sponsorship advice

C

coatsblue

New member
Hi Jennifer,

I was hoping I could ask you for some advice.

I play a couple regional tours and am ranked in the top 5 in one of them.
I've also played in 2 WPBA events this year.

As you know between travel costs, hotel, etc... It can become a little expensive.

I would appreciate any advice you could give me on approaching gaining local sponsorship.

I have great respect for you and your game and think your doing great things for the sport.

Any advice you could give would be wonderful.

Thanks
 
Hey CB,

Sponsorships rarely fall into a players hands (as I'm sure you know). If you are willing to put in a little bit of time and effort I'm sure you can get yourself good sponsors. First there are a few things that you will need:

-A good headshot
-A bio (about 3 paragraphs written in the 3rd person, explaining how you got into pool, what you have already accomplished and what you hope to accomplish. You can also throw in your other interests and some personal facts)
-Color copies of any press or DVD's of any media that you may already have (If you don't already have it, don't sweat it, but once you start getting it, make sure you keep it organized. Press leads to more press.)
-A one page proposal in the form of a letter usually works well. Introduce yourself and tell them what you can offer and what you would like in return.

I like to take all of this and put it in a nice folder with a business card holder (yes, stick a business card in there).

Now you have to do your research. Who would you like as a sponsor? Make a list of companies with a contact person to send it to. Send out your kits to the first 5 companies, wait a week, and make a follow up call. Keep going until you get what you need. Remember, you don't need to get all of your sponsorship from one company!

Best of luck!

Jenn
 
JennBarretta said:
-A one page proposal in the form of a letter usually works well. Introduce yourself and tell them what you can offer and what you would like in return.
Click to expand...
Jenn, obviously I'm not in the same position as coatsblue, but I'm just curious.

When a player, such as coatsblue, is asking for sponsorship, what is a good starting point for the proposal?
 
Rich R,

It really depends on what you need. First you should try to get your tournament expenses covered. In Coatsblue's case, she's not yet playing in all of the WPBA events, so maybe she can just ask for sponsorship for each WPBA event as it happens. If she wins her regional tour and is guaranteed entry into 6 events, then she should ask for more. One way to do it is to ask one company to sponsor entry fees, another to sponsor airfare, and so on. This is a lot more manageable for the smaller companies.

Jenn
 
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