I'm managing a couple of the contests (Anthony usually takes care of them) and I've seen a few different strategies used by contestants:
the entrant who sent me a private message saying he'll design the web site for free if I choose his logo (it was an excellent logo but we chose someone else)
people who enter early get the chance to develop a connection with the contest holder
designers who enter at the last minute after reviewing the preferences stated by the contest holder when he gives feedback during the contest
What's The Best Approach?
The best approach is, obviously you dopey person (!!), the one that works.
What works varies from person to person.
The guy offering to do the design for free doesn't really make much of an extra impression.
I feel guilty building a rapport with a designer and then choosing someone else.
The last minute guy - a bit mercenary, but I guess it's the best design you're after.
The point is different people have different buying triggers.
It's not always about the quality of the design. It can be about so many other things.
Okay, look....I'm not saying my memory is bad or anything, but one of my online mates emailed me a while back to ask for a donation for Movember - a charity initiative where guys grow moustaches in the month of November and get sponsorship from mates.
Sure, I know a few girls who had moustaches, but we only dated for a few months! (Hi Lola.)
Anyhow, this online mate.......I can't remember who it was.
I 'filed' the email away to pay later and may or may not have completely lost it and have no idea where I put it.
It's someone I chat with quite regularly. I can't believe I can't remember who it was.
Anyhoo, if it's you (yes, you. You know who you are) - shoot me an email or comment on this blog and a donation shall be made!
Cheers
Brendon "Hairy Man" Sinclair
P.S: Thought you might appreciate a pic of me with a mo. The beautiful girl is my wonderful daughter Laura.
How To Get A Date With This Woman - Or Sell More Stuff
I do a few interviews around the place and have just been asked to do another.
I know the guy who asked and he asked perfectly:
".......would you like to be interviewed on xxxxxxxxx sometime? It'll be good for your ego, you'll get free backlinks, and you'll get extra fame!"
See that?
He's asked me what behaviour he wants (an interview) and told me what I'll get in return. I'm pretty sure he was only kidding about the ego bit!
But the point is this, when you're trying to make any sort of sale (get an interview, a date, money off a customer, etc) you need to make your offer and tell them what the benefit is to them if they 'buy'.
Always remember, the key is that the benefit you offer must be wanted by the person - the benefit you provide needs to outweigh the risk/downside of buying from you.
As you might know I'm a big fan of SitePoint for a few reasons:
1/ They were smart enough to ask me to write The Web Design Business Kit - makes a great Christmas gift! As well as an excellent doorstop according to my 16 yo daughter :o(
2/ I write the SitePoint Tribune each fortnight for them and they pay me money - enough money to keep me with a good supply of beer
4/ They have design contests - this is where you provide your brief and some very talented designers submitted drafts from where you can provide feedback and select a winner.
It's for a 15 year old boy dragging his old dad (who just wants to sit on the couch drinking beer and eating pies!) across Australia (that's 4,500 km in 30 days) next year.
Want proof that newspapers simply don't understand new media?
Last week the Sydney Morning Heraldran a story stating that "Italian archaeologists believe they have found the cave where, according to legend, a wolf suckled Romulus and Remus, the twin founders of Rome."
Great story. But not news.
That happened in January. And the Sydney Morning Herald writes it up as if it is news.
And as much as I hate to simply repeat a story (and I haven't said anything Gavin hasn't already said), this one is such a great example how old media don't get new media that I had to share.
No wonder newspaper readership is declining so rapidly.
My kids have just written up their wishlist for Christmas.
They make a list of about 10 things that they want and, with a bit of luck and a fair wind, receive 1 or 2 of the things on the list.
My son Harry's # 1 is a Enzo Ferrari (the car) - worth $1 million plus.
He aims high that kid!
Can You Bring This Santa?
Jack has done his list - it's on the fridge - and sure enough, just like I predicted in the Robbie McEwen post below, Predictor Lotto Team Kit/Jersey is on it.
