Adventure Road Trip

“Why would anyone want to sponsor you… What makes you guys so special?”

Nice… Thx!

Usually I just smile and let them think about it. However, if you really want to know than lets talk.

First and foremost if you want a sponsor you need to ask yourself what is in it for them. Companies are looking for advertising with high returns that will translate into sales. It is that simple, with the key statement being high returns. Individuals on the other hand have any number of reasons including the desire to help a worthy cause.

For my sponsor quest, the first thing I did was take inventory of what I had to offer that would translate into high value advertising and sales for potential sponsors. Surprisingly my list was longer than I first imaged. That list included:

• An easily recognizable brand “Last Great Road Trip”
• First page Google search results for several key word phases (adventure road trip, last great road trip, road trip blog)
• High traffic web-site (www.lastGreatRoadTrip)
• Affiliation with an important social message: tolerance of others and the celebration of diversity
• Published writer (did you see the cover of 4wd Toyota Owner April 08?)
• Highly noticeable Rig (its hotter than a Tijuana night on spring break)
• Active membership on several Toyota and overland adventure forums
• Video producer on YouTube, Revver and other video distribution sites
• Digital photographer on Flicker, Snapvillage, Nikon Picture Town

Once I had my inventory, I needed to decide what it was worth. To determine a value I reviewed my Google Analytics and discovered I have approximately 1,200 visitors a month. The majority of visitors

are from the US followed by Europe, India and Australia. The demographics showed men 35 to 45 make up 28% of the visitors followed by 25 to 35 year old men at 26%. The site and videos show only 5% of viewers are women although most of the Blog’s comments come from women.

When it came to the vehicle I kept track of where the rig spent its time, miles per day commuted and a count of the number of stares per day. The rig gets a lot of stares, 27 on average… I counted.

With all this data I decided on a sponsor package, wrote a cover letter describing the adversing opportunity along with a description of Last Great Road Trip and its social message. I made sure to included my site’s demographics and traffic (eyeball) counts. Finding the right corporate contact was more often the hardest part of the process. My top level sponsor package offer includes the following exposure:

• Sponsor’s 200 pixel wide by 75 pixel high web site banner with a link to their web site.
• Sponsor’s name included on press releases.
• Sponsor’s name and product worked into multiple trip blog entries.
• A web page will be created discussing the sponsor’s product with an installation how-to.
• Posting on the forums “member buildup” with links back to how-to with digital images of the rig showing sponsor’s product installed.
• Seven lines of descriptive text about the sponsor, their products and contact information displayed on the “Support our sponsors” Page.
• Sponsor’s sticker displayed prominently on trip vehicle.
• NEW
  • A YouTube video will be produced (campy not commercial quality) discussing the rig and sponsor’s product.
  • On other future videos, the sponsor will appear in the credits. These videos will include wheeling, how-to and interview videos.
• Although we can never promise, we also work with media publishers to run new articles. These articles include product installs and topics 101 ( such as explaining various components of lighting and what goes into selecting quality products).

What did I want for all this? I decided on cash, gear or discounts as long as I believed in the product or service. The key being “I believed in the product or service”. I’m promoting the sponsor’s product from the prospective of I use and believe in the products. Unlike magazines that simply provide space, I need to be comfortable when evangelizing the sponsor’s product with other wheelers. At the end of the day I feel good that I can say Baja Designs has partnered with us and their lighting systems work great on the trail because I chose the product first and than asked for sponsorship.

We sent letters to the big national guys but their advertising dollars were already spent on NASCAR, X Games and Survivor Timbuktu . The local shops, dealers, and small guys however were looking for affordable ways to increase their local and Internet exposure. While Toyo was not going to through any love our way, the local Les Schwab dealer gave us a great discount on tires. Metal Tech is always there for us when we need custom fabrication work, advice and high-end off road proven parts. Even our local Toyota dealer has discounted oil changes and services up to 40% in exchange for a little advertising exposure.

The opportunities for sponsors are endless. To take advantage of those opportunities prepare your package and cover letter so corporate and individual sponsors know you are serious and can easily see what is in it for them. Think and act as a business person when approaching potential sponsors, your selling you advertising space. Success is as much about luck, timing, a willingness to ask and having your pitch ready. More often than not it is the last mile, calling on potential sponsors, that prevents individuals from reaching their goals.

You will find after a couple of sponsors initially sign up, your task of attracting others becomes easier. Our efforts really paid off after we had a trip on the books and a published article. As my dad always said “You’ll appreciate it more if you have to earn it”. Although I’m pretty sure I would be OK with everything given to me, we continue to work for our sponsors and to attract new supporters.