Pro Staffers

[skeeterman190]

 Was just wondering what U guys do to get on the pro staffs and sponsers? I know that a business degree would be great! But i dont have one, Im willing to work for it. Fishing is a small part of this business. You have to endorse and credit what got you here. we all have a got to bait and some of them catch us tons of fish...im just trying to slip in to this game a little bit, at a time. Any sugestions would be great. thanks guys-skeeterman-                         

[jcox7]

I wouldnt say you have to win but it would help to get your name known.  But you can really stink at fishing and still have sponsers as long as you can sell there stuff.  Selling the sponsers buisness is the best thing to do.  Just to give you and Idea go to Vicious web site and they tell you how to become a "staffer" for them.  The spelling might be off so just search it.

[Waterfoul]

There are some companies out there that will put you on their "pro staff" for using or at least buying so much/many of their products.

For instance, B&R Outlaw rods will put you on their pro staff for simply buying 10 of their rods.  They are GREAT rods... but 10 would set you back about $1350-1500 or so... I own ONE. 

[skeeterman190]

 I dont want to make a connection like that. I WILL ONLY ENDORSE products that I beleive in. I wont buy 10 rods just to be on a PRO STAFF. The only product i endorse is SHIMANO Top of the line company. Rods and reels amazing....-skeeterman-(and extreme bass tackle)

[Waterfoul]

I dont want to make a connection like that. I WILL ONLY ENDORSE products that I beleive in. I wont buy 10 rods just to be on a PRO STAFF. The only product i endorse is SHIMANO Top of the line company. Rods and reels amazing....-skeeterman-(and extreme bass tackle)

While I only own one and have not fished it yet, they are top notch rods.  I have fished a couple other people's Outlaw rods (thedude on this site has one, I even caught a nice sized bass on it!) they are everything the guys at Outlaw say they are... so don't be so quick to discount B&R as a company.  I talked to the owner of the company for quite some time at the Novi show.  Stand up guy.  He told me to fish it... fish it hard (which I will for sure) and if I liked it buy another model... fish it... etc... it's not like you have to buy 10 at a time!  Ken at KD Outdoors on M-59 sells a ton of Outlaw rods and has never had one come back (to my knowledge)... but like I said I've yet to fish my rod... soon I hope!!

As for me, there are some Shimano products I've owned that I'd just as soon throw away to tell you the truth.  But they also make some great products...I can't wait to fish my new-this-winter Cumara rod...  but you'll never get me to buy another Sedona or Sonora or Sahara reel again.  But that's just me because I've had bad luck with those reels.

And lets face it... in reality most larger tackle companies won't and don't have local fishermen like most of us "endorse" their gear.  If I were looking to get on a pro staff (which I am just like many of you here) I'd be looking at local tackle stores or local bait companies (Snack Daddies is in GR, Extreme is in Chicago and seems to like Michigan fishermen, etc...).  I have my "hooks" into one of the local tackle shops here and am in the process of getting them to back me up a little bit this year.  But, I know the owner and the manager of the place... so it really all boils down to:

It's not what you know, it's who you know. 

[Durand Dan]

It's like anything in the business world. While there are numerious companies that can build machines, that can produce the best baked goods, that can grow the best plants, the ones that succeed are the companies that can market the product. As an angler looking for someone to sponser you, a business is going to look at what you can bring in sales wise. There are fisherman that make it on talent but if you have the gift of gab the sky is the limit. Remember "it's not what you do, it's what you are precieved to be doing."

[Waterfoul]

Hmmm... I can gab... ask anyone who knows me!  LOL!!!

[Cy]

Go out to bassfeed.com and listen to the Sponsorship Special podcast.  It is an hour long interview with the pro staff manager from Tru Tungsten.  It is a very informational podcast about sponsorship and pro staff positions.  I think it is worth an hour of your time.

Cy

[thedude]

I got on the palehorse custom rods pro-staff because i own the only 2 in existence.

[thedude]

Hmmm... I can gab... ask anyone who knows me!  LOL!!!

fish like a woman, gab like a woman. 

[1javelin]

pro staff and all sounds nice, and I am always willing to go the extra mile to get something I truly like and believe in into someone else's hands, but my question is also what are they going to do for me?  There are too many companies, like B and R, that are willing to give you a pro staff nametag for you spending a ton of money on them.  I am not saying the products are bad, I have never used one, and frankly I almost bought some last year until the guy told me they were 'light enough to make Kistler's feel like a rock.'  Tell me the truth first, don't pull no @#$%.  Then, let me decide if your product is the product I like using, then give me a deal I can't get anywhere else.  I'll stick your patch on my shirt, truck, and boat.  But, you have to be a big stick most of the time to do that, and I have not established myself to that level yet.  One of these days!

1Jav

Good Luck Skeeterman, I hope you land some good ones!!

[Waterfoul]

Hmmm... I can gab... ask anyone who knows me!  LOL!!!

fish like a woman, gab like a woman. 

Hey, I KNOW you fish the fairy want too pal... and I've seen you gab it up at the ramp like anyone else!!  LOL!!! 

So when is Palehorse gonna Incorporate?  Funny... naming a rod company after a beer.... 

