Cristian Palma, Founder of Off the Cuff, on Effectively Networking to Land Brand Partnerships

If you’ve ever heard the quote “your network is your net worth” and thought to yourself, “I’m tired of hearing this cliché quote”, let me reassure you, this is not cliché at all. Your network can significantly impact your net worth encompassing income, assets, and more. Your determination to place yourself in the right environments and surround yourself with driven people will position you for both financial and social success. Cristian Palma, Founder & CEO of Off the Cuff, a storytelling platform giving people their flowers, is a prime example of this.

Get to Know Cristian!

• Cristian is a creative entrepreneur, speaker, storyteller, and the visionary behind OFF THE CUFF. With a noteworthy 7+ year career in media, tech, and brand partnerships, he launched OFF THE CUFF to spread love and gratitude, emphasizing the importance of appreciating people while they are still here.
• Through partnerships with industry giants like Samsung, Shopify, Soho House, ADCOLOR, MLB, and others, he continuously shapes the success of his community by fostering connections and safe spaces for powerful storytelling.
• Drawing inspiration from his grandmother's narratives, Cristian empowers the next wave of leaders through his content and live experiences. His work has been spotlighted in numerous articles, blogs, and most notably, his interview with Pix11 reaching millions of viewers to keep giving people their flowers.

While you may have read his accolades and felt a sense of inspiration, the legacy he is building can significantly be attributed to the network he has accrued over the course of his career. Networking is a personal skill; it’s your ability to leverage being your authentic self and establishing authentic relationships to use them for both business and personal. In this article, we are focusing on its use in business, particularly, as a business leader aiming to attract new brand partnerships for revenue growth.

Ideal space to network for this pursuit? Events! Below, Cristian walks us through his pre-, during, and post- event networking strategies for landing brand partnerships.

What To Do Prior to the Event

Where are you in this process?

Spend time with yourself to fully grasp where you are, currently, in business and where you’re headed.

Who do you want to partner with?

Create a strategic list of potential partners that have done something cool and speak to the same audience you target in your business. This can also be a list of potential partners who, although may not have the same exact target audience as you, they may share a very similar mission and vision as your company. Consider also listing out strategic brand partners who have held experiences and activations that you would like to be a part of. For this specific list of companies, you should list 1-2 ideas on how you would: (1) Make impact at those activations (2) Resurface what they've done before but with your energy, your branding, your intent, and your communication.

What would a partnership with one of these companies look like?

Think through how you would approach this partnership, if awarded the opportunity. Oftentimes, we ask for things and fail to prepare for it. Do not be that person. You are walking into a room seeking to win something; be prepared for an effective follow-up plan.

Who should you be looking for?

Before attending any corporate event, use tools such as LinkedIn to find potential brand managers, event managers, and/or partnership professionals at those companies. Being able to know their names and faces will make it easier for you to scout them out at an event.

Mutual Connections

Now that you know who they are, you need to further explore who your mutual connections are. This is key because finding mutual connections with these brand, event, and partnership managers that you do not know, will present an opportunity for a warm introduction where you will no longer be a complete stranger to them. People who know you want to help you thrive and win; you must put them in a position to help you when in need, especially when it comes to growing your business. As they say, “Closed mouths don’t get fed.”

How to search for the right contacts.

If you can’t find a mutual connection, try to use tools such as Zoominfo to find the manager’s email; then, cold email them. Introducing yourself prior to the event gives you something to reference when you potentially meet them in person.

What To Do During the Event 

Scout the room for the brand managers, event managers and partnership managers referenced in the above checklist.

You now have some familiarity with who these people are. Now, it’s time to pounce. In addition to these professionals, you should also consider trying to meet brand ambassadors. They or their management already works with the brand manager, so if they like you, they may be willing to share a contact or make a warm introduction. Reminder: Being willing to meet with other brand ambassadors and company professionals is key because the professionals with the roles you are seeking to work with may not even be at the event you’re attending; you’re just hoping they will be.

