When I had the opportunity to invest mid-four figures in a sponsorship where I would be able to speak for ten minutes and have a booth for a couple of hours, I said yes!
Sponsorships can be risky investments. I know the event host side of sponsorships really well because I’ve hosted over 100 speakers on my stages with my events. Many of them have been sponsors.
This time I was the sponsor and this was the most expensive sponsorship I’ve invested in for the least amount of stage time.
I was a part of a 4-person panel and we each had ten minutes to speak, then at the end we could do a 1-minute free offer.
So why did I do it?
I mention these things so if you have the opportunity to do a similar sponsorship, you know what to look out for.
- It felt light and I followed my intuition.
- I know my marketing archetype and I know how to make my ROI.
- It asked to speak on more stages and this opportunity is in alignment with my dream client type.
- I was the exclusive marketing expert at the event
- There were only six sponsors for the entire event, the four on the panel, a registration sponsor and a keynote sponsor who made an offer on day #3.
- The event wasn’t a pitch fest.
- I wasn’t one of 70 sponsors.
- I was speaking on day #1 after lunch (I don’t want to be the first to speak at someone else’s event on the first day. By lunch on the first day, the audience is warmed up.)
- I really align with the event host and know she’s the real deal.
- I knew I would have fun and fun in business always creates more opportunities
If you are familiar with the marketing archetypes, let me lay this out for you.
The event host was a Conversational Truth Guide and her Charismatic and Compelling Creative were definitely a close second.
I was part of a panel and there were two Conversational Truth Guides and Two Conversational Guru Stars; I was one of the Conversational Truth Guides.
The panel was awesome. We were all highly supportive of each other and there was amazing synergy. I heard from many people that the panel was one of their favorite parts of the event.
THIS is a really important thing to note. Each person was definitely in alignment with their archetype and the energy I felt was that we all supported each other in their individual expertise. This is the energy of the event host too.
Here is the part of this experience when I freaked out a little:
During the offer.
You see, I went first. I had nothing to compare myself to. I just went with the energy and chose to totally trust myself.
But it was when the second person on the panel gave her offer (she’s a Conversational Guru Star), I freaked out for a wee second.
She had a great booth strategy that led a rush of people to her booth. So did the other Conversational Guru Star. The two Conversational Truth Guides had a different approach.
And THIS is when I realized that I will never give away an iPad or money or something like that a booth. I would rather have fewer leads, but people connecting with me for the right reasons, which is the value I can provide them not the cool gadget I’m giving away at my booth.
One thing with Truth Guides is it’s about trusting that the right people say yes for the right reasons in THEIR right time. It’s not about my agenda, my timeline, or my reasons.
It’s about holding a steady stand with the value I share with people and people can take it or leave it.
This stand goes beyond your archetype though. It comes from TRUSTING yourself. And TRUSTING that people will choose the best thing for themselves.
It also comes from believing in your own value.
If you don’t believe in your value, no sponsorship, speaking gig, lead strategy or marketing strategy matters. You can only “fake it til’ you make it” for so long.
Watch the video to see how I learned from my mini freak out then to see how it all worked out beautifully because I did two things really well:
1. I marketed myself in my archetype
2. I held firm in my energy of connecting with the right people for their right reasons.