Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s time for Atlanta Business Radio. Brought to you by on pay. Atlanta’s New standard in payroll. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here another episode of Atlanta Business Radio, and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, Onpay. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Atlanta Business Radio, we have Dr. Laurie Mannes and she is with Quality Media Consultant Group. Welcome.

Dr Lori Manns: Hi, Lee. How are you?

Lee Kantor: I am doing well. I am so excited to get caught up with what’s going on. But for the folks who don’t know, tell us a little bit about Quality Media consultant Group, how you serving folks?

Dr Lori Manns: Well, Quality Media Consultant Group is a business consultancy firm specializing in advertising, marketing and media solutions to help entrepreneurs grow and scale their businesses. And we also focus on sales and sales systems to help entrepreneurs increase their income impact and influence. And I’m excited to be here today.

Lee Kantor: Well, I’m excited because we’re going to be talking about this event. You’re involved with the sponsorship Sales Secrets Live 2023 event in September. Tell us a little bit about how sponsorship connects to this.

Dr Lori Manns: Well, you know, one of the revenue streams that I’ve utilized in my business and also the nonprofit that I founded is sponsorship. And not only is sponsorship a marketing strategy, but it’s also, like I said, a revenue stream that can help you grow your income and cash flow. And so one of the things that really gave me a clue that I needed to talk about sponsorship and selling more was when I started to do video marketing and I put up a YouTube channel and my most watched video is one where I talked about sponsorship. And so for that reason I started to promote sponsorship and show entrepreneurs and small business owners how they could get sponsors and grow their businesses.

Lee Kantor: So this is kind of a mental shift for a lot of business people. They don’t think that what they’re doing is kind of something that somebody would sponsor. How did first of all, how did you get some once you have the idea, okay, people will sponsor my business, how did you test that and start to get some clues that that is something that is viable?

Dr Lori Manns: Well, I knew it was viable because of my background in radio sales and marketing. I spent my corporate career selling radio advertising and worked with Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies and sold them sponsorships for the radio group that I worked for back then. And when I became an entrepreneur in 2009, I knew that sponsors want to work with small business owners and entrepreneurs because they have different initiatives and different pockets of money and various departments where their suppliers are micro business owners and small business owners and of course, entrepreneurs. And so I just tested it out by simply. Pitching some of the corporations that I wanted to work with. And when I was able to get those partnerships locked in, that’s when I knew it would be viable for me. And I began, you know, making efforts to add that into my business model. And it worked.

Lee Kantor: Now, is it something you think that like, I have an accounting firm or I have a hardware store, is that are those businesses kind of sponsor worthy?

Dr Lori Manns: Well, there’s something I like to call sponsor assets, and it just depends on what you’re asking a company or organization or corporation to sponsor. So if we were talking about a hardware store, right, just to get a company, if it’s a locally owned hardware store and they have manufacturers and suppliers that they buy product from, could they potentially get sponsors? Yes. But here’s the thing. There would need to be some type of incentive and activation for the sponsor. So whether it’s a online campaign that the hardware store would be doing or an event that the hardware store would be doing, they would have to create something that is sponsor able and then also show the sponsor their assets. Meaning, you know, for example, you know how many people come into the store. What’s the cumulative of excuse me, the cumulative amount of people in terms of foot traffic that comes into that store every single week? And then also when you add up that hardware stores online following, do they have social media? Do they have an email list? Do they have an SMS text messaging list? Do they have access to their customers in the terms of being able to communicate with them to get messages across? And so those are some of the things that a sponsor would be interested in. And absolutely, they could create projects, programs, launches, events, etcetera, that would be sponsor able.

Lee Kantor: So let’s kind of get in the weeds of this and say, Now you’ve opened my mind. I’m an entrepreneur and I never thought of this before. This is something I’m going to pursue. Obviously, I’m going to go to your event to learn all the the details of it. But at a kind of a, you know, 40,000 foot level. Let’s talk about what happens if I’m, you know, going to pursue this as an initiative. Do I first come up with things I want to sponsor? Do I first go to sponsors? Like, is it a chicken and the egg thing? Do I create things and hope to find sponsors that want to sponsor that or do I go to potential sponsors and ask them what they would like more of?

