LOOKING FOR SPONSORSHIP?
By Carolyn Ballen, The Indie Music Forum
Whether you're in a band, organizing an event or fundraising for an organization, sponsors can offer you crucial financial and/or promotional support. This is the key: If you have people coming out to your shows or to your event, you're attracting people that someone might want to market and promote to. Music fans are a "market segment" that offer value to a wide range of companies. If a ton of people are coming out to your shows, there might be a company out there that would be willing to cover all touring expenses for a year, or the cost of CD replication or a new wardrobe or all of it...
All of this often depends on how good a salesperson you are, and how many calls you make. It's a numbers game and persistence pays off. The more people you call the more comfortable you get with your technique and the higher your chances are that someone will say, "YES."
Remember, sales is another entity all of its own, there are about a million books written about it, also books on tape, which I love and you can probably get at your local library. You can also search around on the internet. I found some good tips at the following Web sites:
http://www.tracyint.com/baxterbean/ta.htm
http://www.adja.org/salestip.html
One thing that can help you if you don't have a velvet tongue, is to let your materials do most of the talking. Create a sponsorship profile that is professional, explains the benefits that you can provide as well as providing important background information.
Creating Your Sponsorship Profile:
When your materials do a lot of the talking for your, it minimizes the time that you have to spend selling the event. Also remember that the printed page can be well structured and organized, whereas your oral presentation can fall short due to time limitations, nerves or a host of other factors.
Your Sponsorship Profile should include several sections outlining and describing your music or event. Your goal will be to give people a sense of what you're doing from a very broad perspective to a very narrow perspective, depending on how deeply they delve into your Profile, or quite literally, how many pages they turn.
You must start from the broadest prospective in case someone only reads the first page. At least they have a grand sense of the event. If you had only 5 seconds to make your pitch, the information would be very different than if you had a half an hour.
1) Title Page: The 5 Second Pitch
This should just include the bare basics about the event. Start with the title of your event as well as the materials you will be sending them. In the case of this article, you are creating an "Event/Band/Artist" & Sponsorship Profile.
My Title Page then lists my confirmed upcoming schedule (or the date and time of your proposed event), a table of contents (for very long profiles) and contact information.
Note: If things are unclear as you are reading them, they might be come clearer if you see an example in action. My contact information is at the end of this article if you are interested in seeing a copy of the Event & Sponsorship Profile that I use for The Indie Music Forum.
2) Event Overview: The 5 Minute Pitch
If someone has opened your Event & Sponsorship Profile and turned to the Event Overview page, they are in effect saying, "Okay, tell me a little more, what is this all about?"
Now that you've got their attention you want to give them a quick taste of what the event is, why you are doing it, and how it's great and unique!
Your first sentence should pretty much tell the whole story, and then you dive into more specifics from there. (E.g. "The Indie Music Forum is an educational seminar designed to provide musicians, managers or those starting new labels with a better understanding of the core elements crucial to handling the business side of music.") As you proceed, you want to support your first sentence by explaining how that broad goal is realized and ensured. Things that are unique to your event and what you hope to accomplish. Your profile should make people want to read more, hear more, or at least consent to speak at another time.
Your goal: Make readers want to turn the page and see what's next…
3) The Benefits of Sponsorship: VERY IMPORTANT
What's in it for them! Keep in mind that this is one of the most important parts of the proposal. Think about all the ways that you can provide value to a potential sponsor. I recommend putting down everything that you can think of and then asking around and thinking about it some more. Make notes on scrap paper if you think of them while you're out. You really want to make this section as beefy as possible. You know how your event or gig runs and what aspects that would service a sponsor with the most promotional band. Emphasize and explain these things as well as you can.
Possible Benefits of Sponsorship could include:
- Personal Endorsement from a Loyal Customer
(Meaning you would spread the good word with conviction!)
- Large and Loyal Following
- Hand out brochures on Merch table at shows.
- Stage Mentions & Testimonials
- Logo on Printed Materials (Flyers, Posters)
Your goal: Make people say, "Hmmm, there are so many aspects of promotion here, I think that this would really expand our brand awareness and expose us to the people that we're looking to get our message out to."
4) Sponsorship Opportunities:
This section would include all the individual sponsorship options that you have. I recommend making several to fit every budget. My sponsorship options start at $100 for Literature Distribution and go up to $10,000 for the Presenting Sponsorship. I also include, Badge Sponsorship and T-shirt Sponsorship among others. If you get creative you can include options for budgets of all shapes and sizes.
