Sponsorship Rate Sheet Anybody?

[pacopv]

Greetings from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico!

OK, there is a lot of talk about advertising, sponsorship, making money with podcasts, etc. and I wonder if anybody out there has anything specific going on in terms of sponsorships.

I've only released one podcast but several friends and associates have already expressed interest in being sponsors. My second program is in pre-production and will be ready this weekend. I've been thinking of offering sponsorships in the following fashion:

1. Site sponsors
These get a banner on each page of my web site and mention on each podcast (i.e. "this segment is sponsored by, etc.). They also get a link on my show notes. For these types of sponsors, I'd probably try to setup a yearly (prefered) contract, or at the very least, quarterly. And because my show is only so long, I'd offer a limited number of sponsorship spots, maybe 10.

2. Program sponsors
These would only get mention online and on the show notes of a SPECIFIC show and I would try to sell this on a per-show basis. (An idea here would be to think of topics to be covered in upcoming shows and then solicit sponsorship to businesses whose line is related to the upcoming topic...)

The questions:

1. How does this sound?
2. How much to charge? The challenging here is that there aren't many points of reference out there...

Any thoughts or comments on this?

Paco Ojeda

[jeffoest]

I just have a couple of thoughts to throw your way as I brain dump:

1) I think that ultimately you are right - you're not going to find much 'data' out there to base rate sheets on. Unfortunately you are probably going to have to help define the right market price point through negotiation...

2) since the podcast industry is rapidly growing, I might hesitate in creating yearly contracts at this point. Your listening audience could grow to 100x between now and 9-10 months out and so would the value you offer to a sponsor. Of course, that said, you can only offer what your market can bear.

3) since your podcast (which is a great idea I think , BTW) will probably draw a pretty decent percentage from USA and Mexico vacationers, you may consider a rate sheet based on off-season and on-season. Of course until you really get into this, you may not know if you will have a larger audience in season, but my hunch is you would (or maybe a bit before in-season starts for vacation shoppers out here)...

[pacopv]

Hola Jeff,

Thanks for chiming in! (I gotta get myself a nifty icon like yours...)

I agree with your point #2. But the flip side of that is that, I'm getting a lot of interest from prospective advertisers right now, and it would be easier to just get them while I can. Indeed, I don't know if six months from now I'm going to have to pay out of my nose for bandwidth. But that's part of the excitement of any type of new media, isn't it?

And how did you know Puerto Vallarta has a high and a low season? You've visited haven't you? ;-)

Actually, what really turns me on about doing my podcast is the ability to connect folks with the town during the six months that they disappear. I hope I'll fulfill this need successfully.

Again, thanks for chiming in.

Paco Ojeda

[jeffoest]

Hola Paco,

Glad to 'chime in' - I think that your podcast has some really interesting potential. I'm surprised that noone else has put an opinion in yet.

I hear you about the #2 concern - nice to have interest and you certainly don't want to turn it away! I suppose one thing you could do (in the name of 'braindumping') is to offer a rate that is tied to your subscription base. Again, though, I realize that could turn off your potential sponsors as well. Then again, I can see the flip side - get some sponsors locked in for a year, grow your podcast and be ready for some 'real' business in a year from now.

I could see you lining up deals with local hotels, online travel sites (expedia, travelocity, etc..) getting your content into as many traveler eyeballs as possible. You could gain a subscriber base and the online partners could gain a vehicle for marketing tours/trips to Puerta Vallarta....

Yes - I have been to Puerta Vallarta - charming town! Though it was a few years back now. I have worked in the travel industry for 16 years (reservation system side of it) and know very well the impact of in and out-of-season on the industry!

Cheers,

[RenoTahoeShows]

I sure am glad I found this topic.

I have been giving some consideration to advertising. Time and bandwidth don't come for free and neither does new equiptment if you want the show to continue to get better.

I am really surprised there has not been more feedback on this topic. Maybe everybody is still thinking about the "don't seel out to the man" theory of broadcasting.

Don

[pacopv]

I sure am glad I found this topic.

I have been giving some consideration to advertising. Time and bandwidth don't come for free and neither does new equiptment if you want the show to continue to get better.

