At least twice a week, if not more, I get approached with a “great idea” which usually entails that I do something for free with one of my “professional abilities” so that some new community can grow. Rarely do any of the wonderful offers explain why they have so graciously selected me, nor is there any preliminary conversation. Or other times I get the “sponsor” request, where some one is looking for cash. Generally an email, note card or IM is sent my way, offering me a great opportunity. Just today I received this one”
Dear Potential Sponsor:
(Company Name Removed) is pleased to invite you as a sponsor for our upcoming music project. The purpose of this project is to allow Second Life musicians and real life musicians the opportunity to showcase their music free of charge, and also allow them to use our space as a live venue. This project will provide valuable resources to anyone who is a musician or anyone who intends to become a musician.
By sponsoring this project, your company will be promoted and held with the highest respect. Your company will help to provide a wide range of concerts/events for the Second Life population. It’ll also help us in managing our upcoming website.
As a partner, your company will gain vast exposure to a diverse population of over 1.3 million registered users in Second Life.
Age
• 18-24 (24%)
• 25-34 (37%)
• 35-44 (22%)
• 45+ (12%)Gender
• Male (58%)
• Female (42%)We believe your support will enhance this partnership and provide an effective resource to help strengthen and promote music in Second Life. With your support you can give thousands of talented musicians the opportunity to showcase their music.
Should you be interested in partnering with us, please feel free to contact me via email at (email removed) so that we can discuss this project further. I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Sincerely,
Name removed / Company removed
Then I get the pitch, or they ask for my assistance. All of this just freaking drives me nuts.
If the person had started by simply asking if I had time to chat, or some other just preliminary introduction, then I am more likely to want to provide some assistance. But just dropping a card and expecting me to respond positively in no way to approach anyone.
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