will they get for once again that amount of money. So make it easy to say yes, no jargon, you don't need lots of paperwork to go with it. It's basically just a 2 PA media kit that you need to have on board for those initial conversations, especially for local providers. But again it's important that you have a clear understanding of what you're needing to be covered. So what kind of expenses you are wanting them to come on board to help you recover and what are those deliverables that you're going to be able to, will not be able to, but that you are going to deliver for that amount. Team number seven is definitely not last but it is for today's episode.
Belinda Riseley [00:13:04]:
But always say thank you and deliver more than you can promise. Again sponsorship is not a donation. So if someone backs you, your job is to over deliver to them. Okay. Again it's small business. You motorsport is a business, you are a motorsport business owner. Now if you're starting to seek sponsorship, hey, welcome to the world of small business. So team, if someone is investing to you again your job is to over deliver and how do we do them? We need to thank them publicly.
Belinda Riseley [00:13:35]:
Whether you're doing a social media post, maybe you can do a free write up into Speed Cafe and auto Action if that's their market. So quite often I do see those written up but again it's not really applicable for the local cafe to have a write up in the Speed cafe in order action. Unless of course they have their own race car or they have a general interest in motorsport. But nine times out of 10 local providers are wanting more things around about posting onto the local community free Facebook page or yes, during a press release that you can send to the local newspaper or to the local radio station. Of course you need to tag them on, we don't have to but sorry, you can tag them online. But again, what is part of the key deliverables that you're going to offer them as part of their investment that they've just mentioned they're happy to invest in? You send them content that they can use. So maybe they are a local tire shop and maybe you are racing cars and you are utilizing a brand that they currently sell. How can you promote them? How can you do that? UGC content around about how you're utilizing that tyre or what that tire has felt for you racing that car.
Belinda Riseley [00:14:51]:
Or again, how can you showcase the benefit of their investment into you and why people should go down to the local tire. So maybe, maybe you were driving your own vehicle that had their tire and you broke down and maybe they have a 24 hour service or a service, maybe it's only available from 9 to 5 where they actually came, came to you with their little minivan and fixed it up their tie. But again, every business is very different and unfortunately, unfortunately that's why there is no one blanket approach when it comes to sponsorship. Because it's all about the individual business that we want to work with and of course the individual values that we can offer slash benefits and of course what the expenses and what we are wanting to work with them for. And of course you can always provide them with a race report team which is highly, highly recommendable. There's nothing worse when it comes to the end of a 12 month agreement. So hopefully you already have a sponsorship agreement put into place. If not, I do have a sponsorship agreement, a template available for sale as well as having a race report.
Belinda Riseley [00:16:07]:
Now the benefits of having a race report team is the sheer fact that you are showing your sponsor that return on investment and we know that is really big for prospects. How can you show me a return on investment that report that you provide to them, whether it's quarterly, whether it's BIM annual or whether it's annually, it's completely up to you and again depends on how many times a year you're going to raise how much money they're investing into you and what kind of relationship that you have with that prospect. And again, what was agreed upon when you were first negotiating this contract. But a race report can help you build your Case study to when, for example, if they are a current product or service sponsor and you are now looking for financials that you can actually showcase what you've actually done from them, whether it's through social media, whether it's through normal media outlets, whether it's through some speaking engagements that you have had. Basically that report is going to capture all of that information that you can show them how exactly you are offering their return on investment. Those two links to the sponsorship agreement and also to our race report will be in today's show notes or otherwise. Team please race over to motivate training.comau but they are also free inside of our motorsport sponsorship club. So for more information check out today's show notes Team.
Belinda Riseley [00:17:35]:
So just wrapping up this short episode for today. I hope you are enjoying these shorter episodes again. You know it's not my forte, I hate just listening to my voice. I don't ever listen to the back. So I do apologize but I feel like I had a lot more value to provide with the sponsorship side of things. But of course when I do the interview with other athletes we do talk about their sponsor and social media as well. Just wrapping up today. He's had a partner with local business.
Belinda Riseley [00:18:07]:
So number one, know your audience and know your data. Example your local reach. Number two, make a list of your current nearby businesses. Where do you shop, where do you eat? Who can you contact? Who do you know? We know motorsport is who you know, not so much what you know. Number three, think about what you can offer them. These are local small businesses. It's going to be very different to what you will offer a medium to large organizations. So make sure it does align with their business as well.
Belinda Riseley [00:18:40]:
Number four, team engage before you pitch, please don't walk in saying hey I'm a most athlete, you should sponsor me. You need to engage with them, you need to have those kind of touch points. So how can you work with them? How can you promote them? Again you might want to do some cheekily sponsorship posts and do some product placements even if it's the local cafe and you're just drinking their coffee as you're going for your morning walk. But be engaging before you actually ask for the hard sales and then when you do actually get that opportunity with point number five is make your approach about them. Okay, so talk to them about what marketing opportunity do you have available for them as opposed to that you're an athlete that's needing sponsorship to achieve your dream. Okay, it's about what marketing that you can provide them Going forward, number six, offer some clear options. So of course they might say, hey, this sounds all fantastic, but how much is it going to cost me? Know your numbers. All right, so take the time to write down what are your expenses for your next race season, for your next race meeting.
Belinda Riseley [00:19:55]:
Maybe you are wanting just to get a local sponsor on board and I guess that's a good point that when I say local sponsor, it doesn't necessarily always have to be a local sponsor to you. It could be a local sponsor to the racetrack that you're going, especially if you're racing a national rack round or even an international round, that after you're doing some research you'd go, actually I'd really love to have them on board. Or maybe you have done your research and you can see that they have previously sponsored other athletes on this journey as well. So when I say local, it's kind of. It can be local to the track, local to yourself. Again, think outside the square. And team number seven, first and foremost in customer service. In our role as small business owners, owners, we want to over deliver and, and follow up.
Belinda Riseley [00:20:46]:
Okay, so making sure we've got that regular contact, what is our onboarding process, how do we look after our sponsor once we've our partner, once we've actually got them on board? And again we go through a whole lot more details inside the Motorsport Sponsorship Club. So if you are looking for more of a mentor program or more guidance on what this whole sponsorship process is all about, please check out the Motorsport Sponsorship Club team. It's, it's cheap as really compared to what it costs to go racing and at the end of the day we know if we don't have sponsors we're not going to be on the track. T and if you want to help to craft your offer, make your, make your pitch or even coming up with the benefit ideas for your next sponsor, as I said, we've got you covered inside of the Motorsport Sponsorship Club. I've also have created a free checklist to how to partner with local businesses. So thanks for tuning in. Make sure you download that today and remember, every successful sponsorship starts with one great conversation. Until next week.