Remember, nothing is too much if you can convince someone of it. That's why exploring all the benefits that you can offer is so important, it makes the sale easier when you come to the table with a lot to offer.
Make sure that you list the benefits that will apply to each sponsorship level and option. Of course, the larger sponsorship would have the most benefits. (Eg. Logo on Brochure, Logo & Link on Web site, On-stage mention, Company mention in any Press Releases) Again, think long and hard about where you can provide benefit and make sure to list everything! Also, don't be shy about adding things as you think of them. Your Sponsorship Profile should be a constant work in progress.
Format Example:
Sponsorship Option: Price
Includes:
1) List Benefit
2) List Benefit
3) List Benefit
All sponsorships are a give and take. In the case of a cash sponsorship, you are getting compensated monetarily for the promotional benefits that you are providing. Hence, a sponsorship cost with a list a benefits below. That's what I've been describing above.
However, there are also sponsorships, where you might be compensated through further event promotion services rather than cash. This is called a Cross Promotion.
Cross Promotional Sponsorships or Media Sponsorships:
There are some companies that will be able to provide you with value other than cash. This could be the case for print sponsorships, radio sponsorships or any company that has promotion value to offer.
All cross promotions are different. Each company will evaluate the benefits that the other has to offer and decide on a reasonable barter. To expedite this process, I recommend putting together a separate Event & Cross Promotion Profile. The only thing different from your Event & Sponsorship Profile will be SECTION 4, where you had alternately listed cash values to different sponsorship levels.
The first thing you should do is cut and paste all of the unique benefits that you had listed in your Sponsorship Profile. After you have one long list, you'll want to separate your benefits into categories. For a small cross promotion, you won't want to offer one of your strongest benefits. I have mine broken down into three simple categories; Basic Cross Promotion, Bigger Cross Promotion and Biggest Cross Promotion.
Format Example:
Basic Cross Promotion
Indie Music Forum Offers:
1) List Benefit
2) List Benefit
3) List Benefit
The Indie Music Forum is looking for in return:
1) List Benefit
2) List Benefit
3) List Benefit
While the exact specifics of your final cross promotion my not be exactly what you have listed, it will be a good jumping off point for negotiations. It will give an interested person a good idea of all the benefits that you have to offer as well as the benefits that you are looking to get. Keep your eyes open, there might be a cross promotion opportunity that you haven't thought of. Join their mailing list and see what they're sending out. It will be up to you to decide what benefits you are willing to provide according the cross promotion opportunities the other company has to offer.
Note: In addition to an example of my Event & Sponsorship Profile, please feel free to contact me for a copy of my Event & Cross Promotion Profile.
5) Event Background:
This is where you can give some background about yourself, your band or your organization. This is where you can put information about your past achievements and accomplishments. It's very similar to a bio, in fact, I use mine interchangeably.
6) Press Clippings (If Available)
Be sure that you these neatly and make sure that they are legible. When using an internet article, you'll be able to cut and paste quite nicely into your desired format. It's important for this section to give an accurate portrayal of your event. If you don't have press, you could do a detailed event summary (which is what I used before I had press to include).
7) Past Speakers/Past Achievements
8) Press or other event description.
TIP: Include Testimonials if you have them, they lend a strong sense of credibility to the event.
Who to call:
My suggestion for people to call: Products or services that you use and like! It can be music related, but it doesn't have to be. Just a company that you will be proud to call your sponsor and that you could genuinely endorse and say good things about. You use so many products and services, you probably don't even think about them, but you'll have plenty of people to contact, even if you're only going after companies that it will be easy to support.
Alcohol companies often sponsor artists. What's your favorite drink? Go after them. If you're drinking their product during or after the show and talking about it on stage, that's important promotion for your potential sponsor.
Is there a Web site that you use and love, and can direct people to?
Do you wear a certain brand of clothing all the time? Shoes? Smokes? Bag? It could be anything.
Is there a local restaurant or pizza joint in your neighborhood that you could meet up with some of the fans at after the show? Get a lot of paying customers into a place and they'll love you!
What about the gear and equipment that you use and love? These companies test to go after more of a musician market, but you never know. Might be worth contacting them.
Get creative. Start examining the things that you gladly spend money on and consider contacting those companies.
