You have an awesome event planned. You have so much seminar content to share. You are planning on teaching your attendees just about everything you know. They are going to learn so much, they can’t help but be successful after attending your event. You see it now; the success stories, the testimonials…
As seminar hosts, we want to deliver value and we pride ourselves on overdelivering. That is great, but it doesn’t set your attendees up for success.
When your attendees’ heads are full of ideas and they want to do everything at once, their enthusiasm turns into overwhelm very quickly. Unfortunately, overwhelm turns into inaction, and that does NOT turn into success stories.
Here are some tips to help your attendees turn your seminar content into success stories:
Keep a Narrow Focus on Your Seminar Content
If you have a lot of content, break it up into separate events. Go an inch wide and a mile deep. This way your attendees will actually get closer to mastering the material. Trying to teach too much is counterproductive. Your audience will not remember as much of your information and will not be as successful.
Make Your Seminar Experiential
Rather than just teaching, include exercises and time to process your material. Research has shown that when your attendees complete exercises or have a chance to talk in small groups about the material, they will retain your information longer.
List Ahas
After every session or module, have your attendees list their top 3 ahas or action items. Provide them with a separate, colorful aha worksheet. This will make it easier for your audience to come home and know what to implement right away.
Quickstart Guide
Give your audience a quick start guide to take home. Rather than making their way through a big binder or a pad full of notes, give them a road map of what to do in the first week. This cuts down on the overwhelm and gives your attendees a clear plan of what to do first.
When you eliminate the event-induced overwhelm, your attendees are more apt to implement your seminar content. And we all know that your audience is only as successful as the ideas that they take action on. Ideas without action are meaningless. Turn your attendees into success stories by eliminating overwhelm and provide them with a clear action plan.
If you are looking for your own road map to workshop and seminar success, sign up for a Winning Workshop Road Map session.
Posted in Event Strategy by .
Feb 12
13
Marketing Tips from NAMS7
Just came back with a head full of ideas and marketing tips from NAMS, (the Niche Affiliate Marketing System). It is an internet marketing conference with over 30 instructors, 4 tracks (beginner through advanced) and there are no pitches allowed. Although focused on the internet, I picked up several golden nuggets that apply to marketing period, online and offline.
Marnie Pehrson from IdeaMarketers.com talked about how to resonate with your market. People connect differently to each other. You need to know your personal connecting style and more importantly, how your audience connects. Once you know that, you can speak to them better. This will help you not only in your marketing, but also in preparing content for your workshops and seminars.
Bob “the Teacher” Jenkins did a session on Coaching Income Secrets. Many of you already offer coaching, but what I loved about the session is how many different ways there are to format your coaching program. It reminded me again that workshops and seminars are the perfect tool to fill your high end coaching programs.
Carrie Wilkerson’s key note was about moving your business forward on purpose. She is one smart lady, a powerful speaker and doesn’t pull any punches. She reminds us of the doing the important things. Of course we know what we need to do, but how many times are we pulled off track?
What I remember most from her speech is that “You grow in the areas you track. You grow in the areas you are accountable for, and you grow in the areas you pour the most effective, consistent activities.”
Carrie also taught a session with Paul Evans in which they shared their most successful business strategies. Frankly, just this session by itself was worth the price of admission. I learned some things that will help me add thousands to my bottom line.
Carrie’s Motive Matrix is helping me make sense of what to implement first. When your head is full of ideas and you want to do everything at once, your enthusiasm turns into overwhelm very quickly. Unfortunately, overwhelm turns into inaction, and that does NOT move your business forward. I now have a filter that tells me what I need to focus on first.
With Kristen Eckstein
Finally, Kristen Eckstein’s How to Write, Publish and Market a Book in 90 Days was so exciting. She made me realize that I have several books in me and that it is easier than you think to write and publish it.
Every workshop and seminar leader should have a book. It is a great way to repurpose your workshop and add even more to your credibility and visibility.
These are just a few offline marketing tips. Not bad for an internet marketing conference, right?
And by the way, I heartily recommend this event if you want to host workshops and seminars. You need to market your event both online and offline and this is the best place to learn about online marketing.
You can still pick up the audios and the handouts at http://eventsandprofits.com/eventaudio. Listen to the sessions that are important to you now and make a commitment to listen to one session per week and implement its lessons. I promise you that you will see huge improvements in your business.
And if you want to join me here in Atlanta at the next NAMS (NAMS8) in August, you can buy your tickets now. You do have to be a MyNAMS member, and you can sign up at http://eventsandprofits.com/MyNAMS.
