If the kids can figure this out, so can you.

Yesterday I had a unique opportunity to represent Racer on Demand at NexGen’s first youth driver coaching session. It was a sunny day at Dirt City Motorplex in Lena, WI with kids aged 5-13 behind the wheels of their miniature off-road race vehicles. At lunch time, the kids and parents gathered around a little concession building, piling pizza high onto their plates. While they ate, they were inspired by the pep talks of short course off-road racing pros Ricky Gutierrez, Johnny Holtger, Ryan Beat, and Chris Van Den Elzen. As they spoke, I thought about what kind of message would be impactful and important for the youth of motorsports. Chris turned the stage over to me, and I got to work.

“Who here knows what a brand is?”

Asking a group of kids what a brand is might not be the most obvious way to kick off a session on self-promotion, but that’s just how I roll. Crickets for minute. One hand popped up and when I pointed at him, he said hesitantly half-answered, half-asked “A company?” Good try kid. Companies have a brand, but there’s more to it. “Like a clothing brand? Like my racing shirt is a brand and your racing shirt is a brand?” asked another little boy. Now we’re getting warmer.

A brand, I told them, is the way that people think about you. That could be the colors they associate with you, like purple for our VDE Racing team. It could be the associations they make between you and other brands – we all associate Michael Jordan with Nike (or at least those of us old enough to know who Michael Jordan is, do.) It could be your logo, your race number, your race car, your mannerisms, the way you speak, the way you walk, the way you look, and your brand likely is some combination of all of these things.

“Who here is a little bit weird?”

Only one hand went up, so I waited. Another one went up. I prodded a bit, “C’mon, you’re all a little weird, I know it,” and more hands trickled up until everyone had their hands in the air. There we go. That’s more realistic. So I asked – “What is it that makes you weird? How are you different from everyone else?” Awkward glances all around, waiting for someone to be brave enough to share their weirdness.

One brave little tyke said, “I’m a racecar driver.” You’re right, dude, we’re all a little crazy in that aspect. “That’s true – that does make you different than a lot of other people, but look at the other people here. They’re racecar drivers too. What makes you different than them?” More pensive faces. A girl standing towards the back of the group raised her hand and I gestured for her to speak. “I’m a girl.”

Now there’s a good one. Indeed, in a group of probably 25-30 kids, parents, and volunteers, there were only 4-5 of us women present. “You’re right,” I said, “that DOES make you different from the rest of the kids here. Do you know how important that is?” I don’t think she did. Ryan Beat spoke up, “That’s really important,” he said, “you need to use that to your benefit. Sponsors care that you’re a girl.”

And that’s not just reserved for the gender gap – sponsors care about a lot of things. They want to know what makes you weird and how you can reach the other people who relate to your weirdness. So I gave the kids a piece of homework. “Think of two things that make you different than anyone else here.” I challenge you, reader, to do the same. What are the two things that make YOU different? How are you telling people about those things? Those things should be front row, center in your brand.

“Why would a business want to partner with a racer?”

This one was going to be tough, so I gave them some background, first. I told them when I was little, businesses spent a lot of money to partner with racecar drivers so they could have a sticker on the side of their car. But it’s not like that anymore. Businesses want more than that now. What do they want? “Cool stuff!” said one of the kids. He isn’t wrong. Some businesses need content to share on social media or want the clout of being associated with adrenaline-fueled motorsports. But it all boils down to something else.

A timid hand went up and I gave him the go-ahead to answer. “Money,” he said. I wish he would have shouted it, but he just stated it at a speaking volume, so I shouted it instead. “Money! Yes! Businesses exist to make money.”

Sponsors partner with racers not for advertising or promotion or activation or any of that without the underlying expectation that those things will bring in more money, one way or another. Gone are the days that racers can take a passive role in a business partnership, being used as a tool to bring in more money. Now, racers have to be strategically involved in making businesses more money. That means knowing what makes you different, how to relate to your fans and sponsors that are also different in that same way, and how to sell them things because of those differences.

It’s about selling more product, it’s about gaining more customers, and sometimes it’s about putting two businesses in contact with one another so they both can make more money. One of the kids in the front row shared that he has a tire sponsor and a construction company both backing his race program. Ryan Beat jumped back in, here, with his expertise in Business to Business (B2B) value. “Think of it like this,” he said, “You introduce the tire company guy to the construction company guy, and they want to play together, now. The construction company is going to buy all of their tires for all of their equipment from the tire company. And they’re both going to pay you a lot of money because you made both of them happy.” Perhaps an oversimplification, but you get the idea, and so did the kids.

As we wrapped up our session, I thanked everyone, reminded them of their homework to think about what makes them different, and everyone dispersed to go back to track practice. As they walked away, I heard a parent say to another, “I just learned so much.” Good. This wasn’t just for the kids.