Three Shifts in Sponsorships
Good news: Corporate America is spending billions
of dollars for event-based marketing. Sponsorships are
booming, with spending topping $10 Billion for 2004.
Bad news: not every expert will be invited to participate.
Below are three key strategic changes in the sponsorship game.
Go beyond event-based
sponsorships
Sponsorship opportunities are
polarizing into two camps: the smaller arrangements
where a sponsor will pay for a speaker fee or buy books
for conference attendees and the more broad alliances,
such as spokesperson, with bigger budgets. When experts
market their expertise by outlet (giving speeches, selling
books), they attract the lower-end buyers and never
reach those who are interested in more strategic partnerships.
Key strategy: Use both approaches to market
your expertise -- a "grassroots" program for
sponsorship speaking and book distributions and a media-based
campaign to attract broader alliances.
Transcend
your content
Another change experts make is how they establish their
credibility. Sponsors look for a different balance between
riveting tactical information and a strategic point
of view with a unique style. Basing your brand on "how
to" information might be good for large contract
training arrangements and licensing deals, but sponsors
look for unique "take" on broad topics such
as small business, future trends and leadership.
Key strategy: Keep the riveting content
but lead with an overall point of view that is a unique
alternative to the status quo. Couple that perspective
with a style that fits your natural strengths.
Personalize
your pitch
The days of sending brochures to sponsors has
long been over. To attract the bigger sponsorship projects,
personalization is everything. Speakers and authors
are the biggest culprits in missing this boat, mainly
because they believe that their message is enough of
a "fit" to prompt a meeting. Not in this competitive
market -- prospective partners need to see how joining
forces with you will provide SPECIFIC business solutions.
Key strategy: Forget about
how your message "fits" a prospective sponsor.
Instead, think of how your current media and marketing
efforts can help another organization generate awareness,
media and, yes, even leads for their solutions.
Excerpted from the upcoming teleclass series Become
Sponsor Savvy starting November 16th. Click
here for more details.
Finding Potential Sponsors
Looking for those broad strategic partnerships? Below
are three types of organizations that are open to such
alliances.
Aggressive and hungry
News Flash: Everyone goes to the market leaders first.
And there's a good reason -- they have big budgets.
But there's a difference between having the money and
willingness to risk it on you. Instead, go to the business
media and find the "up and comers" -- those
companies who are aggressive about growth. They are
more willing to look at new ideas for building awareness.
Key strategy:
show how your system has worked for others. If you haven't
done sponsorship deals before, show how someone else
did it and how well it worked.
New kids on the block
Same assumption as above, different application -- experts
seem to gravitate toward already established organizations
to solicit sponsorships. And so does everyone else. Instead,
go for the newly arrived -- awareness is more important
to them and, again, they are willing to try new things.
Key strategy: Show
how your current credibility in the marketplace can
benefit them.
Community-builders
Players in fragmented markets, such as small business
owners, sales, women, and minorities are a great place
to find sponsors. There's a lot of jockeying for top
position in these crowded communities. Market leaders
need ongoing exposure and are more open to partnering
in order to build momentum and media.
Key strategy: emphasize
your media coverage and momentum in these segments.
Show how joining forces with you can make them the "voice"
of the community.
Ready
for the next big thing?
A massive change is happening in the expertise business
-- it will make you millions or topple your business.
Sponsors have paid speakers' fees for years and...this
segment is undergoing some big changes. Which is why I
am scaling back on client work for the rest of this
year and making time to present a four-teleclass series
on getting high-fee sponsorship deals. Click
here for more details.
Isolation breeds
stagnation
Magic can happen when you get a bunch of big-thinking,
high-energy people together. And that's exactly what
occurred at Mark Victor Hansen's Mega Speaking Event
last weekend. I met people who are such big thinkers
-- and are willing to get the market intelligence needed
to make their plans a reality. Big lesson: Experts who
build their empires alone build too small and burn out
too quick. We all need each other to grow together.
What a roller coaster
ride...
This year has been. Many thanks to all of you who have
crossed my path -- at speaking engagements, over the
phone or online. As we pause to give thanks and celebrate
family, I am in awe of your brilliance, determination
and most of all, your heart. It is an honor to serve
such a wonderful group of folks. Have a wonderful holiday
season and here's to a great 2005!
Which comes first: getting
internal clarity around your personal brand or getting
market intelligence that will market the brand?
Too many experts believe it's an either/or scenario. Your
brand needs to be based on authenticity, and to be authentic
is to be clear. The key issue: what information do you
use to get that clarity?
Combined with internal work, using market intelligence
in the initial stages creates that clarity in two ways:
first, it can help you recognize your gifts -- gifts
that the marketplace values. Second, market intelligence
can give you context about your gifts -- the "why"
your gifts are important to the marketplace. And that
can give you confidence to move forward.
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