Jack's obviously not going to buy a rival team's kit because that would be devaluing his 'connection' with Robbie.
As you might know, I'm pretty close to Santa and will have a word in his ear - that's Santa and I (he's the one with the beard!) on the left a few years back.
Jack's not the only one who gets his picture taken with famous people :o)
Robbie McEwen is an Australian guy who is one of the world's best (if not the best) cyclists - Robbie is an incredible sprinter and has won just about everything you dream of winning as a cyclist.
He's back home in Australia at the moment and has just raced (yesterday), and won, the Waeco Darren Smith Cycle Classicwas run at the Peppers Salt Resort at Kingscliff, about 30km from where I live.
Darren was a highly talented cyclist who was tragically killed on a training ride here on the Gold Coast in 1994. Robbie was a good mate of Darren's and has often spoken of his desire to be his best in memory of his mate.
Robbie Is Jack's Favourite Cyclist
I wandered down to take a look at the race, with my 2 sons - Jack and Harry - in tow. Jack in particular loves his cycling and Robbie McEwen is his favourite cyclist by a mile.
He found it amazing that we were watching Robbie in the Tour De France a few weeks back and here was Robbie standing just a few metres away.
Robbie McEwen won the Darren Smith Cycle Classic and we were right there at the presentation. I said to the boys, "C'mon guys, let's go and introduce ourselves to Robbie and get a picture."
Being ultra-cool 13 and 15 yo boys they couldn't possibly do that (!), but no such embarrassment for their old man.
I went up and introduced myself to Robbie and had a quick chat and motioned the boys to come over and meet him.
Jack came over and met Robbie, but Harry was too embarrassed/shy/dopey.
Robbie was more than happy to pose for a photo with Jack and have a quick word.
Here's The Thing
Jack is absolutely thrilled he has a photo with Robbie McEwen.
That photo is now Jack's screensaver.
He wants to get the photo printed and framed for his wall.
30 seconds after we left the race, Harry said "Rats! I should have got a photo with Robbie."
10 minutes after that Harry, who has only ever been for 1 ride on a road bike with me in his life, said "Dad, can we go for a bike ride later today on the road bikes?"
Fans For Life
Robbie McEwen now has 3 fans for life.
Robbie McEwen has helped raise the profile of bike riding in the local area by doing this race and using his profile to help promote the race.
1 kid (Harry) is now far more likely to start bike riding.
If I can draw a bit of a bow, I'll compare what Robbie has done to what you might do in business.
What Robbie has done here is provide great value.
It's what you must do in business each and every day.
Robbie has had a guy come along and ask for a photo with his kid. Robbie provides value by:
engaging in a chat with the dad (that's me),
having a kind word to the son (that's Jack),
having a photo done,
finishing off with some encouragement for a ride Jack will be doing next year.
Now, as you can see by the photo Robbie is a pro at this stuff. He's not standing there with his hands by his sides, without a smile waiting for the photo to be taken.
What's he's done is seize an opportunity and provided a ton of value to Jack (and I). Take a look.
He's put his arm across Jack's shoulder in a comfortable and friendly way that, when Jack looks at it, has Jack thinking, "It looks like Robbie's happy to be there, it doesn't look like I'm imposing on Robbie" - and that's absolutely critical for a 15 yo shy kid to be thinking.
He has a warm and natural smile that says "I'm here with Jack and happy to be here."
As a high profile superstar in cycling Robbie must get these sort of photos requests thousands and thousands of times. It would become, I'd imagine, boring and repetitive.
What Robbie Probably Wasn't Thinking
Now I'm sure Robbie wasn't thinking, "Okay, here's a kid who wants a photo - I'll be nice to him and he'll be a bigger fan, his brother will cycle more, it will help cycling grow as a sport in Australia and my team Predictor Lotto will sell more merchandise......and his dad might write a blog about me!"
