{"id":3646,"date":"2012-06-03T11:55:17","date_gmt":"2012-06-03T09:55:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/?p=3646"},"modified":"2013-03-20T00:39:46","modified_gmt":"2013-03-19T23:39:46","slug":"how-to-get-sponsorship-for-your-long-distance-bicycle-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/how-to-get-sponsorship-for-your-long-distance-bicycle-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"How to get sponsorship for your long-distance bicycle tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\u201cHow can I get sponsorship for my bicycle tour?\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s probably the question we get asked most often.\u00a0 In this post I\u2019ll share some of our experiences with sponsorship and offer a few tips on how to up your chances of attracting corporate support.<\/p>\n

What kind of goodies can I expect from a bicycle tour sponsor?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s very unlikely that you can convince a company to give you cash, but you may end up with a lot of free stuff. Bicycle travelers regularly obtain miscellaneous gear and clothing.\u00a0 Big-ticket items such as a complete set of panniers, down sleeping bags, a therma-rest or a multi-fuel stove are harder to come by.\u00a0 A free bicycle is almost impossible to obtain, but you may be able to wrangle a steep discount.<\/p>\n

Many companies will offer long-distance cyclists a \u201cpro deal\u201d giving you up to 50% off list items.<\/p>\n

What will potential sponsors expect in return?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some sort of recognition and soft marketing of their product.\u00a0 Most companies will want you to feature their logo prominently on your website.\u00a0 Some will ask you to \u201clike\u201d their Facebook page or provide photos of you in action using their product in some beautiful and exotic location.\u00a0 Reputable companies will not ask you to provide fraudulent product reviews.<\/p>\n

Which companies should I target?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most cycle tourists have better luck getting sponsorship from small local companies rather than major international sporting goods brands. <\/strong>Your chances of getting Patagonia or North Face on board are next to nil.\u00a0 As a starting point, take a look at companies that have a record of sponsoring cyclists.<\/p>\n

What is the best way to get in touch with potential sponsors?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Few companies will have information on their website explaining how to go about getting sponsorship.\u00a0 After all, they\u2019ve got to make it a little bit tough or risk an onslaught of freebie seekers.<\/p>\n

An e-mail is probably the best way to initially contact a potential sponsor.\u00a0 I suggest taking the time to call a company and get a contact name rather than just firing off an email to sales@xyz.company.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll want to write something catchy in the subject line that will get you noticed.\u00a0 Yours doesn\u2019t have to be the longest cycle tour in history, or the most demanding, but it should be unique in some way.<\/p>\n

Stating that you want to you want to cycle from Alaska to Argentina to \u201cexperience new cultures and test your physical limits,\u201c just won\u2019t cut it these days.<\/p>\n

Riding bamboo bikes.\u00a0 Now that\u2019s something that will grab attention.<\/p>\n

What information should I include in my email sponsorship request?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Your initial e-mail shouldn\u2019t be a detailed essay, just enough information so that some sympathetic soul will actually open it up and click on the link to your website to find out more.<\/p>\n

There are two potential approaches to getting sponsors.\u00a0 You can try to convince a company of the benefits they\u2019ll receive by sponsoring you cycle tour.\u00a0 That means you\u2019ll need a slick website and brochure and the ability to talk coherently about product exposure and market penetration.<\/p>\n

The other approach is to appeal to a company\u2019s desire to help and support worthwhile causes.\u00a0 This means you\u2019ll need to get people passionate about your project.<\/p>\n

In either case, it\u2019s important to get the name of a contact person.\u00a0 With a little persistence, you can usually land the name and email address of the person in charge of sponsorship just by calling the main number listed on the company website.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not that creative or technically inclined.\u00a0 Is my bicycle touring website really important?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Absolutely.\u00a0 Your website is all potential sponsors have to judge you on.\u00a0 A catchy tagline will up your chances of being remembered.\u00a0 You need to convey who you are and what you\u2019re setting out to accomplish in a matter of minutes, if not seconds.\u00a0 A well-crafted ABOUT page is particularly important.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the next step?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is highly unlikely that anyone will actually respond to your email.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll need to follow-up.\u00a0 That\u2019s the key, as any successful salesperson will tell you.\u00a0 Now that your email has been ignored, it\u2019s time to start making more phone calls.<\/p>\n

