Sponsorship

General Yo-Yo
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Now, first off, I want to say that I don’t want anyone saying “oh, great, another one of these threads where somebody asks to get sponsored.” I don’t. That is the reason for this post.

Most of you on the forums are trying to get sponsored aren’t you? I have to say that I don’t really want to get sponsored (I am saying this so that people don’t start bugging me about sponsoring me). Sponsorship has it’s advantages and disadvantages. I find the disadvantages a heavier thing though if you know what I mean:

Advantages:

  1. Some companies cover your yoyo expenses
  2. Some companies may help cover the cost of (if not pay for all of it) entry fees to certain contests

Disadvantages:

  1. Popularity. I don’t really want to be a big popular person that is in a ton of videos and is in every big contests and always places.
  2. Other players. I don’t want to get stuck on a team with a bunch of jerks, slobs, show-offs, etc. that only look like nice people in videos or while performing, etc.
  3. Contests. I don’t want to have to go to all these contests just to support my company. I also don’t want to have to use whatever yoyo I am told to. I want to use whatever I want (even if it is from a different brand from the one I am sponsored by).
  4. Signature throws. I don’t want to take part in making a signature yoyo for myself or somebody else that I/they don’t even like. It would, if I made it for somebody else, make me really mad/upset at the person I made it for. It would, if I was making it for myself, I might make the company upset along with all the other people who helped (I also don’t want it to be a waste of my time).

Now, I have said this. The #1 reason I don’t want to get sponsored is popularity. I would like to win worlds/nationals some day but that would make me popular. Even if I finish in the top 5 or so, that would make me somewhat popular. If this happens, I have no control over popularity anymore so I wouldn’t mind being sponsored then.

I mean no offense to all the people who are sponsored or represent a company on the forums. I just don’t want to get myself into something that I won’t like.

Sponsorship may be for some of you on the forums, but to me, I don’t really want to get sponsored. I hope nobody is mad at me or anything like that but just take these notes into account when you are about to be sponsored.

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I would say that the majority of us have no plans to be sponsored, nor illusions that any company will ever want to sponsor us. :wink: I don’t mean necessarily “the overwhelming majority” since enough peeps do want sponsorship. But it’s still a majority of us that don’t give sponsorship a passing thought.

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I think first and foremost anyone seeking sponsorship should stop and seek enjoyment from the hobbit and get so good at it that people can’t help but take notice and then They seek them out, things seem to flow so much better that way .

Hehe I am noted in fact I agree!

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'Coz if you can’t enjoy The Hobbit, y’aint got no business yoyoing!

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Ye said it right! Listen to he!

I see what you mean. If i was sponsored, i would want to be the chill guy. Someone who rarely competes. Occasionally makes a video here and there.

I don’t want to be the guy who is asked to sign auto graphs or something like that.

I wouldn’t mind designing a signature yoyo. Why not? Dream yoyo comes into reality!

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So we can have your autograph :frowning: … Lol just keep it chill and ding what you do and remember fit shave your toes hehe.

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People only want the sponsorship for the free stuff…

And that’s why I want one too :smiley:

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Hahahaha ;D I couldn’t understand what your intention of writing this post was until that last sentence lol :smiley: I am such a dodo bird :smiley:

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Language please…

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See, this is what I am talking about. If you get sponsored by a company just so you can get free stuff, you may encounter problems. (Such as bullies, jerks, show-offs, etc.) If you do that, you will find that you don’t like getting sponsored.

To me, it isn’t worth it.

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I really just want to be sponsored so i can actually do work for someone. Naw, i ain’t no slave lol :P…

I mean, being able to be a part of something. Be able to tell people about it. To be able to say i am a proud member of #######! To tell people their yoyos are awesome, to let beginners try yoyos.

The advantage to the “free yoyos” part would be, i could ask for 10 or so cheap 10 buck throws, and be able to hand them out/ let kids try them. Get people interested and refer them to the company’s website/ a place that sells their Yoyos.

To be able to be in videos, somewhat…

To be able to do reviews and unboxings. To rave about how good they are…

Be able to give input. Because as a average buyer, i know what the average buyer wants. As a average player i know what is really not worth it and what it.

And so forth, colorways.

Maybe Assemble yoyos? Id do that, but i wouldn’t live at the factory or whatever so i doubt i can do that.

Of course everyone wants new free yoyos. Who doesnt?

But on my scale. What seems bigger in sponsorship? It seems like some people only want the free stuff. Yeah of course i would love free stuff. But with that stuff i can do the above.

The whole post above? Or that small free yoyos part?

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There is one thing about this thread that I don’t understand. If you don’t care about being sponsored, then why post about it? A large majority of forum members don’t care about sponsorships.