Nope. I don't think so.
Like when you provide value in business, he'd be thinking something like, "How can I make this contact with Jack a positive influence. After all, he's provided me value by being kind enough to come and support me in the race, cheers for me when I race and loves the sport I love."
That's the thing about value - when you provide great value in a positive way, you usually get a ton of value back.
Cheers
Brendon
P.S: I'll be willing to bet that next time Jack gets a jersey he'll ask for a Predictor Lotto one!
P.P.S: Robbie's young son was there on Sunday - the little fella has the coolest name ever: Ewen McEwen.
Media Strategy 101 - The Case of The Media Hungry Plastic Surgeon
A good strategy to raise your profile is to get yourself on Larry King.
If you're a clownknobidiotego maniac plastic surgeon you might like this strategy.
You go on Larry King to say you can't go on Larry King.
Okay, all together now: Idiot.
A show like Larry King can be a terrific boost to your profile and career - if used right. Making yourself look like a pretentious idiot and being made a laughing stock probably isn't so smart.
Like always, handle yourself with honesty, good intentions and decency and you'll come out of anything the right way.
A great friend of mine is book publicity Queen Chelsea McLean. She makes me call her that.
Chelsea, regular readers might know, gets an occasional mention here and has featured on one of our podcasts (I've popped it in the player below).
Chelsea specialises in book publicity and there is no other reason for this post other than to help Chelsea out by mentioning that.
If you have a book and want publicity you will simply not find anyone who works harder and smarter than Chelsea.
But if you want a drinking partner to keep up, then nope, she's not your woman!
She is absolutely brilliant at what she does - not only is a she a friend of mine, but she was also our publicist for a while and got us more publicity than you can poke a very large stick at.
Listen To The Interview With Chelsea
Disclosure: She hasn't paid for this fantastic endorsement, but she did pay for dinner last time we went out!
An email from a client asking us to stop his online marketing: "....as I cannot take anymore Christmas orders and have been turning people away for the last week or so."
Maybe time for a price hike (for him, not me......actually, maybe me too!).
How To Benefit From A Celebrity Slagging Off Your Business Or Industry
Opportunities are everywhere for the smart businessperson to take advantage of/maximise the benefit for their business.
Here's an example.
Actress Reese Witherspoon said last week, ""He (4 year old son Deacon) wants to be a pizza delivery boy. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it's hard to see how it could be a career as such."
"And the same Pizza Hut drivers who deliver hot, fresh pizzas right to your door have gone on to become successful business, doctors, lawyers and, yes, actors."
What brilliant coverage for Pizza Hut. And what a brilliant way to tell their army of delivery people that they respect what they do.
All it took was a fresh angle and a 15 minute media release and Pizza Hut have capitalised on Reese saying something a little negative.
Can you tie in current events to your business? Because if you can, in an interesting way, then you're on a winner in terms of publicity.
Don't Annoy Your Customer - Let Them Give Your Their Money
I've written about this before, but seeing as it is coming into Christmas and every man and his dog (only clever dogs with credit cards) will be buying online, I'll mention it again.
If you sell stuff from your web site DO NOT make customers create an account to buy your product. A huge % simply won't do it and won't buy from you.
I've been reviewing some sites in a client's niche today and the first 3 sites I looked at all had this sort of barrier to buying.
Why would you stick up barriers to people buying your product. That's just stupid.
Sure, not as stupid as the time I took a dart in my forearm during my childhood game of running from my brothers why they threw darts at me, but pretty stupid nevertheless.
If you use a shopping cart that asks people to register just to buy your stuff, then it's time to get a new cart. It's that simple.
I think I'm obsessive. Not sure. Read on and let me know.
In March this year I rode 1,000 km from Sydney to Surfers Paradise with 15 other guys in a group. 3 kms out from morning tea 3 guys came down in a crash.
2 bikes were damaged and unrideable (that's not a word I don't think - but is now).
