EP135 Sponsoring Events

Sponsoring an event gets you the exposure you need. However, the question is – how can you sponsor in the most practical manner possible? Today, Ken Courtright gives some easy tips on sponsoring events and compares it to writing a book that gives you the authority on your trade or skill. Know the common questions people would ask you when opting to be a sponsor.

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Sponsoring Events

This is the show whereas I live my life, I listen and look for people that are responding to either a message, teaching or coaching to the point where they’re so moved, they take out a notebook, jot notes down or say statements like, “If I could have known that years ago. I can’t wait to teach my management team.” It doesn’t have to be me teaching the concept, it could be anybody teaching the concept. When I notice somebody is physically moved to the point of pulling out a notebook and write down the nugget that moved them, I throw them into a show called Today’s Growth: Growing Business Today.

This is episode 135 and the title of this is Sponsoring Events. I’m in the middle of a ten-part series of ten profound nuggets, ten quick-hitting nuggets that anybody can do, any company, any size, any budget. They can do them and expect profound results. I remembered years ago, I was sitting in a conference and there was a gentleman with a business. He had about a $20-million business and somebody in the room said, “How did you start?” He said, “I started with a $50 sponsorship at a local little bitty business conference, maybe like a chamber of commerce. I put $50 in and they gave me a leaflet in their monthly magazine. I got to bring a banner that I had made locally in the event. I was able to talk them into letting me speak for five minutes to the whole group of attendees at the event. I picked up a good amount of business and I learned right there that sponsoring events put me dead center into the exact audience that I’m looking to speak with.”

We sponsor a lot of events and here’s the key. When you sponsor an event, it doesn’t matter the size. It’s almost like writing a book. You are immediately elevated to a position of authority. You’re definitely elevated to a position of credibility because the people in attendance realize they would not have allowed this sponsor in if they weren’t somebody. They don’t just take people off the streets to sponsor things. You have to have some type of track record. If you’re going to sponsor an event, you’re going to be vetted. They’re going to check to see, are you in business? Do you have a decent product? If you’re small, if you’re a one-person shop, I would set a goal in the next 60 days to sponsor something and it’s going to go like this. They’re going to say, “Do you want this, this or this?” You’re going to be like, “What do you mean?” “Do you want just a quarter-page ad in the actual program for $50? Do you want to have a booth that might be $600? Do you want the VIP booth and then you get to speak to the audience for twenty minutes?” They’re going to have all these different levels.

I don’t care if you go to the McCormick place or Las Vegas, every major event has a media kit looking for sponsors of all different levels. You want to look closely at what they offer and you want to go for the one that best fits your budget, but that also gets you in close proximity to a large group of your potential customers. The key to sponsoring is you pick the package that puts for the least amount of money in front of the most amount of eyeballs. This episode is all about sponsoring. I hope this helps. Take care.

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