Posted in Event Marketing by .
Workshops and seminars can be hard on your voice. And as a seminar leader, your voice is your bread and butter.
When I was attending a webinar by my friend, Melanie Kissell recently, she mentioned some ways to get your voice ready for a seminar that I had never heard off. So naturally, I invited her to come over to my blog and enlighten us. And boy, did she come through!
Speaking Tips: 7 Ways to Improve and Soothe Your Voice
Guest post from Melanie Kissell
Your voice is a valuable and delicate instrument.
You’ll want to keep it finely tuned as if you were a pianist who must keep her piano tuned.
“When you think voice, think variation in pacing, volume, tone, and emotional feel. Variation provides interest and keeps attention as you orchestrate your message to the heart, to the head, and to the funny bone.” ~ Terry Paulson
Although humorous, here’s what you DON’T want people saying about your voice:
A voice like a concertina that had been left out in the rain – Max Beerbohm
A voice like a coyote with bronchitis – O. Henry
A voice that could have been used for paint remover – Raymond Chandler
A voice you could have cracked a brazil nut on – Raymond Chandler
Before you step in front of your next seminar audience or prior to hosting your next virtual event, gather up some tried and true techniques for putting your best voice forward.
Ways To Improve And Soothe Your Voice:
1.) Don’t drink like a fish — drink like a whale! (And we’re not talking alcohol here) Keeping your vocal cords wet is an important part of improving them. Drinking at least 64 ounces of fluids spread throughout the day will keep your voice lubricated.
The voice likes wet and warm – don’t drink ice water, drink tepid water.
2.) Fatty foods compromise voice quality. Although stereotypes suggest heavier people have better voices, it’s a proven fact regular exercise improves the health and quality of your voice.
3.) To comfort a fatigued voice, many professional speakers choose to drink honey and lemon in warm water. Warm peppermint or chamomile tea with or without honey can also be very soothing to the voice. The natural peppermint will give you energy and the chamomile will calm you.
If you are under the weather, rest your voice.
Don’t strain your voice. Use a microphone, if possible.
4.) Can’t make it to the gym? No worries. Exercise your voice from the comfort of your home. Most of us are aware of the importance of exercising the body but few people realize the voice needs exercise, too.
Doing a few minutes of simple warm-up exercises can increase your vocal power, variety, range, and fitness and dramatically improve the overall quality of your presentations.
- Make as many funny faces as you can to exercise all of your facial muscles and massage other tense areas like your temples, forehead, eyebrows, and scalp.
- Yawn a few times to open up the back of the throat.
- Hum — holding any pitch for 10 or more seconds feeling a tingling sensation around your lips and nose.
- Flap your lips making a “Brrrr” sound. Start on any pitch. Then go up and down your vocal range.
- Vocalize on an open “Aah” sound going up and down your range.
- Sing or hum any song that uplifts or inspires you!
5.) Good Foods to Eat Before You Step Up to The Microphone:
Honey
With its antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties, public speaking experts tout honey as a soothing remedy for rough, scratchy throats. Vocal cords are delicate structures and even the slightest injury can have serious consequences for your voice.
A Light Meal of Whole Grains, Protein, Fruit, and Vegetables
It’s important to keep your body nourished so you’ll have the stamina and spunk to make the most of your moment in the spotlight! Chicken, fish, eggs, and rice are suitable to eat before a speaking engagement. A couple of slices of green apple and vegetables are also excellent choices.
6.) Foods to Avoid Before Your Next Speaking Gig:
Caffeinated Drinks
Caffeinated drinks are a no-no due to their tendency to cause dehydration, which can leave the mouth, throat, and vocal cords dry and parched. They can also aggravate acid reflux.
Dairy Products
The consumption of dairy products can increase mucus production which can lead to excessive throat clearing — a process that can injure the vocal cords.
Carbonated Beverages
Fizzy drinks can also promote acid reflux and negatively impact the voice.
Citrus Fruits
Fruits such as oranges and grapefruits can dry out the lining of the throat.
7.) Voice Production Tips from Keith Davis, my dear friend and phenomenal Public Speaking Expert:
- Breathe from the diaphragm – “belly breathing”. Breathe in and belly goes out, breathe out and belly goes in. Practice breathing out by blowing out gently.
- Resonance – say MMMMMMMM and feel the vibration around your “mask” area, nose, mouth, and eyes. Then try and keep that resonance / vibration as you speak.
- Don’t increase volume by shouting, rather increase the resonance. Resonance gives power shouting gives you a sore throat.
