Dear Company…Sponsor Me

As the success of Kimes Ranch jeans and apparel has continued to spread the Facebook messages, calls and emails regarding sponsorships flood the office. Many of you know that KRJ holds a yearly sponsorship contest to open up the field for any applicant to apply and for us to pick the candidates we feel will truly represent the brand in the best manner; the applicant(s) who we feel truly belongs in the KRJ family.

This year as we were sorting through over 150 sponsorship applications we felt it was pertinent to share some tips for those of you looking to get sponsored, not just by us but other companies as well.

1. Know and love the brand you are applying for a sponsorship with. If you get a sponsorship with them you will need to wear or use their product and help promote it to others.
2. How are you going to help the company/brand you are applying to? Let them know how many rodeos/events you hit per year, along with your successes. What will you bring to the table as their representative?
3. Clean up your social media. You are now an extension of the brand and a welcome addition to their family. Most companies/brands have social media pages, they check check up on you. See Conducting Yourself in a Professional Manner for more information on this.
4. Why our website says “must be a professional or competing at a professional level”. This gives us the highest amount of exposure and ensures that we have an endorsee who takes themselves, their discipline and our sponsorship seriously. They don’t see us as a money machine but rather a partner in growing their business as well as KRJ’s.
5. Send your documents in as a PDF so they don’t lose the formatting and overall look you were going for when you comprised your application. This also ensures that your can be opened on several different devices.
6. Consolidate your emails. Instead of sending 3-4 emails, take the time to compose one well written email with all of the requested attachments and links.
7. Send in your own application. I’m sure your husband, girlfriend, daughter, son, etc. is really great but if they won’t put the effort in to compile their own application are they really going to put the effort in to promote a company’s products or brand? We love families, KRJ is a big family but at the end of the day, we want to help those who are willing to help themselves.
8. Check your spelling and grammar. Correct capitalization and sentence formation is a must. This goes back to conducting yourself in a professional manner.
9. If the company requests photographs, be aware of what brands you are wearing in the photos. Telling a company that you “love their products, and wear them all the time” and then send in a picture of you wearing another brand it’s hard to believe your statement.
10. If you are looking to have an event or a team sponsored, include as much information as you can. Number of team members, location of the event, how many people attend, what you are looking to get are all very helpful and will increase the likelihood of having your event or team sponsored.
11. Don’t forget your information! Sounds silly but if all you give a company is your email it’s hard to get in touch with you. This goes for personal sponsorships and event sponsorships. Companies and brands need to know that they are connecting to a real life person. 

Voting is currently open for the 2016 Sponsorship contest be sure to vote for your favorite candidate here:

Wondering who’s on our team? You can find out more about our current endorsees here: http://www.kimesranch.com/family/

The Heritage Brand wrote another helpful blog about getting sponsored it can be found here: http://www.heritagebrand.com/jess-blog.html

- Paige Morgan
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Email - Ms.Morgan@kimesranch.com