UCOShooter Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 I am currently sponsored by a great local company here I OKC and also is known nationwide, H&H Gun Range. But I am wanting to pick up other secondary sponsorships. I was wanting to know if anyone knew how to get the other big businesses interest/attention? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motosapiens Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Get better. A LOT better. Or get a sex change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amish_rabbi Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 lol! oh so true. You don't need to be an amazing shooter to get decent sponsorships, but you do have to be good at other things if you aren't pro level. My friend who has a lot of sponsors is a great shooter, but that isn't why he gets his sponsorships, he gets them because he runs a weekly shooting class that is cheap for people to attend and is geared towards new shooters. New shooters need a lot of direction on where to buy gear, and guns, reloading components, and reloading equipment... you see where this is going. If you place in the top 1-3 in your division (not class) at local matches and in the top 5-10 at bigger matches that is generally good enough if you couple it with something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandbagger123 Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 what does sponsorship mean to you? get paid to shoot? free bullets? there are all levels ofsponsorship, but if you want ot get paid to shoot you beeter be in the top 5% of the comp shooters. Being paid by a company to shoot is not all about shooting, it a lot of marketing and industry shows. Its hard on family. Also, just because you can shoot well does not matter if one does not have the peronality or skills to rep a company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.E. Kelley Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Look at it as applying for a job, because you are. Why should I hire you? What qualities do you bring to the table? How can you assure me I will get a return on my investment? Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 . Or get a sex change. Amen to that! There are a ton of big name women shooters out there that really are not that impressive after the beep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motosapiens Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 . Or get a sex change. Amen to that! There are a ton of big name women shooters out there that really are not that impressive after the beep. I'm impressed by them. But the point isn't how good they are, it's how marketable they are. As a B, the OP is pretty average for a dude, but better than average for a chick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-shot Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 (edited) Think of all the stuff made for guys and send them your resume. And be prepared to hear "no" repeatedly. Edited September 30, 2014 by A-shot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakshow10mm Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 what does sponsorship mean to you? get paid to shoot? free bullets? there are all levels ofsponsorship, but if you want ot get paid to shoot you beeter be in the top 5% of the comp shooters. Being paid by a company to shoot is not all about shooting, it a lot of marketing and industry shows. Its hard on family. Also, just because you can shoot well does not matter if one does not have the peronality or skills to rep a company. I agree. I sponsor a few shooters and each one gets something different depending on what they bring to the relationship. My basic involvement of sponsoring is based on shooting skill and that determines the starting point of discount. Their skill at being a brand ambassador for my company determines their longevity and further sponsorship levels. Finding great shooters that have the skill and personality to be a brand ambassador is really difficult. It's a compromise more than a win. It's a lot of hard work both for the shooter and the sponsor to maintain the relationship. It's not all free ammo and hot chicks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-shot Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 (edited) It's not all free ammo and hot chicks. Edited September 30, 2014 by A-shot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A-shot Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 It's not all free ammo and hot chicks. It is at doodie....realistically, I would say an "athlete" should have 10k fb likes and/or 10k twitter followers. And those need to be direct fans of you, not random bs fans or paid for likes. I think that is the minimum number to draw digital attention from larger corporations. Then you have a better shot of landing a brand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UCOShooter Posted September 30, 2014 Author Share Posted September 30, 2014 what does sponsorship mean to you? get paid to shoot? free bullets? there are all levels ofsponsorship, but if you want ot get paid to shoot you beeter be in the top 5% of the comp shooters. Being paid by a company to shoot is not all about shooting, it a lot of marketing and industry shows. Its hard on family. Also, just because you can shoot well does not matter if one does not have the peronality or skills to rep a company. I am not looking for someone paying me to shoot because I know I am not at that level. But also I am not saying that I am not working my ass off to become that great of the shooter. As of right now I would love just help on bullets, match fees, or stuff in that nature which will allow me to have funds to put towards becoming the better shooter that I want to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UCOShooter Posted September 30, 2014 Author Share Posted September 30, 2014 Look at it as applying for a job, because you are. Why should I hire you? What qualities do you bring to the table? How can you assure me I will get a return on my investment? Good luck. Thank you sir for your response. I guess my question in response to this would be: To whom in the company do I send my "applications" to, to make it get on the right desk? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakshow10mm Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Start with companies that currently sponsor the shooting sports and contact customer service. They will direct you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.E. Kelley Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Start with companies that currently sponsor the shooting sports and contact customer service. They will direct you. What He ^^^ said Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverBolt Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Start local. What companies would benefit from advertising with you? Are you a people person? Can you sell? Would you be a good spokes person for a product? As a sponsored person you are essentially hired as that company's sales person. What do you bring to the table for the company? What markets will you expose their products? Shooting is typically not much of a spectator sport so how will you advertise their product? How can you prove the company's ROI? Advertising budgets are very thin these days. A company needs to see a ROI. How will you do that? He is a little hint, a name on a shirt isn't going to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkCO Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 As a person who has a few sponsors and owns a company that sponsors a few shooters, I will give you my personal, but certainly not universal opinion. The companies whose logos I have on my jersey are companies I believed in and used their products before I got anything from them. Essentially, I was already promoting their products, and in one case, trying to get their products into 3Gun where it did not have a previous presence. They are companies where I look at the leadership, customer service, etc and like what I see. When I look at shooters, it goes the same way. When I have a shooter who tries to shop me against one of my competitors, I really rather have that person using my competitors gear than Carbon Arms gear. I don't want new shooters, match officials, or other shooters calling me complaining about the behavior of the shooters who have our logo on their jersey either. In that realm, I am very selective. Shooters who give