Okay, I know I don’t have a lot of writers that read this blog, but it could also apply to other professions. Back when I was setting onto the freelance path, I didn’t understand nearly as much about marketing as I wish I had and I’ve learned some hard lessons. On the other hand, the complexities of the topic is why a college degree in marketing exists so I shouldn’t feel too badly about my rookie mistakes since I have paid attention to my errors. Anyway, the point to this post is that measuring success of any marketing effort is difficult and unlike corporate giants, I have a small marketing budget. Now that we have become established in a community, one of the things that I feel is appropriate is for me to sponsor different events. Sometimes it’s with a “Curl Up and Read” basket for a door prize or silent auction. The other option is an actual sponsorship at a low level. That can be a little tricky as there are so very many events and I can’t sponsor all of them. Plus, many, many events are annual and once you start, you sort of have to continue.

My criteria has to balance potential return as well as connection. For example, if I am a member of an organization and we are having an event, it makes sense for me to be a part of it. Other times, it could be that a good friend is a member of an organization that I like and so that supports my friend and a good cause. In other cases, if an event and a bit of a windfall from a particular project coincides, then I like to use part of that money to promote a good cause. It would be nice if I could sponsor every event that I am  interested in, but we do live in the real world and it’s a part of making choices. If you are in a situation where you do need to “advertise”, sponsoring events might be a option to consider.