Last week, BMXNOW.COM’s sister site, BMX News, ran a two-part story on what it means to be sponsored. One of the points discussed by the panel of industry experts was “be a great brand ambassador.” What, exactly, does that MEAN? Well, we sat down this weekend and rocked out a list of 25 things you can do to make yourself top-of-class in the brand ambassador standings.

Make no mistake: sponsorship, whether for free product or a paycheck, is a business transaction. When you accept a frame, or a factory jersey, you are taking on a responsibility that will not end until you are no longer affiliated with the company. Riders (and parents) who treat that responsibility seriously will move up in the sponsorship stratosphere, and see consistent improvements in the sponsorship offers they get. Riders who don’t, won’t.

Here’s the list:

1). Review every part on your bike or your body that you got a sponsorship deal on. If someone asks you about it, can you answer some basic questions? Do you know whom to contact to get the “customer” to the right person at the local bike shop or the company to get them an answer?

2). If you cannot wholeheartedly endorse the product (if you have to put a “but” at the end of any statement), do not accept the product in the first place. If it is a team sponsor, maybe you need to find a new team.

3). Your local track is the most important “selling ground” for your sponsor’s product–it isn’t at the nationals. Race your local track at least twice a month, and become a solid part of the scene.

4). Be sure the announcer(s) at your local track knows who you are and who you’re sponsored by…go say “hello,” if you do not already know them.

5). Speaking of announcers, at Nationals and locals alike, be sure your sponsors and “nickname,” if any, are updated when you register, so they get printed on the motosheets. The announcer uses the sheets, but so do media outlets writing the story after the race, so very important that the sponsors are listed there, and current.

6). Invite first-time racers to come pit with you on their first few times at the local track (work with the ladies in registration to make the introduction). Take our word for it when we say they are often TERRIFIED of the new experience. Have a parent or other in-the-know non-racer in your pit help them read the moto sheets, know when to get to staging and how the transfer system works. Then, give them some stickers, or a poster/catalog/whatever of your sponsor’s products, at the end of the day…invite them to pit with you next time out. That is relationship-building, and is all-important to being a valued ambassador.

7). Host a free monthly beginner clinic at your local track–all the easier if they are pitting with you at the races. Beginners are a critical audience for your sponsors, since it is all-but-certain they will be purchasing parts, complete bikes, safety gear, etc in the first few months after their first race. It is your “job” to make sure they buy the “right” stuff (read: your sponsors’ products).

8). Keep your bike and gear dialed. You are a showroom-on-wheels when you’re at the track, and appearance is everything.

9). If you are hitting nationals, cap off each trip with a race report of how it went, whatever your on-track results. Go beyond just saying “I made it out first round and got second in the main”…talk about who was there, did you talk to anyone about the brand…if so, who? Did you get any feedback on the brand from people at the race? However you did at the race, (no excuses if you didn’t do well, just talk about the facts), your sponsor is probably just as interested as your mom in hearing how it went.

Type the reports as a standard .txt file, and include two or three photos of you rockin the sponsor’s brand, as attachments in the email. TIP: do not embed images in the document file, or send as MS Word–not everyone has it. If you are on a team, send the reports up the chain of command of your team, and let the team manager send them on to the company (note to TMs: If your riders send in reports, be sure to send them on to the company within 48 hours of receiving them).

Remember that one of your central functions as a sponsored rider is to be the eyes and ears of your sponsor at the races (in addition to the “given” of winning races and looking oh-so-factory). They use you, and your fellow riders as a “force multiplier–” allowing their brand and brand image to be in more places than they could be if they didn’t sponsor riders. Your reports give them that coverage. Without documentation, you are forcing the sponsor to “hope” you did what you were supposed to do.

Marc Willers and Caroline Buchanan do a great job, on the Elite side…sending Race Reports directly to media outlets after big races.

**Watch for the BMXNOW feature “How to Write Killer Race Reports” next week**

10). If you are a team manager, put together a “media list” of BMX outlets to run your team race reports on their websites. BMX News, for example, has a “Team Sheet” section specifically for these reports (though, I have to say, we do not get very many submissions). If you want more info how to submit a report, email us at news@bmxnews.com. Even if you are not on a team, we are always interested in the “in their own words” account of how the race went down from the rider’s point of view.

11). Get some video skills together, or buddy up with someone who already has them, and put out a series of “Edits” on your riding, technique, etc. The Snap BMX Factory team put out an edit of Tyler Whitfield riding his home track last October, and it pulled over 91,000 views on YouTube. On the freestyle side, edits are all-but required for top riders, and put their sponsors front and center. BMXNOW has a sister site, BMXEDITS.COM which is always interested in new content.

12). Create a Facebook “Fan” Page. This should be separate from your own personal page. Your personal page is for your “real” friends, where you can be yourself, and post about what is going on in your life. Your Fan page is all about your “public” face…what the fans see. Take a cue from Motocross star, Ryan Dungey. He has a personal Facebook page with 996 friends. Then, another “semi-private” page, with a larger circle of about 4800 friends. And then there is his “fan” page, which has 230,000 fans.

13). Create a separate “business” Twitter account for racing-related Tweets. If you have an active social media life outside your business on the track, it is good practice to create a separate twitter account for racing-related tweets. NOTHING off-color or of a controversial nature should go out over your Facebook Fan page or fan Twitter account. Use this test: Would my Sunday School Teacher or Grandmother be cool with this (once I explained it to her)?

