Seeking advice on sponsorship

creaky

XMAS Plumper
Should we start a gofundme and get a Rotorburn Factory Racing Team going?
I think that's what @moorey's really after, but is afraid to ask.
You mean the 'fund Moorey's new chainsaw' gofundme ?

The kid is obviously fast, loves racing but ain't keen on all the hoo-ha. Sounds like a good way to be at that age. Avoid all that social media crap.

Talk to the sponsors, bike shops etc. that are setup at the races he goes to but I wouldn't push it too hard at his age. Pick a couple of travel away races a year to get him to for now and otherwise keep hitting the local-ish races which shouldn't cost a packet.
 

ForkinGreat

Knows his Brassica oleracea
You mean the 'fund Moorey's new chainsaw' gofundme ?

The kid is obviously fast, loves racing but ain't keen on all the hoo-ha. Sounds like a good way to be at that age. Avoid all that social media crap.

Talk to the sponsors, bike shops etc. that are setup at the races he goes to but I wouldn't push it too hard at his age. Pick a couple of travel away races a year to get him to for now and otherwise keep hitting the local-ish races which shouldn't cost a packet.
This. Felix is enjoying his riding. At this point in his life, Don't kill it for him and make it a chore by having to keep sponsors happy. All the sponsor stuff can come later, IMO.

Having Go Pro POV, and a bit of insta re rides and results will help extablish rider CV, if that's what he wants down the track.
 

John U

MTB Precision
It’s awesome to see Felix racing so well. Social media is going to be pretty important for sponsorship.

Check out young Jackson Goldstone. He’s got the marketing side/social media pretty well sorted. If Felix is comfortable talking about riding/railing/killing it at races maybe you could start with something like that. Riding tips?

Public speaking is a hard thing to do. But it’s easier if you’re talking about something you love or you are an authority in. Sounds like Felix has both those covered for his age group.
 

slowmick

38-39"
@Duane - do you think Matt at Life of Bikes could give Moorey some tips on what he looks for in a rider and how to get ahead from when he was running the downhill team? Yarra Valley Cycles also seems to have been a good springboard for young pinners.
 

hellmansam

Likes Bikes and Dirt
I agree with the comments about being wary of killing the lad's enjoyment of riding by turning it into a job/chore. Felix will have to weigh up the pros and cons for himself, there's a fair bit of stuff to understand/consider for someone so young. Social media plays to some of our worst traits and for many we are instinctively repelled by that. However - there are people who exploit that to benefit their own ends, I've seen it in fishing and other other pastimes where youngsters have built their personal brand and attracted opportunity in the form of sponsorship etc.
A Rotorburn crowdfundy thing would be cool, I'm a member of a shooting forum where members supported a talented young woman to compete at international level and she was very successful.
 

Nambra

Definitely should have gone to specsavers
[snip]
A Rotorburn crowdfundy thing would be cool
[snip]
See @moorey, there are a few here that are supportive of the notion. Plenty of cashed up dentists on Yetis that could contribute, no doubt. I'd splash my company logo on Felix's jersey with cash his way for the privilege; what I do has nothing to do with mtb, but who cares. Jaycar sponsored the Bulldogs didn't they?

Seriously though, why not try an initial fund raise to meet the costs of some upcoming events or required gear that is stretching your budget. Put up a shopping list and see how it goes. People might have parts they could donate or just supply cash; when he's on the WC podium being interviewed he can thank us all then! The upside is there is are no sponsorship obligations, all he has to do is ride fast and have fun.

How about this for an additional idea - get a group order of some custom printed Rotorburn cycling shirts and flog them to the rest of us at a reasonable profit to help fund Felix?

351397
 

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
Have you considered establishing a race team and marketing that, rather than your son? You could take a leading hand in the social media and sponsor negotiation side of things, allowing your team rider to focus on what he does best and taking a staring role in your media images.

It is also worth considering (as noted above) that sponsors don't necessarily need to come from within the industry. Sponsoring a team rather than individual may present as more accessible to non-industry businesses.

With the social media related talk, I've known a few people that have picked up sponsorships through instagram, not all bike related. These have ranged from personal discount codes to use on the sponsors Web store, kickbacks from sales linked to "your" profile, to free products and also some monetisation (you tube). Of the people I know some are quite talented in their chosen endeavours (win races, perform mad tricks, have huge followings, or really small followings), but the big winner is pretty girls who aren't shy about their boobs. Put on bikini, take photo with sponsor brand of coffee, post with meaningless words, receive free coffee from said brand. It is fairly sexist and pervy in reality and a disappointing aspect of humans.
 

frenchman

Eats cheese. Sells crack.
Essentially Craigos, just start snap chatting / instagramming every aspect of his life for the world to see and critique. Then sell that. :rolleyes:

Or let him keep riding the gear that he’s got and school the squids that are dressed in pyjama pants with a factory hookup that take riding bikes a little bit too seriously. Results still sell and even more so if you’re doing it on a clapped out rig amongst the 10g dentist bikes from mum and dad.

