Feb 12
2
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.
For more strategies to fill your workshops and seminars without driving yourself crazy, you’ll want to pick up a copy of this free seminar marketing ebook.
Daphne Bousquet, CMP uses her 20+ years of event planning experience to create profitable event strategies and implementation for coaches, entrepreneurs, speakers and self employed professionals that want to grow their businesses with workshops and seminars. She is the creator of the How To Get The Butts In The Seats Of Your Next Workshop Or Seminar System, a unique digital course that teaches you how to fill your events with your ideal audience.
