Nov 15, Tips for Obtaining Sponsorship in Motocross, Off-Road Racing & FMX

Below are some tips for obtaining sponsorship that should help you or your rider with bettering the chances of landing a ride or other sponsorship opportunity, but it's important to also be aware that in addition to sending out a resume to potential sponsors via email or such which is actually not a very good idea because a lot of emails (especially those with attachments such as pictures) usually end caught up in spam filters and never to be seen.

So... it's best to create a resume that potential sponsors can find on their own through common search engines after a mention of a rider's name, or that a rider or his / her manager / representative can provide them a link to which is what the Motocross Sponsorship, Off-Road Sponsorship and FMX Sponsorship pages on this site are created for.

Unlike other sponsorship sites, when someone creates a resume page on Your Adrenaline Fix, they will have a unique page title (which is the most important part of a web page for being found on the internet) and this is what will help in creating exposure for a riders name, and this is why we here at Your Adrenaline Fix have created a section with tips on creating the most effective headline, so be sure to take a good look at this section as it can potentially have the greatest effect on generating exposure for a rider, especially considering that once a page is created for a rider it will be possible to tell someone Hey, Look up ?Jake Doe? on Google, Just type into Google ?Jake Doe, Series Raced etc...? and the page will most likely appear near the top of the first page of search results which in itself is very impressive and will likely impress a potential sponsor from the start.

Make no mistake... Since we ride too, we know as much as anyone else that racing dirt bikes in motocross or off-road disciplines, as well as competing in FMX comps can get really expensive quick and in order for an athlete to ride and train at their best, it's best to have some quality backing and support so we've created a series of pages to help everyone the best that we can with this, and we have even created this page to help people with some tips for obtaining sponsorship so as to give them the best chance possible at landing a sweet deal.

Before continuing, It's worth mentioning that one thing to always keep in mind is that potential sponsors are interested in selling product(s) or service(s) and by sponsoring a rider they are doing so as a marketing effort, and therefore are looking for positive exposure and performance from the rider, and this is true on and off the track so it's important for a rider and his / her representative(s) (parents) to always be courteous and professional wherever you or they are at, as the sponsors want not only good results on the track but also good representation from the rider(s) on and off the track. Also always remember... You may never know when a potential sponsor may be lurking so always remain professional in everything you do and this is especially true when at a track.

It's almost hard to imagine the embarrassment that would come with an exaggerated representation of someone's riding skills and then have a sponsor find out that they look like a squid on the bike, so do NOT try to make someone's skills look better on paper than they actually are.Listed below are some tips that should aid anyone's quest for obtaining sponsorship and all the sections on this page really have just about equal importance among them so for the best results it really is best to refer back to this page as often as necessary when writing a sponsorship resume. Creating an Effective Headline to Attract Potential SponsorsThe Things to Definitely Have in a ResumeThe Things to Avoid When creating the headline of a sponsorship resume page it is critical to get this section as accurate, informative and as attractive as possible but there are a few tips here that will help to create the best exposure possible so that your or your rider's resume page can be easily found in the search engines with commonly used terminology. Headlines need to stay under 70 characters which is very doable while still creating an attractive and informative headline.
(This means holding your finger to the screen and counting each letter, punctuation mark and space)Capitalize as much as possible in the headline for emphasis(Don't sweat this much, If something needs capitalized or uncapped, we can correct most of this.) A Headline should likely begin with the rider's first and last name.If you or the rider has a popular catch phrase associated with your / their name such as Jeremy McGrath's "Showtime" this can go in the headline as well, but only do so if this is widely known and leave the pet names that a girlfriend / boyfriend / husband / wife / mother or father uses out of it.Now finish the headline with your or your rider's most recent or best achievement(s) to date, while being sure to keep the headline under 70 characters, but do NOT just list an achievement as: "1st Place Motocross, 2nd Place Local Hare Scramble" or "Winner State Fair FMX Demo" (Be sure to see examples of an effective headline below)Jake Doe, 200X-201X Some State or Series Motocross Open X Class Champion
And here's an excellent real world example resume of a
Rider that is Seeking a Motocross Sponsorship Opportunity
Jake Doe, 200X-201X Red-Bull Last Man Standing X place Finisher Jake Doe, 200X-201X X-Games XXXXXX Medalist

Remember: The Headline is the part of the page that others (Sponsors) will most likely find a rider's page from via a search query. This is also the part where a rider or his / her representative(s) can tell others about their page and leave someone able to find them through a natural search for their name and achievment listed in the page title on something such as Google which people are actually more comfortable doing than following a link sent to them directly. ( An effective and attractive headline is an extremely powerful marketing tool so spend some time on this.)

