Brett de Hoedt – Interview Summary

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Here’s a summary of my interview with Brett de Hoedt including common mistakes sponsorship seekers make, golden rules for a successful sponsorship and key points from the interview.

The full interview was pretty long so I divided it into 3 parts:

5 common mistakes sponsorship seekers make:

Bland proposals that don’t grab the sponsor’s attention.
The sponsorship proposal is all about logos on things. This is too simple and offers no value to the sponsor.
Not offering a range of options to suit a sponsor’s budget.
Not providing unique experiences for the sponsor, their staff and clients. Clients of the sponsor are often overlooked.
Sponsorship proposals are often too general or broad and don’t focus on discrete benefits for the sponsor.

3 golden rules for a successful sponsorship:

Know your purpose – be single minded about getting that sponsorship.
Know your audience – learn what motivates them.
Know your message – be very clear about how you can provide value for a sponsor.

Key Points:

Crete a website that makes you look like you’re worth sponsoring – look credible and have some authority.
Seeking sponsorship is like dating – the less desperate you look the more opportunities are going to come your way.
Be very specific on what is being sponsored. The more specific the better your chances.
Sponsors need to know, like and trust you before committing to a relationship.
Develop your brand and profile – market yourself to potential sponsors.
Network with potential sponsors so they can get to know you.
Get outside of your comfort zone – put yourself in the spot light to attract opportunities.
Be very specific about your sponsorship opportunity.
Provide unique experiences.
Logos and thank you speeches aren’t where it’s at.
It’s a huge advantage to have some social good attached to your sponsorship proposal.
Don’t fear rejection – be different and interesting to grab their attention.
Make your proposals 3 dimensional. The package, the box, the thick, padded envelope is always opened before the boring old two-dimensional envelopes
Pursue multiple targets at one time because it’s a numbers game.
Provide lots of options to say yes. Give the potential sponsor a range of customised options to suite their level of commitment.
Remove risks for the sponsor by providing tangible and measurable value.
Whatever a sponsor invests with you, they will need to spend 4 to 5 times this on activating the sponsorship opportunity.
Show sponsors how they can use you to create value. For example, provide mock-ups of press releases, printed ads and web pages.