THE NINE TACTICSTO BECOMING A SPONSORED PARAGLIDING PILOT

By Rhys Fisher

SAMPLE CONTENT FOR BACKERS

THERMALCROSSINGS.COMA SUPPLEMENT TO

When you know what companies need, you can create a compelling proposition.

When you know how marketers think, you can craft an offer they cannot refuse.

That’s what I do.

I am a sponsored paragliding pilot

WE PLAY BY THEIR RULES LONG ENOUGH AND IT BECOMES OUR GAME

Orson Scott Card

EVERY COMPANY NEEDSPEOPLE’S ATTENTION

PEOPLE SPEND TIME ONLINE

CONTENT GETS DISCOVERED

BRANDS BUY IMPRESSIONS

PEOPLE FIND PRODUCTS

COMPANIES MAKE SALES

EVERY COMPANY NEEDS PEOPLE’S ATTENTION

Attention is today’s most precious asset. People used to make purchase decisions offline, today they find out about new offerings online–certain websites are more influential than others.

I’m talking about sites like: Facebook, Youtube, Reddit, Twitter, Blogs, and Indiegogo.

You may not visit all of these sites, but many people do. Our job is to create communities under these “roofs”.

A TACTICAL APPROACHIn the following pages, I’m going to share my secrets to closing deals with brands and becoming a sponsored pilot. To say they have worked for me in the past is an understatement. These tactics are directly responsible for some deals that I’ve successfully closed with some amazing brands, and I’ll continue to use them in the future.

These tactics take into consideration a critical asset of any business that wishes to survive in today’s times, people’s attention. Without it, they would not sell their products. I will show you how to capture it and wield it as a tool for closing real sponsorships today.

You may not believe it now, but if you use these tactics wisely, you might just end up getting your next gear for FREE. Have fun. Experiment. Let me know if they work for you too.

BRANDS DON’T KNOW EVERYONE; HELP THEM EXPAND THEIR REACH

TACTIC

1People have problems and companies offer solutions. Your job is to make the introductions. Companies pay to acquire new customers, and when they do, they pay for impressions. This tactic is simple: entice brands by dangling potential new customers in front of them. Give them an opportunity to rack up more impressions, and you are giving them something they have a dedicated budget for. If you are doing it well, it is cheaper for them to acquire new customers through you than from alternative advertising.

This doesn’t mean that your Facebook page that gets tens of thousands of impressions a week is immediately worth a new wing. There’s a fine line between marketing being a cost or a profit, and it’s all about something called conversions. Which leads us to the next tactic.

BUILD RELEVANT FOLLOWINGS

TACTIC

2Those impressions need to convert into real paying customers. Millions of dollars are wasted every single day on ineffective advertising. No company can afford long term to flush cash down the toilet. This fact is your opportunity: start making relevant conversations with possible customers, and this becomes your argument for some serious discounts or even FREE gear.

I’ve seen tweets go out to hundreds of thousands of followers and not lead to a single conversion, and I’ve seen an email go out to 1000 passionate fans which sold hundreds of products. The difference? One had spammed their way to a vanity following and sent out an irrelevant offer. While the offer resonated with a small following of hard core fans who were generally excited every time we sent an update.

START A PHENOMENA

TACTIC

3Tim Ferriss, an entrepreneur who has built one of the most influential blogs on the web, taught me that to build a high traffic following without killing yourself, you need to plant the seeds of a trend or phenomena–something with a sticky message. An idea that can house a community. Polarise a population. And allow for a narrative. If its spreads, you’re golden.

I’ve designed these types of phenomena before, and from my experience, here’s some advice. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Look for ideas both outside and inside your market that are working, add your personal twist, and then make them your own. Think the idea for this post was all me? You’re wrong. I borrowed the structure from Ryan Holiday. My Indiegogo? Project Brabham. You get the point.

SHOW BRANDS WHAT THEY WANT TO SEE

TACTIC

4The next step that’ll help you get sponsored is showing brands traction. Traction basically just means that what ever it is that you have started is building momentum. A good indicator wether or not you have traction is the number of spam emails you receive getting pitches for web development and marketing services. You’ll see..

Thermal Crossings started off as a three sentence paragraph on how I would learn how to hike and fly a paraglider over the Tian Shan, which quickly turned into a 2 page website. Since then I’ve assembled a team of some of the most respected pilots and coaches from around the world, been featured in the Gazette & Herald, been shared by influencers like FlyBubble, have guest posted to StayAdventurous, raised over £1,900, and as a result, I can now proudly show the support from both Niviuk and Sup’Air. That’s traction.

