Raise a Dream

Speaker One-Sheets Are Still a Thing

As a professional speaker having presented to more than ½ million people around the globe, I can safely say I have tried many different speaker strategies and marketing approaches. One marketing tool I continue to use are my speaker one-sheets.

Why?

A speaker one-sheet is a quick glance summary of my expertise, topics, and information that professional event planners and conference organizers can refer to in their search for right-fit speakers for their events.

Event Swag Bags: To Swag or Not to Swag…

“Are we doing swag bags again?” is a question that many entrepreneurs, businesses, and nonprofit event coordinators are asking themselves when it comes to event strategies. Some are bringing bags back and others are a “heck no!”

Let’s look at the pros and cons I hear from event organizers and sponsors AND what I see as a speaker receiving many swag bags over the past 25+ years of speaking at conferences, events, and corporate functions.

Collaborating To Help Parents Of Children With Cancer: Laura Lane

I love sharing Laura Lane’s story, especially in September, which is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Laura has a beautiful and powerful dream she is raising, and collaboration and sponsorship are helping her fuel the dream and make a bigger impact. Laura has been collaborating to help parents of children with cancer through a special planner called Stronger Daily Planner for Cancer Moms. Based on her experience as a parent of a child with cancer, she wanted to help other parents navigate this incredibly stressful, overwhelming, and emotional journey. This planner helps parents do this.

The Stronger Daily Planner for Cancer Moms is a daily / weekly / monthly tracker for all things childhood cancer related. It includes a recommended resource section, helpful tips from other cancer moms, and inspirational quotes. Please check it out HERE; it’s a great way to show your support during National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

Collaborating to Impact School Children Globally: The Earth Group

Collaboration can help you make a bigger impact, reach more people with your message, and spark so much more fun in your projects! As a perfect example of collaborating to impact school children globally, I LOVE my friend's company, The Earth Group. I met founders Matt Moreau and Kori Chilibeck around 2014 through a mutual friend who knew that I would love the way that Earth Group makes a difference around the world and in the community where we all lived.

Community Spotlight: Collaborating to Impact School Children Globally

Let me just share a little bit about The Earth Group, why I love what they have created, and how I have thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with them on projects.

Leave Behinds Can Help Prospective Sponsors

When you’re connecting with sponsors in person, a “leave behind” can take many forms such as a document, pamphlet, a gift, and the list goes on. The key to a leave behind that doesn’t get tossed is to ensure it is relevant to what you met about or discussed, professional, and has a call to action. Sponsorship decision-makers meet and talk to many people who are looking to engage them as partners and sponsors, so how do you compile and design leave behinds that stand out?

What to Include in Your Leave Behind:

The leave behind should NOT be a proposal, a deck of sponsorship levels, or an ask for money. It is more an information piece that helps a prospective partner remember who you are and what your project is about. You can introduce the idea that you’ll provide a leave behind as you’re getting to know prospective sponsors.

5 P's of Project Success

Bringing projects to life, collaborating with businesses, and securing sponsorship in support of the dreams you are raising and projects you are working on will be supported by a plan. A great way to remember some of the important collaboration, sponsor relations, and project planning tasks is to think about the 5 P's of project success.

What Are the 5 P’s of Project Success?

In short, the 5 P’s of project success stand for:

1
Products
2
Pricing
3
Promotions, Processes & Systems
4
Publicity & Media
5
Plan

Let's run through these P by P.

Collaboration on Contracts

Collaboration is a powerful way to increase the chances of being successful in competitive bids on contracts, responding to RFPs (Request for Proposals) or creating opportunities. I have been collaborating on projects and in my business since 1997 and have engaged in collaboration on contracts more than once.

Collaborating on Costs

One of the first times I did a large-scale contract collaboration was about 27 years ago. One of the nonprofit organizations that made numerous referrals to my company (Hammond International Inc.) collaborated on hosting a community conference to bring Dr. James T. Reese to the community to speak on stress management.

Wins & Celebrations: Carrie West, John Westhaver & Zaneta Johns

Good news stories are inspiring and sometimes ignite others to bring their dreams and purpose to life. We love hearing how people in our Raise a Dream community are making a difference, putting their goals and impact projects into play, and—of course—raising dreams.

Throughout the year, we put a call out to our Raise a Dream community to let us know about:

A success or something they are celebrating
Their most helpful tip or action strategy from one of our Raise a Dream trainings (and how this impacted their results or made a difference)

To kick off 2024, we bring you another fantastic client spotlight. Please enjoy what Carrie, John, and Zan have to share… I know this sure inspired me!

6 Ways to Find Podcasts for Guest Speaking

Entrepreneurs, speakers, and authors often ask, "How do I find podcasts for guest speaking opportunities?” Being a guest on podcasts is a great way to share your expertise, have listeners get to know you, and give you shareable content on social media. Speaking in front of new audiences helps you to build your business brand and, depending on the podcast, may provide opportunities to promote your events, services, and products. Being on podcasts can have BIG benefits for sponsors, brand partners, and collaboration champions. Keep reading to the end to find out why!

Why Audience Data Impresses Sponsors

Knowing your audience well helps brand and collaboration partners & sponsors make their decisions on potential sponsorship and collaboration initiatives. To know your audience well, collecting helpful audience data and feedback is important. After all, sponsorship decision-makers want to ensure that the dreams you are raising and the projects you are bringing to life are a fit for their brand’s objectives and marketing goals.

Questions to help you better understand your audience...

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All Posts by Charmaine Hammond