- Make sure that you bend your knees slightly – don’t lock them. Try this: Stand and speak with knees locked then kneel forward slightly and feel your back and neck adjust. Locking your knees pushes out your stomach.
- A good exercise: Stand up and start walking whilst reading your script. At each punctuation mark, comma or full stop, change direction and hear your voice change. The RSC do that in their training.
- Practice saying PTK, PTK and BDG, BDG. Makes you move your tongue from front to middle to back of your mouth – speed it up, faster, faster.
- Move your tongue quickly with: tip tapity tip tap tip, tip tapity tip tap tip, tip tapity tip tap tip.
And finally …
Your voice is most beautiful when its sounds come from deep within your authentic self. Your voice may not be perfect, professional, or even what others call “on pitch” and that’s okay.
To really WOW your audience …
Give yourself the green light to let your inner voice roar!
Melanie Kissell is a single mom who is keenly aware of what it’s like to have a BIG supply of expertise and passion and a SHORT supply of time and money to build a business. She guides solopreneurs in being able to say “Too-da-loo” to confusion and chaos, “Bye-Bye” to a long learning curve, and “Hello” to building a business on a shoestring budget!
Posted in Event Strategy by .
This post is another answer to a question I received on last week’s webinar. I just love this question about event follow up because it goes to the heart of what your event should ultimately accomplish: a relationship with your attendees that turns them into raving fans.
“What are the best and most effective ways to continue building a relationship with your attendees after your event is over? Do you send handwritten thank-you notes? Email them? Give them a call? “
The answer is yes, yes and yes.
Follow Up with a Handwritten Note
Nothing beats a handwritten note. However, it may be a little tough if you have too many attendees.
In that case, you can use a Send Out Card that looks like a handwritten note. The nice thing about Send Out Cards is that you can upload photos. If you take a group picture at your event or a picture with the attendees, you can create a card out of it. That is very personal and nobody is going to throw away a card like that.
Follow Up By Phone
Following up by phone is not only the most personal and appreciated follow up, it is also a tremendous research tool. What if you call, just to say thank you and to ask them what they enjoyed most, or what their big take away was?
You could get some wonderful testimonials for future events and really cement the relationship, because people just don’t expect that personal touch anymore.
Follow Up With An Email
Email is a great tool to stay in touch consistently. Send out weekly tips or articles in an ezine to keep that top of mind with your attendees and clients. Or send a special offer or no opt-in download only for your attendees. Give value, continue the relationship and you will always be their go-to resource in your niche.
The key is to actually follow up. Your event is not the end. It should be the beginning or the continuation of a great relationship.
And ideally you use all follow up methods. Of course the larger your event , the less time you have to really make it personal, but remember it is also more unexpected and appreciated.
Did you miss the webinar? The recording is up, so you can check it out at http://eventstrategysolutions.com/rock2012.
Do you have a question you would like me to answer during my next webinar? Leave it in the comments!
Posted in Event Planning Event Strategy by .
Last week I asked the people who signed up for the “Why Aren’t They Registering For My Seminar?” webinar what their biggest questions were. I answered them on the live webcast, but I know that more of you are struggling with this, so I have decided to answer them here on the Event Strategies blog.
Several people asked:
How much should I charge for my event?
Excellent question, because your seminar pricing strategy is an important part of your overall event strategy. Of course I can’t tell you exactly what to charge, since every event is different. However, I can tell you what to base your pricing structure on.
Value of Your Event
The first thing you need to think about is the value of what you are giving your audience. What is it worth to them to learn the solution to the problem they are having? What would it cost them if they didn’t have this information? The bigger the problem, the higher price you can command.
Generally, you can solve bigger problems in longer events, so that has to factor in as well. However, if you are just adding another hour or day to fluff up your price, forget about it. There are 1-day events for $47, $147 and $447. It is not about the length, but about the value you are giving.
Back End Strategy
Another big factor in determining your price is your backend strategy. Your back end strategy includes your back of the room sales and the offer you are making your attendees. You teach valuable content that your attendees can use now to move their business or their life forward. When you do that, you also have to give them the next step. If you do not make them an offer, you leave your audience hanging.
In every workshop there are people who are ready to delve deeper into your topic. They may want help implementing your content, or maybe they have mastered this material and are ready for the next. Why would you not give them that opportunity?
Your backend strategy is where most of the money from your event should be made.
If you have a great program that you want your attendees to enroll in and it is more important to have butts in seats, so that you have more people to enroll, you can lower your price or even offer them for free.
