Categories
Great Marketing

Getting Sponsors for Podcamp, Barcamp, or Any Other Event

I had a question come in this week about event sponsorship. There are a lot of grassroots events out there and that in the current economy you might think it would be difficult to find sponsors but it’s actually easier than ever.

As far as what sponsors are looking for, it’s very simple, the majority of them just want to sell more stuff. Companies that are Marketing savvy may be satisfied with access to the audience (meaning, an attendee list with good emails and maybe snail mail).

The criteria for choosing your possible sponsor targets:

  1. Your attendees are their number 1 prospects, when they advertise, the put ads in locations where your attendees read or spend time.
  2. They have a active marketing organization with budget. There are 3 possible types, forward thinking ones that are already in social media (these are your number 1 prospects, because you don’t have to educate them as to the value of an event like this), ones that are doing advertising (they have budget and will be interested in an event like this that will be more effective and trackable than ads in magazines, radio, whatever), and third are companies that don’t actively market (and are a waste of your time).
  3. You have access to them – this can be challenging. It’s not enough just to email somebody or call the front desk, you need access to an upper level decision maker. Front line and most middle management aren’t looking for more work to do, so they will probably ignore you (like the folks at M-Audio who had no interest in Podcamp 1, and missed the bus). Forward thinking middle managers and top level guys are the ones who will see the value in sponsoring an event like this that will have greater return than whatever other forms of ads they are using.

Forward thinking marketers may be feeling budget pressure so many of them are more willing to consider alternatives like social media than ever before (more impact at less cost? yes, now is the time that these words will make people listen).

Once you have a list of prospects you have to get in front of the decision makers, this is where you want to leverage linkedin and the rest of your network so that you get a reference and a personal introduction. The hard work is getting to the right people, once you are in front of them it’s an easy sell: “What if I could connect you with X of your most loyal customers, who are active in the online community and will blog, podcast, and spread your message on Facebook for less than the price of a single month ad in X magazine?”

So the big question to get started is: “Where do your attendees spend their money?”

Categories
Email Marketing Lead Generation Productivity Booster

Manticore and GoToWebinar

I had a Marketing Over Coffee listener ask me about using Manticore (Email, web analytic, demand generation) with GoToWebinar (Online meetings). I thought that this was too much “Inside Baseball” even for MOC, but it fits here.

Do you typically send out your webinar invitations as part of a Manticore Demand Booster Process? It gets sort of tricky because once someone uses the invitation to register for the webinar, then GTW sends them back a personalized URL for accessing the webinar.  As you know, GTW does a great job of managing registrations.  Post-webinar, it can also provide a list of attendees and a separate list of registered no-shows.

It seems that the easiest thing would be to wait until the webinar takes place, then start the demand booster process at that point using the lists of attendees and no-shows.

This is an interesting problem. I thing the big issue is that GoToWebinar doesn’t have an API (at least at my last check with their tech support). You could build all the same stuff (registration, follow up email) on your own site through Manticore and manage it all there.   That still wouldn’t solve the problem though, just change the direction of data you have to load – instead of pulling the reg list out of G2W, you’d be uploading the projected attendees into G2W, and since there’s no easy way to do that unless you want to start scripting something that goes through HTTP, and that makes my brain hurt.

I do send the invites out via Manticore, you can grab the HTML and load it right up. And a tip – if you include the “Register Now” button the tracking of opens will work over in the GoToWebinar reporting.

I don’t do webinars as part of any demand booster tracks, I don’t like anything to be in a track that is locked to a specific date, that really increases the labor required to reuse the track.

Hopefully by putting this out there, somebody will have a better idea…

Categories
Daily Life

10 Things I Love

Jason Calacanis has an email list that he’s gone to as an alternative to blogging. (Jason’s Email list signup)

His latest had a list of 10 things he loves, and he asked for people to reply with theirs. Since I went to the trouble of doing my list I thought it would be good to share it with you. Feel free to share your favorites in the comments, or on your own blog and Trackback so I can check it out.

ps – I’d really like to hear from road warriors like Chip Griffin, who I have been meaning to email for weeks.
1. Chargepod
–> What it is: Charge 6 mobile devices at once
–> How it works: small hub, and connects to outlet or car power
–> Why it’s important: replaces a huge ball of cable from my travel bag
–> More info: http://www.callpod.com/products/chargepod

2. Johnnie Walker Blue
–> What it is: The Tesla of Scotch – smooth and efficient
–> How it works: You drink it
–> Why it’s important: it makes the pain go away
–> More info: Any better liquor store

3. Sony PSP
–> What it is: Best handheld gaming system
–> Why it’s important: Also great for watching movies

4. Skooba Laptop Bag
–> What it is: The lightest “real bag” you can get
–> Why it’s important: Every ounce counts when you are carrying it yourself
–> More info: http://www.skoobadesign.com/product/skooba-satchel-28/

5. Land’s End Cotton/Cashmere blend sweater
–> What it is: As soft as cashmere but cheaper and more durable
–> How it works: Chicks dig it
–> Why it’s important: Because wool is uncomfortable
–> More info: Now that winter is gone you can get them for $10 off ($39), but all the good colors are gone (Navy or black for me)

the rest of my 10, none of which are any big news:

Xbox 360
Apple TV
Sony Bravia
Platinum AMEX so I can use the clean bathroom in the airport club
Podcasts – TWiT and This American Life

I’m a tweetdeck and pandora fan, and I’ll be ordering some Green Tea Kit Kat, Thanks for the tips!
John

Categories
Great Marketing

A Source of Inspiration

I have been very impressed with CVS Pharmacy‘s program that goes above and beyond.

Categories
Daily Life Geek Stuff Photos

Tennis Valentine

As a teenager I spent many hours on the tennis court, both playing and teaching. I played a bit in college where I finally burned out after a year, but I still play once in a while. Last month Carin was offered tickets to the Champions Cup here in Boston and we went to the tournament yesterday. Thanks to Staples for getting us some great seats, and setting me up for what will probably be my photo of the year:

And what will probably be on my desk by the end of this week:

Categories
Uncategorized

Take the Knol!!!!

Please visit, review, tag, and help contribute to this page!!!!

http://knol.google.com/k/john-wall/marketing/fcs251vg9glf/1