What are some tips to get sponsored, really get your name out there?
Contests. They want their name on stage and in the winner’s circle. Go win.
Contests or quality youtube videos. Companies are always on the lookout for winners as well as good ambassadors for their brand and yoyoing in general. I think John Narum did a blog post on what sponsors are looking for but I can’t for the life of me find it now.
Yuki
You just killed your chances by asking. It’s sorta like The Game. 
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Original and difficult tricks. Try your best to make your tricks not look like everybody else’s tricks. Don’t waste your time doing some tricks everybody can do.
[EXPLETIVE] you man =[[. Lost it =[
Anyways, stop asking and keep on throwing. I’m not trying to be a grumpy old man here, but focus more on your yoyoing than to grab a sponsorship. Companies will go after you once you know you’re good enough.
I lost it too… 
Contest are key…a being cool.
Sponsorship’s are great, but ya know what’s really cool? Denying a sponsorship!
Hi let me try and explain first what sponsorship is. Because I have the feeling that for many, being sponsored means “getting free throws and the name on the website”
From a manufacturer, the main motive behind sponsoring players is its image so it comes down to how well would a given player fit this image and also how well would that player be able to cope with the obligations he would then have towards this company.
Let’s take a few examples
YoYo Factory. their target audience is composed of all kinds of players, from beginners up to the highest level of competition, but they also are working hard on popularizing yoyoing to the masses.
They take part in most major competitions by either or both entering players in said competitions and sponsiring that event.
They need high level competitive players, champions. Champions appeal to the non throwers as well as the ones who are already playing, but more than any other lambda player, they’re highly marketable.
So they need champions, high level players, but also players mature enough to be able to set their ego aside for the greater good, this is very hard to find. Augie Fash, Hiroyuki Suzuki (although he’s not -as far as I know- on their team), Tyler Severance etc…
But they also want to appeal to the more “traditional” yoyo player, which is why they can also use well respected community members such as Seth Peterson or Steve Brown.
They need available people who are ready, willing and able to travel all over the world, people who will be nice to others in any circumstances AND in the same time able to perform at the highest level.
Take another brand now, say OneDrop, they produce mostly mid to high end sophisticated and beautiful throws, they’re more of the “intellectual type”. In that case, ego is less of an issue because they may ask a little less from their players community wise (which doesn’t mean they do not have to be positively active in the community), but it may be a better home for artists and strongly creative individuals such as Mark Montgommery for example, Pancakes comes to mind as well. They still have some competitive players to give the brand legitimacy as a competition, high level yoyos manufacturer.
these two brands are the ones, in my opinion, with the strongest identity when it comes to sponsored players, they’re -by my book at least- text book manufacturer teams.
So when people say “you got to love the brand to get sponsored”, it’s true, but it’s merely a bi-product of what’s truly required.
So to sum up you will need at least some of those:
- Skill, style and experience at the craft
- Availability (physical and mental)
- Maturity, Identity
- A desire to promote yoyoing through the brand
- Be a community leader (in one way or another)
As a sponsored player, it’s not the brand’s job to carry you, it’s yours to carry the brand. You have to be willing to give more than you’ll recieve.
You need to be an outstanding player in the meaning that you have to stand out, have a strong identity as a player, as a person, and in the same time, be mature enough to be able to handle the pressure and the stress between competitions and public/community appearances, meets, contests, brand promotion etc… You need to be able to do amazing freestyles at the end of a day you spent entirely at teaching bind returns to 8yo kids, maybe squeezing a video or photo shoot somewhere in between. You get up early, help setting up your brand’s stand at the venue, greet the players who arrive at the contest etc…
Or you need to have additional skills such as video editing, marketing, webdesign, photography etc… and all or some of the above.
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The best thing you can do is work really hard to be the absolute best at what you are doing. If you make yourself a valuable asset, you’ll quickly and noticeably distance yourself from the pack. Once that happens, sponsors will come looking for you.
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You little…
By learning to spell “sponsored”.
Aha, this made me chuckle.
Every company has a different perception to who they want on the team.
Sometimes, asking isn’t a sin.
But contests, as others have mentioned, show your onset of skills AND personality.
Yes, don’t be a jerk. Don’t be a closet yoyoer.
Socialize, have fun, be yourself.
I would say “don’t be awkward” but apparently that is quite rare in this community.
I’ve been told many times, “You’re the most normal yoyo-er I’ve met.”
Have fun.