8.9.10. PRSR 02-18-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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• PROMOTIONS Of the hundreds of thousands of BMX styled bicycles sold every year, only a small percentage end up on the race track. The potential for new riders is huge but only with an organized effort will you be able to tap this market. Your efforts at promotion and sales will determine the success or failure of your operation. BIKE SHOPS: Get involved with the bike shops in your area. Get to know the owner and the people who work there. Encourage him to carry BMX. Inform him of what your operation is all about and what you can do for each other. Get him to allow you to place your posters, flyers and other material in his shop. Offer him a sign at your track for a discounted rate. Encourage him to sponsor two BMX teams. One, a team that he can race and support at your track to promote his shop, and one made up of his customers. The competition team he can support as he sees fit. And, the other team can be just a discount club involved in his program according to his budget. CIVIC CLUBS: Let the movers and shakers of your community know what BMX is and what your program is doing for young people in your town. Many organizations are always looking for speakers at their meetings. This can give you the opportunity to present your program to some influential people that can become supporters of your • program when you need money or have a problem with the city council. LOCAL MERCHANTS: The local merchants in your area are an invaluable asset to your tracks success. Their support can come in several forms: Buying advertisement signs at the track or sponsoring your trophies and awards, sponsoring a race or a series of races and/or placing your information posters and flyers in their places of business. Be sure to develop a complete written proposal to present to the prospective sponsor outlining what you will do for him. Detailed help is available from the ABA in this area. ADVERTISING: Most track operators are on a small budget and expensive forms of advertising are not available to them. However, there are places where just a few dollars will go a long way. Church flyers, neighborhood shoppers and school papers are inexpensive places to put your ads. Flyers, posters and other door to door techniques also provide maximum exposure with minimum expense. Carry posters and flyers with you at all times and hand them out whenever you stop. The ABA can provide you with posters and other advertising help if you need it. SCHOOLS: Sometimes it is difficult getting approval to give a presentation or to simply distribute info in public schools. But, there are ways to break through this barrier. One excellent way is to offer ABAs BMXer magazine to the school libraries at no cost to them. Also, advertising in the school paper and encouraging the school papers to give news coverage to your races is helpful. If you can arrange to speak to a school group, be • prepared to present an interesting program.