EDIT- I’m not trying to start anything here, just my thoughts on the topic.

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Dude, sponsorship is where its at cause you get TONs of money and you get to lord over all of those foolish mortals. Ha

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sponsorship = groupies… we all like groupies so we all want to be sponsored haha.

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Groupies give out communicable gifts that don’t to away with even the strongest antibiotics :stuck_out_tongue:

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some of you guys make it sound like it’s a 9-5, lol.
as i’ve always said, being sponsored is amazing, provided you really dig the company and you’re up for the terms.

honestly, i couldn’t tell if you were kidding about those 5 ‘disadvantages’. i don’t care about being popular and i don’t really compete, but i love making videos, love meeting other players, love hanging out at contests, and love helping to design yo-yo’s. PLAYING with yo-yo’s is absolutely a radical enough deal all on its own, but all the other stuff attached to being sponsored just gets me more excited to throw. i guess if it ever gets to be a drag, i’ll know i need to stop.

my first sponsorship was a company called throw down, and the guy who ran it pretty much left the community in disgrace after selling a terrible product and not refunding them when they broke. i’ll admit that was AWFUL, because i had collaborated with and vouched for this guy, and it really all went terribly. but when you’re involved with a reliable company with a history of making super-consistent product and on a team with players you’ve known for years and watched come up… it’s so rewarding.

remember that not all sponsorships are created equal either. some expect more than others, and some give more than others. you might be up for a few free yo-yo’s for wearing a t-shirt in your video, but you might not be up for paid travel/accommodations/$$$ for doing a 2-week tour. in general though, your job is to get people stoked to check out a company’s yo-yo’s, and the rewards amount to getting to do something you love anyway with added support. if you run into a sponsorship that matches your approach to yo-yoing, it’s a good gig for sure.

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Well said ;)…

I love making videos as well, meeting people is THE BEST, clubs…

I would compete occasionally. If I’m popular to the point where I’m getting tons of letters about random stuff. then i would quit.

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Off topic, but you DO realize that when you quote his post, EVEN if he changes his post, everyone can still see what he originally wrote through YOUR post?

People need to realize this.

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I’m not going to lie, I do want to get sponsored haha, but I know I got to earn it, which is a long way down the road, and I’m fine with that.

Now… Let’s talk about your disadvantages… Your disadvantages are mainly advantages IN MY OPINION.

“1. Popularity. I don’t really want to be a big popular person that is in a ton of videos and is in every big contests and always places.”

What’s wrong with popularity? People know you, respect you, love you, and some want to be you. I think that’s pretty cool. Getting shout outs from your fans, getting all that love, that sounds good to me! ;D

“2.Other players. I don’t want to get stuck on a team with a bunch of jerks, slobs, show-offs, etc. that look only look like nice people in videos or while performing, etc.”

I doubt a whole team is going to be full of jerks or show-offs… Sure, there may be a few, but you don’t have to hang out with them or talk to them much if you don’t want to. And if it really bugs you that much, deny the sponsorship. Just because someone wants to sponsor you doesn’t mean you have to accept it. And personally, I think most sponsored guys are pretty cool and kind from what I hear.


3. Contests. I don’t want to have to go to all these contests just to support my company. I also don’t want to have to use whatever yoyo I am told to. I want to use whatever I want (even if it is from a different brand from the one I am sponsored by).

Contests are fun dude! You can hang out with a bunch of others that share your same love for yoyoing. If I had the opportunity to go to a contest every other month or so to compete or just to hang out, that would be downright amazing. As for the yoyo restriction, if you don’t like a company’s yoyos, don’t accept the sponsorship. I understand that some people don’t want to get sponsored because they are restricted to only one company’s throws though. But quite honestly, if you don’t like a company’s throws, you shouldn’t be sponsored by them. And if you like their throws, you shouldn’t have a problem using them at contests and in videos. You can still use other throws at home. It’s not like you absolutely have to use only their throws all the time.

4. Signature throws. I don’t want to take part in making a signature yoyo for myself or somebody else that I/they don’t even like. It would, if I made it for somebody else, make me really mad/upset at the person I made it for. It would, if I was making it for myself, I might make the company upset along with all the other people who helped (I also don’t want it to be a waste of my time).

I REALLY don’t get this one… You don’t want a company to make your dream throw? I just don’t understand this… You’re not going to hurt their feelings if you want something tweaked, it’s YOUR signature throw, it should be perfect for you. You can make it WHATEVER you want it to be. I think that’s down right awesome. I’d kill to be able to make my perfect yoyo. As for making signature for others, why would you make a signature for another person? You’re sig is your sig, their sig is their sig. Sure, you might be asked to try it out and give your thoughts, but you’re not going to be designing someone else’s signature yoyo…