On Saturday, August 4, 2018 I ventured to Arlington, VA to attend the Sponsorship Sales Secrets Workshop by Lori A. Manns (Quality Media Consultant Group). The workshop was well attended by entrepreneurs and solopreneurs (including my friends, Cherrie Woods, Founder - Eclectic PR, Wendy Coakley-Thompson, Publisher - Duho Books and Deborah Franklin - Conversations with Deborah Franklin)interested in learning how to get sponsors for their books, businesses, and brands.
Lori packed a lot of knowledge in this 4-hour workshop and to tell you the truth this could have been an all day event. While I had some idea of what it meant to get sponsors, my knowledge didn’t come full circle until Lori defined what sponsorship was, the various types of sponsorships available, the challenges of seeking out the appropriate sponsors for your business, and having the right mindset when you make sponsorship connections.
Sponsorship is providing support of an event, activity, person or an organization through funds or provision of products or services. Lori discussed three kinds of sponsorships: 1) corporate sponsorship – promoting the company’s message, 2) marketing sponsorship – promoting a product or service and, 3) cause related sponsorship – promoting the community. She gave great examples so that the audience was clear about how sponsors worked in these three areas.
What I also found interesting were the obstacles that Lori pointed out in securing sponsors for our businesses. They are:
1. FEAR
– False Evidence Appearing Real (Lori’s definition).
2. Rejection
– We shouldn’t take it personally when it happens.
3. Sleazy
– We may think it’s sleazy to ask for sponsorship for our businesses but there’s
nothing sleazy about asking for help.
4. Feeling
Uncomfortable – There’s nothing wrong in feeling uncomfortable when asking for sponsorship
as long as we are authentic when asking.
5. Don’t
be Aggressive – You need to nudge not push when asking for sponsors.
In addition, Lori had two guest speakers to further
drive the message home about sponsorship. The speakers were Penny Miles, Founder
and President of Intervox Communications and Janice Mathis, Executive Director
of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW). Both speakers shared their
experiences about how they secured sponsors for their businesses and clients
and gave us tips on how to score big with sponsors. Great stuff!
Overall, this was a fantastic afternoon that was well
spent learning about the world of sponsorship. Lori did an awesome job!
At the end of the workshop some of us gave video testimonials and here’s
mine:https://www.sponsorshipsalessecrets.com/
www.facebook.com/QualityMediaConsultantGroup
Here are some photos from the workshop:
Hi Dee Lawrence! It was great to have you at the event. Thanks for this awesome blog post! Lori
ReplyDeleteHi Lori! You're very welcome. Wishing you continued success!
ReplyDelete