By ChulucanasGym Team
A good sportsperson doesn't get an optimal performance only. Almost inmediatly, gets public recognizement for the goals, the personality or a combination of both. And that's key when you look for funding your sports career.
Although many have been prepared to defeat their own physical and mental limits for reaching excellence (what is gotten the most of times), they suffer big defeats when managing their public image. The explanation is very simple: almost nobody prepares you to face the people.
At an abundant information age, getting yourself out the public discussion is committing suicide, especially if you're beginning your career, for a simple reason: if nobody knows you exist, nobody will have you in mind.
One of the more frequent difficulties that most sportspersons passing through much in Peru is funding their training, trips and competitions. The difficult increases if your sport or discipline is few popular, no matter how many medals you receive. If you need to have a sponsorship, you have to make public.
The same way you practice your sport, opening your path amid the so-called information society needs to learn good every move, repeating consciously until perfectioning it, and knowing when to use right. In other words, you require a strategy, an accurate guide and a system allowing you how much you're going forward or not.
Coming up, some practical advices for your fight to a sponsorship and public recognizement to be so triumphant as your place or medals as well.
1. Use your social media intelligently
The first place where a potential sponsor is going to look for you are your social media accounts. Generally, will want to know how many people follow you, how you are announcing your goals, what they are responsing on you, and how you are highlighting from other people in your same sport or discipline.
Think twice before posting anything. Ask yourself what effect it could create in your followers and who could sponsor you as well.
If you're doubting about what, when and how to post, ask a reliable media proffessional (our parent website can offer advice on Facebook).
Never be careless about technical details as a photo & video quality, text grammar as well. Everything enters through the eye.
Oh! Never and never post something when you're angry. It's possible you have to sorry or even apologyze as well because of an overreaction or an exageration.
2. Be unique
Remember all the cats are equal at night unless just one decide to look like quite different. No matter if 100 people practice your same sport or discipline, work hard not to be similar like anyone else, fin your own identity, develop it, show it.
It's better they imitate you instead of you imitate them. "Keeping your essence is key for sculpting the path to the objective you've chosen," Piura-based psychologist Bryan Luzuriaga recommends.
Being unique may ave many differences, but in your case, bet to be a possitive newsmaker in your sport or discipline. Become your name an excellence, personality and transcendance brand in your favor and favoring what you do.
Don't pretend to be who you're not. Be yourself. This doesn't mean to hold your defaults but potentiate your advantages.
If you're stil doubting about that, your true friends (who say you bad and good things directly) could advise and help you, or a mental health advisor could be helpful.
3. It's worthy to be honest
One of the most stupid things somebody does in public and for the public is lying. At a time when it's easier to verify everything you say, just a lie is necessary to bring down all your career, even having you out of rule very serious as happened to many sportspersons.
Be who you really are, not most not less but the right. And that 'right' is what you must outprint on everybody.
ever update your sports resumé, be aware the data you put it on can be verifiable. If it's not possible to verify, don't put it on. Some coaches can help you to customize your information.
4. Run away who flatteron you... who denigrate on you too
If cheers can get us oproud, insult can hurt us psychologically. The right is leaving apart, holding the balance at least.
If you're congratulated or rejected, ever say 'thanks' and follow up your life. Never argue, don't let you be mistreated. But ever enjoy a triumph's joy keeping on your feet when the chance gets really good.
Ever hold a smile on your face - it's a lethal weapong against discouragement, it's an antidote against conceit.
5. Keep your lane (no matter others')
Although your sport career is actually opinable as well the career of others you follow, know, or face to , try your opinion keeps in terms like "I think it's OK", "I think it's bad", "I think it can be improved", or "go up for better".
Never use your right to opine for talking awfully about another people. Although that puts you on the spotlight (so publicity), it also automatically tag you as 'untrustable'.
"It's important having tolerance to frustration because people will remind you to speak out criticizing the good or the bad you do," psychologist Bryan Luzuriaga remarks.
If you don't like a person or you're having an argue or a scrub, keep it inside you or process it with a mental health advisor, but never and never express it in public or tell it face-to-face respectfully, instead.
"If we learn to control our temperament, we'll ride the bull easily," psychologist Luzuriaga points in.
If somebody talks badly on you, don't response in the same terms and mean. There are usually another much effective mechanisms including legal, what can put things right... and even give you some extra money.
6. You decide if you wanna be a sex-symbol
Doing sports means keeping fit, keeping fit means having an appeal, having an appeal means envy, admiration or desire. Feeding or discouraging people's desires is something you control, so even you're not looking for that, never underestimate your own potential for becoming a sex-symbol.
The best way to have an appeal and surviving untroubled is assuming it as the most natural thing in the world, not fearing muchly that seems that everybody overwhelms you neither much vanity that you become your own sketch.
As much as you have a natural, healthy relationship to your own body, being a sex-symbol is going to keep in the background. If you have problems about this issue, it's ghood to visit a
mental health advisor, but this picture can be very useful for you: you are who sculpt your own masterpiece, only who reach mastership are who go forever. Don't be afraid to transcend.
7. Do a nude if you want, but be careful about the impact
A consequence about the prior advice is that your physical development can also deserve your offers to pose nude partially or totally. Let's put on the spot removing taboo - many sportspersons receive regarding proposals many times.
Is that good or bad? Answer: it's relative. Why? Because it depends just on you and it should depend only on you to accept or reject those offers.
Nobody else has right on your body but you, so you also have the control about saying Yes or No.
