The Self-Eating Watermelon

By Kent Cummins, CMCE

How can you help prospective clients get the money to pay your full fee?

For more than 60 years, I have been using a technique which I call, “The Self-Eating Watermelon!” The concept was developed by myself and a few friends while I was an undergraduate at Louisiana State University (1961-1965), and I have continued using it throughout my career.

I think of the self-eating watermelon as any project which has the seeds of its success within the project itself. Specifically, I have used barter, fundraising, and sponsorship to breathe life into projects that might otherwise die on the vine.

Barter is trading products and services that you can provide for other products and services that you need. For example, I was asked to be the keynote speaker for a professional organization of printers. I have been involved in printing all my life, so I was the perfect candidate for this opportunity.

Except their budget was only about half of what I would (and should) charge as an experienced keynote speaker. Did I turn down the job? Reduce my fee? Refer someone else?

No, I negotiated the balance of my regular fee to be paid in printing services. I needed printing for advertising, for business paperwork, for specialty books.  For me, printing was as good as cash. And the commercial printer who provided the services was also happy, because every thousand dollars of printing that he provided for me only cost him perhaps about $500.

Be creative, and you can find products and services that you need that can be provided by the prospective client. Maybe they can provide professional photos and/or a high-quality video of your presentation. Maybe they have technology products that you can use. Maybe someone on their board owns a hotel or restaurant.

Maybe they can provide business services, or products that you could use as gifts for other clients. Maybe they will buy a copy of your book for each of the attendees. (Maybe they can provide printing.)

Fundraising was easy for me, because I am a magician. When a high school wanted me to help them put magic into their half-time marching band competition, they didn’t have the funds to pay my consulting fee.

But they had an auditorium and a band parents’ organization to sell tickets and program ads. I had promotional kits and the ability to put on a full-evening magic show. We split the profits, and they used their share of the profits to pay me for consulting.

Not bad!

You may not be an entertainer, but you can provide other services such as helping them organize a themed banquet, a training workshop, or even a garage sale. Be creative!

(Maybe you can negotiate with a magician to provide a fundraising magic show!)

Sponsorship was often the answer when a prospective client wanted my services but didn’t have the money to pay my fee.

For example, I wanted to produce a series of school programs which I called “The Magic of Learning,” helping kids appreciate their opportunities while in school. But the schools didn’t have the budget.

So, I got Kinko’s to provide all the printed materials and a local shopping center to pay my performing fees. The schools got the program without cost; Kinko’s got access to teachers who would use their services; the shopping center used the programs to position themselves as a community resource.

It was pretty easy to sell the school on a free program! And I got paid my regular fees.

The most important factor in putting together sponsorship packages is to remember that it is not what you want that matters. Figure out what the potential sponsor wants and emphasize the ways you will provide that.

Maybe they just want their name on the t-shirts. Maybe they want to be mentioned from the platform. Maybe they want attendees to get copies of their promotional materials. Maybe they want to run a video extolling their benefits.

Maybe they would love to have a song written about them. Maybe they would like you to provide a training program for their employees. Maybe they would appreciate articles for their newsletters or blogs. Maybe they would like a magic trick customized to their message.

I have provided all of these things, and more, at various events.

Again: be creative!

Think of all the things you know how to do, and how you can use them to build relationships with prospective clients.

One of the biggest gigs I ever had, for Dell Computers, was inspired by a small juggling workshop I did for Girl Scout leaders. (One of the leaders worked for Michael Dell.)

The next time you hear from a prospective client who doesn’t have the budget to pay your fees, don’t reduce your fee; don’t refer someone else, and do not tell them no!

Start growing your own self-eating watermelon!