Tag Archive for 'Sponsors'

The Art of (not) Attracting Sponsors for a Round the World Trip

Published
by
Justin
on August 21, 2008
in News
. 4 Comments


This post is a response to the Attracting Sponsors article.

REI: Cover LetterIn June, Natalie and I created promotional packets to solicit sponsorship from REI and Merrell – 2 companies that reflect our thoughts and ideals regarding travel, the environment, and community REI: Page 1involvement. (A sample promotional packet is displayed along the left side of this page.). After creating the packets and making roughly 15 trips to Kinkos, we printed and mailed our packets to REI: Page 2the appropriate marketing presidents. The resulting response was less than satisfying.

We have not, as of yet heard anything from REI. Although I find their complete lack of response to be REI: Page 3frustrating, I understand that a large company does not always have the time or inclination to respond respectfully to all of their mail. Natalie and I are still REI members and have purchased a REI: Page 4large amount of our packing list from REI.

About 3 weeks ago, Natalie received an email from a representative at Merrell. I was cautiously optimistic about this response as the email indicated that Merrell might be interested in sponsoring us in a limited fashion. The pertinent

Hello Natalie and Justin,
I was going through my mountain of an in-box and came across your eye-catching proposal (very nice, by the way).  I also just spent a little time on your blog.  I have to admit I’m a little jealous.  You may question what this does for your careers, etc., but now is the time to do it.  I will follow up with you again next week.

At this point, we have sent Merrell two response emails but have received no further communication . This was disappointing. I can understand Merrell’s lack of desire to sponsor us (i.e. recession economy, mixed marketing messages etc.) but it would have been respectful to simply say they were not interested, instead of adding an additional act to this comedy of errors. However, as with REI, I do not hold this experience against Merrell. I like their shoes. They are stylish, durable, and comfortable and I will be traveling the world wearing a pair of Merrells.

In other, slightly related news, we have decided to add a Paypal button to this site. The thought process behind this decision can be read in full on the want to help page, but I will include a summery here for good measure. PayPal can now be used to support NomadBackpacking.com. This of course is not an obligation for any of our 5 readers, nor should this be seen as the “pay for my vacation” fundraiser. Adding a Paypal button to this site offers readers a chance to voluntarily contribute to the ongoing writing and development of this blog.

Your thoughts, as always, are appreciated.

Attracting Sponsors

Published
by
Justin
on June 23, 2008
in Planning and Sponsors
. 1 Comment

As discussed in the post entitled REI Wandering, Natalie and I are currently looking for companies (and individuals) to sponsor us in our Nomadic Adventure. You may be asking yourself

what could two budget travelers possibly do to attract Sponsors?

To be honest, I think it depends on the Sponsor. Companies and organizations are looking to put human faces on the values that make the company successful. Natalie and I searched out a number of companies whose values reflect our world view (i.e. environmentally responsible, community minded etc.) It is our opinion that we may be able to attract some sponsorship because one or more companies may see their values reflected in how and why we want to spend a year traveling the world.  I am not going to tell you which companies we applied to, at least not yet, but as of today we have sent out 3 promotional packets. I am excited about this process. Admittedly, I do not have a great deal of hope (a part of me would rather be surprised than disappointed ) that what we are doing will help us attract sponsors. On the other hand, I am not sure how else we would seek them out. We did/are doing the best that we can to promote ourselves and our dream. When this process is over, we will be able to say that we put in the time, money, and effort to attract the right sponsors. Even if nothing comes of this, I do not think I will regret looking for sponsors.

Do you or your company want to become Nomad Sponsors? Leave us a comment or shoot me an email.

Do you have any suggestions for us? Leave a comment.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

To create the our promotional material, Natalie and I used Apple’s page layout/word processing software application Pages. In an attempt to keep myself from gushing over Pages, I simply want to say that it was an enjoyable experience. For a version 1 (v 1) program it was surprisingly powerful and relatively bug free. I think if I was new to design and did not have a strong Photoshop/Illustrator background, the learning curve would have been more difficult but Natalie seemed to pick up the basics very quickly so perhaps a design background is not all that important.

REI Wandering

Published
by
Justin
on June 12, 2008
in Gear
. 0 Comments

Natalie and I spent several hours this evening wandering around REI looking at everything from backpacks to quick dry underwear (if you were going to wash your only pair of undies at night, don’t you think you would want them to be dry in the morning?). We have not purchased anything (yet) but it was good to simply look at the different gear we might need.  This was also a bit of a reality check for me, both because we have currently not purchased any gear and because I think it may take more time than I thought to gather all of the “right” items.

To help with the purchasing of travel gear, Natalie and I are going to attempt to gather a few sponsors. The idea here will be to attract companies that are excited about what we will be doing and who can use that excitement to market their company/products. This weekend we are going to put together a small marketing strategy and next week (hopefully) we are going to begin soliciting a number of different companies and organizations. I want to believe that we will be able to find sponsors but I am a little nervous about the whole situation.  If you have any great tips or thoughts on finding sponsors, post them here.

About

The true story of two first time backpackers as they plan, travel, and work their way around the world.

Currently In: New Zealand

3 months and 8 days Spent Nomading

Nomadic Essentials

- Resources
- Packing List
- Get the Feed via Email

Become a Nomadic Sponsor.

Photo Albums

Cruising the Milford Sound
Christmas 2008

Categories

Rough Guides: First Time Around the World

Archives

Nomad Ads

Recommended Travel NetBook

Nomadic Affiliates



Blog Directory, Find A Blog, Submit A Blog, Search For The Best Blogs

Subscribe

Subscribe to my RSS Feeds

Archives

Categories