Next week, we'll be announcing a new Spend Matters Lead Sponsor. The slot that is opening up was taken before I could announce its availability to the Spend Matters community (we limit the number of lead sponsorships at any one time to 4, and those who are interested are starting to make themselves known ahead of time). If you'd like to find out more about opportunities for advertising and reaching one of the largest online procurement and supply chain communities drop our new head of sales, Wiliam (Bill) Busch, a line: wbusch (at) spendmatters (dot) com. And yes, there is a family relation (he's my father and probably the only Wharton grad selling Web 2.0 marketing programs). Bill will be happy to tell you about a number of new programs we're offering for those with specific budgets to drive lead generation, thought leadership and general brand and market awareness. And when Spend Matters lead sponsorship slots become available on the blog I will continue to let the community know -- and offer them up on a first come, first serve basis -- provided they've not already been spoken for.

- Jason Busch

I'm incredibly excited to announce that Corbus has signed up as Spend Matters' fourth Lead Sponsor. For those who don't know Corbus, they are a rapidly growing procurement outsourcing provider, but one with a significant twist. And that's the fact that they don't just specialize in indirect procurement outsourcing -- which they have a sizable practice in -- but also direct materials procurement outsourcing, a nascent but potentially huge opportunity in the broader Spend Management market. As I wrote about on Friday, I believe the direct materials procurement outsourcing market has tremendous potential, yet it's a wide open Blue Ocean opportunity without a significant number of players. In the coming weeks and months at Spend Matters, I look forward to continuing to cover the procurement outsourcing market and the types of value that providers like Corbus can deliver to manufacturers and services companies alike. I reckon that in an increasingly tough economic environment, procurement outsourcing adoption will accelerate, especially as companies look to move from fixed to variable cost structures and to lock-in cost savings while minimizing implementation risk.

- Jason Busch

Where do you think the majority of analysts and journalists turn to get their scoop on stories these days (especially if it involves solution providers in the sector)? If you guessed Spend Matters, you'd be right. Sponsoring Spend Matters is a chance to get in front of other influencers in the procurement and operations world as they're making their own editorial decisions on what angles to take on a story -- and who to cover and include in their own write-ups (or who to recommend in their short lists). By being first to the punch with candid analysis, Spend Matters has established itself as the go-to-source for objective commentary on stories involving providers in the sector. So don't toss good PR and AR money after bad. Get in front of scores of influencers by sponsoring Spend Matters and building your credibility not only with prospects and customers, but all of the other market influencers who you want to cover your organization as well.

- Jason Busch

Over on Sourcing Innovation, Michael Lamoureux might appear to be shaking the proverbial tin cup this weekend, trying to get sponsors. And I might appear to be doing the same thing on these pages, attempting to fill the fourth lead sponsorship slot on Spend Matters. Fortunately, for potential sponsors of either blog, neither of us are charity cases. Blogs are fast becoming the medium where practitioners, consultants, vendors and BPO providers turn to for quick hit analysis and opinion. We're a complement -- not a replacement -- to traditional media and analyst coverage. The recent stats -- which you can find on the right of this page -- speak for themselves.

So don't wait for the new calendar year to take action (which I know many folks are thinking about). Lock in without question what is the best deal going in branding, lead generation and thought leadership, lest the opportunity pass you by (Spend Matters is limited to four lead sponsors). Trust me, you won't be sorry. If you're on the fence and curious about some of the quantitative and qualitative benefits Spend Matters sponsors have realized to date, drop me a line. I'd be happy to share some anecdotes.

- Jason Busch

Despite a flurry of interest and a commitment that never materialized in a contract, no one has yet signed on the dotted line for the fourth Spend Matters lead sponsor slot which opens up this weekend. As an incentive to get the spot filled quickly, I'm announcing in this post that I'll offer to split the difference on pricing between the original sponsorship fees (which remained the same from 2004 until last month) and the new pricing if someone takes the final spot before November 15th. The minimum sponsorship commitment is six months, the maximum is twelve. We will honor a 24 hour hold request by email. If you're curious, please drop a line (jbusch [at] spendmatters [dot] com) and I can provide specifics on pricing, traffic, and current sponsor experiences/anecdotes -- all of which would make even a skeptic about the power of business blogs to help build brands and generate leads a true believer.

- Jason Busch

Sometimes you never know how these things will work themselves out. The fourth Spend Matters lead sponsorship was spoken for as of early yesterday morning, but now it's back on the market (sometimes short-term marketing budgets don't materialize, I suppose). Personally, I would have thought that the spot would have been snapped up within a day of its announcement last week (as the last one was earlier in the year). But it wasn't, despite serious inquiries from a dozen vendors, consultants and BPO providers. Perhaps it's a sign of the economy. Or maybe it's just bad timing with marketing budgets (we can't hold the spot as many asked until January). There's also the chance that new pricing is impacting demand -- we raised the cost of the lead blog sponsorships for the first time since launching Spend Matters (it's still an absolute bargain based on all comparable advertising and lead generation metrics, not to mention the exclusivity of it). But regardless, the fourth lead sponsorship is once again available for early November. You can find out more by clicking here or dropping a line: jbusch [at] spendmatters [dot] com.