The guys with the damaged bikes got a lift into morning tea with the support car, fixed their bikes, had a bit to eat and drink and we continued on our ride 20 minutes later.
Here's the thing.
I Would Have Had To Go Back
If I was one of those riders who crashed and got a lift for 3 kms I would have had to go back to where I crashed and ride into the morning tea spot.
There is no way I could have finished the 1,000 km bike ride without riding that 3.
Never. Not in a million years. I would never later tell people I'd ridden from Sydney to Surfers Paradise because I wouldn't feel I did.
The funny thing about this story is this - one of the guys who crashed was an absolutely wonderful guy called Aneek.
At morning tea, after his bike had been fixed, Aneek said to me, "I know you Brendon - you would have had to go back and ride those few kilometres, wouldn't you?!"
My personality type must show through!
I Know When I Can Do Better - And Have To Go Back & Fix It I'm like it with a lot of things, including work.
I know when I haven't done my best.
I know when I could have done better.
Because I'm obsessive, I have to go back and do better.
Being obsessive like this is good.
You get things done.
You get things done well.
It can be bad too, because you tend to, like I do, spread yourself thin as you try to be perfect (unlike me).
I think obsessiveness helps in business. Because a lot of business is about perseverance. If you're in business, get obsessive. Get persistent. Get successful.
I was thinking about that previous post - the one about the choice influences on people when they buy your product.
A point I didn't make is that these choice influences vary from person to person.
A friend of mine has just arranged some pool fence hire. He's put a pool in and the fence he arranged wasn't up to standard - so his pool wasn't approved.
So he hired a to-standard pool fence whilst he arranged to fix the permanent one. His main consideration was cost. Although the pool fence hire is perfectly safe. The Pool, To Him, Isn't Seen As A Danger
This is because he doesn't see the pool as a danger - it doesn't have any water in it as yet.
But consider the case of a young couple with a new pool and a toddler who can't swim.
Price wouldn't be an object for these guys, so if you're selling to these guys you'd focus on safety and quality. Simple enough.
How To Convey 2 Marketing Messages
But how do you convey both of those messages in your marketing.
Well, you don't. Or you shouldn't, at least.
You see, the guy after the pool fence hire and the young couple with the bub are both completely different markets - so different marketing.
Different advertising.
Different PR messages.
Different brochures.
A whole different approach.
Do you mix your marketing up? You should.
If you don't you're not as effective as you might be (that's a real gentle way of saying "You're stupid. And probably ineffective!").
Look, I don't want to mention any names (it's Mel) but someone here in the office now has reading glasses.
The same someone has always taken great pride in her perfect eyesight and sees reading glasses as a bit of an indication that she may be getting a little older. (I, of course, don't think this because I may or may not be married to the person in question....and, surprisingly, she becomes little Miss Cranky Pants when you tease her a bit about her advancing years. So I'd never do that.).
Anyhow, the point of all this is this.
Reading glasses are not something you need to get off your optometrist - which is where most people do buy them.
You can buy reading glasses from a range of online places now - all you need is your prescription and any number of online stores will sell you a pair very cheap. I'm talking hundreds of $$$ in savings.
So the question is, for an online reading glasses store, what do you have to do to get customers?
Get known/get in front of your target market - advertising, public relations, search engine optimisation.
Have a relevant and unique point of difference that influences the buying decision.
3. Make an offer.
Like all marketing, that's it.
Why Price Is A Bad Unique Selling Point
Price is many businesses unique selling point. But that's a bad one. And it's a bad unique selling point because someone will always come along and beat you on price.
Always. Every time. No question.
For something like reading glasses you want a unique selling point that is relevant.
Seeing as though (what a pun!) your main competition will be optometrists, I'd think that incredibly fast service might be the best one to focus on.
What's different about you to your competitors? Is that difference important in the customer's decision making process? Is it a difference that can be easily beaten by your competition? No....then that's it then.