If you are unable to find the event, brand and partnership managers, be willing to meet other people in the room.

While conversing with these fellow industry professionals, let them know why you are in the room and that you are hoping to meet a particular employee at the company. They may be willing to make a connection.

Let’s say you do get lucky and find the person you need in the room.

Remember: brands want to work with you but want to know what you bring to the table. You need to understand how these brands measure success so that your offer is a mutual win for both companies: yours and theirs. These measurements are typically called KPI’s (key performance indicators). This means considering the following:

• What You Gain: Exposure to the partnered brand’s audience and access to a specific budget. Those are your KPI’s.
• What the Partnered Company Gains: Exposure to your audience (brand awareness), increase in traffic to their physical/digital store (increase in sales). These are just two potential requests that they may have. It is very important to ask the partnered brand what it is they need to drive business success and find a way to fit yourself into that plan. You need to create an event or idea that caters to their success metric.

What To Do, After the Event

Follow-up

Immediately follow up within 24 to 48 hours with a personalized email expressing gratitude for speaking with you at the event.

Promote Yourself

Attach your media kit or any relevant materials to emails.

Make Yourself Relevant

Use a subject line that includes the event name or a personal touch to make the email more engaging. Examples include:

• If you met the brand, event, or partnership manager; Subject line: “[Name], it was a pleasure meeting you at [Event Name]”
•  If you did not meet the brand, event, or partnership manager. However, someone gave you their contact and you plan to cold email them; Subject line: “OFF THE CUFF x [Company]: Event Collaboration” 

Be Consistent

Maintain a polite and persistent approach in subsequent follow-ups, demonstrating your continued interest in collaboration.

Attempt to Re-Engage

In case they take a while to respond, share your ongoing successes, partnerships, or relevant achievements since your last interaction with them in your follow-ups. Here are a few examples of what this can look like:

• “Hey [Name], kindly following up. Would love to kick off an intro with you and your team to discuss a few partnership opportunities that align with our shared mission.”
• “Hey [Name], Since we last connected, we recently partnered with  [Company] and drew in [Metric of Success]. We would like to do the same for you.”

Follow these checklists and you will be setting yourself up for success when it comes to landing a brand partnership. Now, keep in mind. None of this is easy. There are a series of events that can “go wrong” or can be discouraging. Here are a few to keep in mind:

Challenges, Pre-Event

• Challenges may arise in finding a consistent point of contact due to workforce changes (layoffs) or shifting roles within the organization.
• Acknowledge that sometimes your trusted advisors or advocates may no longer be available, requiring the establishment of new relationships.
• Be prepared for potential setbacks, such as bounced emails or people being removed from communication chains.
• Humility is crucial – recognize when it might not be the right time for a brand to take on new partners, and be patient for your opportunity.

Challenges, During the Event

• Potential issues during the event include not being adequately prepared with business cards or failing to do thorough homework. Don’t let this be you. 
• Understand that not every connection will be smooth, and some individuals may be more strategic and data-focused, requiring a more well-prepared pitch from you.
• Learn from tough questions on the spot, and use them as opportunities for growth and improvement in the future. 

Challenges, Post-Event 

• Leaving without established connections and feeling like the experience provided no valuable insights
• Pitching efforts may not always result in positive outcomes – budgets might be pooled, or there may be no response.

Ultimately, you want to:

• Embrace these challenges as learning experiences, preparing for the next pitch and viewing them as redirections to personal and professional growth.
• Reflect on each opportunity, understanding that setbacks are opportunities to refine your approach and enhance your skills as an entrepreneur, creative, and storyteller.

Your next partnership is just a few conversations away. Get out there and continue building those relationships. Success is on its way.

Interested in connecting with Cristian? You can find him on the following platforms:

• LinkedIn
• Personal instagram
• OFF THE CUFF’s instagram
• OFF THE CUFF’s Youtube