How to land a sponsor mid szn

Ian got sponsored by Moment Skis mid season.

 

Which is pretty unheard of because most brands pick their athletes beginning of the season.

 

Not to mention Moments pretty selective with who they'll sponsor.

 

So how'd he do it?

 

Well he's a nasty skier lol...

 

But aside from that, it took more for him to land them.

 

He had about 5k followers on IG at the time, a lot less then now.

 

But he was on the come up, and pushing out edits with good captions left and right.

 

And as you can imagine from Ian, he's hungry.

 

So about mid season he decides it's time to reach out to Moment Skis and land his dream sponsor.

 

But how would he stand out?

 

Thinking about the business side of the sport, he looked at it from a companies perspective.

 

Why would they wanna sponsor him over all the other nasty skiers out there?

 

What was he gonna be able to do for them?

 

Because at the end of the day, that's what sponsors are looking for.

 

You have to identify exactly how you can provide businesses value.

 

So he scripted out what he wanted to say.

 

He talked about how he was on the come up, he's growing his social media and having some viral clips.

 

How he doesn't plan on stopping, skiing is his life and he'll continue to grow the sport.

 

How many eyes he could get on their skis.

 

And how the quality of his content looks, so they know they can uphold their aesthetic (which is fire).

 

Once Ian knew exactly what he wanted to say to get them interested.

 

He filmed a 40 minute video of himself talking to the camera.

 

As if sending in a virtual interview.

 

Selling himself as their athlete.

 

Guess what?

 

It worked.

 

Ian landed the Moment Ski sponsor because of the effort he put in.

 

It's easier to stand out than you think, you just have to try.

 

We're gonna break down more tips and tricks for landing sponsor below!

 

But before we start I want to remind you.

 

We are increasing our prices December 1st.

 

So if you struggle with learning new tricks, reaching out to sponsors, and growing your social media join here to be locked at $34.95 until the end of winter. Cancel anytime.

 

 

Season already started.

Alright so we just looked at how Ian landed his dream sponsor mid season.

 

I'm not gonna say this is possible for a lot of you.

 

Because if you haven't been putting in the time, and creating content there isn't a lot you can provide to a business.

 

Now, if you have been putting in time, making content, and are nasty on skis it's totally possible to still land sponsors. But that's up to how bad you want it.

 

It's not too late though.

 

If you want free skis, boots, goggles, kits, and whatever else you fancy now is the time to get started.

 

Let's break down how that'd look:

think longer term but you have to start now.

1. Learn tricks. Add style. 💅

You have to start learning tricks.

 

It's true, you don't have to throw the nastiest, biggest tricks in the park.

 

Throwing a nice rail slide with a super clean back 2 out can look really good, sometimes that's all you need to get started.

 

You have to start increasing your bag of tricks though, once you're learning more you'll begin to start adding styyyyle.

 

And that's what can set you apart from others big time.

 

2. Get the clips 📸

Once you have a few very clean tricks, you'll start creating content.

 

This can be a bit of trial and error.

 

But you'll never have those beautiful edits if you don't fail first, it's the same with skiing park.

 

I know not everyone wants to hear that.

 

But you're gonna fall when you first start in park.

 

You're gonna fall if you're Ian or Bruce trying a new trick.

 

You're edits aren't gonna be great at first.

 

The first 10 or 20 might suck.

 

But they'll start getting better and better, and you'll learn how to improve them the more you try.

 

Plus, it's better to get the bad ones out of the way while your following is small.

 

Or you could hire a videographer/editor... But that gets expensive.

 

3. Consistency is key 🔐

Grow a following by staying consistent.

 

What I mean is you have to continue posting good content with good captions.

 

Good captions are over looked often.

 

If you follow Ian, you how much time and thought he puts into his captions.

 

It can be a lesson, story, thought, or whatever you feel relates.

 

Why this helps your social do well is because of the value it provides.

 

If you're writing something interesting or catchy (something people want to read).

 

This means more people stay on your post for longer, so the algorithm will push the post to more people.

 

That's how things go viral, the algorithm recognizes that you're keeping people on the platform for longer.

 

Just like with reaching out to sponsors, you're doing something for the business so they push it to more people.

 

Even if you're getting low engagement when you start, the more you do it the more eyes will get on it.

 

You never know which edit goes viral and changes everything.

 

4. It's time, reach out 📲

Reach out to sponsors, the best time to reach out is the end of summer.

 

Now you've grown your bag of tricks, created nice content, and started growing a following.

 

This season felt like a breakthrough point and you're feeling good about it.

 

Now you put together a list of sponsors you want to work with.

 

Create a professional looking sponsorship template/portfolio to showcase how you'll help them.

 

And start reaching out to companies.

 

5. Sponsored athlete 🤝

It might not always be your dream sponsor the first time, but landing a sponsor is the first step.

 

Now you understand exactly how it's done.

 

You'll continue getting better.

 

Your content will get better.

 

Your following will grow.

 

And your sponsors will get better.

 

Congrats!

 

Progression is possible

Progress is doing a little bit towards something everyday.

 

Each little step is a step closer to your goal.

 

Ian was always behind his friends growing up as a skier.

 

And wasn't known the way he is now.

 

And then he had a nasty skier in Breck take him under his wing.

 

Believing in him and giving him pointers, it pivoted his entire skiing to the next level.

 

Bruce and Ian understand the need for that kind of support which is why Slope Academy's here.

 

So keep knocking off those tricks and all of a sudden you'll look back at your path.

 

And be shocked at how far you've come.

 

Quick recap for you..

1. Ian landed his dream sponsor mid season because he stuck out and focused on what he could do for them.

2. You can land sponsors, but you have to start now. Start by:

3. Learning tricks, maybe not throwing the nastiest, biggest tricks. But you have to start increasing your bag of tricks and adding styyyyle.

4. Creating content. This can be a bit of trial and error but you must start somewhere.

5. Grow a following by staying consistent. Not everything's overnight.

6. Reach out to sponsors (end of summer). Now you've grown your bag of tricks, created nice content, and grown a following. This season felt like a breakthrough point and you're feeling good about it.

7. Land the sponsor. Now you understand exactly how it's done, you'll continue getting better, your content will get better, your following will grow. Your sponsors will get better.

 

As always, thanks for being here!

 

Our athlete Phoenix Grassl landed 4 sponsors with about 2k followers on IG because he's stayed mad consistent.

 

Peace,

Slope Academy

P.s. If you struggle with learning new tricks, reaching out to sponsors, and growing your social media join here before the price increases December 1st.