Online Personal Training Site Gives Brilliant Example
I'm always rabbiting on about how we all need, in business, to demonstrate our expertise or our product.
The biggest barrier to someone buying from you is perceived risk - if you can show your product off, then this substantially reduces the perceived risk in buying from you.
One site I found today is of a personal training site. The site provides brilliant samples of their product - in the before and after pictures of their clients, and via the success stories.
What a powerful, logical and just plain smart way to do it for this personal training site.
What I particularly like about how they done it, is that the demonstration comes in both words and graphics. Some people need to see it, some people need to read it.
Providing testimonials in various formats provides options to your prospects to access the information critical to decision making in a way that is suitable to them.
I just added this image (below) to a page on this site. This is true. Imagine when I was young and stupid (no big stretch there) - I used to attend 'networking' functions.
Basically what happens at networking functions is people push their business card onto you and try and sell you stuff.
Bikely is the site I use pretty extensively and the site we used last year on the Sydney to Surfers bike ride to help riders take a 'look' at the course beforehand.
I didn't even know that Bikely was an Australian site, let alone that Jules had developed it. And now it's not after Jules sold it to the UK based Bike Radar.
Keep on eye out for Jules - he's a brilliant developer who will no doubt pop up again with something equally as clever shortly.
On Friday morning I flew down to Melbourne with my son Jack for some meetings.
We had a chat with David White - David is the Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters Australia and has worked with disadvantaged kids for 25 years.
This is a guy who is so devoted to helping kids through a tough time - a really inspiring guy.
Then it was time for lunch with a guy called Craig Harper (right) and his mate Johnny.
Craig is a very well known motivational speaker, author, media guy and all round nice guy here in Australia.
And boy, Craig's arms are big! Wow! Real big! (Note to Accounts: Invoice Craig for the mention of his arms he wanted me to do.)
My son Jack and I rocked along, grabbed a bite to eat and had a chat.
We didn't really talk about anything specific - much of the time was taken up by me telling Craig and Johnny just how funny I am (!) - but a chat with a couple of solid, positive guys like these is a terrific thing.
And not not just for me - my son Jack just sat back and took it all in and loved it.
The Benefit From Bike Riding
I see that a lot.
I see that when Jack (that's him on the left having a Hot Chocolate during a bike ride break) and I go for a bike ride with a few of my (and now Jack's) mates the benefit isn't always in the bike ride.
The benefit comes from 15 year old Jack sitting down with positive, caring people and having a normal chat about normal things and being treated as an equal.
The benefit that a young fellow like Jack gets from sitting down and spending an hour or so chatting with good people like David, Craig and Johnny (and Kate, whom you're about to hear about) is immeasurable.
Dinner With Kate Leeming Jack and I finished off Friday with dinner with our new friend - the amazing, wonderful and just plain lovely Kate Leeming - that's Kate with Jack on the right.
In 1993, Kate became the first woman in history to cycle across the ‘New Russia’, when she organised, led and completed the five-month, 13,400 kilometre Trans-Siberian Cycle Expedition in aid of the children of Chernobyl.
Ten years later, she conceived and organised the Great Australian Cycle Expedition (GRACE), a 25,000 kilometre journey around Australia.
Today I've changed the title tag on this home page to "The Ugg Boots King & Other Stories - Tailored Internet Marketing."
I felt that this blog is a bit boring, a bit me - too and I need to shake it up a bit. New content, new style (to an extent) and generally spark things up a bit.
Whilst having that title - the ugg boots story refers to this article - will screw my search engine rankings for various terms, I want to test things and shake things up. I want to be different.
Gold Coast Swim School Owner & Marathon Runner: We Were Smashed
One thing I haven't mentioned about the Noosa Triathlon is that I had a bit of a competition going with a friend of mine (David).
David is a good mate I go cycling with and arranged to do the race with a couple of friends as a team.
