Question

Topic: Other

Finding Sponsorship

Posted by Anonymous on 5/20/2008 at 1:18 AM ET 125 Points
I compose and write children's music and am in the process of completing my 4th children's music CD of edutainment. I have marketed the music online, through articles and columns I write for Children's magazines, music performances at book stores, malls, schools and community events and through the educational market. However I have found that the "mommy market" is mainly looking for things that are "free". They love the music but don't want to pay for the CD or downloads so sales are slow and I am not sure why. Because I like to give it away for free (it's easy to give it away, much harder to charge for it!) I am thinking about finding sponsors who would be interested in getting their business name out their by sponsoring the products and benefiting by have their business in front of the many educators, moms and children I perform for with the music and books I write. In return for their sponsorship I would distribute my products with their logo on them, have their names on a banner at all my performances, provide them with an ad on m¥ website and provide them with the opportunity to make a difference with young children who might not be able to afford a music CD or children's book with a message about healthy hygiene and good habits like brushing teeth, covering your nose when you sneeze, etc. Currently I see about 20,000 children a year in the local market. My dilemma is that I have never done anything like finding sponsorship before and am not sure how to begin. Is there anyone who has marketed their products this way? If so any advice would be much appreciated. What is the best way to get your foot in the door with some of the larger companies of the medical industry that might benefit from children learning about healthy habits and hygiene through music. I have tested the music on a variety of different children in many different settings and economic groups to make sure it holds their attention, they enjoy the songs and lyrics and the mom's and teachers enjoy the music as well. The response when they hear the music and the hits to my website looking for my performance dates show that the music works, so I'm perplexed as to what to do to increase product sales. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 5/20/2008 at 8:59 AM Member
    Before you go off and try to find sponsors (which may be a very good idea), I'd focus on the sales themselves. Otherwise, you've just added another job for you: finding sponsors, making presentations, changing your CDs/marketing materials, etc.

    You have some great numbers. It sounds like you have analytics installed on your site, so you do know that people are visiting. Consider the model that Amazon is doing: letting people listen to 30 second snippets of the music. Give them a reason to stick around. To continue to build your name, if your website doesn't already, have an opt-in form. You can send monthly schedules of where you'll be performing, a fun background story or activity to do with your child, etc.

    Selling music at your venues is ideal. You have a captive audience who just heard you, and may want to remember your music (and share it with their friends). If you sell your CDs for $15 each, sell two copies of the same CD for $24 - you'd be surprised that the audience will work together to get the bargain. Provide free add-ons to each CD: activities, games, and other websites that reinforce the themes.

    If people aren't buying, then get a friend of yours to ask people at the end of the concert if they're buying a CD (and why/why not). You need more information before you can create a viable marketing strategy.
  • Posted on 5/20/2008 at 10:29 AM Accepted
    Sponsoring kids events and entertainment can be a thorny issue. Jay and W.M.M.A have some great comments, but if you are serious about pursuing a full or part sponsorship model then read on.

    You write several columns in childrens publications and are an author - have you contributed to any teaching industry magazines? Or parents magazines? Who generally advertises in these publications? Start by approaching them.

    While they might benefit from a traditional sponsorship model, more and more companies in the early learning industry are getting a higher sense of corporate social responsibility. Your ideas, songs and music might sit very well within "do good" campaigns - why not offer your creatives as an accessory to their work, rather than allowing them to sponsor yours?

    Do bear in mind, tho, that with the regular sponsorship model, flashing brands and products in front of kids can sometimes be controversial depending on how you handle it and which companies you allow to sponsor your work. From your attitude I can see that you're very in tune with your audience, and I wouldn't expect you to suffer from this. However, why not avoid this entirely by targetting your sponsorship efforts on one specific group, such as the educators.

    I hope this helps!
  • Posted on 5/26/2008 at 1:30 PM Author
    Thanks all for your answers and for your input. However, I am already doing much of what everyone suggested and was looking for a few new ideas. There are several websites, including one of the two I own that offer snippets of the music, I track how long people are on my site, where they are coming from etc. and although I currently have a blog linked to my site, will be doing my own blog directly from on my site. I will also be offering advertising opportunities on my site for businesses I deal with that are trying to reach my target market. I am aware of the controversy of flashing brand names in front of my client and am very cautious about who I will use and who I currently use to sponsor my performances. Included on my website already is a calendar of where I will be performing or offering classes to the community as well as notes about different blogs and magazine articles that I contribute to. Of all the pages on my site, the calendar gets the most hits each week which indicates to me a good place for advertisers to add a link or a button. I already sell my products at performances and continually survey and have others survey my customer base to find out comments, criticisms, songs and ideas they are looking for etc. as well as test out my songs and story ideas to tweak them and make sure they work with the children and parents. I also have aligned myself with a children's book illustrator who does my illustrations thus my need for a sponsor to get the book printed and published as well as spoken with several animators to bring the songs and stories to life (animation is a lot more costly then a children's book). I have also already aligned myself with several charities providing them with performances and 10% of the sale from each CD and Book.(Yes, autism is a great cause as are the children's crisis centers, domestic abuse shelters, etc.) I also have tapped into the educational market through my workshops and seminars as well as school visits with my performances and belong to several of the national organizations for education for the young, speaking at conferences, etc. So, thank you so much for taking time to respond. I guess what Jay said "focus on the sales themselves" is probably the most important thing I received from your responses although I still don't feel as if I have received new ideas or the information I was looking for So will leave this open a little longer. happynotes
  • Posted on 5/29/2008 at 8:30 PM Author
    Thank you for taking time to respond to my question and for all your comments. Much appreciated. Happynotes
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