[djkimmel]

Check out these two GLBass articles too if you haven't already:

How to Attain Local Sponsor by cfruel

Looking for Sponsorship? by Wayne Carpenter, owner of Xtreme Bass Tackle

Getting sponsorship is like everything else, including your fishing - put as much effort into it as you want to get out. Learn everything you can and put it into practice. There are still plenty of people out there just winging it. The competition is only getting tighter and more fierce, not easier.

[BryanP]

Just sticking a patch on your shirt and a decal on your boat and truck doesn't cut it anymore.

[McCarter]

Pro Staffing is a 2 sided coin.  Actually, its more like a 3 headed monster.  It can be a great and rewarding experience but also can be very time consuming and expensive.

The trick is to feel out a couple companies at the same time.  Find out what there needs are and then decide if there needs are something  you can handle.  Never bite off more than you can chew.  No matter what they are offering you.  If there demands are more than you can handle it will only end with your dismissal from the staff or team or whatever.  I kinda got caught up in this myself.  I had a good grip on things for a while until the baby came.  Then i literally had no time for anything.  Im not saying you plan on having a baby or anything like that.  Just take into consideration your work schedule and fishing schedule.  Weekends, a lot of times, are spent visiting local tackle stores or boat dealers, rather than fishing.  It all depends on what the company wants from you, but something that i always threw into the mix, if it was lures and such,  was local exposure through popular 'mom and pop' tackle shops.  You will get to know all the small tackle shops pretty quickly if this is something they want from you.  Its a dirty job, too.  A lot of times your the 5th or maybe even the 10th person a tackle shop has had in there in a month.  And your basically just peddling goods.  Most of the time the store owners just look at you with a blank stare as you go on about with your pitch.  Other times they wont even give you the time of day, or return your phone calls.  Even if you think your product is the most innovative thing to hit the industry since living rubber skirts, they have already seen 8 other guys with the same thing on there mind.  Its tireless work and at the end of alot of days you can only ask yourself if its worth it.  Or, am i really cut out for this.  And eventually, you run out of people to talk to.  Then you have to consider broadening your range.  SOmetimes to the extent of going out of state.  And all this travel cost comes out of y our pocket. 

That is, obviously, the dark side of the coin, or monster.......whatever.  Not all companies want you to go through that much trouble.  Sometimes you get lucky and all you really have to do is show them an increase in sales in your area and they are happy, or just fill in your quarterly reports with your tournament results every 3 monthes. or even just refer a couple guys to them for business.

Like everyone else is saying here, it doesnt come without a price.  You have to work hard and often there isnt an equal return.  But it all comes down to what you want.

When i was a little bit younger and still had aspirations of being the next Mike Iaconelli ( the man you all love to hate ) I wanted to start laying the ground work for what would eventually become my paid ticket into the pros.  Once i got a little bit older and realized I will never be a professional fisherman, it turned into just a means of extra money to pay the bills.  Now that i have a family, it turned into time away from the wife and kid and from the water.  I still do stuff for a few companies, but they are all paying companies.  No, they dont pay me to fish.  They pay me to stand around at events and look pretty and talk about the product.

If you really want to get your feet wet with pro staffing, give me a PM and I will give you a few companies to contact.  But seriously feel them out.  Find out exactly what they want from you and make sure you have that to give.  And remember, Pro staff does not mean Proffesional Staff, it means Promotional Staff.  At least for guys like you and me.  Dont ever let it go to your head because you will quickly lose track of what it is your doing. 

Its fun when you get the right company/companies to work with.  I have had some bad experiences, and spent some oney on some things that i really regret now, but for the most part, i had it widdled down to a few companies that took pretty good care of me and became almost like family.  I only wish i still had my time to offer them but alas, to save face and to not waste any of there time and money, i resigned from all but one because of lack of time.

Good luck and if you ever need any info or advice, we are always here for ya.

McCarter himself

[thedude]

Hmmm... I can gab... ask anyone who knows me!  LOL!!!

fish like a woman, gab like a woman. 

Hey, I KNOW you fish the fairy want too pal... and I've seen you gab it up at the ramp like anyone else!!  LOL!!! 

So when is Palehorse gonna Incorporate?  Funny... naming a rod company after a beer.... 

Beer? no not beer... more like the 4th horseman of the apocalypse

Revaltions 6:8
And behold, a pale horse, and he who sat on it, his name was Death. Hades followed with him. Authority over one fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword, with famine, with death, and by the wild animals of the earth was given to him.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Horsemen_of_the_Apocalypse

[Skulley]

Here is how I got sponsors.  Fish for Free  All I can tell you is I have been pushing this product for the last 5 years or so.  I still do wear his hat sometimes.  Scott Rauber is a good friend of mine and has really hit the nail on the head when it comes to getting sponsors.  I know it really works.  He was my hat sponsor when I first started looking for sponsors.  I still do wear his hat sometimes, but because of him and his program, I wear Champion or Dodge.  It really comes down to who pays most to put a hat on my head.  A hat will be seen in a picture or the newspaper or a film, etc.  That's marketing.  Bottomline.......How well can you sell??  Just like Durand Dan said. 

I put a link at the bottom of my blog to Scott's website.  His books on the subject are priceless.  It is a small investment in yourself for what you can actually get out of them.  Mine have paid for themselves so many times over I can't remember.  I don't have much out of pocket for fishing anymore. 

Good luck in your quest.   

BD