Part of the process of progression and going beyond just skating for fun involves getting your skateboarding and your name out there into the wider world, and there are two main ways of doing this.

From Sidewalk Basics – Autumn 2013

Magazine Coverage

Every single famous sponsored skateboarder that you can think of has worked with national and international skateboard magazines throughout their career.

Most skaters who go onto be globally famous first appeared in the magazines local to them, before moving onto international coverage in US magazines.

This is the number-one way to progress as a known skateboarder; it always has been and it always will be so learn how to network.

Meeting up with and becoming friends with magazine photographers and filmers will open up opportunities for you to go further within skateboarding so if you arrange to be somewhere make sure you turn up on time. Magazines work on deadlines so no matter how good you are, if you’re unreliable and impossible to deal with then you won’t get that break you’re lusting after.

Filming

Along with magazine coverage, filming is the best way to get your name out there.

Start off locally, maybe filming clips for your local shop’s video or website and work from there. Attending contests is a good way to make this happen for yourself whether you have the contacts or not, because if you’re there, and you’re going off, people will film and shoot photos of you, no matter who you are.

If you’re lucky enough to get sponsored then you will be expected to film skate footage regularly for your sponsors to use in video releases and on the Internet so try to create connections with talented filmers and editors and keep working at it. Most magazines produce regular video content as well so attend as many events as you can and get to know those people who can help you get footage out there into the wider world.

One other thing that is super important to remember however is that making clips for Facebook and getting ‘likes’ is not the same thing as getting coverage.

It’s fine to work on self-promotion through Social Media but if you rely entirely on that then you’re unlikely to get anywhere. Make contacts, travel and network with those people whose job it is to produce internationally seen video content – don’t just blow your own trumpet.