A little background, I've been riding/racing "seriously" now for
around 4 years.  In that time, I've moved through the ranks (both road
and cross country (XC))... I'm now a competitive regional Expert Class
XC and Category 3 road racer.  I do have a pseudo sponsorship through
a shop in Houston, TX....  I've been giving them my business since
1998.  They provide equip at cost and pay my XC race entry fees.  In
exchange, I wear their kit at the races.  The deal is, that I've
recently moved to Dallas and can't easily drop in to pick up some
lube, tubes, etc... So, I'm forced to use a local bike shop (LBS) here
in D-town.  In addition, they don't carry the line of bikes that I
would be most interested in riding/racing.  So, I'm in the market for
a new sponsor... hopefully, looking to represent a frame manufacturer
at the regional level (Titus and Seven are good examples).... I notice
there just aren't many (if any) on the Texas XC scene.  Most everyone
is affiliated with a club or LBS.

What approaches might I use in obtaining sponsorship?  Does a letter
and race resume with pics cut it?  How about timing, when should I
initially contact them (I imagine they budget for this sort of thing
and assume it would correspond to the fiscal year)?  Can I expect the
initial answer to be the final one or might persistence pay off?  If I
were fortunate enough to hook up with a company such as Titus what
type of discount could I expect on their product?  Is there any other
advice you might provide a guy who wants to race but still be able to
contribute to his daughter's college fund?