Hitchhiker's guide to Mod Sponsorship

Selling your soul

As we mentioned, most modders view their work as a form of expression - a way to take something and make it truly unique in a manner that they find attractive. At the end of a good mod, it's a little piece of you - so you'd better think about what will happen to it.

To a sponsor, the "return" that is being sought is advertising - getting the company's name out there. It's great to say that you want to host it on a big-name site, but is that going to even do anything for your sponsor?

For instance, if you go for that free wood from a local wood supplier that I mentioned, odds are he or she isn't going to care about your project being on bit-tech - a site that caters to a worldwide, scattered audience just won't really help. You're going to have to offer a different form of advertising power.

However, a company like BFG Tech or OCZ Technology is going to expect you to have a project log on a large enthusiast site like bit-tech. I've even been asked by a couple larger companies in the past whether the person is a contributing forum member. I've also been asked to watch for a new member, as posting a log here was part of the sponsorship requirement.

At the end of the day, the advertising that you're offering needs to match the market that the company would sell its products to. It gets more difficult when, as we mentioned, you should start off small and local - but how do you help advertise for a local company that doesn't get benefit from worldwide audiences?

Well, there's lots of ways - but you sometimes need to think outside of the box here, too.

What would you do (oo-oo) for a Klondike bar?

How you are willing to advertise for your sponsor can be an incredibly varied (and honestly rewarding) experience. Sure, it's great to say "I'll post a project log," but that's only one very small part. A very large number of logs get started on bit-tech every month - and very, very few get shoulders tapped by me to go onto the front page in any form, whether in Mod of the Month or a complete log.


No, that's a necessary but very small part of your exposure, unless you know you're going to get the attention of those on high. In fact, project logs should really be there for the benefit of fellow modders - they have low commercial viability aside from proving that you are working on it. What a company wants is a finished part, or some way to promote the work in progress to its market of choice. So, here's some suggestions that you can offer to sponsors.

Local shops

Local shops want eye-catching things to attract attention. So while you're in that local store asking for your first shot at modding stardom, why not offer to let the company have the system for a couple weeks as a display? The bright, eye-catching mod would be seen by potential customers, which naturally translates into "Well, what can it...do?"

This progresses into a conversation on tech specs, on the local modding kid who asked this company for help because it's such a great company and stocks such great hardware...there's a million and one ways that a local company could start up potential sales by using it as the hook. And, you'll be the talk of the town for a bit, to boot. You have to part with the rig for a couple weeks, but hey - that's worth that shiny new graphics card, isn't it?

You can also recommend doing a small "modding workshop" that the shop can host and promote to draw customers - grab a couple of like-minded friends and show off some very simple techniques such as changing out fans for LED ones, sleeving a PSU, cutting a side window or other basic techniques and get modding to be a little more "mainstream" in your area!

You'd be surprised how many people will stop and watch for a few minutes, and suddenly realise that some things aren't too hard at all - and many of those people wouldn't have known how to change their system from case to case before.

Regional chains/Online stores

If you're getting parts from regional chains or online stores, be prepared to do a little footwork - specifically, by hitting up the nearest LAN or other regional computer event. Big-box stores in your area are also fairly interested in this type of advertising, as it hits a wide "living area" of the target market. People will come from all around a region to a LAN event, meaning that if the store is online, every person who sees your case or talks to you about it is a new potential customer.

If you're going this route, be prepared to talk up your gaming skills as well - people who place highly will end up as the talk of the LAN, which means added promotional opportunity. And hey, everyone loves to side with a winner.

For those not gaming-inclined, LAN events are still a great place to show your stuff from these companies - many have recognised modding as a natural part of being a computer enthusiast, and so they offer case competitions and modding demonstrations - get out there and get your foot in the door!