Promote Your Websites Locally & Help Good Causes

Lately, I’ve been running in more races to stay in healthy, and I have completed 5k races, 4 mile runs, and a biathlon. I also run, walk, and bike frequently in Central Park. One thing that I’ve noticed is that half the people working out seem to be wearing high tech workout gear from Under Armor, Nike, Reebok…etc, and the other half are wearing shirts from previous races.

In New York, because most of the races I run in have thousands of participants, the race sponsors listed on the back of the shirts are big companies like Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and other large businesses. There aren’t as many local companies, but those that are local are very large.

Because I own a few city .com domain names, I am tapped into community events taking place in these cities, and there are many smaller races and walks that take place just about every month, many of which have a charitable cause the participants are supporting. These events generally have under 1,000 participants, but almost all of them offer commemorative t-shirts for participants.

If you are looking to promote your website – whether it’s local or national – sponsoring local runs or walks can be a great marketing opportunity for your company. Not only will it help promote your brand on race day, but people will wear these shirts after the race, too. Additionally, you may be able to take some sort of charitable deduction, but you’d have to confer with an accountant on that.

It seems that most events with anywhere from 100 – 1,000 participants charge between $100 – $500 for shirt sponsorships, and this looks like money well-spent. In fact, Lowell.com is sponsoring a Thanksgiving Day race in Lowell. I just wish I was able to be there to run!