If you were lucky enough to obtain a contact name for the email, get in touch directly with that person.\u00a0 If not, you\u2019ll have to call back the main number and explain your story all over again.<\/p>\n

Once you get somebody on the line, introduce yourself (briefly) and ask if he\u2019s received your email.\u00a0 Now\u2019s the time for a fine-tuned 30 second pitch.<\/p>\n

In our case, reaching an actual live human being results in eventual success only about 20% of the time.\u00a0 Often, it\u2019s \u201csorry, great project but we can\u2019t help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Is chasing after sponsorship worth the effort?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve got time on your hands and very few financial resources, yes.\u00a0 If you\u2019re busy with a well-paying job, probably not.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve got a lot of sponsors.\u00a0 Are you sure there\u2019s not some other trick?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the years we have been able to acquire several top-notch sponsors<\/a>.\u00a0 When we set off in 2006, all we had was a 25% discount from the local bike shop.\u00a0 That was obtained through sheer luck and a lot of cheek.\u00a0 Eyeing the shiny Koga World Travellers, I commented to the salesperson that THAT was the bike I\u2019d really like to ride through Africa, it was just way over our budget.\u00a0 Turns out, our enthusiasm for the Africa tour had so impressed the salesman that he went out on a limb to get us a good deal.<\/p>\n

