By Poornima Vijayashanker
I always enjoy receiving emails from readers like you, and this week I received one from, Erin. I’d like to share Erin’s email to me with you because you might have faced a similar situation.
Erin wrote:
Hi Poornima,
I’ve been following Femgineer for awhile now. I’ve read your book and enjoy watching FemgineerTV. Thanks for taking the time to create such helpful content.
I also want to strike out on my own, and build products like you have. But it feels like it would be a really lonesome endeavor. Plus I worry that no one will believe in what I’m doing.
How do you get people to believe in you, and support the work you’re doing both emotionally and financially?
Sincerely,
Erin
Erin’s sentiment is natural. I know I’ve had moments in the past where I began projects, and then halfway through the project felt lonesome and overwhelmed by everything I needed to bring the project to life.
Last year, I decided that I wanted to write my first book. Having never written a book before, I didn’t know what was involved. I made a list of all the things I didn’t know how to do like: how to create print copies, how to design a layout, find an editor, etc.
Then I looked at the project in whole, and immediately become overwhelmed.
Instead of getting to work, I popped in one of my favorite teeny movies: 10 Things I Hate About You.
There’s a scene in the movie where Joseph Gordon-Levitt and David Krumholtz come up with the idea to pay Heath Ledger to date, Julia Stiles. They think it’s marvelous idea, and then realize they have no money!
David then has a lightbulb moment, where he says, “Yeah, well, what we need is a backer.” Joseph then proceeds to ask what a backer is, and David responds, “Someone with money who’s stupid.”
That’s when I realized I needed a backer!
Since I’m not in a teeny movie, I needed someone who was smart, not stupid, who had a vested interest in my success.
Start with people who already support you
I began meeting with my closest friends and told them what I was doing. I shared with them why I believed I needed to write a book, and what I needed help with.
While none of them had written a book themselves, that didn’t stop them from helping me. One friend recommended someone she knew who was offering editing services while others suggested printers and designers.
I was slowly starting to get the resources I needed to bring the book to life.
Reach out to people whose mission is aligned with yours
While it was wonderful to have my friends believe in me, I needed others to believe too.
I wanted to find people who would help market the book to a wide audience.
I was also looking for sponsorship to cover the print costs.
I started out by making a list of about a 100 companies that I thought would be interested, had my assistant look up their contact info, and then proceeded to send them all a short email explaining introducing Femgineer, the book, and ask if they’d be interested in offering a small sponsorship.
But we didn’t email them just once, we proceeded to email them a few times until we got a clear response.
Out of the 100, 15 people actually responded to one of our emails.
I hopped on a call with each person. I started the conversation out by asking them about their company values, goals, and what caught their attention about Femgineer.
Instead of just asking for the sponsorship outright, I crafted an offer, emphasizing how I could showcase them in the book, and how it would be aligned with their company’s values and goals.
I ended up convincing 7 companies to sponsor and help market the book to their audience.
Those who said no either didn’t have a budget or just didn’t think the project was aligned, and that was fine. I wanted people who believed and were willing to back the project.
Here’s what I learned:
- Tell people why you believe in your project: they need to know you’re passionate about the work you’re doing.
- Find alignment: while people want to support you, sometimes they just can’t because it’s not a good time or they have a conflict. So it’s important to find those who are aligned.
- Don’t just ASK, craft an OFFER: know what you want, but also know how it can benefit the person you’re asking.
We all need backers to believe in us and our ideas in order to bring them to reality.
So who’s got your back? And how did you convince them to support you? Let me know in the comments below!