- Jason Busch

I'm very excited to announce that Paladin Associates, a one of a kind consulting firm targeting the middle market, has become the Second Charter Sponsor for Spend Matters Navigator. I've previously written how Paladin does not parachute in "twenty or thirty something MBAs to deliver results" but rather brings in, as they term it, "semi-retired folks who have a lot of experience" to clients. I also personally love the fact that "Paladin has less than two dozen consultants in its arsenal, yet it claims over 500 years of experience. Do the math. There's a lot of grey hair they bring to the table from a sourcing and procurement perspective." Given the sourcing and supply chain challenges that middle market executives face today, I'd say that 500 years of experience -- much of it GE experience, as Paladin touts -- counts for quite a lot. Please join me welcoming Paladin Associates to the Spend Matters sponsor community!

- Jason Busch

In the coming days, we'll be announcing the second Charter Sponsor for Spend Matters Navigator who just signed up yesterday. If you're interested in becoming a Charter Sponsor Navigator -- there are no open spots on the blog -- drop me a line. The remaining spots will not be available for long, and content placement is determined by when sponsors sign up (i.e., the next sponsor's spot will be placed immediately under BIQ's banner at the top of the right hand navigation pane, and the subsequent remaining sponsors will fill in under that). For more information on what charter sponsors receive, you can click the above link.

- Jason Busch

I'm very excited to announce that BIQ, a truly unique spend analysis software provider, has become the first Charter Sponsor for Spend Matters Navigator. Over the years on Spend Matters, I've had the pleasure of not only getting to know Eric Strovink, BIQ's President and CEO, but also digging into their product as well, which I believe stands out among competitive products for those with a serious focus on analysis. While BIQ has been relatively quiet in the market these past few years from a traditional ho-hum PR perspective, they've built up a marquis list of customers and channel partners. And they've also pushed the limits of marketing approaches as well, contributing to multiple blogs as well as publishing their own thought leadership in non-traditional formats (e.g., Wikis). But most important, everyone I've spoken with who uses their solution or who is in the BIQ partner ecosystem swears by how powerful it is relative to traditional analytical approaches to looking at data -- spending or otherwise. Please join me in welcoming BIQ to the Spend Matters sponsor community!

- Jason Busch

I'm pleased to announced that we've signed our first Charter Sponsor for Spend Matters Navigator (stay tuned for an announcement on Monday to find out who). For those who have not had time to check it out yet, Spend Matters Navigator is a new type of hub or "jumping off point" for all things procurement and supply chain that gathers, indexes and structures many different types of information. It is an entirely new service designed to help practitioners, consultants, vendors and BPO providers to better research procurement, sourcing and supply chain issues. Among other information Spend Matters Navigator gathers and presents, it indexes blogs, trade publications, business publications, analyst reports, and supplier directories. In addition to the 30+ sources already available, we anticipate adding dozens of new information sources to Spend Matters Navigator in the coming months.

We created Spend Matters Navigator because many of the practitioners we spoke with in defining the opportunity for a new type of content-based web service in procurement and supply chain were not happy with other research and editorial alternatives. The existing research sites in the market (e.g., Google) did a poor job at delivering relevant and timely results and offered no insight into the quality of a source. What we discovered through these initial conversations was that practitioners wanted the ability to go to a single site not only to begin their research into trends, technologies and business processes, but also to conduct supplier searches and learn about relevant commodity and pricing trends. And that is what has become Spend Matters Navigator.

We are currently looking for a limited number of Spend Matters Navigator Charter Sponsors. In return for spending their advertising and marketing budgets wisely, our sponsors will receive:

- Logo placement as a "Charter Sponsor" on the right of Spend Matters Navigator (this includes all pages of Spend Matters Navigator, but not the Spend Matters blog)

- A text link to support lead generation or other marketing campaigns from Spend Matters Navigator (located under logos on Spend Matters Navigator pages)

- A text link with company name located at the lower right of the Spend Matters blog main page (with a notation thanking our charter Spend Matters Navigator sponsors)

- A call with Spend Matters founder and editor Jason Busch to brainstorm marketing suggestions for Spend Matters Navigator linked content and other related information and thought leadership

- As a bonus, the ability to demo additional advertising opportunities as we make them available (but before we begin to charge for them) later in Q407 and in January 2008. This includes banner advertisements, ability to build your solutions directly into Spend Matters Navigator results, etc. These will be provided at no additional charge through the charter sponsorship period as they become available.

Spend Matters Navigator sponsors will receive logo and related advertising placement in priority order based on when they sign up -- just like on Spend Matters, the blog. For those wondering why Ariba is top of the list on Spend Matters, it's because they've been a sponsor since day one. Initial Charter Sponsors for Spend Matters Navigator will also received preferred placement for new opportunities with Navigator. So don't delay. Get in at the top while you still can.

If you're curious to learn more, drop me a line @ jbusch (at) spendmatters (dot) com.

- Jason Busch