How to Increase your Driver's Profile with Media Coverage
Gaining sponsorship support often comes down to personal relationships with those in a position to make significant lump sum contributions, often sufficient to fund a season's racing. However, lots of smaller donations can often make a big difference and help fund at least part of the overall cost of racing. In order to help with this, exploiting your karting results in the local print media and local television news will from time to time bring interest from local businesses and those interested in motorsport.
In past years, drivers racing in events covered by TDi Media have received sponsorship from viewers of our karting content, so exposure can be key. The main effort should always be targetted at the local newspapers. But how do you get your story in the paper? The answer requires very little time and effort on your part; simply writing the story as if you are a sports journalist who covered the event for the local newspaper, together with a photograph of your driver on track, on the podium, or in their race suit, will almost always result in a feature. This can result in a quarter page, half page or full page coverage of your driver, promoting them to thousands of readers. By writing the story as if you are a journalist, you are effectively making the job of the sports reporter as simple as "cut and paste". It saves them time and effort and fills the necessary space in the paper that week. The value to a busy local journalist is huge!
Local television news can be more difficult to access, but the quality of the TDi Media race coverage and commentary, combined with a local news crew doing an interview about a significant national championship result, is often enough to encourage the editor to include your story, taking up a few minutes of screen time that needs to be filled every single day. Simply get in touch with your local TV news by phone/email.
TDi Media will always allow our footage to be used in local news features free of charge.
Below is an example of a short newspaper article, written as if a local sports reporter had covered the event. Use this as an idea of how to write and present your story. ALWAYS include the driver's school as it is a positive reflection of their student and encourages the headteacher to understand the value to them in allowing time off when required!
The editor will always review your story and correct punctuation, spelling and grammar, but when writing the piece, use the Grammarly app (free of charge) to help.
14 Year Old on Top at British Karting Champs.
The British Karting Championships are the elite level of the sport in the UK, attracting drivers from around the world to compete in the series won by the likes of Lewis Hamilton during his junior years. Last weekend, 14-year-old John Smith; a student at St. Christopher’s High School in Sheffield, followed in those footsteps by winning the Junior Rotax final at the opening round of the season and in doing so takes a championship lead forward to Round 2. John has been karting since the age of 9, with 2020 his third year taking part in the prestigious British Championship level. This was his third podium and the first time on the top step. Asked to describe his weekend, John said, “it was an epic weekend of tight racing, where I managed to come top in timed qualifying, following this up with a 1st and 2nd in the heats and 2nd in the Pre-final”. John went on to describe how the dramatic final came to an end. “ 34 drivers took part in the final with three of us going into the last lap nose to tail. I managed to move from 3rd to 2nd halfway into the last lap and on the very last corner squeezed down the inside to secure the lead, holding on for the win. It was pretty crazy!”. John's father Peter reflected on the journey they had taken together en route to this major success, saying "It's been difficult competing on a small budget against those with greater resources, but the effort John has put in demonstrates what is possible with the right dedication and talent. I am extremely proud and hope we can go on and achieve even greater results moving forward." Local businesses who can offer vital sponsorship support for John can get in touch with John’s father Peter on 07777777777.