Printable View
I have read through a lot of worklogs now and im just wandering how everyone gets sponsors for their work? i have built 2 systems so far, completely watercooled and i would like to start my 3rd with a sponsor or two. Im really interested in Fractal Design and Bitspower, however ive heared bits are hard to get sponsored by.
any help would be great.
Hey, Eddy...
Actually mine came to me.
But I would say approaching them isnt such a bad idea. But you must have something to offer them above and beyond what the average can. And you must be ready to answer these questions because they will get asked. The biggest thing sponsors want is exposure. How do you plan to provide this for them? And where would you post all of this info to get it as much exposure as possible. Like I said you must have a plan together when you approach them, and a good one that sets you apart from the rest. While I wasnt seeking sponsorship it came to me, but thats a rare to say the least.
Many of the same people you would want to talk to frequent these forums, and if you can show them you have something serious to offer they may bite. But dont get your hopes up, few ever get a serious level of sponsorship.
And my builds that are sponsored are not personal gaming rigs. I benefit in no way from the builds I do other than the sponsorship I have. This is one of the biggest reasons I was approached, because my builds are of a public service type nature.
Maybe this will help start you down the correct path.
Good luck
whos that :D, im loz :DQuote:
Originally Posted by UrbanSmooth
The winning block will guide you...Quote:
Originally Posted by Spazloy
Just be patient my friend. Many of these guys get a zillion PMs and emails asking for help with getting some sponsorship. I myself has stopped answering most PMs, just because i dont have the time. Most are made up of: Where do you get all of your hardware, or where does your money come from to sponsor your projects. And the truth is while I have some sponsorship many of my builds are sponsored totally by me.
The other poster is just asking for someone to reply to your thread.
ah okay i see what u getting at.
so i should try contacting them, with the nature of my work and what the pc is for. where i will post the worklogs ect and how much publicity it will get.
any contact details for companies that i could use. i've tried emailing a few customer services but i don't really get much response or sometimes none at all. am i contacting the right people? a few email addresses ect. would be lovely, pm me if u have some.
Im not looking for loads of sponsors, just 1 sponsor would be great. some publicity for my own creativity and their products.
Got links to your builds?
ive done 2 builds, however i have only taken photographs for the one build, if i create a worklog over the next few days (i want to make the pictures look really good some i will use photoshop to make um a lot better.)
That would be cool, i did the build about 2 months ago and haven't got around to making the worklog yet.
Yeah, I would like to know how to get sponsored.
I heard your sponsors even provide you with dental insurance :rofl:Quote:
Originally Posted by DarthBeavis
Me too.. :rofl:Quote:
Originally Posted by DarthBeavis
Ummm OP, u dont ask to get sponsored.
If you do, then your name better be worth it.
And i mean on a level where your name is almost a given in the h2o world.
Really? all the legal documents ive been getting have something saying Non disclosure agreements.Quote:
Originally Posted by =[PULSAR]=
Does anyone know what that means?
:rofl:
It means Logan from TigerDirect.
If you want to be sponsored by Bitspower email Vincent from Bitspower and tell him Mario from Feser sent you ;)
yep thats the best idea :rofl:Quote:
Originally Posted by DarthBeavis
Good things come to those who wait :D
says the guy who gets a ton of sponsorships.Quote:
Originally Posted by dinos22
:rofl:
i think you > DB when it comes to sponsorships even.
not any more i dont since i started working for Gigabyte....now i work on the other side of the coin so to speak :D
LOL yeah eric just told me.Quote:
Originally Posted by dinos22
I should of said... says the guy who used to. :P
i never approached companies especially not in the beginning......it all came to me and most others. It comes to people that do what they do with passion and don't ask for anything in return. Pretty much all companies that sponsored me over the years have been fair and accepted my terms before sending me anything thanks to good advice from eva2000 before i took up my first ever offer from none other than Nvidia themselves. Very respectful company, particularly their motherboard team :up:
watercooling sponsorship is a tough gig though....not a lot of funding there to enable companies to send out lots of samples im sure.....
I think he and I probably were close considering I have only been in a game a few years. Nvidia, Intel, AMD/ATI, Crucial, Danger Den, Koolance, Bitspower, Feser, Performance PCs, Silverstone, Asus, Mountain Mod - not a bad bunch. The only company that ever turned me down was AC Ryan because they said they only sponsor world-class modders or something of that sort.Quote:
Originally Posted by NaeKuh
Now we both work for companies so we are on the other side I guess (though I still get sponsored stuff for my personal builds).