I am really surprised there has not been more feedback on this topic. Maybe everybody is still thinking about the "don't seel out to the man" theory of broadcasting.

Don

I must say that, since my original post on this thread, I have found the MOST invaluable resource in the podcast put together by The Podcast Brothers, Tim and Emile Bourquin. They are the folks behind the upcoming Podcast and Portable Media Expo. Their weekly 20 minute podcast is about one thing only: how to make money with your podcast. I've gone back and downloaded every single podcast and there wasn't a single show from which I didn't get something useful. Not to mention the fact that they've been extremely generous in sharing their media kits, links, etc.

No, I don't have a specific dollar amount determined yet and (the good news is that) I have potential advertisers knocking at my door! But I certainly wouldn't be this close to coming up with a business model that works for me without the Berkwin Bros podcast.

Check them out at http://www.portablemediaexpo.com/audio.htm

Cheers,

Paco

[RenoTahoeShows]

Thanks Paco...

I downloaded a bunch of their shows to begin a study of just what has worked and all the other geat content they seem to have made available.

Don

[savehiphopdotorg]

thanks for the info above.. Just to add to the discussion, I run a hip hop podcast and website. I've been in discussions with several DJ equipment companies to have them become sponsors. This is a different direction than most people try to go into, but basically what it is, is that I asked for equipment donations in return for podcast sponsorship.

Maybe my next mix will be made with Numark cd-j's..

http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics/products/80/801246.jpg

[geeknews]

Being my show was one of the first to have advertisers months ago I really did not know what to charge I setup a rate sheet based on how big a company was. I did not want to charge $20.00 a show to a fortune 500 company. But you need to come up with a media kit like the folks at endurance radio did. They have a targeted audience and reportedly get up to $4000.00 per month.

I know my shows demographis as we ran surveys and had nearly 900 people respond geeting a sampling rate of about 8% of the number of unique IP's we are seeing each show.

I have come up with a new rate sheet that we will be publishing May 13th after our 64th show announcement. We think it is fair considering the demographics of our listeners. But it all boils down on what you are going to do for your advertiser.

How are you going to get them return on the dollar. Does your website have high page hits so they can get website exposure are you going to stick their ad in your RSS stream are you going to put together promotional packages are your listeners going to get something out of the ad aka promos. The list goes on you have to sell the sizzle of your podcast and you have to show them why spending a $1000.00 a month on your website will make them money.

If you have 1000 listeners and you charge a 100 dollars a month for an advertised the exposure cost is low enough and the risk of return is also small. One thing to consider though is this. Pepsi and big companies like that don't know how to write and advertising check for 100.00 they dont have a paypal account. So it all depends on who you are looking to connect to.

Food for thought as you are setting up your advertising tables

[mfnoffice]

Here's an idea,

This was given to me by a (Hip Hop DJ) Friend by the name of DJ Spice (Maryland). He suggested that, since we all are JUST like Radio Stations, we could sponsor a Under 21 Party or Over 21 Party complete with a DJ, Banner and Night Club.

He said that Night Clubs are always looking for reasons to host a party. They (the night club) make money off the Bar, the DJ and Podcaster make money off the door. Plus you could sell those Glow in Dark Bracelets or T-Shirts and make even more money.

If you did this once a month, you may make enough money and not have to have commercials. Furthermore, an outside Sponsor could even kick in some money for the Banner and the T-Shirts.

This idea isn't for everyone and I apologize for throwing it out there on this thread. But I think it could work for some of the Podcast's that utilize Music and highlight new artists.

But before you say "My Podast isn't about Music" look at my Genre "Public Safety! It's about Firefighters and Real life Situations. But the name is cool (so they tell me) and that's all you need to host one of these Parties.

Just a thought...Feel free to customize it to your situation.

Jim Goetz
Firehouse Radio

www.Firehouse.FM

[cybercooler]

One way to find out how much to charge is to ask. Come up with a product that you want to promote (in my case www.podcastingshirts.com ) and I went to some of the top podcastors and asked how much it would cost. It's an old trick sales people do. They call posing as the customer to find out a sale price, then cut your price in half.