Sean Benesh

08/20/2026

Want more registrations for your bike race?
Maybe the answer isn’t asking people to register more often.

Show them the course. Tell the stories. Introduce them to the community. Capture the experience. Give them a reason to wish they were already there.

Build the audience first.
Then ask for the registration.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/3SczbwN

08/19/2026

Hopping on a plane tomorrow to head back to Village Gravel in Flagstaff for another year.

It’s easily one of my all-time favorite races to shoot. There’s something absolutely spectacular about circumnavigating the San Francisco Peaks on gravel roads, camera in hand.

Can’t wait to get back out there.

08/18/2026

Race directors, I have a question for you.

How much money are you spending on advertising your race?

Facebook and Instagram ads. Google Ads. Sponsored posts. Cycling media. Maybe a boosted post here and there when registration numbers need a little help.

Now for the harder question: Is it actually driving registrations?

I’m not anti-advertising. Paid ads can certainly have a place in a race marketing strategy.

But I’d rather play the long game.

Learn how race directors can use year-round content marketing to build visibility, create demand, grow an audience, and ultimately drive more race registrations.

08/17/2026

Race directors: ads or no ads?

I’m curious how paid advertising fits into your race marketing strategy.

Are you running ads on Facebook or Instagram? Google? Cycling-specific websites or newsletters? Somewhere else?

And the bigger question ... do you feel like you’re actually seeing a return?

08/14/2026

One of the biggest misconceptions about tourism marketing is that creating better social media content requires a bigger budget.

More cameras. More software. More staff. More equipment. All of the goods.

For small towns and rural tourism organizations, that can make content creation feel out of reach before it even begins. Also, we assume we need all of that to stand out online.

But there's good news. Some of the most useful tools for building visibility today are relatively inexpensive.

Read article: https://bit.ly/3TH6Vmq

08/13/2026

LOAM has taken a few different forms over the years.

It started with coffee.

Then, as my own work and interests continued to evolve, LOAM Coffee eventually became LOAM Cycling Journal. The idea was to create a place for stories about cycling, adventure, people, places, and the culture surrounding riding bikes.

And now it is time for another change.

I am folding LOAM into my personal brand and bringing everything together under my own name.

In fact, if you follow LOAM on social media, you may have already noticed the change. Those accounts have now been renamed and transitioned over to my personal brand.

This article is the final piece.

LOAM has taken a few different forms over the years. It started with coffee. Then, as my own work and interests continued to evolve, LOAM Coffee eventually became LOAM Cycling Journal. The idea was to create a place for stories about cycling, adventure, people, places, and the culture surrounding

08/13/2026

Rural communities need a social media plan.

But “plan” doesn’t have to mean a 40-page strategy document, a marketing department, expensive cameras, or a giant content budget.

It can be much simpler than that. Start by answering a few basic questions:

▪️Who are we trying to reach?
▪️What do we want people to know about our community?
▪️What stories can we tell consistently?
▪️Who is responsible for capturing and posting content?
▪️How often can we realistically show up?

That’s a social media plan.

From there, build a system you can actually maintain. Maybe that means three posts a week instead of seven. Maybe your smartphone is your primary camera. Maybe you spend one afternoon scheduling content for the week instead of scrambling every morning wondering what to post.

08/12/2026

What if your small town has basically no budget for content creation?

Start anyway.

Seriously.

Use the smartphone already in your pocket.

Walk downtown. Visit a local business. Head out to a trail. Show what’s happening at an event. Talk to the people who make your community interesting.

You don’t need a $3,000 camera, a production crew, or a stack of expensive software to start telling those stories.

In fact, I think learning to create with what you have can make you a better storyteller.

08/11/2026

One of the biggest misconceptions about tourism marketing is that better social media content requires a bigger budget.

More cameras. More software. More staff. More gear.

For small towns and rural tourism organizations, that can make content creation feel out of reach.

The good news? Some of the best creator tools are inexpensive, free, or already in your pocket.

In my latest article, I share the tools I use and recommend for creating, managing, and sharing content.

Discover low-cost social media and content creation tools rural tourism leaders can use to create better content, manage social media, and build visibility.

08/10/2026

One of the questions I hear from race directors is, “What do I post after my race is over?”

My answer?

▪️Tell the stories you did not have room to tell during race week.
▪️Write about the person who designed the course.
▪️Introduce the volunteers behind the aid stations.
▪️Explain the history of the roads and trails riders traveled.
▪️Highlight the town, local businesses, landscape, and culture surrounding the event.
▪️Answer the questions future participants will ask about training, equipment, travel, lodging, and choosing a distance.

These stories can become articles on your website. Those articles can then fuel Reels, carousels, newsletters, Stories, and social posts throughout the year.

You don’t have a shortage of post-race content.

Start building a library of stories and resources that gives your social media content between now and your next race.