In this case, you definitely should know how to close from the stage and know what your average close rate is. Do 30% of attendees opt in to your program, 50%? Or do you have no idea? If you host free workshops, and aren’t any good at presenting your offer, you have a recipe for disaster and are going to lose money on your events.
To charge or not to charge
I am not a big fan of free workshops, just because you can get a lot of tire kickers. I believe that if you charge even a nominal fee, you improve the quality of your audience. People value what they pay for more than things they get for free. At any rate, be sure that you let your audience know the VALUE of your workshop, even if you are not charging.
While I speak in general terms here, this is something I get into in my mentoring program as a part of your personal event marketing strategy. To get more information on how you can get one-on-one mentoring from me, go to http://eventstrategysolutions.com/splash.
Posted in Event Marketing Event Strategy by .
This weekend was my daughter’s 7th birthday. And a busy birthday it was, with a rare visit to McDonald’s for lunch, a birthday party and afterwards a surprise visit to the movie theater to see Beauty and the Beast in 3-D.
One of my favorite things about going to the movies is watching the trailers. I love the way the film makers piece together exciting bits from the movie so you can’t wait to see it. (I am now looking forward to the upcoming Pixar movie, “Brave”).
Why not make a trailer for your upcoming event?
Just like movie studios create trailers of their upcoming films, you can create your own trailer for your event. Use pictures, slides, testimonials and live action shots from previous events set to music to create an exciting preview of what is to come.
Post it on YouTube and you can truly build up excitement for your event and the desire to attend. To maximize viewership of your video, you also want to embed it on your blog, and post the link to it on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and anywhere else you can find some people.
Turn it into a must-attend event with a good trailer or sizzle video.
Video is also a great way to get your potential audience to know, like and trust you. And if they don’t know you, like you and trust you, they will simply not buy a ticket to your workshop or seminar.
And yes, that is one of the reasons they aren’t registering for your seminar. Want to know the others? Join me for a free webinar on Tuesday, January 31st. I will share the 5 biggest mistakes that leave your workshop room empty.
Register right now at http://eventstrategysolutions.com/rock2012.
Posted in Event Marketing by .
Why do you host workshops and seminars? Is it to make more money? For marketing purposes? Or is it to make a difference?
Although workshops and seminars are definitely great marketing tools and money makers, there is no better way to impact people than at a live, face to face event. As an expert in your field, your job is to share that knowledge and to help people improve their lives or businesses.
“You have to throw the stone to get the pool to ripple” is a lyric out of “Slap and Tickle” from Squeeze, one of my favorite bands.
Have you ever thrown rocks in a lake or a stream? Maybe you wanted them to skip across the water… But I bet you always looked at the ripple effect of your pebble. And see how far those little ripples would go.
If you threw a little pebble, they most likely didn’t go very far. Its reach wasn’t as big as if you threw a bigger stone that could really create a big splash.
Ripple
Workshops and seminars are the way to create a ripple in the pool. After all, when you share your expertise with your attendees, you affect their lives for the better.
Even if you only do a two-hour workshop about how to eat the right foods to lose weight, you create a ripple effect. Once your attendees apply your instructions they start eating healthier and losing weight. Their new found awareness can also lead to their families eating healthier and fewer obese kids.
Splash
But let’s take it further. In a two-hour workshop you can only affect so much change. What if you host an all day workshop and really gave your audience the knowledge and the tools to change their lives or their business? In our weight loss workshop example, you now have the time to show off some recipes that are easy to make, as well as delicious and healthy at the same time.
That type of workshop creates a bigger splash and its reach is much bigger than with a shorter workshop. You have the ability to impact your attendees in a bigger way, because you can share more tools and more knowledge. The likelihood of your audience taking action and thus changing their lives is bigger.
Wave
Ripples and splashes are well and good, but what if you could turn your workshops and seminars into a wave? It is possible to really start making an impact when you turn your workshops into larger events. Get more attendees and reach more people or turn your events into 2 or 3 day intensives.
And when you offer an opportunity to work with you to implement the strategies and tactics you taught them at your event, you can help your audience create lasting change.
And when you help your audience improve their lives or business to the extend that they become success stories and inspire others, you have created a wave whose ripple effect goes on and on…
Free Webinar
Whatever your expertise, you can get the pool to ripple with your own workshops and seminars. However, you will need attendees for your workshops.
Register for my free webinar at http://eventstrategysolutions.com/rock2012 and learn to avoid making the 5 biggest mistakes that leave your workshop and seminar rooms empty.