There are definitely some things that should be included within a rider's resume that will greatly enhance the chances of landing a sponsorship, so in addition to having a clean and simple resume we've included these points as well, but just remember that during the creation of a resume to be sure to check the spelling, grammar and punctuation, as a sloppy resume is a big turn off to potential sponsors and will likely send them on to the next person. So... With the following tips in mind, it should be a little easier to have a better chance of landing a sponsorship deal than most of the others out there vying for the same spot. Provide the riders name, contact and other basic information early on and this should include a rider's or their representative's telephone number (ditch the obnoxious ring tones here) and an email address at a minimum.Next, immediately after stating a riders name, an applicant will want to be providing some info on what they can do for a potential sponsor, and not just be about what the sponsor can do for them. This should include letting a potential sponsor know someone would be willing to set up a display, hand out decals or other promotional material(s) and / or will be showing others the benefit(s) of using a sponsor's product(s) or service(s).Also include how the applicant will be professionally representing their product(s) and / or service(s) at the track and away (ie: Decals on the bike, helmet or gear and / or truck, motor home and / or trailer, Wearing their apparel and / or other clothing or use of their product(s) and / or services away from and / or at the track)Another thing that potential sponsors like to see is what a particular rider's goals are in their racing career so it may be wise to add a section pertaining to this.

Then, Once you have a potential sponsor's attention...

Provide the class the rider most commonly competes in, as well as the general locale and / or series.Also, most definitely add a section that accurately lists the rider's race or competition results and if you have race results from a National or a well known race such as Loretta Lynns or the Mini-O's, be absolutely certain to list these and give them prominence with bolding of the text through use of B and B before and after the text that should be emphasized.Another thing that potential sponsors don't mind seeing is academic schooling performance (ie: Report cards) as this can potentially show them they are dealing with a focused individual, and that their marketing efforts in that rider will not be going to waste. (Of course this is contingent on the fact that a report card reflects an excellent performance)Be sure to include pictures... When selecting the pictures try to select from the best pics that actually show the rider's skill(s) as well as at least 1 pic that can give a potential sponsor an idea of your setup (bike, pit area etc) but if you or the rider is wanting to include a video it may be best to save the videos for friends and family, that is unless the video shows something truly remarkable.Just remember, One of the Best Tips for Obtaining Sponsorship is...?Clean and Simple? on the Resume After getting a good headline together and after covering the tips for obtaining sponsorship above, here are some things that someone seeking sponsorship will want to completely avoid on a resume, as this section can be as equally important as the tips for obtaining sponsorship are, as adding some of this is almost suicidal and likely to send a potential sponsor in the opposite direction, if not give someone a bad name that will easily spread about and possibly ruin their chances of landing a sweet deal anywhere. Above all else do NOT Lie or Exaggerate about your abilities on the bike.Do not turn a resume loose with improper speliing, no good bad grammar, or with punctuation that sucks,. And, iS obnoxious.!!Not creating a good headline or not listing most if not all of the things listed above in the section on The Things to Definitely Have in a Resume Not having any contact info. Even if a potential sponsor is interested in you or your rider, if they cannot easily contact you or the rider, it's doubtful that they are going to put much more effort into this than it takes to go to the next person on the list so be sure that the rider or his / her's representative's contact information is clear, easy to find and near the beginning.Not listing race results. Remember, potential sponsors are not mind readers and chances are they've never even heard of you, or your rider, so if they don't have any race or competition results to base off of how do they know that you or your rider would be a good candidate?Unless you're widely known, don't come off like everyone should already know who you or your rider is because chances are that they don't, and making yourself or your rider out to look like a big shot will only make everyone in that camp look bad. Actually, it'll probably leave them laughing at your or your rider's expense.About Videos... Although video's and helmet cam footage is cool, save these for your or your rider's friends and family. Even though adding a video is not likely to hurt anyone's chances of obtaining a sponsorship, chances are though that a potential sponsor is not real interested in watching a video, as they usually don't have time for videos and are usually just scanning over a resume to see if they are interested before reading into them more or learning more about a particular rider

Bottom line is that sourcing a sponsorship is very similar to applying for a job, so be sure to show professionalism and be very quick to respond politely to any emails or phone calls should you or your rider receive them.

Now, combined with the tips on how to write an effective headline, and the tips for obtaining sponsorship, as well as the things to avoid, you should be pretty well armed with enough knowledge of what to do and what not to do and hopefully you can land a sweet sponsorship deal for yourself or the rider you may be representing.

One last word on this... A mention of Your Adrenaline Fix from the podium certainly won't be minded so Ya'll go out there and keep 'em wide open, win some races and huck some gaps because we may just be watching from the fence...

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