Just had a thought. if you start your own website you can probably get sponsored without ever having competed a build. stranger things have happened.
Hmm, couldnt resist reading this thread... Do you mean for watercooling???
you need to change your mindset... It is not "how can I get?" but; "How can I become of use"... Always look at things from the other side of the table... If you want to get watercooling components, how can you promote/advertise...? COuld you make a worklog that gets thousands of reads? Could you make an excellent video? Could you somehow promote a product..? That is how you need to look at it buddy.... Once you are there, it will all come to you....
Some people say "oh they will come to you".... That is what is called "BS"...
Aerosmith - Dream on....
Fact is; you need to figure how you stand out from the crowd in a useful way, and then you make the contact.... Alternative is you have friends/network that does it for you, but no way vendors will find your worklog and contact you...
And lets play it simple; no questions related to my situation.
If you do send some emails out, make the subject more 'hey, I exist' than 'hey, sponsor me'.
Very good point. Having a professionally looking website really will get you a long way. Add in a small blog, sharing your passion with the world and why you love it so much. Then some nice related pictures (preferably your own), and some cool flashy colors ;). That'll get their attention :D.Quote:
Originally Posted by DarthBeavis
I think it is wise to present to a company all benefits they would get by sponsoring you.
And probably make your request concise and clear. As you do not want yours to end among other requests. In SPAM:)
I was thinking to state you are the expert and then flame all the vendors other than the one you are targeting. At least if you want to get BP as a sponsor, that is a tried and true formula for success :up:Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexandr0s
BP realy sponsors builds of such bashers of other vendors? :D
Heck, i thought better of them.
Spazloy:
My 2cents - if you are not contacted for sponsorship despite your current builds there are 2 options:
1) they don't know about them (my guess, seeing your low post count here/no worklog here/no links to any build in your sig)
EDIT (damn, looked up statistics of wrong user profile and missed those two builds :D )
2) those builds suck compared to those of other gurus' that get sponsorships from time to time.
Somehow asking "how to get sponsorship" seems like some beggar would do. For best modders their work speaks for themselves, they just build, not waiting to get sponsored. If one sponsors - fine, but ask/beg for that? :/
P.S.
I recall seeing such questions/threads here @XS before. Have you tried to use forum search function first?
I think some major sucking up will do just fine :up:.Quote:
Originally Posted by DarthBeavis
Koolance came to me.Quote:
Originally Posted by M.Beier
So did Aqua Computers.
And i am very very very thankful for them.
So they do come to you.
If your a big enough star in the sky, and you stand out, they will come.
Problem is trying to get that nuclear fusion going bright enough for them to see it.
Once u get sponsored, it starts flowing.
The hardest part is getting the first sponsorship.
But being a sponsor isnt all thats cut out to be.
You have promises you need to keep, and sometimes, those can be nightmares.
Totally agree with ya.Quote:
Originally Posted by dinos22
The one time i did ask for one, i didnt get it.
LOL...
But yeah, the key thing is, making them think your important enough.
I guess i have a loud enough mouth to be noticed. :rofl:
So what you are saying is that someone from Koolance & Aqua Computers were browing on the web, and spotted you; "omfg, shizzle nizzle dizzle, NaeKuh is a superstar, lets workout a contract with him!!"Quote:
Originally Posted by NaeKuh
Because, that indeed I have a hard time believing...
u wanna ask the entire forum who was the "Experiment" for koolance's new stuff when they started coming out?Quote:
Originally Posted by M.Beier
:rofl:
Also water bridges that connect two blocks in 1 blocks.
Who do you think invented that concept which most block makers now use on full board blocks?
Shall i show you how bridges got started?
