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The Fishing Industry and Sponsorship
by Scott Rauber
http://www.fishingsponsorship.com
The Fishing Industry and Sponsorship.
Should you approach the fishing industry for sponsorship?
First let's look at it from the lure manufacturer's
standpoint. Just think of your favorite lure manufacturer
for a minute. Now imagine that you work at their plant.
One of your jobs may be to sort through the hundreds of
emails, hundreds of faxes, and hundreds of letters each
day from anglers seeking sponsorship via products and or
cash. Included in those communications you will also find
donation requests from - fishing clubs, non-profit
organizations, company friends, etc.
Can you imagine having that job?
After a few days of employment wouldn't all the resumes
start to look the same? How about all the product or
financial donations requests, wouldn't they all start to
look the same too? Of course they would. How would you
know which one to support or sponsor?
Don't think I made this example up ~ I didn't. The
fishing industry as a whole, whether it is manufacturers
of: lures, line, rods, reels, boats, motors, sunglasses,
hooks, tackle boxes, etc. is literally inundated, every
single day, with hundreds maybe thousands of sponsorship
requests.
And have you ever heard of the old saying, "It's not what
you know, it's who you know?" Some sponsorship deals are
landed that way too ~ the good 'ol boy network. Not much
you can do about that.
As you can see, approaching the fishing industry for
sponsorship looks like an uphill battle - and it is.
That's why I recommend avoiding companies in the fishing
industry early on in your fishing career. If you happen
to be fortunate enough to get some sort of sponsorship
from within the industry, it'll more than likely end up
being a small discount on products purchased. Even though
that may save you a little money, it won't help with your
biggest expense ~ tournament entry fees.
Let me put it this way. Pretend you sell advertising for
your local newspaper and you present ad rates to a local
tire company. In reply to your advertising rates they
respond with ~ "Can we give you some tires at a discount
in exchange for the ad?" Don't laugh, many anglers do
exactly that. They exchange small discounts on product in
order to advertise a particular fishing company, just so
they can say they're sponsored. Crazy isn't it?
So, what's an aspiring tournament angler to do for
sponsorship?
Outside of the fishing industry you'll find companies that
have advertising, marketing, and promoting needs. When
you start to think of your "sponsorship offer" as
an "advertising/marketing/promoting" avenue you'll start
to see the possibilities of landing cash for your entry
fees.
That's what I did and still recommend.
Look outside of the fishing industry for cash sponsorship
and stay away from the fishing industry initially. You'll
find a lot less rejection in my opinion.
Scott Rauber
Author ~ How To Get Sponsored For Fishing Tournaments
www.fishforfree.com
Volume II
www.fishforfree2.com
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