Dr Lori Manns: Well, that’s a great question. And the answer is both. You could do both. And one of the things that is very important for a sponsor is anyone coming to them to ask for funding is that you have credibility and you have a good reputation and a good brand reputation in the market, meaning brand equity, that you have people in the marketplace that love your brand, buy from your brand, shop with you and support you already. So they’re not looking to build your business. They’re looking for you to have a business built. However, if you are already in business and you have proof of concept, you have a great business model and things are moving along and you decide that you want to launch a particular program that you want to have sponsored. Absolutely. You could go to a sponsor and say, this is an inaugural project or this is an inaugural event, and if we were to work with you, this is what we could accomplish if you were to come on board. And, you know, here’s our plan to get this event up and going to so that it’s successful in its first year and beyond. And so you have to have things kind of laid out, well thought out and worked through so that you can actually show the sponsor. What is your vision? How do you anticipate the logistics of this new program or project or launch going? And as long as you have a solid proposal and marketing plan, then that sponsorship proposal should answer all of their questions and they would give it consideration if it fit within their model in terms of what they are interested in.

Lee Kantor: Now, what is kind of an expectation for a sponsor like how do they measure success? Is it something like, Oh, okay, we’ll go back to the hardware store every every week, you know, 2000 people come into the hardware store and they’re all going to see your brand. Like, is that enough of a win for them or is it something that they want to have something that’s more kind of tied to revenue or sales or something like that?

Dr Lori Manns: Well, great question because return on investment could vary for each sponsor, right? It could actually be that one sponsor may want a return on investment. That’s monetary. Another sponsor could want a return on investment that would equal. Increased engagement online for their social media following. Another sponsor may want brand equity that you might be able to show them the the number of impressions that you got on a particular campaign on. Your email campaign or your social media campaign or whatever the case may be. It just varies. There’s no one size fits all in terms of providing return on investment for a sponsor. It’s going to depend upon what the goals of the program are, and it’s also going to depend upon what is the sponsor looking for and what are they trying to achieve. And so if they have an initiative to reach more people who are, you know, hardware store shoppers as our example, then absolutely The number of people that you’re able to put them in front of is great. Now, when we think about, you know, corporations that are Fortune 100 or Fortune 500, they’re already multi billion dollar companies and they don’t necessarily need, you know, increased revenue from you, the micro business owner, the small business owner.

Dr Lori Manns: What they are looking for is more or less brand loyalty. They’re looking for you to help them get more brand loyalty from the customers that they can reach through you so that they can expand that brand loyalty in their target audience. And so. Every major corporation wants loyal customers. They want people who shop and buy their products and services consistently all the time. And so they’re large enough where they can handle their own increase in revenue. Right. And they have larger marketing and advertising budgets than you do. So it’s not necessarily always about the return on investment when it comes to money. It’s about other things that you can utilize that would be very important to them in terms of helping them to reach more people and convert some of their people who are prospects into paying customers and get that loyalty to where they want it to be so that they can have increased market share.

Lee Kantor: Now, you mentioned that you worked early on with and you have a non profit yourself, some of which they’re paying for as a sponsor is kind of that halo effect of saying, look, I’m working with these this group and so I’m a good person. You know, I’m a good corporate citizen by doing this as well. Right. Isn’t that part of the value they’re getting? That’s part of the value exchange.

Dr Lori Manns: Absolutely. So when you speak about that halo effect, sponsors give you that halo effect. Because if you are a small fry, then you need that credibility that comes with saying, Oh, I also worked with Coca-Cola, for example, or I also worked with Apple or Nike or any major brand that’s out there. And once you’re able to, you know, list those companies and organizations that you’ve worked with and partnership that have sponsored your business, it’s definitely a halo effect because people recognize that those major corporations would not be doing business with someone who was not credible and who had not proven their worthiness as a partner.

Lee Kantor: Now, how do you price some of this stuff? Like how would a small business even go about trying to put a number on what the value of a sponsorship is to somebody that is a big billion dollar or multi billion dollar company? And are they even going to do a deal for that amount of money? Is that too small that they don’t even have the wherewithal to even cut a check for that amount of money?

Dr Lori Manns: Well, you know, many corporations nowadays, they have. The budgets, for example, with nonprofits and they have a philanthropy arm to their corporation, right? They have a foundation division and they have a process by which they give away donations. They have a process by which they give away grants. They have a process by which they give away or they partner with organizations to sponsor something. And so they give money from $1,000 all the way up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. And it just depends upon what their process is. So part of pricing your package or whatever it is that you’re trying to pitch to them is just being smart about what to ask for. And that’s part of what I go over at my upcoming event, Sponsorship Sales Secrets Live.

Lee Kantor: So that you’re going to help kind of educate them on how to put a dollar amount on the different types of activations that might occur.

Dr Lori Manns: Absolutely.

Lee Kantor: So then if you go to this, that because that’s a critical element of this, right? Knowing how to price things that aren’t, you know, ridiculous, but also not leaving money on the table as well. I mean, there you don’t want to think too small in this regard, but you don’t want to be greedy.

