Events & Sponsorships 2 of 2

In this episode of the Studio Takeover Podcast, host Cat Ford-Coates delves into the significance of sponsorships and partnerships for business growth for photography business owners. She emphasizes the importance of building in-person relationships and how they can lead to substantial economic impact for both businesses and communities. The conversation covers effective strategies for creating sponsorship packages, identifying potential partners, and marketing events to maximize visibility and engagement. Cat encourages listeners to be bold in their outreach and to focus on creating win-win situations for all parties involved.

Transcript

Cat Ford-Coates (00:08.878)
Hello and welcome to the Studio Takeover Podcast. I'm your host Cat Ford Coats. This week we are going to continue the conversation around events and sponsorships by focusing a little bit more on those sponsorships this week. Partnerships for your business are crucial. Last week we talked a lot about getting eyes on your business and

how those connections in building events specifically around your business to help to get attention in your community. That's why like chambers of commerce, why those red ribbon cutting events are so popular. And that's across the country because it brings people together in support of one another because at the end of the day, the economic impact of small business is huge and sponsorships and partnerships, those are not.

Yes, okay, yeah, it's community and you build relationships, but you leverage those for your growth. Whether you're trying to reach stability or get from stability to thriving, those in-person relationships that you cultivate are going to have the biggest impact on your bottom line. And as much as we wanna hide behind Instagram and hide behind Facebook and hide behind threads and hide behind TikTok and hide behind LinkedIn, those all have opportunity that is valuable, 1000%.

But why are partnerships and sponsorships game changers in your world? Well, if you think about what that looks like, those game changers, if you will, it's about that connection. And the same way as photographers, if we're talking about portrait, that's connection in their personal relationships or to themselves as being valuable and...

quantifying that with a tangible piece of artwork that celebrates that moment for that relationship. Or in the branding space, working with you helps them create an asset library that allows them to stand out above the sea of competition. Events and partnerships and those sponsorships do the same thing for your business. And that's not to say that, you know, money changes hands in only one direction paying you.

Cat Ford-Coates (02:23.054)
Right. We had an event at the studio a few years ago and we had a local Mercedes dealership. Now, mind you, my studio was in an office park, right? It was not, you know, this big, grandiose, beautiful space. I wish it were, but it was just an 800 square foot office suite, drop ceilings and all, terrazzo floor. And I had taken over the suite next to me as well. So now we were up to 1600 square feet, but it was still, one room was carpeted and one room had a terrazzo floor.

but it was my photo studio and it had that impact of, you know, gear and backdrop areas and selling area and art, beautiful artwork in this incredible wardrobe and all of the things like not that I don't want to downplay it at all. Visually it had an impact, but it wasn't just the impact of my dream studio. But there was a Mercedes dealership and they were maybe two miles or so down the street from us. But I reached out to their marketing guy.

And I said, hey, I am hosting an event and I would love for Mercedes to be a partner in that. And they said, you know, it was kind of an odd request from a local artist to have Mercedes come down, but they were open to it. And so they brought down some, some SLS and a G wagon and parked them outside out in front of the door in the parking lot. Now, mind you, like this office park wasn't filled with my ideal clients either. There was a company next door that hosted those like

DUI classes and then across the park was also like a Suboxone clinic for addicts. There were a few churches in this space and you know, like it wasn't this big dripping with luxury situation, but in my space it was as much as I could without having to bear the cost of replacing carpet or ripping out ceilings or anything of that nature. But I called Mercedes and they brought, you know, a few SLs down, a G-Wagon and a

Then inside, you know, I was thinking, remember last week we talked about activities. said, God, what can we do that that's activities? It's not just a gift voucher. Like, yes, I want to have a giveaway that is a substantial amount, right? But it was also like, okay, what are some other cool things we could give away? And so they offered me some Mercedes travel mugs, right? And just sold them to me at cost. think they were $10, $20 a piece, something like that. You know, so we gave several of those away that evening. But then we did...

Cat Ford-Coates (04:49.037)
a giveaway where they could win not just a large gift certificate with me, but then also there was an opportunity for them to win a driving experience with Mercedes, right? that got people involved. I could just drive around Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee and a brand new Mercedes for an afternoon. That sounds killer. It doesn't have to be photo related. It just simply has to be related to.

what would be exciting for your audience. So when you're looking at those sponsorship and partnership opportunities, I wouldn't relegate yourself only to a very narrow vision, right? The same way when you're looking for interests on paid ads, right? The same thing is true for interests in person. Does that track? Now, Mercedes paid for the printing.

Well, that dealership did. It wasn't Mercedes. was, I forget, Skyland Automotive. I think it was at the time. So a sponsorship is where a business would pay or contribute resources to support your event. So you may want to have like bronze, silver and gold opportunities, right? And you want to limit the higher the dollar amount, the lower the quantity available in those, sponsorship packages because

that's a very special partnership and they get the longest run of opportunity either with that event or with the timeline of that community. And so what do I mean by that is when I was building the studio in Florida, we sponsored the Women's Council of Realtors and they have an annual membership.

we chose the top tier sponsorship because that allowed the most opportunity, the most visibility and the most access to the membership. But there were a very limited number of those top tier sponsorships available because it needs to be exclusive and you got to pay to play baby. Whereas a partnership, it's simply a mutual collaboration. So when I'm talking about Mercedes, they contribute a bit.

