Ain't nothin' in business and life that doesn't work better with real, honest relationships. :)
------------------ *The #1 mistake in community building is doing it by yourself.* Join the list: http://coworkingweekly.com Listen to the podcast: http://dangerouslyawesome.com/podcast On Mon, May 11, 2015 at 1:55 PM, Alycia Benjamin-Peebles <[email protected]> wrote: > Thanks Alex! This info is so on point with what I gathered from the GCUC > conference I just attended in Berkeley. I never thought of putting the two > together "free snacks vs. sponsorship" and them having the same developing > relationship statics! > > > > *Alycia Benjamin-Peebles* > > *Office Manager | [email protected] <[email protected]> | 917-979-3749 > <917-979-3749>* > > On Mon, May 11, 2015 at 12:54 PM, Alex Hillman < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> I've experimented a LOT with in-kind and cash sponsorships of all kinds. >> Here's a handful of lessons from what's worked and what hasn't: >> >> - *in-kind (product or service) sponsorships are MUCH easier* to get >> than cash sponsorships, especially for smaller/local businesses. >> >> - *one-time sponsorships (for events, for example) are MUCH easier to >> get than ongoing, open ended sponsorships* to keep a vending machine or >> snack tray stocked. >> >> - sponsorship is a relationship, like any other it needs ongoing care and >> maintenance. *you want your sponsors to feel like they're getting 10x >> return on their contribution.* if you can't come up with a creative way >> to offer/keep that up, expect that sponsorship to be short-lived. >> >> - *discounted/wholesale prices* are MUCH easier than asking for things >> to be totally free. >> >> - assume any sponsor you approach is getting hit up often. *what makes >> you and your community uniquely valuable to them?* >> >> - provide them with an easy, obvious upside they can say "yes" to, but >> also *invite a sponsor to define their terms. *"we'd love to do XYZ and >> here's how it'd work for both of us, but if there's something that would be >> more valuable to you AND mutually beneficial to our community, let's talk!" >> >> - encourage active participation. rather than "hey, send us free stuff >> and we'll tweet about it", I've had the MOST success giving them a platform >> to meet our community and make a real connection. *Make our members love >> you even if you WEREN'T giving out stuff for free. *Come to our Show & >> Tell, but instead of a sales pitch, teach us something about your business. >> >> To look at this in another light - I've been asked to sponsor countless >> events and such, and 99% of the sponsorship pitches I get are absolutely >> horrible. Nobody ever opens with the upside for me, the business owner. >> It's always about them and what they need. >> >> So...it's really easy to stand out from the crowd by doing just a LITTLE >> bit of research about what the sponsor would want/care about in return for >> their contribution. :) >> >> -Alex >> >> >> >> On Saturday, May 9, 2015, Alycia Benjamin-Peebles < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> Hey has anyone been successful with getting local and mainstream vendors >>> to send free snacks to your coworking space? >>> >>> -- >>> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >>> --- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "Coworking" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to [email protected]. >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>> >> -- >> Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the >> Google Groups "Coworking" group. >> To unsubscribe from this topic, visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/topic/coworking/-WldSVkoqJw/unsubscribe. >> To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to >> [email protected]. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > > -- > Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- Visit this forum on the web at http://discuss.coworking.com --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
