Know-How Exchange : Other

jigneshreddy,

It would help to know more about your situation. Where is the college, what is college fest, why a magazine and so on.

however, your local microbreweries come to mind as potential sponsors. and you might even contact the majors - bud, coors etc of course you will need a compelling pitch, perhaps a video.

Also, the action sports brands, surf, skate, snow board might prove to be fruitful.

Steve

Also - don't forget local businesses outside the usual ease-of-walking radius (perhaps a mile away) that target the college demographic.

Dear Jigneshreddy19,

HARSH LESSON #1.
If you approach your potential sponsors in the same lame-arsed way you've approached your question you're never going to get anywhere.

HARSH LESSON #2.
You do not "get" sponsors. You romance them. You seduce them. You persuade them. You woo them. And you move heaven and Earth and offer them (within reason), the wind, the stars, and the moon to support you and your noble cause.

You make their exposure in your publication all about them and how they can provide tempting offers, generate leads, create new business, raise awareness, and drum up a starving crowd.

Then, once you've kicked off, you answer every one of the following questions and then you come back to this forum with your answers. Why? Because as it is, you're setting yourself up for failure. Which means your event, magazine, and "fest" will be a bloody shambles!

Harsh?

By George, yes!

But in order to help you and make you SHINE like the star you deserve to become, you've got to come up with more information. Otherwise, you'll crash and burn, taking your event and the good feelings of your colleagues, with you.

What college?
Where?
What festival?
Getting "festive" about what?
Celebrating what?
Aimed at whom?
When?
Where?
During what hours?
For what purpose?
Impacting whom (locals, students, faculty, police)?
Connecting your message or cause to what, who, where, why, and when?
What magazine?
What size of page?
Printed or electronic or both?
If it's electronic, downloadable or available from where?
Snail mailed as is, or in an envelope?
Free or for sale?
If it's sold, sold for how much?
If it's sold, available where?
Costing what to produce?
Written and edited by whom?
Designed how and by whom?
Content contributed and approved by what editorial board?
Taking ads from which groups, companies, or interests?
Not taking ads from which groups, and why?
With what political affiliations, if any, and why?
Serving which primary readership (age, income group, race, educational level, interests, gender)?
Offering what spaces to which advertisers? (size, location)
Taking artwork in what format?
Producing artwork for what additional cost?
Approval of ads by whom?
Why ought your advertisers to care?
Why ought they to advertise with YOU and not elsewhere?
At what cost?
For what size of ads?
With what distribution spread?
With what print run?
In colour or black and white or two colours?
Aimed at which sponsors?
Offering what services or products?
To benefit them how?
To benefit the event and magazine how?
For which group of students?
Studying what subjects?
Over what period?
In what income bracket?
To generate what feeling?
To last for what time period?
To be reinforced when?
To be reinforced with what frequency?
To sustain your message for what reason?
To turn what profit?
With production underwritten by whom?
For how much?
For how long (#of editions)?
To make a profit by when?
To remain profitable how?
To distribute such profits where, to whom, and with what reason or for what PR value?

And this is a SHORT list!

There are lots of other factors, but before you wade hip deep into the shark infested waters of offering advertising, it's vital that you understand what the hell you're doing, why you're doing it, who you're doing it for, and why.

I hope this helps.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA
Follow me on www.twitter.com @GaryBloomer