Going Solo

I’m fallen a bit behind on introducing our sponsors for Going Solo Leeds, and as you can see in the sidebar or on the Sponsors page, the list is growing fast.

I’d like to start by pointing out some of our recurring partners.

Expectnation

Expectnation were our first partner for Going Solo Lausanne, and I have to say that all through the preparation of the two events, Edd Dumbill (the brains behind the machine) has offered support going way beyond the normal “tech support” one would expect in such circumstances. So, thanks Edd, and very happy to have the opportunity to use Expectnation and contribute in a small way to making it an even better service.

SmallBizPod

If you remember well, last time around Alex Bellinger of SmallBizPod recorded some great interviews of the Going Solo speakers. This time, Alex will actually be present at the conference and interview freelancers during the day. I’m really looking forward to having him with us!

TheNextWeb

Famous for their “Men in White”, TheNextWeb are with us again this time. A last-minute incident prevented them from being present in Lausanne, but we’re confident we’ll be seeing coverage of our Leeds event on The Next Web blog!

If you’re interested in becoming a sponsor, we still have some sponsorship positions open.

There are also sponsorship opportunities for individuals (not just companies) – there has been a lot of positive feedback about the idea, but we’re still waiting to see who will actually take us up on the offer! 😉

Whether you generously want to support the Going Solo conference or are looking for an opportunity to make your name known, you can now become an individual sponsor a little more elegantly than by sending PayPal money to an e-mail address. (Read the initial announcement.)

We now have buttons for you, and a few tweaks.

Tweak #1: the £200 and £500 packages now include an opportunity to provide business cards that will be added to the attendee packages (being a sponsor is about promoting yourself, isn’t it?)

Tweak #2: you can specify which area of Going Solo you would like to sponsor in priority. There is food, speakers, conference materials, and event organisation to choose from (and also “I don’t really care” if it’s the case).

Here’s what it looks like:

• Name (+link to personal website) on Going Solo site
• Personal slide in the “Thank You” slideshow presented at the event
• Opportunity to provide business cards in attendee package (for £200 and £500 options)

As an individual sponsor, you may also request discount codes or a free pass (for the £500 option). Ask for details.

Become an Individual Sponsor for £100

Become an Individual Sponsor (£200)

Become an Individual Sponsor (£500)

While I was at it, I did a little housekeeping and separated the page listing the sponsors and the instructions and information about the sponsorships.

For the curious, here are the discounts you can ask for when you become an individual sponsor (it’s not compulsive, so don’t be put off if you can’t use them — somebody else will take them). £100: two 15% discounts, £200: three 20% discounts, £500: 1 free pass and two 20% discounts.

Do you know anybody who would be interested in being an Individual Sponsor at Going Solo? Suggest it to them, and send them the link to the individual sponsorships sign-up page. I’m around to answer any questions, of course.

Update: below is the original announcement. Some things may have changed. You should visit the sponsorships page for up-to-date information.

Yesterday, a friend of mine asked if Going Solo was offering any individual sponsorships. I was a bit taken aback at first, but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a good idea.

Going Solo is about people. It’s about individuals. Most of the time, it’s about people building a personal brand. So, it would make a lot of sense for Going Solo to allow individual people to be sponsors too.

As an Individual Sponsor, you of course get a chance to show your support for a great event and benefit from the warm fuzzy feeling that comes with it (and that’s important) — but it doesn’t stop there:

• your name (with link to personal website if desired) is listed as an Individual Sponsor on the sponsors page and in the sidebar
• you will be personally thanked along with the other people who have contributed to making Going Solo what it is in the ‘thank you’ slideshow displayed during the conference

Being an Individual Sponsor also allows you to ask for discount codes to give away, if you know people who might benefit from them. This is completely optional, of course.

So, this is what the package officially looks like:

Individual Sponsor – £100, £200, £500

• Name (+link to personal website) on Going Solo site
• Personal slide in the “Thank You” slideshow presented at the event

As an individual sponsor, you may request discount codes or a free pass (for the £500 option). Ask for details.

I’m going to set up a few shiny buttons to make it easy to sign up for this sponsorship, but until I do that, you can simply PayPal the amount of your sponsorship directly to steph@going-far.com and e-mail me at the same address if you have questions, would like discount codes, or (who knows) would like to discuss a different sponsorship amount.

You can now buy your sponsorships directly through Paypal, with the help of a few handy buttons on the “How to Sponsor” page.