I got my start by having a build on the cover of CPU Magazine. After that I got Nvidia (knew them from PDXLAN) and the others just came after that. Most of my sponsors I know from LAN events (Nvidia, AMD/ATI, Danger Den, Crucial, Asus, Koolance). It helps to be able to meet people face-to-face. And NaeKuh is right, it is not the land of milk and honey. You have to work hard, produce and produce often which I why I kick out so many builds. I think AMD/ATI is the only vendor who contacted me first and that was at an event when they heard I was doing a project for Nvidia at the time.Quote:
Originally Posted by M.Beier
Nope; I am asking you to tell decently to the guy how it really starts, without the BS.... You made something, and got known from it, someone spotted you because of that, or alternatively, someone refered you... That is how it happens in real life..Quote:
Originally Posted by NaeKuh
- Dont pretend that if the guy posts 3 common rigs on a forum, that his phone will ring and its Koolance on the other end of the line..
See that makes perfect sense...Quote:
Originally Posted by DarthBeavis
I myself started by showing up at Cebit, and the Taiwanese hardware icon "Coolaler" recommended me to a vendor.... Vendor recommended me to next vendor after a good relationship vendor, and the ball started rolling...
----
Regarding promises to keep and milk and honey... Play it simple, keep it real, play it fair...
And to make some clear statements;
If you live in Europe, no way nvidia will ever consider contacting you, I dont even know if they have a marketing division over here? Ineffective never the less...
Crucial sure as hell wont contact you neither...
ASUS doesnt understand "innovation", the word simply doesnt excist for them, so, you'd have to do some lame review cloned from first 20 other pages, then you're good to go,...
ATI has no interest neither.... AMD on the other hand is actually scouting for people to interact with...
Brian Jang and JJ at Asus DO understand innovation. Can't speak for the rest of Asus. ATI = AMD (AMD just bought our ATI when I did their project - was in interesting time).Quote:
Originally Posted by M.Beier
I agree companies will NOT come to you generally unless you are a tester like Skinnee (he has people like me advocating for him to my contacts as well so it is sort of a multiplier effect).
If you want sponsors have a portfolio, understand their lingo (I have a business degree which helps in that regard) including being able to forecast a realistic ROI, and make sure you produce.
if you look back at DB's first starts.Quote:
Originally Posted by M.Beier
he was doing that exact thing at lan parties.
Im sure DB can explain his entire biography with you if he wishes to.
But DB started showcase style, and went mainstream.
I went concept wise, and took off from there.
The key thing is you need to stand out.
You need to pick an area and try to launch from there.
Also it helps to know people who know people.
AS DB said, you need someone to introduce you, and then from there you start as well.
But you dont ask the guy to give you free stuff when you meet them.
Basically if someone was to ask you any question relating to our field, you should be able to answer with a good enough reason to convince the person your explaining to.
They wont give you stuff, if you dont know stuff.
They also wont sponsor you in testing, if your testing methodology blows.
and be willing to socialize and get out there. as much as I hate a certain person I do give him credit for being willing to travel to Computex with his biggest sponsor and be in the thick of things (I am sure that was WAY out of his comfort zone so it took courage to do that - one time which he has my respect).
So, you guys are millionaires now, right?
on food stampsQuote:
Originally Posted by UrbanSmooth
I get it, you spend all of that hard-earned cash on the next build, and the next build, and the next build!
Woooooh!
isnt that everyone on this forum?Quote:
Originally Posted by UrbanSmooth
doesnt that also apply to you as well? :rolleyes:
But of course.
Wow.. interesting.Quote:
Originally Posted by NaeKuh
Love to find out more.
Phil
actually the people i have picked up before is purely scouting the community, meeting people face to face, meeting people at events, or our overclocking events. winners losers it really doesn't matter to me. It all starts with 1 interaction. some may become an acquaintance, some may become friends, some may become partners, some just become annoying asking for free :banana::banana::banana::banana:. Its just the right place, right time, and a bit of luck. After that it is nothing but hard work, dedication, and your passion for the sport.
Honestly it's more work than it's worth 90% of the time.
Unless you have a TRUE passion for this stuff, you'd probably be better off to just get a second job doing some casual work and buy the stuff you want...
Very hard to get sponsors over here in AUS :(
ATM looking for hardware sponsors for a new build, virtually impossible though! :(
i agree with linus, the guys i sponsor work 100x more than what its actually worth. it literally is hard work and probably not worth it to 99% of the people our there.
heres is a great tip though. people i have picked up have usually participated in one of our activities in some way or another. LAN event or online contests and tournaments. and its not like we only pick up the winners, again just right place right time, but its a good way to get your feet in the door for some connections in the industry. we currently have an overclocking competition going on which you can find in the extreme competition category and we will have a hybrid overclock/case mod contest coming up mid august for Blizzcon! so there are some opportunities for yah =]
Definitely seems like a job many would wish not to have rather than otherwise.