If you say No, nothing happens, you don't lose points (perhaps money), the world won't end neither.
If you accept, you have to measure very good the consequences of your decision, then the response and attitude you'll adopt when releasing to public opinion. As people's education is diffferent, you'll find someones indifferent, someones amazed, someones angry.
Remember that doing a nude is legal only when you're legal age.
Something useful for you is sharing the proposal to a person you trust so much (open-minded too) who helps your to analyze the possitive and the negative without overreaction. The final decision is yours, you're responsible about it.
Ask your coach or federation if there are written, clear rules those don't allow yo to do a nude.
8. If you are a prostitute, your health and integrity are on top risk
In places like Peru, where it's difficult to live only practicing sports (unless you're a pro soccer player), most sportspersons have to get a job for living and funding their career. In some cases, who have an entrepreneur spirit create their own job positions and can combine them to their career succesfully, even coaching more sportspersons.
who don't fit the last or don't have enough money could be in prostitution for paying their bills, we mean receiving any payment in exchange of having sex with one or more persons.
Discounting moral assumptions, getting this kind of job has some legal requirements: you must be legal age, you must follow a strict medical control because you're exposed to sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS as well, conditions uncovered by any health insurance.
If you're fundraising your career by offering sex, you should learn all the procedures to prevent you or your client can be infected. You can request for this information as a free & confidential advisory at all Peru's public health centers, where you inclusive can be provided with protection methods.
Be careful about who offer you to recruit in agencies or bring you out another places, or pay you big money amounts. Many times,you can become a human trafficking victim, a crime under international enforcement. Get informed about, don't put your career in risk.
You should keep in mind that if you become popular but you were in prostitution, somebody could make it public or face it to you directly (the same, of course). It's actually an evident double moral, but it is also a possibility. Then, if you were gutsy to be into that stuff, you also have to build a strong attitude for getting on your feet, knowing how to response the blames even if they're hard.
If you're not ready to face what they say, the best will be you say a round No when you are solicitated for the first time - No means No.
9. everything written, nothing spoken
What's the difference between a sponsorship offer and a formal sponsorship offer?The first one is ever said but never complied and there's no way to demand it beyond the frienly field because the wind blows the words. The second usually is a printed or electronic written offer addressed to you, where it's specified what is requested from you and what you receive in exchange.
Say 'thanks' to first ones, the second ones need you take some time to read them, study them, and even write an also-written counteroffer so you pass to something called negotiation.
Warning! This game consists in knowing to gain and give, it's not common you get the perfect deal the first time. Then, the best will be your first negotiation exercises be professionally advised by someone reliable - lawyers are perfect for this point.
Yes, you maybe have to invest on your lawyer but see it this way: there will be more expensive in the future when you realise what you considered as a benefit, harm you instead.
File all the offers you receive, the counteroffers you do, contracts you sign on (inclusive draft versions), payment tickets... actually, every document that proves a negotiation.
In the beginning, you also have to be your own accountant. You'll have to register every cent you receive and explain the way how you manage or use it. No matter nobody is claiming you about your accountability - it eases your control.
If the money you receive comes from a donation, sponsorship or prize, that control could save lots of troubles in the future in case the funs source be illegal.
Yes, it's tricky but it's a discipline you have to workout too.
10. Use the media in your favor
This is the funny part of every sportperson who wants to get recognizement for getting a sponsorship: uses to run away the media. Do you have an idea about what enterprises can put closer to the public, give certain publicity and reach the ones what can fund your career?
When you see a microphone, a camera or an audiorecorder, don't run away but get close, introduce yourself, say what your assets are, answer clear and serene, try to identify where your charisma is, connect to the audiences, ... don't forget turning on and keeping charged your mobile in case somebody calls at you for helping or sponsoring.
Be proactive, don't wait for the media to discover you. Knock its door so confident. Don't forget the media like a lot the outstanding stories, so keeping in mind all what we advised you until this line, order your ideas so any editor or journalist can't give up to tell your story when you tell it.
Remember that in ChulucanasGym we are looking for stories like yours (no matter if you don't speak Spanish), we advise about how to make it more attractive, and we publish it for the world knows you exist. eventually, we can connect to friends in other media we know they'll want to cover on you too.
Learn to hol this kind of professional relationship because if the media is trustable, makes you trustable.
If the media publishes on you, post it as much as you can on your social media, file all media excerpts in a folder which you use everytime you knock the door on the sponsors. as they use to work as advertising clients on the media, the chance to cross-check the data reliability is inmediate.
In some cases, if you want to invest much more, bet on so-called 'books', those use to be advised and produced by advertising agencies.
11. Never refuse to keep humble
If somebody advised once that to be the most important among everybody you have to serve everybody, obbey.
As higher as you climb up, keep your feet anchored to the soil, never forget how you started, because of who you were going up, what works and sacrifices you might took, even what mistakes and hits you had.
Give thanks on the good and the bad you have, share your experience to other people ever when you're required. You don't know how many can get inspired by your example and change their lives! Inclussive, they can save them because of you. Are you clear about that?
If you have the chance, give back a portion about you got to any organization that is working to solve a social problem. Don't be happy about donating money or supplies but be motivated to participate actively to solve those issues.
Don't wait until the life slaps on you to understand why you have to connect with the humankind. If you can give the first step, go ahead. Posting it? Analyze it carefully. If that helps a problem to be solved , it's an option to have in mind.
For more specific questions, write us down at chulucanasgym@gmail.com