back, act with integrity and are decent people are the kinds of shooters we look at. Performance is an element for sure, but a good reputation is always better. Every shooter who has our logo on their jersey has it there for a different reason, and some shooters we sponsor do not have our logo on their jersey. But different products have different marketing needs. A bullet or ammo manufacturer...if you think they are going to sponsor without a logo on you...not likely. There are also shooters out there that are takers, meaning they go after every opportunity they can think of but then are off to another sponsor if they can work a better deal. Loyalty and consistency help a product, so make sure what you pick is something you can stick with. The last element is crucial. Show the company what you have done, and will do for them. Without this component, you really are not benefiting them much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UCOShooter Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 Thank you guys for all the help. I love talking to people about the shooting sports and representing things I believe in. Just have to continue to show that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freakshow10mm Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 The companies whose logos I have on my jersey are companies I believed in and used their products before I got anything from them. Organic sponsorship is one of the best. Sponsorship is more about supporting what you already support instead of shopping around to get free stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DreGarciaTAT2 Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Every single one of my sponsors I approached first. And no, I don't make a dime to shoot. And in most cases I don't get a ton of free stuff. I get the 'at cost' pricing, and occasionally something for free. The cool thing is that all my sponsors are local to my city. Which was kind of the idea. I'm also lucky that I have some cool gun-related businesses in my city to make it possible to have a one city collective. I designed the shooting jersey, approached the companies I wanted, showed them the jersey, told them they would get a jersey, in exchange for ... Whatever I needed from them. Not a single one said no. So, that was nice. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmiller Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 As a person who has a few sponsors and owns a company that sponsors a few shooters, I will give you my personal, but certainly not universal opinion. The companies whose logos I have on my jersey are companies I believed in and used their products before I got anything from them. Essentially, I was already promoting their products, and in one case, trying to get their products into 3Gun where it did not have a previous presence. They are companies where I look at the leadership, customer service, etc and like what I see. When I look at shooters, it goes the same way. When I have a shooter who tries to shop me against one of my competitors, I really rather have that person using my competitors gear than Carbon Arms gear. I don't want new shooters, match officials, or other shooters calling me complaining about the behavior of the shooters who have our logo on their jersey either. In that realm, I am very selective. Shooters who give back, act with integrity and are decent people are the kinds of shooters we look at. Performance is an element for sure, but a good reputation is always better. Every shooter who has our logo on their jersey has it there for a different reason, and some shooters we sponsor do not have our logo on their jersey. But different products have different marketing needs. A bullet or ammo manufacturer...if you think they are going to sponsor without a logo on you...not likely. There are also shooters out there that are takers, meaning they go after every opportunity they can think of but then are off to another sponsor if they can work a better deal. Loyalty and consistency help a product, so make sure what you pick is something you can stick with. The last element is crucial. Show the company what you have done, and will do for them. Without this component, you really are not benefiting them much. I ROed at FNH, James and Janna was on the last squad to shoot. They helped us tear down and are great people. I couldn't think of better ambassadors for our sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parallax3D Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Get better. A LOT better. Or get a sex change. Even the sex change isn't going to help you, unless you're pretty afterwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motosapiens Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Get better. A LOT better. Or get a sex change. Even the sex change isn't going to help you, unless you're pretty afterwards. lol. not touching that one with sarge's 10-foot pole. FWIW, in my cycling background I had a little bit of experience with sponsorships and free stuff. Most of the time if you are not really national-class, it is less hassle to just buy the stuff you actually want and use it and not worry about logos on you jersey or trying to avoid accidentally offending someone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHA-LEE Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 If you look at being sponsored as an avenue to minimize expenses you are looking at it completely wrong. The more support you get from sponsors the more you have to put into representing their company and products. The trade off in getting discounted or free products verses the effort you need to put into it to maintain that level of sponsorship is rarely a "Profitable" situation for the person being sponsored. As a sponsored competitor you usually have to put in way more effort to maintain or justify your sponsorship verses simply paying for what you need out of your own pocket and not being sponsored. The lower your skill level is at the National or World level will make this trade off even less cost effective. There is nothing "Free" in being sponsored even if you are getting free equipment. You need to look at it like getting paid a "wage" in product or discounts for your representation of a company. When you run the numbers against the discounts you get verses the time you put into it that "Wage" is usually way less than the federal minimum wage. So you need to put this into perspective before you start beating the bushes for sponsorships. There are very few competitors in the shooting sports that I would consider having a "real" sponsorship deal that is worth some decent $$$. These few competitors are the World and National Champions of the shooting sports. If you are not a National or World level competitor and are seeking sponsorship don't expect much in return for a monumental effort in promotion of the potential sponsors products. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UCOShooter Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 Thanks Cha-Lee, I appreciate that. But I never said that I wanted anything to be "free" or given to me. I might of misspoke in saying, "...to put funds to make myself a better shooter." What I meant to say is to put funds to make myself a better representative for the company who sponsors me. Whether this is being able to shoot more matches, taking classes, or doing other things that will increase my credibility. Which will, in the long-run, make me a better shooter not just in ability but also "profitability". I am already a full-time student wrapping up my senior year, which will complete my 2 majors in four years. While going to school I have consistently worked on average 25 hours a week, and then on the weekends I shoot 1-2 matches every weekend. I can promise you that I have the drive and work ethic to make anything possible. I know that there is always someone working just as hard, if not harder than me. So I personally hold myself accountable to train/work my hardest at all times to try and be the best. I also hold myself accountable to be a person that has integrity, generosity, and to be very passionate. I love talking with people about the shooting sports, and how much they should mean to not only me but every pro-gun citizen. Hopefully one day I will be able to do this, with other great companies giving me support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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