9-26-14
11:00am
Well, here I am. I’ve fleshed out my business plan as far as I can. Business Plan? For music? That’s right! If I intend to make music my business, I have to treat it like one. So I’ve created a business plan using an online template. There’s a lot of them, and all seem to follow the standard format. You just fill in the blanks. But, of course, you have to think about who you are, what your music is about, and who you think will like your music. If you already have your music up somewhere online that provides analytics you can get some valuable information about who is listening. If you’re already performing, you can think about who is coming to your shows. You also have to think about what you want to achieve with your music — what your goals are. Anyway, the templates provide you with a pretty easy-to-follow road map. A business plan just helps you ask the right questions in a structured way, and on the other end of it, you end up with a thoughtful idea of how to proceed. Plan your work, then work your plan — right?!
But, now I am at the Financials section — and it is completely blank. Why? Because I’m constantly putting all this effort, time and money into creating music, so I could certainly fill in the expense side — but who want to just look at the expense side. It’s time to see a return! I’d rather work on developing my revenue plan first. Then, encouraged, I’ll come back and do expenses and revenue projections.
After thoughtful consideration, I’ve decided music sponsorship is going to be my primary approach. You can see my thought process at Music Sponsorship.
So — as I said, here I am! It’s time to get started on my DIY music sponsorship journey!
Yes, I’ve created my overall business plan — but now I need to create a specific sponsorship plan. I’m going in with the assumption that sponsorships are another performance, and have to be executed from start to finish as flawlessly as hitting a high note. I can only chew one bite of the elephant at a time, and I only get to focus on this in between keeping all the other balls in the air to keep my life going. Ahhh, but isn’t that just the life of a musician, well, any type of creative really, right? Unless you already have a “sponsor”! Well — I don’t, so push forward.
I’m starting with a search of “music sponsorship” on the internet. It’s interesting what comes up. There are a few websites trying to give a quick and dirty checklist of how to get sponsors for your music — and some of the tips are helpful. I’m just concerned they’re not comprehensive enough. There are a couple consultant type of websites. It looks like these folks are hired for big bucks by high-end non-profits and brands — but from looking over their websites, you can quickly see the gap between trying to get small, local sponsors (the quick and dirty checklist sites) and trying to get large brands to sponsor your music. Reviewing sites geared for those seeking to partner with large brands, it is emphasized again and again that, while sponsorship is now viewed as more valuable than any other type of marketing, including advertising, because it can get a brand “elbow to elbow” with their target market, it is also a whole new playing field on a whole different level. Major brands have high expectations. They want to achieve multiple objectives, integrate sponsorships across a myriad of marketing activities and, more than anything else, they want to truly connect with their target markets. But I want major brands, even if it’s only one — that’s the level I aim to play on, so I’m game. I know I need a carefully constructed plan.
Well, back to juggling my life. More later…
2:00pm
I’m back, at least for a little while.
Okay, where was I. Oh yeah, developing a sponsorship plan. I want to play at the highest level, so that’s where my game needs to be. My music needs to be there and so does my sponsorship plan. I have to be able to demonstrate to a major brand how sponsoring me would deepen their connection with their target market. I need to be a two way conduit between my brand sponsor and our target market. I say “our” because I know we have to share the same target market for any of this to work. I need to know that my music attracts the same audience a brand is targeting. It has to be a match. Once I’ve determined that it is a match, I now have to realize that rather than just getting in front of that target market, a brand needs to be able to add visible value to my audience’s experience in order to meet their objective of actually becoming my audience’s brand of choice. On the other side of that coin, the audience has to get a meaningful benefit, no matter how small, from the sponsorship being in place, in order for both sides to win. Then, when both the brand and the audience win — I win!
I think it is valid to approach creating a sponsorship plan similar to creating a business plan. After all, in an broad view organizational chart, they will be connected together. The compass that initially guides a business plan, and must guide a sponsorship plan as well is a mission statement. So I’m first going to create a mission statement for my sponsorship efforts. Oh wait, I already did! When I think about it, that’s exactly what my Music Sponsorship page is! Done!
Okay, next I need to outline my overarching modus operandi for seeking sponsorships, then we’ll gradually get more detailed with a strategy before devising the actual systems and tools I’ll be using.
I’ll save that for next time…time to rehearse!
DIY Music Sponsorship Journal – 9-26-14. Eliyora Entertainment LLC. Ever Entertainment® © Paradunai LLC. All international rights reserved. All trademarks property of Paradunai LLC. All personas, concepts and original songs created and performed by Sherese Chrétien.
