Three Steps to Beat the Trend

So the economy has made the traction on the field a bit tougher. True enough.

But the wheels of business have got to continue to turn. It's not like companies out there can just "sit this recession out", right? Wish that that were true, eh? But honestly, who can afford to roll up into a ball and hide away until the economic skies become sunny again? Not many. (Hmmm… not any?)

(Remember the old saw: "The tough get going when the going gets tough?" – well here it is, folks.)

As I mentioned in my last blog – one of the top take-always from our interviews with fifty of the top corporate sponsor and advertisers in America is that 75% of 'em are planning on spending AS MUCH … or MORE … on their sponsorships in the coming year. So it's out there.

Now -- how do YOU get yourself noticed and move up in the line? Well… here are three ideas, three strategies that you can (and should) be thinking about as you start to think about bringing sponsors into your world.

1) You've GOT to be able to quickly and clearly explain and demonstrate to your potential sponsor how YOUR EVENT, your GROUP, your PUBLICATION, your BUSINESS are able to help your potential sponsor grow THEIR business.

2) Don't sell "exposure" – sell results. The three letters we heard time-after-time this year (in doing the Nifty 50 one-on-one interviews) are the letters "R-O-I" – which stands for Return on Investment. Your mission is to be able to clearly explain how if they give you "x" (as your sponsor), you'll be able to return them "2x" …. Or better yet … "4x"!

3) Can you GURARANATEE results? I know that sounds improbable, but you know… in some cases you can. In certain cases it's possible that (… in return for their sponsorship), you can offer up (or direct to your potential sponsor…) sufficient enough business to off-set their sponsorship investment with you.

For instance, let's say, as part of your business, you put on a meeting (or meetings). Well, this meeting (or meetings) has got be put on somewhere, right? A hotel meeting room perhaps?

Okay – there's a start. Will there be any sleeping rooms blocked as a result of your meeting? (Members, students, attendees flying in staying over for the meeting…?) If so, you've now got some guaranteed business to offer up in return for a hotel's sponsorship.

(NOTE: It's fairly standard in the lodging industry that most hotels will "trade" you the cost of your meeting room in exchange for the income that property will get from selling room nights to your participants. Which is certainly fine, but could you do better? In today's economic environment, you'd be wise to shop your business around.

There are a lot of hotels out there – and the hotel/meeting industry has been slow to rebound from the economic downdraft. So if you've got a decent room night block to be able to offer up … find out who's hungry. When you put your bid out – let prospective hotels know right up front what you looking for not only complimentary meeting space but an event sponsorship (… or "hosting fee") of "$x".

I don't know – maybe 8 out of the 10 hotels you put the bid out to will turn their noses up at your offer. But two very well could be looking at floors of empty hotels over the dates of your event and would be willing to sit down and discuss this. (And all you need is ONE, right?!)

Now maybe you can't guarantee a complete return on their investment --- but can you certify that they'll at least get part of their sponsorship investment back … with the potential of tapping into an audience that gives them every reasonable expectation of being able to seize a profit from the incremental business that comes as a result of being a central part of your business?

Well – that's a start. And you know what … even being able to show your prospect that you can guarantee that they'll get at least a part of their investment back puts you ahead of the vast majority of the other folks soliciting their sponsorship business. (Fact is – even the organizations that have been selling sponsorship for YEARS get caught up in selling "exposure". Selling "touches" --- when they should be selling "dollars".

So sell "dollars" – it's a language just about EVERY business out there understands!