June 7, 2011
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Denise Gosnell
A large part of my business involves attracting sponsors and strategic partners that share my desire to help small business owners grow and thrive.
As businesses of all type come to grips with that fact that lead generation has become a game of being found, these types of arrangements have increasing appeal and blend nicely with the “all-businesses-are information-publishers” model that has evolved online.
Sponsored content and partnership opportunities may have once been the territory for publishers alone, but today almost any business can, and should, aggressively seek ways to spread their content and create awareness for their products and services through a network of strategic partners and logical content sponsors.
Below are a handful of tried-and-true practices that can help you attract partners and sponsors that can help you build your business.
Give them what they want
This sounds so obvious one might wonder why I even bother including it; but it actually requires a change in mindest for many.
Few things make you more attractive to a sponsor or partner than your ability to bring them what they want. That can be more leads, more exposure or even the ability to lend the trust you’ve built in a market. When you start to think this way, you’ll be better prepared to craft creative proposals with your potential partner’s needs in mind.
Give them a plan
One of the things that derails potential partnerships is that while both parties may agree they should be working together, neither puts a workable idea on the table.
If you create a compelling way to get your partner content exposure, page views, Facebook Likes or an audience, you’ll move to the front of the partner line and you’ll soon find increased opportunities to get what you want.
Give them content
Every business knows they should be offering their network more content–it’s the oxygen required to build momentum, but who’s got time?
If you show up and offer your partners your kick-butt e-book or online seminar, and encourage them to co-brand it and share it with their prospects and clients ,you're creating a tool that gets them what they need and rewards you with the exposure you crave.
Give them exposure
Offer to shoot a video interview or record a podcast with executives as part of your sponsorship or partnership.
By creating exposure opportunities on the front-end of your relationship-building efforts, you stand a far greater chance of opening doors and gaining access than you would by simply trying to strike up a deal.
Give them variety
A blend of all of the points above also creates more opportunities for creative solutions.
Think about creating all forms of content–video series, e-mail courses, e-books, printed reports, survey data, audios and transcripts–so you can give your sponsors a buffet of content to meet their needs and preferred method of distribution.
Attracting revenue-generating opportunities using this sponsorship model is something that any business can add to the stream while creating elevated awareness and credibility in the market.
Check your balance, review recent transactions and pay your bill on the go.
Denise Gosnell 9 months ago
Hi John,This is great info on working with sponsors and creating win-win solutions.A lot of people don't realize that even large companies are starving for great, fresh content to deliver to their audiences. And if we can step up and offer that content and make their lives easier, while simultaneously help them provide great content to their viewers, then it's truly a win-win-win.Cheers,Denise Gosnellhttp://www.businessthrival.comonly for entrepreneurs who want a thriving business and life