Some people make things happen,
Some people watch what happens,
Others wonder what happened.

Which are you?

Well, I've been through Frankfurt and i'm now in transit at Singapore.

Weirdest thing happened as we landed. A large portion of the plane started clapping. I think it was to applaud the pilot on the landing. It made me wonder what would have happened if he'd not have been so successful. Would it have made a crash landing any better if the passengers were hurling "you suck" at the pilot?

Ok, I've been really pushing as hard as I thought I could up until now but things are really not getting anywhere. I feel like there must be more stops to be pulled out but I can't find them!

I'm off to Australia in a couple of weeks (thank the lord for sister's air miles :) ) which should give me a good opportunity to relax, reset, recharge and get ready to re-hit this challenge with some fresh power.

This is quite frustrating, as my mentor quite rightly stated;

You've got three things that you need - a goal (make £100K ), a timeframe (2 years) and a commitment to effort (time, flat, sleeping etc etc). This is all well and good, but you haven't got a mechanism for doing it (an idea of the what) or a plan (an idea of the how).

You need all five. Start with the what, then the how, the timeframe, the goal and then the commitment.

It's all so true. I need a clear path onto which I can force my efforts to get me to that goal. The quicker I find that path, the easier this journey will be. If I rush it though and don't find the right path, then no matter how much effort I put it, I won't hit that finish line.

Gotta do this

How to get sponsorship.

You want that sponsorship deal your teams been desperately seeking without any success? Matt Lindsay from SlothBall.com thinks there’s more to getting the deal of your dreams than you realised.

Whoooaaaaa, hang on. What are you doing here? No seriously, what brought you here to start reading this article? This question is a great place to start; start with the question “What do I want”. I mean; do you really want sponsorship? As in true sponsorship? Do you want a company to give you equipment or money to play with or are you really looking for a “Team Deal”: That is to say a preferential rate for the kit and paint you buy when you buy it all through one shop.

To be honest, the mechanisms for getting what you want are similar, but the way in which you answer some of the questions Im going to ask of you will be subtly different, and in all fairness, unless I (as a business owner with sponsorship programmes) know of you or your team already, your chances of getting a “sponsorship deal” are already slim. This is quite important when you think about it. We get heaps of emails from teams, nice teams, asking for sponsorship. We often ask them for more information and this normally results in them sending a team resume. Now think about this from my point of view, I have been asked to stump up some of my (very) hard earned company cash to support the playing habits of Tommy “Stump” Smith, Dan “WoodsBall” Sopwith and Jamie “The Killa” Manilla. Unless I’ve heard of these people (and being in the industry full time, I would be likely to have if they were the promo machines I am after) then I’m unlikely to care about who they are, what gun they use, what position they enjoy or how long they’ve been playing. Period. If however you are listing your superstar line up of pro players that I recognise then I’m interested. Chances are though this is not the case because if it is then I’m surprised you’re reading this article, put it down and call me now.

So lets assume that you’re team is not that widely known yet, then you’re going to have to take a different angle with me and possibly do a bit more legwork. At least at the moment. Now I am not a mean man (as a business owner that is.– I’m a cnut in real life) and like most (if not all) people who own paintball companies I am currently or formerly a paintball player – so I can sympathise with the need and desire to get some kind of deal and deep down inside I would like to give it to you. Unfortunately, after years of struggle and frugality building up my empire I know how hard I had to work for this money and I’m not easily going to let it go, so I need at least one of two things:
Either:
A) A damn fine business opportunity that I think will make me money or
B) A good justification that I can use for myself / my boss / board of directors / partner or whatever for how I can help out some fellow ‘ballers.

So which are you going to offer me? Both? Yes that’s a good idea, I want both then.

So you’re going to give me a sparkling opportunity to make me money. Well I can see a number of ways that you can do this for me. I’ll list them:
1) You can increase my exposure. = Free / Cheap Advertising.
2) You can get a good image for me by association = Great PR
3) You can make my life easier at tournaments = Lower trade stand costs.
4) You can sell to your friends = Higher sales for me.
5) You can write reviews I can publish on the kit I sell = Low cost advertising

See, now I’m interested. You can do this all for the price of 1 set of shirts a year? I set of playing gear a year? 1 set of guns a year? 1 set of 1st class plane tickets to Bermuda a year?........ Ok, hang on. Now you see my next problem. I don’t know what you are going to charge me for all this good stuff. That’s where you have to pre-empt me again.

“You know what? I can get you 500 posts a month on 3 different internet forums with your company logo and a link to your website in all of them. I can sell your products to out 2 feeder teams. I PROMISE we will wear your advertising T-Shirts and caps every single second we are not playing at all the 25 tournaments we are booked in for this year and we will go around and give out a MINIMUM of 200 flyers with a personal recommendation with each at each of the events, whether your company chooses to turn up of not. We have a 10 man squad who will help you set up your stand, take down your stand and cover when you need the toilet. We will write you 1 two page article on your featured item in your store EVERY month. All I ask from you is 10 sets of playing gear at the beginning of the year, with your logo in huge print on the front and our names on the back.”

Now you have me. I will give you what you ask for, and what’s more, I will give you more when you prove it. In fact, if you show me what you did for your sponsors last year and how they benefited I’ll double what you want. What’s that? You’ve even sent me a photoshop of one of your players who got featured in a magazine but now he has my logo all over him? Bammm. I know you’re a self starter, I know you’re keen. I want to buy your team as a product this year. Yes I do.

So, you’ve got me on the hook, now just reel me in. Oh, sorry, you thought the work had finished? Well for the 8 out of tenners out there it has, but you’re not. You’re a ten out of ten, 24 carat, hit for a six membership secretary and you’ve drawn me up a simple written contract covering everything that we’ve just agreed. Even better, you’ve already had your ten man squad sign it so that I know you’re DEAD serious and you want it now. Show me the dotted line, I’ll sign it in blood.

As a side note, bear this in contrast to most of the emails we get. Anything that is a mass mail gets binned. If a team can’t be bothered to be personal, how can I tell they’ll be bothered to do what they say they will in promoting my company. Note also that my “delete” button is at the most 17inches from my cursor, but my waste paper bin is a few feet. Unless there is something mind blowing in the first 2 lines (or whatever amount I can read whilst I cursor to the delete icon) then it’s probably a binner. I’ll be honest though, I don’t have the heart to throw away a handwritten letter without having the courtesy to at least read it once. A mail merged email / letter deserves no such mercy so take the time to be personal, the 10 minutes it takes to write me a letter might save your team thousands of pounds this year. Focus on getting MY sponsorship. If I can’t/wont help then go to the next company. You are selling your team’s face now, just like any other product.

So you see it’s not all that difficult. When you think about the workload involved, split among 10 people it aint that tough but you’re going to have to do some work and put yourself in my shoes. If all this sounds a little too much? Well then I think you need to go away think about what you are prepared to give to get the sponsorship you want.

Happy hunting and good luck. (p.s. The SlothBall Sponsorship is at the brim. 8 out of tenners need not apply!)