SeminarSavvy.com

When promoting live seminars, as well as virtual events such as teleseminars and webinars, it’s critical to continue promoting your event right up until you start delivering content. Seminar producers who track their sales typically see a dramatic increase in their registrations in the days leading up to an event. For teleseminars and webinars, the big increase is seen in the final few days before the event. If offering a live event that lasts a full day or more, the increase usually happens in the last two weeks.

But to enjoy the big increase and maximize your registrations, you have to stay in front of your prospects. Many promoters give up too soon, pulling the plug on their events three, four and sometimes more weeks out. They do so out of the fear of being stuck with food and beverage costs, as well as paying for unused sleeping rooms, for an event that won’t happen. In fact, they may be canceling their event right around the time that many prospects are getting around to evaluating whether to attend.

Email is an excellent and affordable way to keep prospects updated about your event. But some promoters are wary about using this tool too often, for fear of irritating their prospects. If you’re concerned that you are emailing your list too often, consider these tips:

1. Segment your list so that you emailing only the people who are likely to attend your seminar. If your seminar is designed for residential contractors, for example, don’t mail your promotions to the commercial contractors on your list.
2. Customize your message so that it is clear why you are mailing to your targeted list — and why they should be interested in reading your promotion. Not only will recipients be more receptive to your message (there’s nothing like opening an email that has nothing to do with your interests to feel like you are being spammed), they’ll also be more likely to read and respond to your promotions.
3. Incorporate helpful information. Try incorporating a few tips into your promotional messages. Then segue to your sales pitch by explaining that the information you shared is the tip of the iceberg in terms of what you’ll cover at your upcoming event. You’ll prove that you have valuable content. Plus you’ll feel better about contacting your prospects again.
4. Shift from sales to courtesy reminders near the end. Some people are uncomfortable doing heavy-handed sales pitches. Sending out a courtesy reminder (“Hi, it’s Jenny, writing with a courtesy reminder about my teleseminar tomorrow night …”) keeps your event in front of your prospects, but in a helpful, less pushy way.
5. Find your style. Although it IS critical to promote yourself and your seminars, there are different ways of doing so. Some promoters come across like carnival barkers trying to get crowds to see the world-famous three-headed dog. Others feel queasy at the thought of being so pushy.

The best approach is one that makes you feel slightly uncomfortable, as well as a little more confident, bolder and promotional than you normally feel. You need to have a bit of swagger and sass when marketing. But at the same time, you need to feel comfortable with how you are promoting. If you’re not, your discomfort will be communicated on some level. Unfortunately, your uncertainty will come across as not believing in your event vs. not believing in your marketing approach.

Will prospective seminar attendees pay what you are asking to participate in your seminar?

The answer depends on how they perceive your price. If they think it’s too high — in other words — there is not enough value to justify the time and money they will spend traveling to and participating in your seminar, they will not sign up. But if they think that you are offering a fair value, if not a bargain, they will sign up.

I recently met with producers of a one-day sales seminar that is priced at $1,295. Is that a lot for a one-day event? Yes, the tuition is higher than what most other providers of one-day training programs charge. However, what really matters is how the target audience perceives the price. If the education and solutions delivered in the seminar are great enough, the price will appear to be a bargain.

For example, if the process taught in this particular event helps seminar participants to increase their closing ratio, and each sale is an average of $10,000, prospects are likely to consider it to be a good investment. All will take is one sale to make their investment pay off.

On the other hand, if participants read the seminar promotional materials and conclude that it will take a lot of work and a long time to turn their seminar participation into measurable, bottom line results, they may conclude that the tuition is too high.

Adding bonuses to your offer is a good way to increase the perceived value of your event — especially when the bonuses themselves have a great perceived value.

What makes a bonus valuable? Here are some questions to consider:

1. Is it sold in a store or on a web site? If so, it can reassure more skeptical prospects who might dismiss bonuses as fluff that you’ve thrown together to manipulate a sale. Knowing that your produce is really for sale somewhere can reassure these buyers that they are getting real value from your bonuses.
2. Is it something that will help your prospects save time, cut costs, make more money or otherwise solve a problem or enhance a result? Bonuses that help people get more of what they want and less of what they don’t want are valuable.
3. Who is your audience and what do they like? If you market to parents, offer bonuses that help them better parent and connect with their children. If your audience loves technology, find the latest and greatest technical doodad to give them. If promoting events to people who love being outdoors, find bonuses that they’ll be able to use while pursuing their passion.
4. What is your area of expertise? What do you stand for? Find bonuses that relate to your area of expertise — because that is why your prospects seek you out. My subscribers are on my mailing list because they want information about promoting seminars and workshops. Although I am more than a seminar marketing coach, that is what connects me to my list. Other things, such as my love of gardening, reading and personal growth, might be interesting to some people on my list.

To find bonuses, start with your own products and knowledge. If needed, create new bonuses that relate to the content of your seminar.

Also turn to other experts and organizations whose products and services relate to your seminar topic. In addition to contributing bonuses that will increase the perceived value of your event, these individuals may make ideal affiliate partners.