SeminarSavvy.com

It’s an easy trap to fall into. You’re swamped. Your seminar is months away. So you think, “I’ll figure out how to market the darn thing later … when I have time.”

Except you never have time. Then all of a sudden, your seminar is mere weeks away … and you haven’t done a thing to promote it.

Whether you’re promoting a weeklong conference or an hourlong teleseminar, it’s critical to hash out a marketing calendar soon after you book your event. Start by figuring out which audiences you want to contact, when you want to contact them, and how you’ll get in touch.

Then add additional deadlines to your calendar for various stages of production on all of your marketing pieces. For example, set deadlines for having the draft and final versions of your copy done, for having your web site launched, your direct mail pieces designed, your mailing lists rented, and so on.

Without these deadlines spelled out in advance, it becomes easy to get too busy to properly market your seminar. Before you know it, you’ll be skipping promotions because you don’t have time to get the pieces pulled together.

One common question among business owners who want to use seminars as a sales tool is whether it’s best to be upfront about the event being a sales presentation or to disguise it as an educational seminar.

My answer: Tell the truth.

If your presentation is truly nothing more than a sales pitch for your company, service or product, then say so. You may end up with fewer registrations (the thinking being than many people won’t want to be sold), but those who show up are likely to be highly qualified and very interested in what you’re selling.

If you want to go the educational route, then make sure that you are, in fact, offering educational information. If you position your event as an educational seminar, you need to send attendees out the door happy that they invested their time with you, even if they don’t buy whatever you are offering.

Not sure which approach will be best for your audience? Try it both ways, and track your results. Keep records on how much you spend, what exactly you do to promote the event, how many registrations you receive, how many people show up, and what type of people show up (e.g., their age, education, net worth, type of industry or whatever other demographic and psychographic criteria will help you get a picture of who is responding).

Also track how many people respond to the call to action  you make at the seminar, whether that’s signing up for a free consultation or making a purchase right then and there.