If he is gravesy/ Rennie fast you’d have a pretty good idea by now.
 

SummitFever

Eats Squid
With support / sponsorship comes pressure to perform. Kids grow up too quickly already. As soon as you're the 13 year old wizzkid with the factory ride you've got a target painted on your back and need to deliver the results. Some kids might lap that pressure up, but for others it might take the fun out of it. You know Felix best, so just do whatever will make it most fun for him.
 

Haakon

Keeps on digging
With support / sponsorship comes pressure to perform. Kids grow up too quickly already. As soon as you're the 13 year old wizzkid with the factory ride you've got a target painted on your back and need to deliver the results. Some kids might lap that pressure up, but for others it might take the fun out of it. You know Felix best, so just do whatever will make it most fun for him.
With the wisdom of my vast parenting skills, I’d bet that’s a fine line to tread. You want them to have fun and do their own thing, but also push them a bit.

I’d watch a father son duo YouTube trail series. Chasing the young teenagers audience, you could ham it up trying to keep up with the hero, could be fun :)

Must be cool being good at something and knowing it that young. I’ve still no idea what I want to do when I grow up...
 

Flow-Rider

Burner
With support / sponsorship comes pressure to perform. Kids grow up too quickly already. As soon as you're the 13 year old wizzkid with the factory ride you've got a target painted on your back and need to deliver the results. Some kids might lap that pressure up, but for others it might take the fun out of it. You know Felix best, so just do whatever will make it most fun for him.
It's called spiking too early, my friend's daughter won a few Australia national titles, in 2004 rode for Australian at world champs, done about 2 races overseas and then quit, went to uni and became a dentist.
 

moorey

call me Mia
Cheers again all for the sage advice. It’s all about fun for him. He doesn’t feel pressure (I certainly don’t impose it), and just wants to ride his bike whenever and wherever he can. The only person he’s really interested in satisfying is himself on the track. Sure he’s trying to win, and there’s guys he’s trying to beat, but only as a measure of his own performance and improvement.

Went down to chat to LBS Dynamite Cycles today, and they’re looking at how they can help him out. They have a small shop team of ambassadors, and are looking at taking him onto the team. Best part of that will be the support and mentoring from the older riders, He really looks up to the mechanic, who’s also an elite DH and Enduro rider, and I’m hoping they can work together on some coaching when Trav returns to riding soon after some surgery. I may have to look at buying him a new frame from the shops flagship brand at some stage soon, to make him really feel like part of the shop team.

Have had a generous offers to supply tyres and a few odds and ends. Blown away by the support. Mitas aren’t a brand I’ve seen much of in the flesh, but their new highlander tyre looks sweet.

In the meantime, I’m going to just continue to enable him to do what he loves for as long as he wants to.
 

dancaseyimages

Mountain bike pornographer
There's a few key things that might be handy to remember, but at the end of the day you don't want him to feel pressured and in turn loose the passion.

-The YouTube videos could be a production minefield, the filming only a small % of the work, the rest is in the edit/sitting in front of a screen splicing it up/uploading.
It really makes the difference when the algorithm helps to push peoples content towards certain viewer groups etc.

-Instagram is good, but some feeds are just boring and soon will have people unsubscribing from their posts etc.
A well curated feed will keep people coming back, just tag in the relevant majors #mtblife etc and @wearelusty etc the YT guys have picked up a few riders this way. Pick accounts that have a few thousand followers if you want something reposted as some accounts use bots so your picture might come up against a thousand others submitted for the day.
And dont forget to tag in your sponsors/local LBS so they can see some of the efforts.

Always good to have a race photo and share the location, so when someone looks at Bright for example the race photos appear in there to.

Just a few ideas.... Social media can burn people out pretty quickly though. It all comes with the aspect of social media and 'needing' to post content regularly etc.
 

MARKL

Eats Squid
This may sound dumb but what does Felix want from the sponsorship? What will sponsorship enable Felix to achieve that he can't now? He smashes local races already.

Does he want to travel to more interstate races? Does he want to try and qualify for junior worlds? Does he want a new frame? When does he need the new frame?

For example, if he wants to race overseas that is different exposure but also a different ask from a sponsor and it may open up different opportunities. For example if he wants to do a NZ race/Oceania the local travel agent may get you a deal on flights for him and hook you up with accommodation.

My younger brother was a very good sportsman and went to a few world championships, the local car dealer paid for most of them. They liked the local kid going overseas angle and kept helping him even though the sport had nothing to do with cars. The sponsorship was event specific, he had different combinations of sponsorship each time.

Then when you rock up at the local distro and say Felix is going to World Champs and doesn't have a frame sponsor yet, it's a different conversation...
 
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moorey

call me Mia
Good question @MARKL...and I don’t really know. The moral support and mentoring I hope he will get from the shop team is the biggest thing right now. They’re helping him out with some kit at the moment. He buys most of his own stuff out of his pocket money, and it will effectively mean he can get better kit for his money. If he continues to love the riding, and have some success, I hope they can guide me on continuing to support him with whatever he needs.
 
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