Why Sponsors Sponsor

Now I know what you're thinking-because the response I usually get when I tell people about sponsorship is invariably: "Really? You mean there are companies out there that would pay me money to sponsor my event?"

And the answer is a loud and resounding YES!

And we're going to show you how. We're going to get into all kinds of things that will help you to attract corporate and retail underwriting for your group efforts. Whether you put on educational seminars... or publish an on-line newsletter to avid quilters-there's an excellent chance... once you know what you're doing, that there are businesses out there that would love to jump aboard as one of your sponsors. (And you know what-it's not NEARLY as hard as you might think it would be to get them either.) (In fact, if you do this right... there's an excellent chance they'll be coming to YOU!)

So let's start right off the bat here by looking at the first of THREE reasons....

WHY companies would want to sponsor your event, publication or property:

1. Because they need YOU just as badly as you need THEM. -Companies, corporations and retailers are no different than you in that they HAVE to get themselves "out there" if they want to have any hope of surviving in these tough economic and competitive times.

Think about it-if you want people to learn about your training seminars... hear about your newsletter... to learn about your association, you've got to get the word out there. You can't sit back and wait for the phone to ring-or just hope people will hear about you!

Well, companies, stores, restaurants and retailers are very much the same way. And most of these folks accomplish their "getting the word out there..." by advertising.

Combined, businesses spend literally billions (I mean billions!) of dollars each and every year buying advertising. All in the hopes that you'll stumble across their TV commercial, spot their quarter page newspaper ad, or run across their website. And almost ALL of that money is "un-trackable"-meaning that they have no way of knowing for sure if that $45,000 radio schedule they just ran generated any measurable business.

So why do they do it?

They do it because if they don't, they die. (I think it was the great promoter P.T. Barnum that put it best when he said: "A funny thing happens when you stop advertising. Nothing.")

But with so many people jockeying for advertising "exposure", this creates it's own set of unique problems. Such as...??

Well...we're going to get those in future posts because you need to know what your sponsors are "up against" as you start plotting your own sponsorship sales strategy.

But for now, I just wanted to welcome you to the "Wonderful...Wonderful...World of Sponsorship." I want to commend you for taking a long, hard look at injecting sponsorship into your property-because you're coming to the right place...at the right time.

In fact, let me leave you with this "nugget". It's estimated (...and I'll be getting into this in one of our upcoming issues), that in 2009, just here in the United States, companies, organizations, retailers and corporations will be spending $17-billion dollars on sponsoring properties, publications and programs.

Why not yours?