Cat Ford-Coates (07:02.321)
toward the printing, but I also contributed toward those travel mugs. That was more of a partnership than a sponsorship, but they were listed as a sponsor because it was pretty much a break-even point. Each of us had contributed, but it benefited both of us. I had 45 people come through the studio that evening. They received exposure and in-person connection to each of those people in the room.

see where I'm headed. So when you think about, I want to create a partnership or a sponsorship? Why would other businesses want to work with you? What benefit can you bring to the table? Is that speaking, giving them an opportunity to speak to the room? Is that giving them opportunity even to give away something in the room?

Right? Are we talking about $3 scrunchies that go into a swag bag or are we talking about $800 gift certificates to their business? Right? Because that's a marketing expense. They're loss leaders. The same way that I use this analogy a lot, actually, it's when people are talking about gift certificates and gift vouchers, they get all caught up. But what if they don't buy anything? And it's like, you know, with a loss leader marketing, they may not.

but you had an opportunity to connect and impress them. And that leads to future relationships and future sales, but that's a whole other conversation in and of itself. Maybe they want access to the email list from everyone who registers. And if you are considering sponsoring an event and I would encourage you to ask for the same, your email list is well more powerful than you trying to go viral on TikTok. There's priority given to marketing.

What does that brand visibility do for them? Gets people in the door the same way it gets people in your door. That's the way it works. That's the point of attention is to get people in the door. Maybe the sponsorship includes, you know, one of the things that, that I laugh about is the logo on a step and repeat when I'm offered a sponsorship. I don't give a whole lot of credibility to a logo. Like, do I have one? Sure. You know, it's kind of tick the box, but.

Cat Ford-Coates (09:26.263)
I know that I'm the face of my brand. My portfolio is my brand. So, okay, logo on a step and repeat, fine. But really is, okay, that brand awareness, but what is that actually, what impact is that having? And that's not to say that logos don't have a place, right? Like Nike swooshes known world around the world. But when it comes with photography, I think it's...

it shifts the narrative a little bit because the graphic elements are less impactful than the person that the audience is connected to. When you think about it from that viewpoint, a logo is fine, but I want an opportunity to connect. So I'm looking for email lists. I'm looking for speaking, even if it makes you want to throw up. The introvert in me is like, dear God, no.

Right? But you know, an opportunity to actually connect as a human being because people do business with people. It's because they appreciate the values that are associated with those people in that brand because it humanizes the brand. So when I'm thinking about having access to an audience, right? If I'm the one hosting the event, it's my audience, but I'm going to invite sponsors and partners in to share the cost of that.

in exchange for access and their levels of access. So what is valuable for attention that you can offer from your event that allows people the opportunity to reach additional partners, to connect with a wider audience in your community in a way that allows you to stay in integrity, to generate more business for you and for them. So who are they?

How do you identify those businesses that are in alignment with your brand? Are those business coaches? Are those spas or salons? Are they boutiques? Are they doctors, lawyers, real estate agents? Who else is serving your audience? And that can be hyper-niche, right? Like, I only want to speak with people serving family lawyers. Okay, who's serving family law?

Cat Ford-Coates (11:51.407)
What other businesses are serving the same audience as those family-focused attorneys? What other vendors are those families doing business with? See where I'm headed? So in my photography business, if I serve primarily women, well, where are women spending their time, energy, and money? That might be gyms. That might be shopping. That might be educational resources. That might be community endeavors.

That might be with the chambers of commerce. That might be with salons. That might be with a grocery store. That might be with higher education. Okay, how can I expand on the impact that these sponsorships and partnerships might create? That my target audience can get behind that's in alignment with my values for my business? Ooh, now we're having a larger impact, aren't we?

so we can have donations made. The economic impact for your life as a business owner means profitability has to occur, but economic impact for your community. Ooh, that doesn't just mean like 10 people buy a $5 coffee at a coffee shop. Now there's $50 circulating locally. Now it's people having economic impact with you, spending their money with you. You...

appreciating that publicly and openly, celebrating it, inviting other businesses to do the same. And now everyone's contributing to a local cause that's valuable for both your business and values and the audience that you're serving and the businesses that you're impacting. That is impact. That impact is what gets attention. So if you're listening in your car, right, maybe when you get to

wherever your destination is, you sit down, you turn off the car, you stop, you pull over, obviously not in that order. And just open up the notes app on your phone and think of 10 local businesses that you could approach to share in the fiscal cost of putting on this event. And then think about causes that are important to you, that are important to your ideal avatar.

Cat Ford-Coates (14:17.787)
that are important to the businesses that you're approaching so that it's a win-win all around, so that you can get some attention. Because once you've figured out the nitty-gritty, who's paying for what, what is it that we're creating, what kind of event is it, how much is it gonna cost, who do I want to invite, well, then we start talking about marketing for this event specifically. And that's what press releases are for, my friends.

