Sponsorship Opportunity? Seriously? How?
This past week, I was having a conversation with one of my amazing CMO friends, Brad Mehl. For context, I first met Brad Mehl at the very beginning of my career in 1994. It’s rare that you keep in touch with someone for 5 or 10 years, let alone more than 30 years.
As I was sharing my World Tour plans, Brad does what all genius marketers do — he saw a powerful marketing opportunity for the right company. Now I have no idea if this sponsorship will come to pass. And, in truth, I’m fine either way. I didn’t set out to travel the world with my daughter to generate income or offset expenses. And yet, I totally get that if what we are doing aligns with a company’s brand seeking to sponsor something totally unique and different, why not?
I’ll be sure to share the progress of this seed being planted. If nothing comes of it, this will the be the only post. However, the seed wasn’t just planted in Brad’s mind, it was planted in mine too. We both LOVE marketing and once an idea takes root, look out.
As Victor Hugo famously said, “Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.” If it’s time to align our tour with one or more sponsors, why not?
My First Sponsor: Roku
The marathon portion of my 140.6 mile Ironman (2017) in Santa Rosa, CA
If this happens, it will be the second time in my life a sponsor has found me. My very first sponsor was ROKA who sponsored my very first Ironman race in Santa Rosa, California in 2017. Working with two of the most amazing triathlon coaches, Siri Lindley and Rebeka (Bek) Keat, they recommended not one, but multiple sponsors of my race. This significantly defrayed the cost of my training and all the gear I needed (i.e. wetsuit, goggles, kickboard, bike helmet, swim shorts, hats, bike jacket, etc.)
112-mile bike portion of my Ironman — saying positive for a 12-hour race!
I could imagine the same thing in so many different ways. The point of all of this is simply that even the idea of having a sponsor join us on our world tour is incredible. This is truly beyond my wildest imagination. Of course, traveling the world with my daughter is already a dream come true. Then there are all the meet-ups with world-changing visionary coaches and now this possibility. This trip keeps growing and evolving. I love it.
Bill Carmody ready to share stories of our World Tour and possible sponsorship.
