Creating Your Racing CV and More

If you are struggling at creating your Racing CV so you can sell yourself to teams and sponsors, this week’s edition of The Business of Being a Race Driver is for you.

Enzo Mucci will give you some tips on creating your racing CV for maximum effect, Daryl Curtis explains the importance of sponsorship research and Megan Meyer doubles down on how to prove to sponsors the exact value of your social media strategy.

In addition to all that there is even more information in this week’s column that should help you both in deciding how to approach sponsors and determining what they expect.

In The Costs of Racing, I bring you a very helpful racing suit buyers guide from the fine folks at Winding Road.

By the way, I do not have any financial interest in any of the services featured in any of my columns. If I ever do (because I think it will be of benefit to you as a race driver), I will make sure to disclose why and how it benefits you.

Grab your iPad and start taking notes!

The Business of Racing

• In the video above, Enzo Mucci explains how to create a CV or résumé so you can sell yourself to teams and sponsors.

• In a recent Lesson For The Day, motorsport marketing consultant Daryl Curtis stresses the importance of doing your research on potential sponsors, using the example of the mess that telecommunications and spirits vendor Rokit has left a lot of race teams in. I could not agree with this more. It is incumbent on you to do your research, or what lawyers call your due diligence, to ensure that, at the end of the day, the checks get deposited into your account. In Getting Green Tech Motorsport Sponsorship in this Age of Sustainability, I give you some tips on how to approach your research. Make sure that your research extends beyond a simple Google search and that you really dig deep to understand the potential sponsor. Remember that the purpose of doing your research is not only to confirm the financial soundness of the company but to understand their business and their needs so that you can craft your sponsorship proposal appropriately.

• Megan Meyer has prepared a two-part series on how to prove to sponsors the exact value of your social media strategy. “Social media is an integral part of many of your sponsorship agreements, helping them get their brands and products in front of the niche audience you’ve cultivated and getting bonuses through affiliate links. But when you’re crafting a social media strategy for sponsors, how do you accurately value the content you’re creating?” You can read Part One here and Part Two here.

• With the off-season around the corner for most, Fierce Digital Marketing looks at 4 types of content for the off-season. “With so much happening on and off-track throughout the year, a lot of athletes find it difficult to stay active online during the off-season. As you know, social media is constant and you need to be active every day (yes, every day). We understand this is challenging as your main source of content, racing, has paused and you want to take advantage of the time off with family and friends. However, much like your training during this period, you have to maintain your online presence if you want to remain relevant. We have 4 types of content to help you stay on top of the momentum you’ve built so far, and capitalise on this before the season kicks off again.”

• While this post from the National Motorsport Academy is from 2021, it still does a great job of contextualizing how effective F1 Sponsorship is for a brand and is a great learning opportunity. “Sponsorship can be seen as a symbiotic relationship between Formula 1 and the brands who choose to either sponsor one of the teams, or the sport itself. As such, this unique marketing tool can have a profound impact on how fans engage with a brand who chooses to be associated with the global phenomenon of Grand Prix racing.”

• Not to toot my own horn but the article I linked to above was featured in my weekly Business of Motorsport column. Regardless of level that you are at as a race driver, the Business of Motorsport column gives you a great overview of the motorsport industry as a whole and more specifically, it looks at the latest motorsport sponsorship deals announced that week, as well as issues and opportunities in motorsport sponsorship. It is well worth the read.

• Sports marketing agency Sport Dimensions has published a great article aimed at sponsors looking at maximizing their sports sponsorship. When approaching potential sponsors, keep these in mind when they are asking about how sponsoring you will benefit them. “From events to teams to the entire series, there are many ways for your brand to leverage this platform as part of your marketing strategy. You know what they say, “there’s strength in numbers,” and being partnered with a motorsports property can be incredibly beneficial to your brand – even if that means hooking into an iRacing event. Heightened visibility, increased sales, differentiation and unique assets make this one of the most exciting platforms to be involved with. It is a different world, so there are some things to consider before heading in.”

• Power Sponsorship explains why you shouldn’t sell sponsor mentions as a sponsorship benefit. “Social media is a powerful tool, and when paired with a best practice sponsorship, can anchor amazing results for your sponsors and your fans. But, when you sell guaranteed mentions on your social media, you’re using it as just another place to put an ad, a logo, some tagline, or a forgettable “thank you”. It’s not really a new benefit at all, just the same old, low-value, easily-ignored visibility, on a yet another platform.”

The Costs of Racing

• Winding Road has prepared a Racing Suit Buyers Guide that is quite comprehensive. Why would you need a racing suit? “The more descriptive answer, I might challenge you to look at a racing suit as an insurance investment. Insurance is all about mitigating risks. We’re assuming that, if you have taken the step into the realm of track events that require a racing suit, you are aware there are risks involved. A racing suit very clearly helps to mitigate those risks.”