It's not just I'm going to post about it in my stories on Instagram. Yes, you'll do that on any platform that your audience is engaged in with you, but also to press releases to local publications and news agencies. Get those cameras that you are not responsible for holding to your business for this event. Prior to this event, do interviews.

about why this event is important and valuable because there are hundreds and even thousands of people in your community who have no idea you exist. And when you can lift others up, those sponsorships, those partnerships that you have, that you are building locally, those clients that you are celebrating, when you can lift them up publicly, you have positioned yourself in a position of authority in your space that makes you desirable as a vendor.

as a provider of service and beautiful artwork. And when you're positioned as an authority, you can elevate your price point and your profit margin. So how do you approach? How do you approach those potential businesses? Because all you're remembering are those phone calls you said 8,000 times. I'm not interested. Why are they calling me? my God, they want me. They want.

$20 million and la la la la la. And you just keep repeating over and over again, I've already spent my marketing budget for the quarter, call me again in four months. Like all of those things. You want to understand how to connect and speak in value, yes, but quantify that value with metrics. So you want to speak about who your ideal avatar is. You want to speak about why you were connected to their brand to serve that.

Cat Ford-Coates (16:31.709)
same audience, right? my God, I was looking at your website and your mission and all of the women on your website. mean, we are serving the same people and I love how you communicate the value and the impact of your work for them. That's important to acknowledge the efforts that they're making and how they're communicating the value of what they do for that audience.

because that's what's speaking to you, right? It's not just, this medical spa over in this address or this neighborhood. No, you actually want to know who you're approaching. What do they get in return? That's when you really want to look at those three sponsorship tiers, right? If they're just adding a $5 something to a swag bag, well, they're going to get a logo on a step and repeat. But if they're contributing multiple gift certificates,

Maybe they're contributing cash. Maybe there is a fiscal investment in your second and top tiers. Well, I mean, there can be a financial investment in all of them, but when you start getting into the significance of things and you base the price point on those sponsorship packages on the budget, because you want a sponsorship to pay for the event and everything that goes into it, whether that's entertainment, printing, decor, so on and so forth. But that top tier, what do they get?

Maybe that is emails for the registrant. Maybe that is all of the behind the scenes photos. Maybe that's, you know, behind the scenes video of them speaking to a room full of their ideal client for them to leverage in their marketing. But you simply call and ask for a meeting. Then you follow up with an email invitation to do the same. You keep calling. Now they may say, calling me. And that's fine. But what I've found is the businesses that are truly

taking their businesses seriously are open to that conversation. They're open to that conversation because they understand the value that you're offering. But if you don't know what that value is, if you don't understand your audience, if you don't understand how to get attention with both in-person and online efforts, you're really gonna struggle, really going to struggle because that event has the potential to fill your calendar for a year.

Cat Ford-Coates (18:54.551)
A year, if you knew that you could put on an event and you really focused on it, leading up to it, building out the perfect sponsorships, creating an effective marketing strategy in person and online. Say you could get even a hundred people in the room, have an offer of value the night of and convert, let's say you convert even 15 % of that room. That's 15 people. And that's just the night of.

And then you follow that up with an email nurturing sequence and continue to market how great it was following that event and the impact it made and the appreciation that you have for those people. And then continue to reach out to that audience and ask them to share. And maybe you pick up another 10 people over the course of the next two months. Well, what's your average sale? Because that's 20 people right there. What if you had an event with 500

and converted the same percentage. Or instead of one big 500 person event, what if you had this 100 person event quarterly in addition to your regular efforts? Well, if you're priced at under $1,000, probably not a whole heck of a lot. But when you start gamifying,

these opportunities to connect with your ideal client and have an incredible time. Money follows joy, y'all. Wealth, health, independence, all follows joy. And there is no deeper joy than connection that I've found. Connection with self, connection with others. That can be done through dancing by myself in my living room or at an event by the room full of people where everybody's just having a great time. The metrics of that, that's the revenue that's generated.

And when you attach that to a fundraising opportunity, you get to have economic impact on others in your community too. So map out what you're creating, when you're creating it, give yourself some runtime for, you know, gathering those sponsorship opportunities, right? And then have a party because that party allows people to talk about you when you're not in the room. are you going to Kat's thing?

Cat Ford-Coates (21:17.231)
my God, did you see she's putting on this like luncheon thing? is she going to have karaoke at that thing again? She's doing a fashion show and they're, they're donating proceeds to a cancer fund and also having an offer of value for people to take advantage of on the day. And then a continuing offer after the fact, getting those sponsors in the room takes the pressure off for your need to

my God, I have to pay for everything. Where's it to come from? I guess I need another client just to get the cash flow in to building real partnerships in your community based off of values where everybody wins. Now you just have the pressure to have the party and fill the room. That's enough pressure, don't you think? So be bold. Fortune favors the bold. Make those calls. Connect with people in your community. Position yourself.

as the authority in your space. It's time to be a CEO.

Cat Ford-Coates (22:25.073)
you