Newsletter: How to Sell Partnerships at Trade Shows 🤝 ; 25 Testimonial Statistics You Should Know 📈 ; Is Bill Gates Really a Billionaire Doing Good? 🤔
Who's had success recruiting new corporate partners at events like trade shows?
Anyone? Anyone?
It's not something I'm an expert on.
That's why I'm glad I came across this interview with Brian D'Erario, a partnership expert who's worked with several well-known publications, including Morning Brew.
He offered some solid advice we can use at the next trade show we attend.
💰 Trade show sponsors have money. Brian points out that companies spend tens of thousands and sometimes over $100,000 on trade show booths. In short, these businesses have cash and you're fishing in the right pond!
📚 Do your homework. Before you approach a booth, do some research on the company. Look them up on LinkedIn for recent news - a new contract, hire, or acquisition. Mention this in your opening conversation to show you're interested and plugged into their industry.
🗣 Talk to the right person. According to Brian, focus on marketing people first and salespeople second. Here's my suggestion on what to ask them...
"You have a good presence at this show, and I love how you are getting people to stop by and say hi. Do you ever talk about some of the causes your company works with or what you're doing to reduce your environmental footprint?"
✅ Assume nothing. In Brian's case, he collects business cards or immediately jumps on his phone to connect with people on social media. It's more important that you have their information than vice versa. Always keep the ball in your court.
🤝 Connect with the contact ASAP. For Brian, this means connecting with them on LinkedIn. He suggests contacting people within the first few days of meeting them. Wait a week or more and you risk letting a warm lead go cold.
Ok, Brian has had his say on how to sell at trade shows. What's your advice???
✍️ Partnership Notes
1. How to do cause marketing with a luxury car company and its superfans.
2. Stacy's Pita Chips is selling apple pies with a small cutout representing the tiny sliver of startup funding going to women founders.
(I wonder if they need someone to eat all these tiny slices? 🥧😋 I'm ready to give back!)
100% of the proceeds are going to a previous Stacy's Rise winner, Janie Deegan of Janie's Life-Changing Baked Goods.
Sounds like Janie is doing great work in the community - and she knows firsthand about being homeless. Still, the money is going to a business, not a nonprofit.
"Janie goes above and beyond in giving back to her community - providing second chance employment, teaching baking classes to underprivileged youth in East Harlem, and donating time and cookies to local community centers and homeless shelters."
3. The Salvation Army's annual red kettle campaign officially kicked off on Thanksgiving. This donation drive happens outside businesses, so it's definitely cause marketing, in my opinion.
The nonprofit aims for a comeback this year as donations have slid significantly since the pandemic. But it's not from a lack of trying.🎁 (🎁 = I'm a subscriber to this publication and am "gifting" you this article.)
"Not only can people drop cash, coins, and checks into a red kettle, but they can donate digitally with Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo, and Google Pay, as well as text donations to “KETTLES” or 51555. Cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and Bitcoin are also accepted."
🤑 Marketing Your Cause
1. 25 testimonial statistics you should know. Yes, testimonials drive revenue!
2. Should your nonprofit be advertising on...napkins? Some brands are seeing success with them. The QR codes are a nice touch!
3. The key benefit of traditional mail marketing. There are two good graphs here you can drop into your next board presentation.📊
😎 Cool Jobs in Cause
1. Director of Corporate Engagement, Fashion Institute of Technology, NYC ($140k)
2. Director of Corporate Engagement, Asian American Foundation, NYC ($175k)
3. Managing Director, Tech and Finance Partnerships, Save the Children, Remote ($108k - $147k)
🧠🍌 Brain Food
1. Is Bill Gates really a billionaire doing good? 🎁
2. More kids need this: Forest School. I wish I had spent more time in the woods as a kid. If I wrote a memoir, it would be called Petrified Waters: Why Joe Can’t Go Into the Woods.
3. The ten most expensive Christmas trees from around the world.🎄
