#Print4Blogher Session 4 ~ Making Connections and Securing Sponsorships

Blogher is almost here, every day I get more and more excited!! This past week in our #Print4Blogher series we went over making connections and sponsorships. As you probably already know, Blogher can easily cost up to $1000 if not more, especially if you are coming from across country. Sponsorships are not only a great way to help with costs, by partnering with a company this can easily grow your blog readership with their help.

While I have not saught out any sponsorships this year, I did last year. I looked at who would be a good fit for my blog. Since I write about deals, I wanted to work with someone who was a good fit and offered a good deal! I was excited to work with Groupon because obviously they are #1 in daily deals. So who could you work with that would be a great partner for a sponsor?

Here is what we went over with the help of Debba from Girlfriendology.com!

• Reviewing Goals – What do you want to accomplish?
  Over the past few weeks we have been talking about what our goals are for Blogher. I think it can be overwhelming, especially if you have no idea what to expect. I think when making goals, the best thing to do is talk with others who have been. Ask them what to expect, what they have experienced and what they feel may be the highlights of the conference.
  
  I know that I want to work with people relevant to my blog. A few of the sponsors I am looking forward to interacting with: Retailmenot.com, Eversave.com and Redplum!
  

• Reviewing Research Findings – Who to work with?
  If you have been following us, you know that last week we talked about research. We discussed how to find out who will be at Blogher. You can find the Blogher sponsor list here: http://www.blogher.com/node/305898/attendees?sort_by=name
  
  
  
  
  

• Making initial Contacts – Pre-BlogHer connections
  
  Who are you looking forward to meeting at Blogher? Is there a sponsor that you can't wait to get in contact with to create a partnership in the future? Is there someone you want to work with now who will be there? There is no reason you can't reach out to a sponsor of Blogher and ask them if they are interested in working together now and possibly form a sponsorship opportunity before Blogher. In fact, this may be a great start when finding a sponsor. They are already invested in attending to have a presence, they could easily amplify that presence having you as a sponsor.
  
  
  When making the initial contact, consider tweeting at them and telling them you are excited to see them. Do the research and find out who their media contact is and see if you can speak with them.
  
  If you are looking for a sponsorship from another company not attending Blogher, start with your strongest connections. Who have you worked with in the past by either offering a giveaway or doing a blog post for? How would they benefit freom being represented at Blogher by you?
  

• Getting Sponsorships – Who, what, how?
  Before reaching out to a company about a sponsorship, make sure you understand the Blogher policy on sponsorships. BlogHer Conference Sponsorship Guidelines:
  
  Therefore, in a change from last year’s guidelines, no sponsor swag, gifts or literature may be distributed within the conference space or the host hotel, directly or indirectly. Such materials will be removed if left lying on any surface within the conference space or hotel. Any bloggers seen indiscriminately distributing materials to attendees will be given a personal warning.
  
  Any second incident, whether of leaving materials on a surface within the conference space or of indiscriminately distributing materials to attendees may result in the attendee’s badge being confiscated and attendance revoked for the rest of the conference.
  
  Networking is a big part of BlogHer events. Of course, many attendees use the traditional business card to exchange information. Some attendees are more creative, offering buttons, bumper stickers, and other similar vehicles for their blog URLs and/or Twitter handles. You may include your sponsor information on such materials.
  
  To be clear: You may include sponsor information on your contact materials that you would exchange in the normal course of networking. You may not pass out sponsor materials.
  
  So what does this mean for you and your sponsor? You can be sponsored andobviously the agreement between your sponsor and you will have to abide by these guidelines. Some ideas on what you can do for your sponsor and abide by the rules:

• Place your sponsor on your business card, consider doing the back and saying something like this:
  Please check out my sponsor for a great deal on XYZ at www.XYZ.com
• Wear a T Shirt with your sponsors information
• Do a Blog post before/after
• Tweet about your sponsor with something like this:
  
  "Thank you to my sponsor XYZ shoe company for sponsoring me, I am so happy to be in comfy shoes at Blogher11!
  

  • Debba says get creative! Make stickers to put on your laptop, bags etc. Make buttons and other things related to your sponsor. Stand out! Make a tierra and sash with the sponsor info or bedazzle their name on your badge.
    
    Last year I took my sponsors t-shirt, dressed it up with ribbon on the sleeves and put on a cute belt on top of it with a skirt. I also made "flair" and while it wasn't actually relative to my sponsor it was geared towards my blog and I got so many compliments. Make it fun, so if your sponsored by a shoe company, tie their tag line in and say something like
    "ask me why I look so relaxed"
    It's a great ice breaker too!
    

  
  
  So what if your sponsor gives you "swag" to hand out. Consider partnering with an "unofficial" Blogher party and ask if you could put your "swag" inside their goodie bags.
  
  I am not sure how this will work so don't quote me on this but maybe tweet out that you have XYZ and if someone wants it, they can DM you or find you.
  
  Is it too late to secure a sponsorship? Absolutely not! I secured sponsorship the day before I left for NYC last year to go to Blogher. I asked them to overnight anything to the hotel. So don't feel discouraged if you get many "no's" before you get some yes's in there!
  
  Want some help in what to include in a Blogher Sponsor letter? My friend Becca at OurCrazyBoys.com shared this template with me:
  
• 
  
  {Greeting}
  
  {Prior knowledge/experience of the product}
  
  
  {Information about the conference}
  
  
  {Explanation of your blog, what you want, what you are offering}
  
  
  {Question at the end, offer to send media kit and offer that you are willing to talk about the opportunity and cater to what they are looking for}
  
  
  {Closing}
  
  
  Debba says make sure in your initial contact and your communication throughout, always be professional and proofed! Make sure your emails look clean and do not have any misspellings. Complimenting their brand and of course having a good understanding of what they are about are essential when connecting about a potential sponsorship.
  
  What else can you do? Debba says Offer to provide a complete report on BlogHer11. Customize it to their specific interests/needs. Ask them what information would be most valuable to them, then gather and report that information. (For example: If they’d like to work with lots of bloggers, offer to assist and share their information with bloggers and, if the bloggers are aware/agree to it, share their information with your sponsor.
  Perhaps you can even assist them in their future blogger relations.)
  

• Another Contact – A Vital Partner in your Success
  
  Debba shared this with us:
  
  Stop by your local UPS Store and introduce yourself to them this week. Tell them that you’re a blogger who is going to a BIG blogger conference and ask for their ideas as to how they can support your success. I’m sure they’ll have lots of ideas on professional printing, shipping and servicing your blog / business. I love to get their ideas and to hear what
  
  other businesses have done to prepare for a tradeshow or conference. Check out their services and we’ll get into materials for BlogHer next week.
  
  Have you been keeping up with what we are doing? Find our past sessions and more about what the UPS Store can do for you at www.lovinlogistics.com

This week we are talking about design, what to put in our media kit and business cards!

This opportunity is being compensated by #CollectiveBias as part of the #Print4Blogher campaign. All opinions shared on the calls and weekly write ups are my own.


*Also, check out other awesome @TheUPSStore #Print4BlogHer Campaign
Ambassadors:

Amy Lowe – Dealusional – http://www.dealusional.com

Shelby Barone – Glitterful Felt Stories – http://www.feltstories.com

Melissa Lockcuff – MamaBzz – http://www.mamabzz.com

Wendy Limauge – Sweeties Sweeps - http://sweetiessweeps.com