Writing tips:
Writing is difficult, but, remember this, editing is the key!!!! Sit down to write, you know all there is to know about the event/band that you are trying to pitch, just start writing down some of the key elements. It doesn't matter what it sounds like, you'll never show it to a living soul, but you will be getting your thoughts on paper. You can organize and improve later, for now, just be happy with the fact that you've gotten something started. Then, the hard part will be over. After you've gotten as many ideas down as you can, go back over it add it thoughts and ideas that you might have left out. Okay, then put it away. Don't look at it again for at least a couple hours, even a day. When you go back over it, you'll start making corrections and getting things better laid out and more organized. You might even thing of some more ideas and subject matter that you can include. Remember, you're still at a very rough version of your final product, but notice the improvement over what you had before…you're on your way…keep doing this until you have something that you would be willing to show to someone else. At this point you might want to consider asking for editorial help if you think it needs it.
Presentation:
People will judge you based on how professional your materials look and the time and care that went into creating them.
Make them look as great as it possibly can! There are definitely ways that you can do this inexpensively. Unless you are or have access to a professional designer, simpler is generally better. Pick one font and one font size to use throughout your proposal. It's important that the document not look cluttered or busy. You don't want to distract the reader from the content. If possible, I recommend getting pre-printed letterhead. You can use it for absolutely everything you do. (Proposals, Press Releases, Letters, Mailing List, Thank You Cards) You're materials will stay consistent and your contact information will automatically be on everything.
Sending out Kits of Information:
If you know the person:
1. Send E-mail telling them packet is one the way.
2. Write Cover Letter saying when you will follow up.
3. Send Package
4. Record that Package was sent
5. Mark a follow-up Date
If you don't know the person, but have a proper contact name:
1. Send an E-mail or phone asking if you can send a packet.
2. Upon Confirmation:
3. Write Cover Letter saying when you will follow up.
4. Send Package
5. Record that Package was sent
6. Mark a follow-up Date
If you don't have the name of who you should send your package to:
1. Send an E-mail, or call and ask, "Who would I speak to about sending [my CD for review] [a sponsorship proposal]?"
2. Send an E-mail or phone asking if you can send a packet.
3. Upon Confirmation:
4. Write Cover Letter saying when you will follow up.
5. Send Package
6. Record that Package was sent
7. Mark a follow-up Date
8. Make sure that you find out specifically, who you should send the proposal to. Very often, you will send it to someone who says they will forward it. Call to confirm receipt and that they are still going to hand it off. You could also offer to send a second copy if they'd like to keep a copy for themselves.
Cover Letter:
A cover letter is an important part of your package. It's should be short and to the point, giving the reader a quick summation of what they have in their hands and what you want from them. It's also important that this piece be somewhat personalized, try to reference you phone conversation or email in some way. You can also indicate when you will follow up.
Organizational Hint: It you use Microsoft Outlook, you should consider using the "Tasks" function to help you keep track of your follow up as well as other things you have to do. I've found it to be a great help.
Email:
Some people would rather have you email them information than getting a hard copy in the mail. If you've used special fonts that might not be universal to everyone's computer, I suggest that you create duplicate profiles. One for printing, and one for emailing.
Follow up!!
Make sure that you follow up a few days after they've received the materials. Ask them if this is a good time for them to talk or whether they need a little more time to review the materials. If they need more time, ask them if a few days would be enough or whether you should call back next week. Never rush someone if they haven't had a chance to look your proposal over, but continue to check back periodically.
Remember:
ALWAYS BE NICE!!!!! PEOPLE GENERALLY RESPOND WELL TO KINDNESS.
Note: Some people are just jerks. Don't let them spoil your day, just forget about it and more forward. Sometimes I wish that I could follow my own advice in this department.
Examples:
If you'd like to see an example in action, I can fax or email you my sponsorship materials. Please send a request to cb@IndieMusicForum.com.
You can also take a look at some examples of someone elses sponsor materials at http://joerecords.com/resources.htm.
I hope you've found this information to be helpful. All the very best!
REPRINT PERMISSION
© 2001, Carolyn Ballen, Indie Music Forum, LLC, Reprint permission granted in part or whole when the following credit appears: "Reprinted with permission from Carolyn Ballen's Indie Music Forum Articles. To join the mailing list, please send an email to cb@IndieMusicForum.com with your contact information, visit http://www.IndieMusicForum.com/contact.shtml or call 215-627-1308"
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