My last bit of advice is to talk to everybody and anybody about your tour.\u00a0 Your enthusiasm and excitement are bound to bring good things your way.\u00a0 And remember, persistence pays off.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cHow can I get sponsorship for my bicycle tour?\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s probably the question we get asked most often.\u00a0 In this post I\u2019ll share some of our experiences with sponsorship and offer a few tips on how to up your chances<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[26],"tags":[159,25,158],"yoast_head":"\nHow to get sponsorship for your long-distance bicycle tour - Worldbiking.info<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/how-to-get-sponsorship-for-your-long-distance-bicycle-tour\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to get sponsorship for your long-distance bicycle tour - Worldbiking.info\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cHow can I get sponsorship for my bicycle tour?\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s probably the question we get asked most often.\u00a0 In this post I\u2019ll share some of our experiences with sponsorship and offer a few tips on how to up your chances\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/how-to-get-sponsorship-for-your-long-distance-bicycle-tour\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Worldbiking.info\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"worldbiking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-06-03T09:55:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-03-19T23:39:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/ask-anything-sponsorship.gif\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"World Biking\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@worldbiking\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"World Biking\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/how-to-get-sponsorship-for-your-long-distance-bicycle-tour\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/how-to-get-sponsorship-for-your-long-distance-bicycle-tour\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"World Biking\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/f57a15cc54fe11f80a90902e2256d401\"},\"headline\":\"How to get sponsorship for your long-distance bicycle tour\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-03T09:55:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-03-19T23:39:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/how-to-get-sponsorship-for-your-long-distance-bicycle-tour\/\"},\"wordCount\":995,\"commentCount\":3,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"\\\"free stuff\\\"\",\"featured\",\"sponsorship\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Resources\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/how-to-get-sponsorship-for-your-long-distance-bicycle-tour\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/how-to-get-sponsorship-for-your-long-distance-bicycle-tour\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/how-to-get-sponsorship-for-your-long-distance-bicycle-tour\/\",\"name\":\"How to get sponsorship for your long-distance bicycle tour - Worldbiking.info\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-06-03T09:55:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-03-19T23:39:46+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/how-to-get-sponsorship-for-your-long-distance-bicycle-tour\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/how-to-get-sponsorship-for-your-long-distance-bicycle-tour\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/how-to-get-sponsorship-for-your-long-distance-bicycle-tour\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to get sponsorship for your long-distance bicycle tour\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/\",\"name\":\"Worldbiking.info\",\"description\":\"Round the World Bicycle Tour since 2006\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Worldbiking.info\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/11-florida.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/11-florida.png\",\"width\":280,\"height\":90,\"caption\":\"Worldbiking.info\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/f57a15cc54fe11f80a90902e2256d401\",\"name\":\"World Biking\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f32773a3812157bf4b26e3db7396fe6?s=96&d=retro&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f32773a3812157bf4b26e3db7396fe6?s=96&d=retro&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"World Biking\"},\"description\":\"Hi, I'm Amaya. Together with my husband, Eric, we make up the World Biking Team. We're on a quest to cycle every country on the planet and inspire others to go bicycle touring. We hope you enjoy the blog!\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/about-world-biking\/\",\"worldbiking\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/worldbiking\"],\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to get sponsorship for your long-distance bicycle tour - Worldbiking.info","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/how-to-get-sponsorship-for-your-long-distance-bicycle-tour\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to get sponsorship for your long-distance bicycle tour - Worldbiking.info","og_description":"\u201cHow can I get sponsorship for my bicycle tour?\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s probably the question we get asked most often.\u00a0 In this post I\u2019ll share some of our experiences with sponsorship and offer a few tips on how to up your chances","og_url":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/how-to-get-sponsorship-for-your-long-distance-bicycle-tour\/","og_site_name":"Worldbiking.info","article_author":"worldbiking","article_published_time":"2012-06-03T09:55:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-03-19T23:39:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":"640","height":"480","url":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/ask-anything-sponsorship.gif","type":"image\/gif"}],"author":"World Biking","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@worldbiking","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"World Biking","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/how-to-get-sponsorship-for-your-long-distance-bicycle-tour\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/how-to-get-sponsorship-for-your-long-distance-bicycle-tour\/"},"author":{"name":"World Biking","@id":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/f57a15cc54fe11f80a90902e2256d401"},"headline":"How to get sponsorship for your long-distance bicycle tour","datePublished":"2012-06-03T09:55:17+00:00","dateModified":"2013-03-19T23:39:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/how-to-get-sponsorship-for-your-long-distance-bicycle-tour\/"},"wordCount":995,"commentCount":3,"publisher":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/#organization"},"keywords":["\"free stuff\"","featured","sponsorship"],"articleSection":["Resources"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/how-to-get-sponsorship-for-your-long-distance-bicycle-tour\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/how-to-get-sponsorship-for-your-long-distance-bicycle-tour\/","url":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/how-to-get-sponsorship-for-your-long-distance-bicycle-tour\/","name":"How to get sponsorship for your long-distance bicycle tour - Worldbiking.info","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-06-03T09:55:17+00:00","dateModified":"2013-03-19T23:39:46+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/how-to-get-sponsorship-for-your-long-distance-bicycle-tour\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/how-to-get-sponsorship-for-your-long-distance-bicycle-tour\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/2012\/06\/how-to-get-sponsorship-for-your-long-distance-bicycle-tour\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to get sponsorship for your long-distance bicycle tour"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/#website","url":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/","name":"Worldbiking.info","description":"Round the World Bicycle Tour since 2006","publisher":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/#organization","name":"Worldbiking.info","url":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/11-florida.png","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/11-florida.png","width":280,"height":90,"caption":"Worldbiking.info"},"image":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/f57a15cc54fe11f80a90902e2256d401","name":"World Biking","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f32773a3812157bf4b26e3db7396fe6?s=96&d=retro&r=pg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/0.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f32773a3812157bf4b26e3db7396fe6?s=96&d=retro&r=pg","caption":"World Biking"},"description":"Hi, I'm Amaya. Together with my husband, Eric, we make up the World Biking Team. We're on a quest to cycle every country on the planet and inspire others to go bicycle touring. We hope you enjoy the blog!","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/about-world-biking\/","worldbiking","https:\/\/twitter.com\/worldbiking"],"url":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3646"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.worldbiking.info\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}