by "AntiSpeed" (AntiSpeed)
Published 08/22/2017 at 16:56
by "AntiSpeed" (AntiSpeed)
Published 08/22/2017 at 16:56
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The YouTube channel is growing slowly so I’m revisiting the supposedly popular idea of searching for sponsorship in the B2B area. I’ve been doing industry research for the last few weeks and holy shit the buzzwords and jargon are off the charts.
“Yes, you need buy-in from the top for that all important investment from the c-suite. But you also need buy-in across the whole organisation.”
Sentences like that make me want to stick my finger into my eye and swirl it around. It’s really not hard to say the same thing in plain fucking English.
Well worth it if I can figure out how to get them to pay me to drive a race car, but I hate every single thing about corporate culture. Every single little thing.
Picture of the car I want to race, for your time:
"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch)
08/22/2017 at 17:03, STARS: 0
pfft, thats nothing. thats like Jargon lite.
"AntiSpeed" (AntiSpeed)
08/22/2017 at 17:24, STARS: 0
And it still makes me want to drop-kick someone in a pantsuit.
I don’t think I’ll do well in this world.
"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch)
08/22/2017 at 17:26, STARS: 0
its...an unpleasant reality. It can be fun, you just need to make up a bingo chart for meetings.
"nermal" (nermal)
08/22/2017 at 18:01, STARS: 1
I’m in sales, close enough. The key thing you need to establish is getting to a decision point, then influencing it. Basically, WHY should a business pay you $$$ to put their logo on the side of your race car? What’s in it for them? What can you provide them in return for their large cash investment?
The most common reasons why a business would sponsor a race car:
1) The owner / president / CEO (or one of their kids) is the driver of the race car.
......
2) There is actual business advertising value. The smaller in scale you go, the more difficult it is to convince somebody to spend $$$. Even more so if you’re just some random guy. Put yourself in the shoes of a business owner. If some random guy called you and asked you to give them $$$ to sponsor their race car, what would they have to say for you to say yes?
"AntiSpeed" (AntiSpeed)
08/22/2017 at 18:12, STARS: 0
Oh I know, I’ve been trying to figure this stuff out for my entire adult life. I’m pretty good at coming up with creative ideas, and the intellectual challenge of trying to devise a way for a racing team to achieve a company’s marketing goals is something I actually enjoy.
Actually contacting decision makers and selling those ideas, however, is not something I can do.
Edit: You’re in sales, eh? Are you looking for work by any chance...?
"nermal" (nermal)
08/22/2017 at 18:36, STARS: 0
Another thing you might want to consider is contacting local advertising / marketing agencies with your pitch. The idea being that they are the ones selling the businesses on marketing campaigns and ideas, and sponsoring your race car is part of a larger marketing campaign.
Again, the value proposition that you offer comes into play.
"AntiSpeed" (AntiSpeed)
08/22/2017 at 18:40, STARS: 0
Yea, that’s a really good idea. But how do I find the right agencies? I live in NYC so there must be tons of them.
"nermal" (nermal)
08/22/2017 at 19:20, STARS: 1
The right agency in your case is one that is willing to entertain your idea, and then pitch it to their customers.
I would start by figuring out what you can do for them. How’s your racing record? How many people see your car, either on-track or on Youtube or wherever? What are the demographics of the people that see your car? What sets you apart? How can you help sell stuff? How can you help make them look good?
Figure out how to convert that into a few sentences that will convince somebody to ask you to “Tell me more”, or “How do you do that?”. Your goal is to start a conversation, not to sell something immediately. Be direct, but not too direct. Don’t say “Hi, I’d like to talk to you about sponsoring my race car.” Instead, say “Hi, I’d like to talk to you about a unique opportunity to reach an audience of 18-35 y/o males.”
Then start contacting a few of them and see where it goes. You can search Google for “NYC marketing agency” and go down the line. If you don’t want to call, just email from their website.
Most of them will probably either ignore you or shut you down immediately, and that’s ok.
"AntiSpeed" (AntiSpeed)
08/22/2017 at 19:51, STARS: 0
A friend of mine works for a tech company that does something with cloud-based infrastructure, and I’m working on setting up a lunch meeting with them to primarily discuss what their marketing and sales objectives and challenges are. The way I see my sales process going starts with a conversation like that, then I retreat to brainstorm ideas and write up a program that would have specific value for them, then meet again a few weeks later to pitch it. I could write up a catalog or list of “these are things we could do” examples for my own marketing materials, but I’d keep the caveat that these are just examples.
Getting to that initial conversation is the part that blocks me. Like I said before, sales isn’t something that I can do. I end up staring at the phone for 20 minutes trembling and feeling bad about myself. I don’t even like talking to friends on the phone, it would take years to get comfortable calling strangers that I eventually want to ask for money. I feel like emails just get junked, and anyways they’d eventually need a follow-up.
I feel like if I had a partner or employee who could make up for my deficiencies I might be able to get something started.
"Elumerere" (elumerere)
08/22/2017 at 21:17, STARS: 0
Great advice.
"Elumerere" (elumerere)
08/22/2017 at 21:17, STARS: 0
The thing about cold-calling and being nervous is just that you need to get over the initial hump. I hate it too. But once I am through the first 3 (however badly I messed them up) it becomes easier. So, call those you don’t care about first. Then go down the line.