We met for dinner before the race and David introduced me to his friends - the guy doing the swim leg was Gary.
Gary's lovely wife Lisa was doing the run.
Swim School On Gold Coast Owner
Now Gary just happens to be a world class swimmer who owns and runs one one of the best swim schools on the Gold Coast. Gary is mid 40s now - looks about 20 (!) - and proceeded to smash me in the swim.
In fact his swim was so good he was just behind the professionals!
Mmmmmm.
Dave then did the cycle in a very strong 1 hour 11 minutes, and the run was finished off by Lisa - who just happens to be a terrific and very enthusiastic runner.
Her last race was the Gold Coast Marathon.
So Team Sinclair got smashed by one very sneaky mate called Dave who was found having quite a chuckle to himself once I realised we were about to get thrashed.
It won't happen again next year - I'm thinking of getting Gary onto Team Sinclair!
If they were looking for an argument from me, they'd be disappointed! Here's what I reckon about the Noosa Triathlon site:
# 1: The Noosa Triathlon web site is boring. Bores me to tears. There is no interesting/fresh/updated content on it.
The best they've come up with is a boring media release on the 2 people who have won it something like 400 times in the last 6 years.
I'm pretty sure they've kept the media release form the last few years and send the same one out.
C'mon guys! Give us:
podcasts
video interviews from the morning of the race
a huge photo gallery
video tips from the pros
bike maintenance tips from the pros
expert review of different transition strategies
athlete profiles (and not just the big names)
competitions
much more
Anything but boring media releases.
# 2: The Noosa Triathlon is the world's 2nd biggest triathlon. It attracts close on 5,500 competitors.
Incredibly, they don't have the name www.noosatriathlon.com.au registered.
In the last 7 days, there have been 2,500 searches on Google alone for the phrase "Noosa Triathlon".
I'd guess 500+ people would have typed www.noosatriathlon.com.au directly into the address bar or Google search field in the past 3-4 days.
They would have received this:
Sure, these people will probably end up at the USM Events site eventually, but it is lazy branding not to own that very obvious domain.
# 3: Triathlon photographs take a staggering 10+ days to be available online for viewing and buying.
The Gold Coast Airport Marathon has close on 12,000 competitors and the photos are online and searchable within a matter of hours.
10+ days is 9.75 days too long.
The extra 9.75 days is spent forgetting about what a great race the event is and wanting a memento of the race. The wait must kill sales.
# 4: Results are up in hours - brilliant stuff.
Guys, You Need A Better Online Effort
Events like this must have a better online strategy. They're missing out on a range of benefits they can provide competitors/customers, sponsors and other key stakeholders.
It's a brilliantly organised race that I've enjoyed competing in more than just about any race I've ever done. Crank up the online efforts and it'll be just about perfect.
Ze Frank Comes Out of Retirement........And Sucks Big Time
Ze Frank was a brilliantly incisive video blogger who quickly found success and soon moved on, stopping his video blogs about 6 months ago.
He comes out of retirement below to comment on the writer's strike.
He looks tired, distracted and a bit washed out. This video is just plain dull.
Maybe Ze Frank's writer has gone on strike?? Maybe that's the joke.
If not, perhaps it should be.
Employed Myself Back
And if you don't like what I've just written, too bad. I've gone on strike and had to employ myself back at a greatly reduced rate - so you only get 1/2 the wit.
I was just at my daughter's High School Sports Awards night.
One of the sporting House Captains was one of the MCs for the night. She was a very giggly, amusing girl who, I'd suggest, didn't receive any academic awards.
She came up with this line during a presentation: "The next award goes to the student whose effort ......oooooooh, big word coming up..... encompasses........"
Although she wasn't the most articulate of people, her natural charm, confidence and willingness to have a laugh at herself made her the hit of the night.
And yes, she was blonde.