Dr Lori Manns: Right. You definitely don’t want to make the mistake of not asking for enough money. But then you don’t want to make the mistake of asking for too much money. It’s kind of like, you know, if. You’ve ever watched this show Shark Tank? When entrepreneurs come to the Shark Tank and they evaluate their their company way over than what it more than what it’s worth. Well, a shark is going to immediately tell that prospective entrepreneur trying to get funding hey, you’ve over evaluated what your company is worth and a sponsor can do the same thing. Looking at your sponsorship proposal can can easily say, okay, well, you’ve over evaluated what this package is worth and based on what we’ve done in the past, we only will do this, this and this. So you must actually have a really solid strategy for how to price. And for me, it has come with experience. Having done this for 30 years, I am very familiar with how to price certain aspects of the proposal so that it falls in line with what I know they would be looking for and what I know other competitors would likely price in the range of. And so it just depends on what they’re looking for, what they’re willing to fund and what type of deliverables you’re going to offer them in terms of whether or not it’s going to be valuable to them.

Lee Kantor: Now, let’s talk about the event. It’s a two day event, a virtual event. What’s going to go on? Like what’s the kind of the roadmap of the two days?

Dr Lori Manns: Well, for sponsorship sales secrets live, it is happening September 22nd and 23rd. And it’s a two day agenda where on the first day I cover sales mastery. And so that’s important because a lot of entrepreneurs and micro business owners and nonprofit leaders, podcasters and consultants and what have you, they have a. Blockage when it comes to sales. A lot of people don’t want to admit that if you’re in business, you’re actually a sales person. And so I feel like it’s very important to master the sales aspect of securing sponsorships first and just let people know, Hey, look, you are selling this is a sales transaction. And so we are going to cover sales mastery and we’re going to break it down from, you know, the steps to overcome fear and sell with confidence. The thing you have to avoid in order to mitigate that sleazy sales feeling that some people have when they ask for the money. How to outsell your competition, how to sell your products and services online and offline, soulfully and masterfully. How to convert prospects into paying customers sales, funnel management, how to generate leads and you know, so that you attract the right people, how to always be closing and understand what closing strategies to use and when, and then also proven techniques to increase your profitability.

Dr Lori Manns: That’s the first day. And then the second day we’re going to get into sponsorship selling and I’m going to show you proven ways to get sponsors to work with you and how to attract them, because that’s one of the things that I have mastered in in doing is making my brand and my company so attractive that sponsors actually reach out to me. So how to identify decision makers and what to say when you get them on the phone or in person, how to craft that sponsorship pitch and craft an irresistible sponsorship letter and proposal. How to build packages that sell and of course, how to avoid mistakes. Then I’ll talk to you guys about sponsorship trends, what media you might need to include to be attractive to a sponsor. We’re going to talk more about closing techniques and then how to get long term contracts and renewals with sponsors over and over again, because that’s the actual best thing ever, is to have long term relationships and partnerships with sponsors where they work with you year after year.

Lee Kantor: Now, is it something that you’re going to be talking kind of in a general way, or is it or will I be able to ask questions about my specific situation?

Dr Lori Manns: Oh yeah, I’m going to have hot seats and I’m going to actually allow the attendees to do a sponsorship pitch. We have prizes for that. So every year we have entrepreneurs who enter our sponsorship sales pitch contest and we have prizes from honey Baked ham and also Fresh Market and Office Depot to give away. And it’s going to be amazing because I’m going to allow those attendees to ask questions and just put them in hot seats and make over their pitches so that they walk away with at least that much. And then they’ll also have the ability to get special offer on the sponsorship training that I teach following this course. So it’s going to be amazing for anyone who’s interested in growing your income impact and influence and adding a revenue stream that’s proven. And sponsorship is a multi-billion dollar industry in North America, which is of course the USA. And Canada is the highest spending of any area in the world. That means sponsors spend more in North America and Canada than any other area in the world in terms of sponsorship globally. So it’s definitely a viable revenue stream and market for entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, speakers, coaches, consultants, all of that to consider when looking at their revenue model for having a profitable business. Well, if somebody.

Lee Kantor: Wants to learn more about this event or your coaching or your the different trainings you do, what is the website? What are the coordinates to learn more?

Dr Lori Manns: Yes. So the company I have is Quality media consultant group, and you can find us at quality Media consultants.com and for sponsorship Sales Secrets Live Again, which is a virtual event happening September 22nd and 23rd, 2023. It’s going to be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. There will be a one hour break each day from 12 to 1. So we’ll have four, four hours each day of great content. And you can go to W-w-w dot sponsorship sales secrets.com that’s sponsorship sales secrets.com to register and get more information.

Lee Kantor: Well congratulations on all the success and thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.

Dr Lori Manns: Thank you. Lee it’s always great to talk to you. Thank you for having me.

Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor. We’ll see you all next time on Atlanta Business Radio.