Getting Sponsored « Team « Norco Bicycles

Getting Sponsored

1. Write up a plan

Take a minute and ask yourself why you want a sponsor. What are your goals for sponsorship? What do you feel you can do for the company? Being sponsored is not just about getting free stuff, it’s about helping companies sell products. Make sure you are ready to become a true ambassador to the brand.

4. Write a proposal.

Gather your resume, racing results and video footage and put together a written proposal. Talk about what you’ve done in the past and what you plan to do in the future. Past results should show that your goals for the future are attainable. The real key to getting sponsorship is marketing. What have you done that makes you a more vital candidate than anyone else? Try not to focus on what you want from the company, but more on what you can provide for them if they sponsor you.

2. Get a riding resume together

To get a company interested in you, a resume of race and contest results is always a good idea. You don’t always need the best resume to get sponsored, but companies want to see that you can create exposure and that people will be interested in you. Have you been in films? Have you set up shoots with a photographer? Get out there and get yourself known!

5. Make it perfect

Your proposal is usually the only chance you have to make a good impression, so remember to proof read everything! Make sure every piece of communication between you and the team manager is 100% error free. The most important part every step of the way is professionalism, so approach the whole process like a job interview. No team manager is going to pick up a rider who acts like a jerk, regardless of results.

3. Make contact

Call the company and get contact details for the team manager. Get the correct spelling of their name and position within the company. Get an email address: team managers are busy people, so trying to reach them by phone is usually not a good idea.

Grassroots Team

If you are a local hero whose talent has yet to get noticed on the race circuit or elsewhere, Norco's Grassroots program is your best bet. It'll get you on a Norco bike with a huge discount off the regular price, and you’ll get a Norco Grassroots jersey to go with it. OK, so maybe it's not a six-figure salary, but every rider has to start somewhere.

The degrees of grassroots sponsorship vary. It really depends on what your relationship is with the Norco dealer in your area. If you’re unfamiliar with your local Norco dealer, find them using the dealer locator on our web site. To land a grassroots sponsorship, you’ll need to speak with the owner of the local bike shop and with the Norco sales rep for your area.

Being an excellent ambassador for the sport of mountain biking and for Norco Bicycles on our Grassroots Team is a stepping stone; one that will serve you well in the event that you one day apply for a position on the Norco Factory Team.

Norco Factory Team

The Norco Factory Team is selected each year from the hundreds of resumes we receive starting in August. There is no specific formula for what level of support any one rider is going to get. Most Norco riders are not living off their sponsorship. We sponsor one of the largest, most visible teams in Canada, and we do so by giving a lot of talented riders our support.

If we didn't spread our budget out the way we do, we figure a lot of riders would suffer by not getting the support they deserve. The riders on the Factory Team don't have to worry about their bikes or equipment, so they can just pay attention to their riding. If you're serious about riding on the Factory Team, odds are we've already heard of you.

If you apply and don't get the thumbs-up for this year, make a few small changes to that beautiful proposal you put together and hit up your local Norco dealer to apply for the Grassroots Team. Work hard at your exposure and results and try to make the cut again next year. It's all about improving your riding and meeting your goals, and we'd love to be able to help any way we can.