It is astonishing how many emails we get a week regarding sponsorship. Through facebook, the website or plain email, I am averaging 150 contacts a week from athletes, events or organizations. It is also ridiculous how little the people sending a large majority of these emails know about myself or the company.
I get statements like, "I love your clothing so much" and " I would love to promote your company as much as promoting myself." Seriously? My usual response is somewhere along the lines of, " That's awesome. What shirts, bag or accessories of RescindX do you own now and which product do you really love showing off.." or "That's great, do you promote our fan pages on your own social media?". The answers I get range from "Oh I have never bought or won any of your stuff" or "I wanted to promote your brand but I didn't have time or feel like it at that time."
Here are my thoughts on that. I am a big, no, a huge believer that there is so much money and business out there, that by working together, everyone can become successful. No question about it. Through RescindX Athletics, we cover Canadian athletes, starting in Ontario and working our way through the other provinces. We give exposure and a chance for athletes to showcase themselves, FREE. Through RescindX Clothing, we sponsor the Ontario Physique Association and athletes. On the other side of the coin, I promote companies that I really believe in, I don't do this to get free product, I do this to enjoy a strong working relationship with other Canadian professionals, and mainly because I use their products and believe in their company's integrity. Karma is not an end result, it is a starting point of loyalty, integrity and trust.
So for athletes looking for sponsorship in any industry, for our company or any of the fine companies out there. Look at yourself, look at your life choices. DO these areas make you marketable for a company, are you a go-getter, are you personable, trustworthy. My advice, brand yourself, work with a company to better their brand instead of asking what the company is going to give you. ASK what you can do for them.
I have said it before, and it bears repeating. I don't look at an athletes trophy case. I don't look at their accomplishments and awards. I look at the person, the individual and try to determine whether we can be friends, are they outgoing, personality plus? If I believe that is possible, then I believe the business side will work out. Others have a different philosophy, mine works for us. Don't expect companies to hand over buckets of money or product for free, sponsorship is hard work for both sides, not even close to a free lunch. Be aware and leary of companies that just hand things to you on a silver platter, or offer you the moon. Guaranteed there is an ulterior motive.
Thanks everyone, and all the best in the second half of this 2011 competition season. And show your support for us on our fan pages.
RescindX Clothing Fan Page
Bruce Millward
CEO RescindX Clothing & Athletics.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
RescindX Updates
So after an utterly busy first 6 months of the season, I had looked forward to some downtime. I enjoy playing mind games with myself now and then :). Knowing that downtime is not happening, I have been mapping out the next 6 months for RescindX. I believe I am coming to the realization that there is nowhere near enough hours in the day.
Sponsoring the Toronto Pro Super Show was an eye opener for us..in an amazing way of course. This was by far, the largest event we had taken on and as such, was a whole lot more work to get ready. From the 150 gift bags for the 2 model search competitors plus grand prizes to designing and printing our own work, the labour hours certainly piled up. Since I am such a nitpicker when it comes to quality, I print all our own apparel. I have tested and re-tested the print quality, leaving nothing to chance or to someone else's bad day. Our company will rise or fall on the quality we put out. I stand behind our name and therefore I do the work.The Super Show was the first show of its kind in Toronto for a long time. There was so much work put into this event, and the results demonstrated that. Every large production will have minor bumps, scheduling or otherwise. For a first effort, I stand behind all those who were involved, the sky is the limit for this show and its organizers.
While I will be updating our thoughts on sponsorship of athletes. I just wanted to throw a few things out there for athletes to remember. While so many of the athletes would kill to get free supplements, clothing or other products. It is important to remember, that as a sponsored athletes, you are not only representing yourself but the company too. How you act in public, on stage or in leisure time, reflects good or bad on the company sponsoring you. Although we are a fairly new company and having talked to quite a few in the industry, I believe our sponsorship package ranks right up there with the big boys and girls. But there is work involved for our athletes, lots of what we expect is in the Social Media realm. Not tough but can be time-consuming. We have been fortunate that several of our athletes are truly amazing when it comes to this for us. I do know, as we grow, my patience and tolerance for those that don't put in the work or act like professionals does lessen. It is not all free clothing, we offer commissions on sales generated by the athletes as well. I put almost all my time into our company and promoting athletes and I expect and demand the same from those we sponsor.
Also a reminder, there are lots of organizations and individuals out there. If you put your time into these fly-by-night folks, expect that others will see through them. As a sponsor, I don't put a huge emphasis on the number of trophies you win as much as I look at the athlete and how they brand and market themselves and who they associate with. Much more importance is put on personality and marketability than entering 100 shows in a year and winning countless event trophies and having the personality of a flounder. I am sure, if I am receiving 150 sponsorship requests a week, then the big companies are deluged with requests. WHAT MAKES YOU STAND OUT?
Last bnt not least, please check out our fan pages, We do appreciate the support from our fans.
https://www.facebook.com/RescindXClothing
Sponsoring the Toronto Pro Super Show was an eye opener for us..in an amazing way of course. This was by far, the largest event we had taken on and as such, was a whole lot more work to get ready. From the 150 gift bags for the 2 model search competitors plus grand prizes to designing and printing our own work, the labour hours certainly piled up. Since I am such a nitpicker when it comes to quality, I print all our own apparel. I have tested and re-tested the print quality, leaving nothing to chance or to someone else's bad day. Our company will rise or fall on the quality we put out. I stand behind our name and therefore I do the work.The Super Show was the first show of its kind in Toronto for a long time. There was so much work put into this event, and the results demonstrated that. Every large production will have minor bumps, scheduling or otherwise. For a first effort, I stand behind all those who were involved, the sky is the limit for this show and its organizers.
While I will be updating our thoughts on sponsorship of athletes. I just wanted to throw a few things out there for athletes to remember. While so many of the athletes would kill to get free supplements, clothing or other products. It is important to remember, that as a sponsored athletes, you are not only representing yourself but the company too. How you act in public, on stage or in leisure time, reflects good or bad on the company sponsoring you. Although we are a fairly new company and having talked to quite a few in the industry, I believe our sponsorship package ranks right up there with the big boys and girls. But there is work involved for our athletes, lots of what we expect is in the Social Media realm. Not tough but can be time-consuming. We have been fortunate that several of our athletes are truly amazing when it comes to this for us. I do know, as we grow, my patience and tolerance for those that don't put in the work or act like professionals does lessen. It is not all free clothing, we offer commissions on sales generated by the athletes as well. I put almost all my time into our company and promoting athletes and I expect and demand the same from those we sponsor.
Also a reminder, there are lots of organizations and individuals out there. If you put your time into these fly-by-night folks, expect that others will see through them. As a sponsor, I don't put a huge emphasis on the number of trophies you win as much as I look at the athlete and how they brand and market themselves and who they associate with. Much more importance is put on personality and marketability than entering 100 shows in a year and winning countless event trophies and having the personality of a flounder. I am sure, if I am receiving 150 sponsorship requests a week, then the big companies are deluged with requests. WHAT MAKES YOU STAND OUT?
Last bnt not least, please check out our fan pages, We do appreciate the support from our fans.
https://www.facebook.com/RescindXClothing
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)