Since I am planning to ask for a Sponsor, it makes sense that I take a stab at a budget.

As you can see from my initial estimates, it will be about a $20K project. Of course most budgets turn out to be woefully inadequate so I should probably double everything, right?

In case you have trouble reading the scanned image from my notebook, the Budget Items Include:
Race Fees, Bike upgrade, Screen Printing & Bike decals (for sponsors), Swim training location, Transportation, Hotels, Performance Food & Supplements, Running Shoes, Food & Misc. (Race/trips), Paper/pins for Cranes, Planning Calendar, Support team at races.

Other items I thought of since I scanned that page include: Video crew (so I can document it and possibly use it for marketing TheWishBuilder.com), Upgraded clothing (since wetsuits might not be allowed at Kona and I may need something different from what I have) and a new hydration system (for the bike).

What do you think?

What am I missing?  Should there be more activities / events / budget items related to, and for the benefit of, sponsors?

Speaking of sponsors, is the budget itemized sufficiently that a company can look at the listing and choose to sponsor a particular part of the project?  What can I do to entice sponsors to support the full project?

Budget / Sponsor Ideas?

Obviously I don’t have all the answers and I would welcome anyone who has experience signing up sponsors for individuals or events or even charity fundraising.  Any ideas you have to improve this budget or gain sponsors would be appreciated.  Leave you comments below !

Since the completion of an Ironman triathlon in Kona will involve lots of different costs, I am going to get a sponsor (or two or three).

Notice that I didn’t say “I am going to TRY to get a sponsor.”  I want my words to reflect a positive anticipation … and I hate it when people say “try”.  It usually means that they are not committed to making it happen.

My other “pet peeve” (that I have to fight within myself as much as anyone) is “self-centered thinking” that says someone would sponsor my efforts “just because I need money.” This is one of those ineffective ways of thinking that we all have to battle in the marketing & business world. “People should buy my product because I need the money” doesn’t work very well as a tagline for a product or service so you have to think about what the sponsor (or customer) wants instead of what you want from the customer.

Why should a Sponsor sign up?

Here are some reasons I came up with.  Which one do you think will resonate with sponsors?  Which one would convince YOU to become a sponsor?  Leave a comment below with your own ideas.

1) A first-time Ironman athlete is more relate-able to the general public than the professional athletes so sponsoring me could be like Jared from the Subway commercials.  [Note: anyone have contacts at Subway?]

2) Baby boomers are retiring in record numbers and even though I am on the tail end of that generation, my gray hair (what’s left) means that I can be an inspiration to millions of people who dream of finishing an endurance event like a triathlon or marathon.  Plus, free exposure on www.GreatnessAfter50.com where I will be featured during training could be of value to a sponsor targeting the Baby Boomer demographic.  [Who should I target?  Retirement homes?  P&G must have products for older adults, right?]

3)  I could offer exposure for a company’s brand on www.TheWishBuilder.com.  For a charity or business, this could be a great opportunity to get in on the ground floor before TheWishBuilder becomes a worldwide phenomenon.  Motivational speakers might be a good target since many of them talk about goal setting and inspiring their audience to achieve great things.

4)  “Dave is just so darn adorable that everyone will want be a sponsor.”
[Mom, I can’t put that.  Well, okay… for you.]

5) My faithful sidekick, Sampson, and I have spent so much time at Starbucks you would think that they would name a table after him at least.  As an added bonus, they could sponsor Sampson as well and get prominent logo placement on his collar and warm-up jacket.  Other pet-friendly companies might be interested such as Petco or a pet food provider such as Costco (where we get Sampson’s food).

Other reasons to Sponsor?

What other reasons can we use to get a sponsor to sign up?  Please leave your ideas in the comments below.  If you want to sponsor this project, you can leave a note below and I will respond via email.

Even though the Ironman Action List page below is still “in process”, I am posting it here because of two things I have noticed so far…

1.   I only made it to 27 Actions before I hit my first “brick wall”.  In reality, it wasn’t much of a brick wall, but I had exhausted all the initial ideas I could come up with in a couple hours.  The good news is that my mind eventually started generating new ideas and I was on my way down the list.  I have not gotten to the point (yet) where I will use some of the TheWishBuilder.com brainstorming tools.

2.  There are some basic action steps that are probably going to be part of every 1000 Cranes Action List such as # 33 Get Paper for Cranes and #34 Get pins for mounting Action Steps on wall.  There are probably more and once I’m further along, I will probably consolidate them into an Action List Kickstarter package so you will have a few action steps already on your list and fewer you will have to come up with on your own.