How I get sponsors for my #nerdy adventures ...

Jan 17

It is a very interesting time to be alive right now due to the economic shift and overall facelift in advertising. We are at GROUND ZEROOOOOOO for advertising. The death of print media brought life to social media, and it blows my mind how much money people are throwing at it. Literally. Blows my mind. *bang bang ... blood and guts* Dude, some of my friends have charged upwards of 10K for a Twitter page with custom background and very very very basic FBML (Facebook mark up language) landing page on a Facebook like page. Really? 10 GRAND for something I can do in my sleep?? I'm not naming names, but so many people that I know just hose people for the cash, set them up with something that they have NO idea how to run - and created no established value in their client's mind which leaves them with a poor taste in their mouth about social media as a whole. (Again, not everyone ... there are plenty in this space that do wonders, but a few sips of sour milk are enough to make people not want to go back.)

I fucking love social media. I think it is very literally the greatest thing ever ever ever ever. Way to make getting a message out to the world seamless, and effortless. Dude, I'd be sitting on these social networks all day anyway ... haha! I LOVE running a website!! BAH!

All that being said, I want to get in shape. I won't associate any negative comments of oh my only if I lose x amount of weight, I would be THAT much happier. No frankly, it's not going to make me any happier, happiness comes from within ... but I just very literally sit behind a computer all day everyday, and I need an excuse to get off my ass. For real, for the last month or so, once a week I get woken up in my sleep because one of my big toes is tingly. Yep, circulation problems ... no bueno.

I tried getting a trainer a few months back, but coordinating schedules was just exhausting - I have no schedule ... I have no concept of time ... weird, but I just go with it, but sucky when it comes to coordinating something with someone else.

Being back in Hollywood, I went over to my old boxing gym today and asked them if I could place an ad on this site, and offer social media education and assistance (since right now, they have nothing) - in exchange for access to the gym, and boxing classes. Dude, I boxed for 3 years - and LOVVEEEDDD IT!! Not only does it get you in the best shape of your life, but it just alters your brain in ways I can't explain. The boxer's mentality is unlike anything I've ever experienced. Plus, getting to beat the shit out of something everyday doesn't suck either.

I remembered the name of the chickadee that handled the marketing, just because I used to chat with her all the time ... and just went in there with a piece of paper with bullet points on how many Facebook likes we have, twitter followers, foursquare friends, unique visits, alexa ranking, and previous sponsors with the return on their investment. I wasn't "pitching" to anyone else because frankly, I just really loved this gym - I didn't want to go anywhere else, because I know this works. She asked me if I do this full time, and I said absolutely! From head to toe ... to even things that I eat! Dude, I was so hungry one day that I just gave out pizza for my twitter buddy @pizzafusion. I livestreamed the entire thing, took a ton of pics, and made a fancy schmancy vid for them after:

Yayyyy for free pizza! Survived off of that for like a week. It was so rad, and I made SOOOOOOO many people aware of Pizza Fusion. People just ate it up, literally ... haha! Win win situation through and through.

But seriously, I was hungry ... I didn't have to beg on the street corner with a sign, I just got really clever and used twitter, and ustream to make it all happen.

I can't afford boxing classes right now, since um, a home would be nice first ... so I just barter by using the power of social media to educate. The best part is, they are all going to be so confident in using social media as a whole that they are then going to geek out and tell their friends about it ... and their friends friends and so on. It's so easy - but so many people just need help taking those first few steps, and having it broken down to them in very very VERY simple terms.

People will always resist something new because they don't want to feel stupid. I will tell you by reading this lady's body language today - her first instinct was to say no. She hears this 100000 times a day. What do I offer? Passion! That's it! I really know my shit, and you can't buy it yet because I'm establishing a market price for it. I went to THAT gym because I knew I loved it ... and I presented them with an offer they couldn't refuse. IT'S THE GREATEST TIME TO BE ALIVEEEE!!! There is no magic potion, no special wording ... I go to places I enjoy, and offer help on something I know a lot about! Period. End of sentence!

How could you do it? Build your personal brand, and take it all day by day. There is no standard business plan, I have no schedule of cold calling blah blah blah ... I just do it, and I am motivated everyday to do it because I genuinely enjoy it and really get off on seeing the results.

I'm stoked to says its looking really really REALLY good. I find out more later in the week and will let you all know. Dude, this guys boxing classes are SICKKKKK!! Your ass gets KICKED!! Cannot WAIT! BAHH!!

If you guys ever have questions on approaching sponsors, or anything social media related ... don't hesitate to drop me a love note. I don't know everything, clearly, but I have tried a lot of things and have a few notes on best practices.

Email: JenFriel@talknerdytomelover.com

Facebook: Facebook.com/JenFriel

Twitter: Twitter.com/JenFriel