You’re Not “Marketing”… You’re Donating Money | 105

I’ve thrown money at a few sponsorships over the years as an electrician, and looking back, most of it never moved the needle for my electrical business. In this episode I talk honestly about what happened when I sponsored a local soccer team, slapped my logo on a rally car, and watched other sparkies set up fancy market stalls hoping for leads. Some things look like marketing, but they’re really just expensive ego boosts. If you're a sparky trying to build a proper business engine, this one will get you thinking differently about where your money actually works for you.

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Transcript

Hand over 28.5% of your taxable income to junkie James. He can now buy eight packets of cigarettes and four cartons of beer this week. Congratulations. Welcome to Simplified Sparky Marketing.

A few years ago, probably two years into business, I was approached to sponsor the girls side of the soccer team I was playing with. And at the time you get that ego boost, that little dopamine hit of, oh my God, that’s gonna be so cool. I’m gonna have my logos on their shit.

And what it was, was quite simple. They got a heap of jackets. There were probably 20 odd jackets for the girls. Nothing fancy. Just green jackets, the colour of the club, and my logo slapped on the back. To be fair, the logo was very prominent. Probably half the back of the jacket. And to me it looked the part. You know the feeling you get when your new business cards arrive or you see your vans on the street? It looked cool. It looked legit.

It was pretty cheap too — maybe a thousand bucks — but at the time I wasn’t making any fucking money. I had no clue what I was doing. And the funny thing was, I was kind of looked at as “oh, you’ve got your own business, you sponsor the team.” But there were guys on that team who had more money than me. I was just the one with a business, so I was the one who got peer-pressured into sponsoring.

And as an ego boost I thought, yeah, I’ll sponsor them. But here’s the thing: unless you’ve got a son, cousin, niece or nephew playing and you genuinely want to give back to the community, think twice. Because if you’re doing this for a random team, or some random who walks up to you asking for money, you need to ask yourself — will this actually return anything?

When I sponsored that team, I genuinely thought the phone would go off the hook. That was seven years ago. I still haven’t had one single lead from those jackets. I still see the odd OG wearing them. But nothing came of it. And it’s disappointing when you invest money and it does nothing.

It’s one of those things you do to feel like you’re marketing. When someone asks, “What are you doing for marketing?” you can go, “Well, I sponsored the local soccer team.” Sounds impressive. But it wasn’t a calculated investment. It was just throwing money at something and hoping.

Another thing I “sponsored” — not really sponsored — was my brother-in-law and his mate who rally drive. They slapped my logo on the rear wing and then hit me up for sponsorship money. I told them to fuck off — in a friendly way — and still ended up giving them something for fun. But it was ridiculous. They’re blasting down country roads at 200 km/h. Why the fuck would I sponsor that? No one can even see the logo.

Another situation: I spoke to someone a few months back who spent money to set up a stall at a farmers market. Him, his partner, some staff — whole set-up, branded gear, leaflets, giveaways for kids, the lot. But the suburb wasn’t the right demographic. And he ended up getting maybe one or two little jobs out of it.

We’re all hoping those little jobs turn into bigger jobs or a referral — but hope is not a marketing strategy.

This is why it’s critical to know exactly who your ideal electrical client is and where they actually hang out. Otherwise, you’re barking up the wrong tree.

I compare this to horse racing. If you know nothing about horses and someone hands you fifty bucks and says, “Pick a winner,” you’ll throw it on the wrong horse and that thing is still fucking running today. That’s what random sponsorship is. No strategy, no targeting, no understanding of the people who will see it.

If you put that same $1,000 into Google Ads or Facebook Ads, you’d probably get a better return. Maybe not perfect — but better than a logo on a jacket no one remembers.

Where sponsorship usually goes wrong:

It’s the wrong audience.
 Your logo is in front of kids, parents, randoms — not actual buyers.
 And not at a moment of need.
 No one at a Saturday morning soccer field is thinking, “Shit, I need a switchboard upgrade.”

Targeting is off.
 The suburbs they play in might not be the suburbs you service.
 The people watching might not be the type of client you want.

People think having your name “out there” is the key. It’s not. You’d be shocked how few people remember your business name. They remember you… sometimes. But not the name.

This is why retention marketing and email marketing matter. They keep you top of mind without relying on luck.

And don’t feel guilty saying no. If you’re early in business and you don’t have a spare couple grand to throw at your mate’s cricket team — don’t do it. Stand your ground. Bank your money.

If you do have loads of money and you’re throwing it around, I’d challenge you to ask: are you actually paying yourself a proper wage? Are your apprentices and tradesmen being paid properly? Are you investing in your actual business engine?

Because I’ve seen sparkies say “I’m making profit” — then admit they don't even pay themselves a wage yet. That’s not profit. You’re just not accounting for your own labour.

If you think a $1500 job makes $1000 profit because the materials were $500, you’re dreaming. You haven’t factored in your wage or overheads. The leftover, after all that — that’s your profit.

And this is why the industry is cooked sometimes. People undercharge because they’re not paying themselves. They end up burnt out, depressed, and back working for a boss because they weren’t earning a real wage.

So be honest: do you actually have money to be splashing around on sponsorships? Or do you just think you do?

There is a time and place for sponsorship though.

If your ideal A-grade client is an avid tennis player who plays three times a week — then yes, maybe place something in their world.
A QR code on a banner with a members-only offer?
Special rate for club members?
That’s smart placement.

That’s how I found my last physio. There was a special offer flyer in the gym. I scanned the code, and it worked because it was placed right where I was already hanging out.

But sponsorship like beer mats? Big joke. Most pubs don’t even hand out beer mats anymore. So your logo is sitting in a cardboard box behind the counter.

Smart sponsorship is trackable.
 A QR code.
 A custom link.
 A specific form.
 Something you can trace directly back.

If you sponsor a cricket team and someone calls you randomly six months later, you have no fucking idea where they came from. No tracking. No data. No insight.

Sometimes the only winner in sponsorship is the bloke printing the jackets.

If you want any more from me, there’s links in the description. I’ll catch you next week.