CREATE GOOD ART

TACTIC

5Let me start by highlighting that good content is art. Critics of “content marketing” call it a “sweat shop” for a reason, it’s hard work. I’ve sometimes spent over 20h just to write one article! If you want people’s attention, at some point you are going to have to publish something cool, interesting, useful, funny, inspiring, or strange. Something that elicits a click, like, share, or some other form of engagement. Without this critical component you’re simply adding more noise to the internet.

However, don’t let a lack of experience stop you from publishing something. You might not get it perfect first time around but who cares. Brands certainly don’t. They care about conversions remember. Besides, with today’s tools like Google Analytics it’s quite straightforward to see what’s working and what’s not. So publish something and then learn how to create art that performs–that’s science…

GET INTRODUCED

TACTIC

6The number one challenge when you’re the new kid on the block is trust, and the best way to create it is to get introduced. Getting a relevant, quality, to-the-point introduction does to trust what an adrenalin jab does for the heart rate. It SPEEDS things up!

Once you have an interesting proposition, ask a friend, family, or colleague to introduce you to a brand. I’ve asked world record holders in the past to introduce me to their sponsors, and I’m almost certain that this really helped close the deal.

It kind of makes sense when you think about it… Who would you rather give £100 to? A random stranger or a friend of a friend who has been introduced as someone who would spend that money wisely.

TELL THE STORY & EXPLAIN HOW BRANDS WIN

TACTIC

7By now you should be quite good at telling people what you’re working on, why it is so important, what makes it unique, and most importantly how brands can benefit from sponsoring you. In other words, telling your story. It’s what we humans have done since we could speak, and here’s the reason, stories work. Stories allow us to help others understand complicated ideas.

To get sponsored you are going to be telling a very specific kind of story, and it needs to be told in a specific kind of way, the proposal. You’ll need to answer the essential questions above as well as what are you asking for and what you will give in return, in a nicely packaged 12-20 page document. If you purchase exclusive access available from £20, send me a message requesting an example, and I’ll send you one of my draft proposals that has worked in the past. It cost more than £250 to produce…

BE PATIENT & PUSH WHEN YOU HAVE LEVERAGE

TACTIC

8Rome wasn’t built in a day. Despite your emails traveling around the world instantaneously, there are people on the other end. People who eat, sleep and who throw objects when angry just as you do. And I know you don’t want to hear this, but sometimes they need time to make a decision. So once you have received confirmation that your proposal will be looked at, give them some space. Let them come back to you. Being in a rush shows that you need them more than they need you. Not a good start if you want the best deal.

The only time you’ll want to apply a little more pressure is when you have leverage. For example, another deal on the table. Traction. Or maybe you wake up one morning with a nothing-to-lose attitude and feel like bluffing it. Either way it’s critical that you give them a good reason to hurry up.

DO ONE THING WELL; HELP THEM SELL

TACTIC

9None of these tactics will work unless you help fulfil every brand’s true purpose, which is to sell and get solutions into the hands of real paying customers. It’s simple. But not always as easy as you would imagine. So you’re going to have to be prepared to work. This is why you are getting sponsored after all. I’m not saying that you have to close the sale, just assist.

Have you ever purchased a product after seeing some cool pictures on Facebook? Propose to send in monthly photoshoots. Have you ever found out about a new product while reading articles? Offer to do a write some articles of your own. Do you see a company lacking useful reviews? Offer to create a comparison post. But never forget what you are really doing. And that’s helping them sell.

WE TAKE THESE RISKS NOT TO ESCAPE LIFE...BUT TO PREVENT LIFE FROM ESCAPING US

Wise Pilot

WHERE SHOULD YOU GO FROM HERE

CONCLUSIONYou may think that these tactics require too much effort. That doesn’t mean that they don’t work. They do, and they are being used to close real sponsorship deals both inside and outside of the paragliding world. Even as you read this.

Thermal Crossings is a vol-biv paragliding expedition funded through your contributions. I’m not asking for donations. You are paying to access the inner stories throughout the next two years. I wanted you to know the standard of my work, so this time I’m letting this one go for FREE. However, from now on, most of the good stuff will be sent to backers only.

If you want to go VIP and receive exclusive updates whenever I publish info that demystifies sponsorship and paragliding progression, you can do that from as little as £20. For more info, please visit the projects crowdfunding page at igg.me/at/thermal-crossings

To reserve your exclusive access today, visit the Thermal Crossings Indiegogo page

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CAMPAIGN ENDS

JANUARY 10TH By Rhys Fisher

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