*****
Example: Imagine your arch-nemesis, Johnny Nagrider, put you over turn one in last weekend’s national main.

Good Tweet: @jnagrider had the first-turn pull in Oldsmar. I was pullin weeds out of my spokes on the backside–thanks jn – LOL… See you in Chula

Bad Tweet: Ready for Chula- first round take-out abt 2 be served. Not mentioning names (@jnagrider) – M*’r put me over turn one last week. #paybacktime

The difference is subtle, but in one, you’re a good sport, ready for the rematch, and in the other, you’re a vengeful punk.
*****

14). Get friendly with local media. If you’re a hometown hero with some national wins or, better yet, a national or world title under your belt, get with the sports editors at your local papers, TV Stations and Magazines. They love local-interest stories of athletes (especially under 18) doing well on the national or international stage. Check out the piece here on BMXNOW today about Speed Bicycles star, Felicia Stancil, that ran in the Chicago Sun-Times (Circulation: 312,000) this weekend,

15). Whether at a local race or a national, keep in mind that younger riders and novices/intermediates (maybe even some girl-class riders) look up to the hotshoe experts. If you’re one of them, a well-placed “nice race first round” will mean a lot to them (but only if you truly saw it). Also, if you’re in a hotel elevator with a younger rider, ask them: “how’d you do today?” “Wow, you your first novice win? Awesome!…Tear it up tomorrow!” or “Didn’t make it? Well, go get em tomorrow!” It means a lot to the young and up & comers for the factory stars to notice them. And, of course, even off-track, you’re sportin your sponsor’s T-Shirt at Chipotle, and in the hotel, so they’ll start to know you as “a real cool guy/gal…approachable and down to earth.” That is about the best compliment you can ask for in this game.

16). Get a personal website going. This is in concert with your social media efforts, and allows you to showcase photos of your riding, clickable links to your sponsors’ website, and provides a place for you to post your race reports for the world to see (sponsor reports might contain different material that a publicly-available report, such as specific info on brand relations, as noted above, so be sure to ‘sanitize” the reports of any inside intel before posting to the public). Having your own personal site will also get your name indexed by Google and other search engines, so if someone does a search for “Your Name,” your web site will likely be the first to come up.

17). Reach out to web site editors with story ideas. In the online world, every hour is a new day, when it comes to fresh content. If you have an idea for a story (or better yet, want to write one for us), definitely look us up at the races, or email news@bmxnews.com to pitch the idea. It shouldn’t be “Why I am so Awesome, by…Me” But if you have a legit angle on a story our readers might be interested in, we’d love to hear it.

18). Make yourself available for photo shoots for your sponsor, or BMX Media. When is your sponsor shooting their new ad/catalog/sell sheet? Getting into the action photos is the way to keep yourself in the action. Also, BMX Photogs love to shoot photos like you love to ride, so hit us up for a private shoot sometime. If there is time in the schedule, we’re there. But be respectful of the photographer’s way of working. Be prepared to do the same run over and over again, until we get the perfect shot. Don’t go around the track three times and start saying “we done?”

19). Make yourself available for trade shows or other promotional events for your sponsors. Your sponsors often need flesh & blood bodies to show off the product in their trade show booth, or at sales events for dealers. Maybe they don’t need you there, but you should always offer to be available to them, if needed. The gesture alone says “I got your back, promotionally.”

20). Reach out to your local park district program directors. Bicycle safety is a huge thing in the non-BMX community. Reach out to program directors in your local park districts (maybe your town, and each town it borders), and let them know you would be available to come and talk to the kids if the Park District put together a bike safety day. The best time to do this is right after the holidays, maybe the second week of January. Programs for the spring are forming, and you might even get the chance to do some school assemblies. This is huge for your image, your sponsor’s brand and BMX Racing in general.

21). Wear the brand. Your wardrobe should be comprised of various types of sponsor t-shirts, hoodies, etc. Especially on race weekends (at the track, at Olive Garden, hanging out in the hotel lobby–anywhere a fan or customer can see you). Going to a “formal” occasion? Unwrap a fresh sponsor tee.

22). Trick out your vehicle. If you have the opportunity, run sponsor stickers on your (or your mom/dad’s) ride. Believe us, they get noticed!

23). Run your full kit, any/every time on the track. That includes jersey, pants, helmet and number plate. Even on practice days. As a sponsored rider, you are a role model for the other riders in your class, those younger than you…and even some older than you, believe it or not. Professionalism is all in how you carry yourself. At nationals, the media cannot use photos of you in practice if not in full uniform. So what? Well, many of the photos we get for your sponsors are gotten in practice, becuase there are many more opportunities to shoot a variety of riders. Those photos are worthless to all of us if you’re rockin bare bars and Levis, even if you have the jersey on.

24). If someone is down-talking your sponsor’s product, do what you can to find out why. Do they have a legitimate “beef?” If so, find out what you can do to fix the problem…put them in touch with the right people to have their grievance heard. Incidentally, it is neither necessary nor advisable to engage those folks in a defensive discussion (their feedback does not need a comeback from you). Listen politely, and try to solve their issue.

25). Constantly ask yourself: “What could I be doing right now to be repping my sponsors better, and to more people?”

The discussion is underway over on VintageBMX.com, so come on over and weigh in with your stories and opinions.

—Mike Carruth

Above Photo: Snap Factory Team’s Jr. Elite sensation, Tyler Whitfield (Right) and 9x Cooper Sheldon putting several of the above points to real-world use by taking a few minutes to talk with some neighborhood kids at their local track (Rockford BMX/ Rockford, IL). Questions ranged from “do you get to go all over the country?” to “Why you wear those crazy shoes?” All answered in an unpretentious and very professional manner (with no coaching whatsoever from onlooking media types).