I realized, while listening to a riveting episode of the Chris Do podcast, I have been misplaying the monetization side of my career. I’ve done a pretty terrible job looking for financing. I’ve spent so long trying to make money myself, to fund myself, that I never considered asking for cash directly.
I also spent the bulk of my life being sales aversive. Now I’m a salesperson and I’m much more comfortable asking for things. Rejection is really nothing but a bruised ego on its worst day. Most of the time rejection is just a part of life, worth embracing as you chase the wins.
Turns out, if you ask for money, the right way, people may just say yes. Chances are you are going to get a lot of negative responses before you find out the right value proposition. Chances are you will also get nothing if you don’t ask.
Present your value proposition clearly
When you approach a business, your friends or the government for funding, it boils down to a really good ask. I already wrote up a blog describing a foundation for getting grants/sponsorships, the quick version is do your homework and be prepared.
You need to really understand your value proposition. It’s on you to explain what the person giving you money will actually get out of supporting you. Say you are a rapper, showing up to rap is not anything special. There are a lot of people who can do that. When I was throwing shows I consistently had people mad at me because I couldn’t book them, there are thousands of Montreal rappers and very limited slots.
The way supply and demand works, you need to increase your value to compete for those limited slots. Usually when it comes to getting booked this is done via nepotistic connections and schmoozing or it is done with money. While that may manifest as pay for play, it can also be that you’ve built up your brand so strong your name alone on the flyer will bring people. There are only a handful of people I know in the scene with that skill. Most of us are begging for sales and it shows at the show.
I don’t have great answers for ticket selling yet. However I’m sure with creative videos, and embracing the corny we’ll make a bit more of a splash than in the past. I do have more clarity on showcasing value propositions with The Trainman Report, our super local NDG news based podcast.
I plan on walking into businesses and asking them to buy a 25$ sponsorship slot. We don’t have viewers, the value I am going to pitch them is they can be a seminal investor in a budding media enterprise. Where down the line, when we do have a sizable amount of viewers, that brand can advertise with a friend rate.
The main pitch though, is charity. We know that businesses can afford 25$ for nothing. It’s on me to show them this particular nothing is an investment in NDG culture, which big picture, is good for all of us. Now, the value comes from helping a neighbour (altruism feels good) with the hopes of future sales down the line (when the podcast gets numbers and we shout them out for free).
Make your pitch make sense
Once you figure out the main hook and angle of your pitch, you then need to go one step further and customize it to the people you are pitching. This sounds simple, but most people overlook it. Now spamming folk is fine, but you need to be a little intelligent with it. Before I even talk to a prospect on the phone I check reviews, I make sure I know the location and am familiar with the vibe of the restaurant.
When you approach businesses, you will need to show them that you took the time to look into who they were. In a lot of ways this is like dating. You can spam the same message to a hundred girls and maybe one or two will be down, this is an inefficient strategy. Plus girls will screenshot you and share with their friends.. You can also stalk their socials, find out what they are into and discover some common ground between the two of you. This tells the person you are trying to seduce (for sex or for money) that they are special. No one wants to feel like a random ho.
For real though, check out the company’s website. Go see if they donate to charities. Double check what social positions the brands take publicly. Try and figure out what they care about, then you just need to show them how working matches well with their priorities.
When we think about my NDG news podcast, I will definitely appeal to the lack of local media. The truth is, to grow we need money. Showing how we can promote NDG businesses on our platforms, to our NDG audience creates a link to value. I will appeal to a sense of community, explain what the money we make will be used for and how big picture advertising with us will help that business.
A good approach for personalization will be to create a pitch deck that gives examples of what an ad-read for that business would sound like. Those examples would remain unique to each business.
The power of planning and preparation
Over the next few months I have a lot of writing ahead of me. I need to document all of the work we do. Then I need to figure out what each brand needs to grow. Once the current state and future state are mapped out, I’ll create a wish list of things I need.
While people may one day just give me money to make art all willy nilly, that’s not how it usually starts. At first you need to show people how much money you spend on art. I think my costs are at like 2500$ a year just to pay for all the subscriptions to keep everything online. It’s not free to put your podcast on Spotify (when they are long AF)
Then there are growth costs. Merchandising overhead, travel costs (for PRSPCTVS) and additional manpower are some examples. I need to be able to show on paper the line items for every expense and justify why we need it. There should be a clear link from each line item to return on investment. By going through that process, you show people who may give you money that the money will go towards something.
Far too often people donate to art projects for it to go nowhere. The various Kickstarter Nightmare series across YouTube can show you what I mean. Even locally, a lot of us, myself included, have a litany of failed promises behind us. I have a beat that was gifted to me, I wrote a song over it. Then I lost the lyrics and finished that rewrite and still didn’t record it. That beatmaker isn’t going to be so likely to give me a beat in the future considering my turnaround time.
In order to get people to invest, you need to convince them you know what you are doing. The only way to do that is to plan, and then showcase follow-through. I can’t wait till my life is in order.
Live Long and Prosper Everyone
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