How to Get Sponsored by Slime

Slime makes tire sealant and flat-repair products for anything with tires, and it has been a contingency sponsor in most off-road racing series for a long time. Joe Bowman, Slime's marketing director, runs the brand's sponsorships largely by himself, and he has been one of the most practical voices at my Sponsorship Summits. His advice comes down to a few things: use the product, make his job easier, and show up where his customers are.

Be a user first

Before anything else, Bowman wants to know you actually run Slime. "Please be somewhat of an expert or a user of our products," he said. He once looked back at Slime's roster to see what the best teams had in common. "I just made a list of the main teams that we've ever sponsored, and what do they have in common? They all came up to me, they already knew about Slime, and they used it." ▶ Watch Joe Bowman explain this

His examples were everyday uses, not race-day heroics. One racer ran Slime in his trailer tires to get to and from races. Another was a lumber salesman whose company used it in all its work trucks Monday through Friday, then went racing on the weekends. Tell Slime how you use its products away from the track, too. "We're looking for our official plumber of Slime, official contractor of Slime, official landscaper of Slime, and we don't have any of those people," he said. ▶ See the full answer

Put your location in the deck

Slime's retail partners regularly ask it to bring a race vehicle to their events. "We get AutoZone or NAPA or Walmart contacting us: 'hey, can you appear at this event?' My first thing is, where are our teams located around the country? So add that in your deck." Small vehicles have an advantage here. One rider showed his Dakar bike in Slime's booth at a state fair, and a motorcycle is a lot easier to place in a booth than the mega truck Slime once had. ▶ Watch the clip

Bowman suggests working backward from where you live and race. Big parts retailers have headquarters in specific towns, and they hold events there. "What if the headquarters of a big motorsports or auto parts store is located pretty close to you? Well, that's a slam dunk to be involved in their next big headquarter event, their charity event." The towns you already race in work too, and you won't have to charge a sponsor for the travel. ▶ Watch Bowman on reverse engineering your sponsors

Be the guinea pig

Off-road racing destroys equipment, which makes racers useful to brands with something new to sell. "That's my favorite nickname for the off-roaders, is that they're the perfect guinea pig to test either your core product or, say, we're launching a new product," Bowman said. His advice: "Look through their website. Maybe they're launching a new product that's right up your alley. Go buy the thing, get used to it, become an expert at it, take two minutes and shoot a video testimonial about it, and then show it to them at a race or send it to them." ▶ Watch the clip

Send the 30-second video

That video is what Slime values most, and what Bowman rarely gets. "Our best and most successful partnerships, that I can't get for some reason, is a quick video, cell phone, 30 seconds... a testimonial on how our product helped you win a race or get your job done on time. I don't know why we can't get these videos." ▶ Watch Bowman on the videos Slime wants

Those clips travel further than your own feed. "We will host them at slime.com, but what we really like is when autozone.com or O'Reilly Auto Parts or Advance or NAPA also receives them from us, likes them and shares them." And they work better coming from you: "A testimonial about our products is better if it comes from you, the race team, versus say me myself." He added one more tip: if Slime owes you money, send an invoice and make it easy to pay. ▶ Watch the clip

Run the contingency decals

Contingency is Bowman's favorite way in. "How many times do you see the three teams on the podium or the top 10 finishers come across the line and they only have, say, an average of four sponsor names on the vehicle? Well, why not sign up for every contingency sponsor that's participating in that race series?" ▶ Watch Bowman on contingency

It can turn into a real deal. Speaking about two racers who have won thousands of dollars of Slime product through contingency, he said: "If I can come up with some money for them, they're next on my list. They've already been running contingency for us. They're experts at our products." Email still has its place, but send the deck after you've met him. "Don't be afraid to send the deck after you've met somebody," he said, admitting that he only keeps about a third of the decks he receives. ▶ Watch the clip

Work the trade shows and the race sponsors

Trade shows are where to find Bowman and brands like Slime. "Trade shows are perfect because the right personnel that you want to meet are there." Even a short visit pays off later. A follow-up that says "hey, I saw you guys at the... show, wow, that new product you guys were demoing was great, we want to get one of those" puts you near the top of his list. ▶ Watch the clip

He's surprised how few racers talk to the sponsors who are already at their races. At a big desert race with 300 teams, he said, only 2 to 5 percent of them might come by the Slime booth and introduce themselves. If you're too busy, send a volunteer around to collect business cards and learn what's new. Slime also belongs to a family of car care and repair brands, including Permatex, Gumout, Black Magic and Rain-X, and teams have moved between them after appearing in a booth. "Why not talk to these brands, because they have sister brands that might ride along with you," Bowman said. ▶ See the full session

Time your pitch to launches, too. "If they have a booth at a trade show, they put a lot of time and money into whatever they're presenting, so go learn what that is." ▶ Watch the clip

Your checklist for Slime

• Use Slime in your race, tow and work vehicles before you ask, and say so.
• List where you're based and where you race so Slime can send you to retailer events.
• Shoot 30-second phone testimonials on how Slime saved a race or a workday.
• Sign up for every contingency program in your series and run the decals.
• Introduce yourself at the Slime booth at races and trade shows, then send the deck.
• Ask about Slime's sister brands once you're in the family.