I’m really excited about the fact that we’re giving individual people the opportunity to benefit from Going Solo’s visibility by associating themselves to the event. I’m looking forward to seeing who jumps on the occasion!

If you’re a company, you’ll want to check out our micro-sponsorship offering if your budget is a few £100s, or our standard sponsorship packages if you have a more generous budget or want extra exposure and presence at the event.

Going Solo Lausanne was my first experience ever dealing with sponsorships. And I can tell you, for somebody who is not (but not at all) a salesperson, it was a bit scary. Thankfully I had Lily to help me out.

One of the things I realised the first time around was that we didn’t have an offering which was really suitable for startups or companies with really small budgets. So, for Going Solo Leeds, we added a £250 package which was specially designed for startups or micro-companies who want to be present at Going Solo but might not be able to afford a full sponsorship package (they range from £1,250 to £4,000 — but before deciding that’s a lot, check what’s in them ;-)).

Here’s what the micro-sponsorship package offers you for £250:

• Logo on Going Solo Website
• Logo slide in rolling slideshow presenting sponsors and partners on a screen in the lobby
• 2 special sponsor discounts for the event (30% off ticket price) or 1 minute presentation/video on screen in lobby (rolling)

One nice thing about the Old Broadcasting House, our venue, is that the lobby contains large display screens which we can make available to sponsors.

One of the screens will have a rotating slideshow of all the logos of our partners and sponsors (like we display them all on the website, in the sidebar and on the sponsors page). Some packages allow a customised slide rather than just a logo (check out the sponsorship offerings for details on that).

So, that’s what the second item in the micro-sponsorship offering is. As for the third, well, it’s a choice between two special discounts and a minute of screen time. But actually, it’s way more than a minute of screen time, because it will repeat throughout the day.

A second screen will be used to show a series of trailers, demos, screencasts, films or even slideshows (!), put back-to-back, and which will be on repeat all day. We plan on selling maximum approximately 30 minutes of screen-time total so that the number of repeats throughout the day and the lunch break is worth it. So, the micro-sponsorship offering gives a choice between two discounts or one minute of this screentime.

Screentime is also available as an “add-on” to any other sponsorship (£100 for the first minute, £50 per extra minute — max 5 min. per sponsor). Our offerings also include display tables (nicer than booths because you get more interaction with the attendees), podcast interviews and blog posts, the possibility to sponsor lunch or distribute goodies. Download the PDF detailing our packages and get in touch if you’d like to talk about them (we’re open to being creative, so if you have other ideas, we want to hear them).

• E-mail: sponsorships at going-solo dot net
• Phone: call Stephanie Booth on +41786254474 (GMT+1, CET)

Of course, I haven’t yet come to the meat if you’re a company thinking of becoming a Going Solo sponsor: the audience of the conference is very focused and engaged. We saw in Lausanne that all the people present were freelancers or thinking of becoming freelancers (and no one who just came to “browse” or check us out but were not really our target audience). As a result, there was a lot of interaction, a lot of personal engagement, and a great atmosphere. Everybody was really there to look for practical solutions to real issues.

So, Going Solo is really a unique occasion to contact such an audience. Anyway… There’s more information about all that in the PDF you’ve probably already downloaded ;-).

The event is in just over a month, so now’s the time to talk!

Wanted: sponsorship salesperson for Going Solo conference

Going Solo is looking for an enthusiastic salesperson to negotiate and finalise sponsorship deals. After a very successful first event in Lausanne, Switzerland, the conference is taking place again in Leeds, UK, on September 12th. There are plans to produce the event elsewhere in Europe and in the US.

Availability: as soon as possible
Remuneration: 20% commission on cash sponsorships
Profile: skilled in negotiating and closing sponsorship deals, knowledge of the tech/freelancing world a plus.

What we provide:

– leads (past sponsors and fresh contacts)
– sponsorship materials

What we expect:

– discuss and amend existing sponsorship offerings
– follow through to closure on provided leads
– other leads can also be explored freely.

If you’re interested or would like more information, get in touch with
Stephanie Booth (steph@going-solo.net, @stephtara, or steph-booth on
skype).

Cross-posted from CTTS.

Things are moving pretty fast here at Going Solo. With 6 weeks left until the big day, everything is starting to feel very real! We’ve put up a page with presentation of the conference for interested sponsors (Lily is currently talking with a bunch of interested companies, which is fun!), and I’m currently working hard on the programme, so that I can publish more information about the agenda, speakers, and precise sessions by the end of the week-end.

Keep your eyes open!