Planning a Conference or Seminar

Client Workshops

A couple of ideas that work are client workshops, where you ask your clients to invite a friend. Birds of a feather flock together.

You can mix your audience with clients and prospects, so that if they were to ask one of your clients after the meeting about you, a strong endorsement after your presentation makes the call to you much more inviting.

Second on the list are conference calls. You can do a luncheon conference call with top managers for clients or prospects. A discussion after the conference call is why you should invest now. Make sure there is a sense of urgency created during the seminar and a recommended implementation schedule.

You need to get creative with topics and speakers. You should also remember the two things that most people remember. Pictures and stories are what people remember. If you paint the picture for them by telling them a great story, you will have your audience hooked.

If you do a superb job at providing worthwhile information during the first 45 minutes, the 15 minutes at the end should be a snap because you've already established trust with your audience.

Some of people report that 33% of attendees will end up becoming customers. And it will happen not because you invested money in marketing, but because you invested your time, energy, imagination, and expertise.

Some business owners and hosts will improve upon that one-third closing ratio by doing one of these three additional things.

1. They have a different person take the stage during the final 15 minutes, someone with a knack for motivating groups of people
2. They have salespeople in the doorways exiting the venue, thanking people as they depart, and selling to them at the same time.
3. They make a very special offer that's available that day only.

The right reaction to a poor professional, who had only 6 at his seminar, is not to give up the seminar, but give up the marketing tactics she used.

If you do plan on taking the time and spending the money to produce, prepare, and deliver a presentation or mini-seminar, here are seven event marketing tips that will help you fill your room: