Like said above, think outside the box. Just going for fishing related sponsorships is tough due to the competition. I have a deal with a couple local businesses that sponsor me here and there, and I make sure they get way more out of it than they give. They get exposure, and I make sure that every time I send somebody into their businesses that they tell them I sent them.
Start with local events. Local sponsors will want as much local exposure as they can get. A bar or restaurant in your home town doesn’t gain much if you’re fishing a tourney 300 miles away. They want to know how you’re going to get people in the immediate area in their facility.
Find ways to bring people in, and make it highly visible to your sponsors. Remember, it’s not all about tournaments to sponsors. How are you going to represent them outside of tourney day? Can you give away a few guided trips for them to give to vendors, good customers, or potential customers?
These are the types of things that sell you to businesses, not your tourney record. Make sure you’re very well spoken, appear professional in all aspects of life. Don’t walk in wearing a ratty T-shirt and ripped jeans. When you meet with potential sponsors, you want to look the part (I don’t mean wearing your tourney shirts and hats etc…), you want to look like somebody approachable and well dressed.
I personally feel that it’s better to develop a few very good sponsorships than to have a hundred. Start with a few and work at them, if you deliver they can grow. This can’t really happen if you have your time spread out between a bunch of sponsors. You have to deliver, and it’s up to you to decide how many sponsors you can commit to without sacrificing quality service to them.
