Why YOU Might Want to Consider Becoming a Sponsor...

You know ...before I completely "unplug" from my little mini-series here spinning off of my recent GKIC InfoSUMMIT "experience", I wanted to put together a few paragraphs about why YOU might want to consider sponsoring an event, conference, trade association, newsletter or other such suitable-match event, program or speaking tour...

For one thing --- keep forefront in mind that event/conference sponsoring is still very much virgin territory.

I say that after fully acknowledging that – according to IEG (www.sponsorship.com), (...the international clearinghouse of all things sponsorship-related), meeting and event sponsorship is one of the hottest new categories in the sponsorship-world. While I have no doubt that this is true ... meetings/events are still a relatively untapped component of the sponsorship world.

That said, it's not very likely that you'll be running into a NASCAR-type wall of competing sponsors when you consider sponsoring a meeting, event or newsletter. (In fact, it's FAR more likely that you'll be the only sponsor of the targeted meeting or group!)

Reason being that most folks putting on meetings, events, association gatherings, teleseminars, sales retreats ...you name it... haven't even considered looking for sponsors. They're oblivious to the wonderful world of sponsorship!

Fortunately for you, their lack of sponsorship sophistication can easily be put to your great advantage...

Advantage #1 – they won't have any idea what to charge you. If you walked up to your average meeting planner and told them that you'd have an interest in sponsoring their group's event – they'd probably look at you as if you were speaking some sort of a foreign language! They'd probably stammer around a bit and then ask you what you thought a sponsorship of their event would be worth. So beat them to the punch – come up with your own price and put it right up front in your offer. Aim low. To them, every dime you give them is "found money" ... so anything you offer them is a bonus!

Advantage #2 – they won't have any idea what to GIVE you. Going hand-in-glove with the first advantage, most meeting planners have no idea what's expected of them in return for your investment. So tell them what you want. And be specific. The less difficult you make it for them to understand the "transaction", the easier it will be for them to agree.

I could go on ... but hopefully you get the idea? We spend so much of our time here at the "Brought to you By…" System discussing how you can sell sponsorships ... I wanted to make sure that I didn't overlook how downright reasonable it's going to be for the next few years to BUY sponsorships to the right meetings, events & publications out there that ideally target your market.

Good luck!

Where were the Sponsors?

Last week in my blog posting I wrote about how I just got back from speaking at the 2009 Glazer-Kennedy InfoSUMMIT in Atlanta. It was a great opportunity and I certainly had a blast.

And I was glad to see, while there, that the GKIC folks had sold sponsorships to the InfoSUMMIT – as well they should. It was a great opportunity, a "natural" ... and no doubt a handsome revenue stream for GKIC.

But what I thought was interesting was ... here I was, the only speaker on the entire 3-day program that was addressing the topic of sponsorship. And at one point during my presentation I gave a "shout out" to the conference's sponsors ... asking them to kindly stand up and take a bow. And you know ... not ONE representative from any of the event's sponsors was in the room. There must've been 500 people in that ballroom and not one of 'em was a sponsor.

I don't know – I find that odd.

Here they were – five companies that had, no doubt, invested a lot of money to sponsor this conference, and not one of them turned up to learn more about how to best take advantage of sponsorship. (Even if just for curiosity-sake, I think I would've been there...)

Which is a "lesson" for any of our "BtyB.." blog readers that sponsor events. If you're going to do it ... do it! Don’t just write a check. To get the maximum return on your investment, roll up your sleeves and get involved. Participate, attend, learn ... don't just hang out at your booth or up in your room returning e-mails. (I would've understood if all the sponsors were networking out in their booths during my presentation; however, the Trade Show was closed ... so I truly have no idea where they were.)

We see this happen annually at our late-January/early-February conference, the National Sports Forum, (http://www.sports-forum.com/). Not with sponsors usually --- but with our trade show exhibitors. Here they pay all this money to be there and have a space at our show --- yet during the hours when the trade show is closed and all of our attendees are in breakout sessions --- instead of picking out a session to sit in on in order to learn about their client's problems (..problems by the way where they, the vendors, might have solutions for..), they're instead sitting in their booths reading USA Today or perched in a lounge chair returning e-mails or phone messages.

I just don't get it. We've had exhibitors over the years that attended our NSF breakouts literally thank us for allowing them access to the agenda programs. They said that sitting in and listening to their clients & prospects discuss their businesses (..and their problems/needs) was like, "…shooting fish in a barrel!".

So the lesson is: If you’re going to go to all of the trouble to be there ... be there!