Not that I would ever be so bold stupid to suggest this has anything to do with having trouble with big words - after all, I have a blonde wife and a blonde daughter!
Yesterday, Anthony and I had a meeting with some people 100 km away from the office.
It was my 2nd meeting with these guys and Anthony's 1st.
Now, meetings can be expensive. Especially if no work comes from the meeting.
But they are, obviously, a necessary part of doing business. 2 Meetings = 10 Hours + $100
These 2 meetings have cost me 10 hours in work hours, plus about $100 in expenses. That's just for x2 1 hour meetings. So these costs add up.
I've just been reading about the Meeting Miser - a nifty little tool that "knows that time is money and will calculate exactly how much you're spending."
In these days of fiscal accountability it provides an easy way to help gauge expenses for each and every meeting.
We had a great time in Noosa yesterday at the Triathlon.
Laura, Jack (my daughter and son) and I did the race as a team.
The photo on the right is (l to r) me (Brendon), Harry, Jack, Mel & Laura.
10 km Run In 30 Degree Heat
Laura did the 10 km run leg - it was the very first time she'd run 10 km. To do your first 10km run in:
30 degree heat
at the world's 2nd largest triathlon
is a terrific effort and she was very chuffed with herself. Really excited.
She was even more chuffed when she found out all competitors received a:
cool backpack,
running singlet,
visor and
water bottle.
Young Bull Beats Old Bull
And Jack beat my 40km cycle leg time from last year by 20 seconds. Mmmmm, this seems to be the time when the young bull starts overtaking the old bull.
I managed to stay afloat in the 1.5 km swim long enough to record a rather slow time, but, as the kids said, maybe having done 1 swim in the last 3 months probably wasn't the ideal preparation!
The Most Important Part Of Doing The Noosa Triathlon Is....
.....doing it.
Like I said to a friend on the weekend, the kids are here doing the race:
Getting, healthy, keeping fit, setting goals, having a go, being out in the sun, pushing themselves.
Sure beats sitting at home watching TV.
Jack & Laura In The Transition Area (with about $10 million worth of bikes)
Years ago I managed top class athletes, and given advice to a few more.
These days I managed a couple of sites that sponsor athletes so get to see the occasional bit of info sent through. One client has one athlete who is excellent at reporting, the rest are terrible.
As A Sponsored Athlete Here Is A Checklist Of The Minimum You Must Do
Send the sponsor a large signed framed photo of you using the product
Send the sponsor birthday cards, Christmas cards, Easter cards, etc
Phone the sponsor at least once every 2 weeks to say hello
Send the sponsor a simple written report (emailed is best) on what you have done for that week in terms of getting his product exposed to the market (include as much relevant data as possible -
i.e. "I won the race in front of 1,000 spectators and accepted the trophy in front of 3,000 more people interested in the sport.
My photo appeared in the local newspaper with your logo prominent - the newspaper readership is 125,000...etc")
Send the sponsor any media clippings of you being mentioned
When You Win
Send the sponsor a framed photo of you winning the event
Send the sponsor a report on the race/event along with an endorsement of their product
Send the sponsor a video of you saying "I just won ABC Race and the sponsor product really helped. Couldn't have won without it."
Basically, make it as easy as possible for the sponsor to see your value and tell others - i.e. pop the video up on their web site (giving you greater exposure), perhaps think about you for a TV commercial, etc.
Trust me when I say the vast majority of sponsored athletes don't do much in return for their free products and/or cash. And almost zero athletes would ever dream of going above and beyond what the are supposed to do.
These athletes miss an opportunity to demonstrate their value to a sponsor and develop a long term and mutually beneficial relationship.
Find & Replace
How is this relevant to business?
Well, now you replace the word 'Sponsor' with 'Client' and change the reporting to be relevant for what you do. And do that.
I wrote yesterday about writing and have just heard today from a client whose sales have, after we rewrote the sales copy on her home page, increased x7.