At the end, you build, you spend hours with sleeving and wrestling with tubing to get what, $100 worth of BP fittings?
I'd rather do some other job for say 10 hours and then buy it myself. At least you don't have a commitment to anyone that way.
This goes for the sponsorship. For the other opportunities which a lot of contacts might produce, I would not elaborate about
that at this time.
My .2c
Most people see it as an easy way to get cheap stuff, but if they would realise how much work is needed to make it viable, many wouldn't even try getting a sponsor.
All in all, a lot of dedication and passion is needed to get a sponsor, or for a sponsor to notice you.
If you look at these guys work logs and try to imagine the countless hours dedicated to their project it is tough to understand what free parts would be worth that level of work. If you put the same hours into a regular job you could fund the project and sometimes more.
But most of these people have the PASSION for the craft and would do it no matter who pays, the love and commitment is what really shines. JMHO
My current build have 5 sponsors, from resellers to manufacturers. It's like Brian@ASUS says, it's about dedication, luck and being at the right place at the right time. You'll need to be able to see what's important for your potential sponsor. What, when and where is really the three key words you'll need to think about. The free stuff isn't worth the countless hours of building, but you don't build because you could get sponsored, you get sponsored because you build. Am I right?
I've been contacting my sponsors. But I have never begged, It have always been more of a business proposal. Asus actaully declined (But they answered, which is fairly rare) my request. Their answer were that they couldn't benifit from a sponsorship at that time and therefor were not going to sponsor me. I'm always thankful for those who sponsor me, not because they help me with hardware I probably don't afford, but because they believe in my ability and like what I do.
hey brian seems like your more active on the forums lately.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian@ASUS
I also noticed you started posting on AT.
LOL i dont think people truly understand this... sometimes the promises are very hard to keep.Quote:
Originally Posted by Linus@ncix
Quote:
Originally Posted by NaeKuh
brian you know a lot of people arent happy about that OC ROC competition because you guys basically killed AMD systems from entering.Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian@ASUS
Super PI is favored for intel.
Being sponsored is a bitter-sweet ordeal. Just look at what happened at Nvision 08 where I failed to mention Mountain Mods in one interview . . .all hell broke loose and my universe almost collapsed. I almost gave up modding and I left XS for a tad. Lots of pressure to produce on a consistent basis.
This is a great example that it's important not to just take any deal you'll receive. I mean of course, free stuff is tempting I know but sometime it's strikes back at you because you can't produce. Not saying that MM is a bad company or that DarthBeavis jumped into anything. I'm just making an example out of your comment. I hope you don't mind.Quote:
Originally Posted by DarthBeavis
Be sure to have all cards on the table when dealing with potential sponsors, they know what they get, and you know what you have to do.
What's important for me is that I'm able to stand for that this is a good product that I use because I'm confident in the product and not because I got it for free or something like that. Let's just say, don't get bought! ;)
Of course you have to make a name for yourself in some way, they need to know who you are and you need to get connections and because of that you can't be picky at all time..
I'm not an expert, but things can go wrong if your not careful. :)
The MM thing was my bad with my Texas continence making sure I remembered that lesson. In the end I think I was a better person for it. The end actually being very recent ;) Strange how we grow from unexpected events and happendings.Quote:
Originally Posted by iHannes
It's usally the hardest lesson that gives you the most n the end. :up:Quote:
Originally Posted by DarthBeavis
Seeking sponsor(s) to do a huge quad-SLI/CrossfireX build at Blizzcon. Hit me up.
you have tickets to BlizzCon? I will be there in the Asus booth with Brimstone.Quote:
Originally Posted by UrbanSmooth
I love ASUS products!
I got some load off my shoulders to allow me to some forum action. I won't be around tooo much, but I'll be around.
Also amd has potential but most likely it'll taken up by intel. Do note though the intent was to allow any board any generation to compete. I wanted to invite everyone To at least try. Did not want to segment anyone out. All have a fair chance and opportunity. Doesn't hurt to post for fun. At the event we will have both intel and amd boards benching. Giving everyone some love at quakecon.
What is favored amd or what is considered equal?
Quote:
Originally Posted by NaeKuh