Posted in Daphne's Musings Event Marketing Event Strategy by .
Jan 12
23
Hey, Where Are My Attendees?
You are so excited…
You have made the big step and are hosting your first workshop.
You are busy getting all the details ready, like your location and your content.
You have put your registration page on the web and are marketing it.
You are putting the word out on social media.
You may even be spending some money on Google Adwords.
Yet the registrations aren’t rolling in as expected. In fact, it’s a couple of weeks away and you are looking at an empty workshop room…
Are you looking at an empty workshop room?
What went wrong?
Find out on my new webinar
Why Aren’t They Registering For My Seminar? Rock Your Event In 2012.
You will learn:
- The 5 biggest mistakes that are keeping your workshop rooms empty
- The 1 tweak to your registration page that will make a huge difference in the number of attendees
- How to reduce your no-show rate when you are doing free or low cost workshops
- Where to laser focus to fill your room easily
- How to turn your year into one of Olympic proportions
Get all the details at http://eventstrategysolutions.com/rock2012
If you know where you made the mistake, you can correct it for next time. If this is your first workshop, you can make sure you don’t make any of these mistakes to begin with.
Reserve your spot today at http://eventstrategysolutions.com/rock2012
Posted in Event Marketing by .
It used to be, costly advertising was the only option to market your seminar, together with creating expensive brochures and direct mail pieces.
The advent of the internet and social media has made marketing much more economical. But should you still a save a place for advertising in your seminar marketing plan? As usual, the answer is: It depends.
Here are some of your advertising options:
Newspaper Advertising
When you advertise in the newspaper, even a small, local one, you are using the shotgun marketing approach. Since there are so many people reading the newspaper, it is hard to reach that perfect attendee.
Newspapers target men and women of every age group, profession and interest, and that makes it very difficult to cut through the clutter.
The percentage of your target market is low, while the cost is high. For most seminars, advertising in the newspaper is not a cost effective option.
Magazine Advertising
Magazines usually have a precisely defined target market, so it is easier to reach that perfect attendee. If you need to reach a special industry, industry magazines can be very effective.
The drawback is that many magazines have their deadlines months in advance and can be very costly. However, for the right seminar this can be a great option.
Pay Per Click Advertising
Pay per click (PPC) advertising on places like Google and Yahoo, can drive a lot of traffic to your registration page in a short time. The advantage is that you are only paying for people who like your ad enough to actually click on it.
A PPC campaign doesn’t take long to implement and you can see the results quickly. Great for reaching a local market if you have a low cost seminar with a proven upsell.
Social Advertising
Places like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter now also offer advertising. The great thing about social media advertising as opposed PPC advertising on places like Google and other websites, is that the social media networks know a whole lot about us.
We share without hesitation with them what we like, what we do, what are interests are, where we live and where we travel to. That is what makes advertising on Facebook and LinkedIn very attractive, since you can target your advertising very precisely.
Especially Facebook offers ads that incorporate social proof by adding the avatars of friends that have a relationship with you or your event. Like Google ads, social ads are mostly PPC although they also offer a pay per impression option. PPC social ads are a better option for driving traffic to your registration page than pay per impression. Social ads are a good option if you are know your ideal attendee intimately.
Is Your Registration Page Flushing Money Down The Toilet?
While advertising and especially PPC advertising on Google and social media can be very effective for driving traffic to your registration page, it can also be a very costly proposition. You have to know that your registration page can make the sale, otherwise every click that you pay for is flushing money down the toilet.
Unfortunately, many seminar leaders come to me only after they have spent thousands on advertising and have no registrations to show for it. Usually, I spot the mistakes they have made very quickly. There are easy fixes, but not 2 weeks before your event.
I am sharing the 5 biggest mistakes seminar leaders make that keep their workshop rooms empty on a free webinar on January 31st. Don’t spend another dime on advertising your event until you access this webinar.
Register at http://eventstrategysolutions.com/rock2012. It won’t cost you anything, but it can easily save you thousands of dollars.
Posted in Event Marketing by .
How to Market a Seminar with Social Media
You will also a complimentary subscription to my Event Strategies ezine, full of valuable tips on how to plan, promote and profit from your own live events. ($19 Value)-
MEET DAPHNE
Daphne Bousquet, CMP helps successful service professionals grow their businesses through profitable workshops and events. A Certified Meeting Professional, she not only knows how to execute any event flawlessly, saving you both time and money, but more importantly how to create multiple revenue streams that will take your workshop beyond your expectations.
