14 Ways to Get People to Attend Your Seminar
http://www.self-improvement-centre.co.uk/aladmin/articles/120/1/14-Ways-to-Get-People-to-Attend-Your-Seminar/Page1.html
Roy Everitt
Copywriter, marketer and information product creator, at http://www.royeveritt.com
I am also a partner in Cinnamon Edge, specialists in business writing and information products, at
http://www.cinnamonedge.com
Products include http://www.seminar-secrets.com, http://www.thelifecoachingmanual.com and http://www.completemarketingmanual.com.
Clients have included household name companies and millionaire entrepreneurs, for whom we have created newsletters, books, articles, manuals and technical and business literature. By Roy Everitt
Published on 03/1/2008
The top 14 ways to make attendance at your event a no-brainer.
14 Ways to Get People to Attend Your Seminar
Here are 14 ways to make attendance at your event seem so attractive it's almost compulsory:
1 Make it easy. The buying process for your seminar needs to be as easy as possible - but don't make it free unless you can promote it to hundreds of thousands (and you've lots of experience in predicting numbers). If people don't pay something they won't feel committed to attending. You need them to turn up!
2 Make turning up as easy as possible. Choose your venue carefully and always supply good directions, by road, rail and even air. Hold the event at the weekend if you’re looking to attract people with jobs. Weekdays are better for professional events where the seminar is part of their working week.
3 Emphasise value at every opportunity. Promise valuable information and give the impression you're giving it away.
4 Give access to the speakers. If they are patently or apparently the leading experts in their field, people will be very keen to meet them in person, hoping to get the bit of ‘inside information’ not even the other delegates will hear. A ‘secret’ might just be one bit of information they feel they lack, and where better to get it than from your experts?
5 Promise them special offers and make them conditional upon attendance on the day. Old hands will expect these offers but first-timers might not.
6 Give them a freebie. You’ll probably have to provide this, although another speaker may have good reason to give stuff away. Make it a condition that delegates must attend on the day to collect it.
7 Two exceptions to the ‘no free tickets’ rule.
a) Bring a friend or partner for free. Two bums on two seats for no extra marketing cost. Simple.
b) Free tickets for your members. They're very highly qualified and they’re also your fans, so they should be a good, responsive audience.
8 Make your seminar the obvious ‘next step’ by riding on the coat tails of other events, you can make yours the next step in your delegates’ education.
9 Give them what’s 'missing' in their education, even if it's just the impetus to take action.
10 Give them ‘exclusives’, so your marketing emphasises that the information isn't available elsewhere or to the general public. People love being in on 'secrets', even if they're of little use.
11 Appeal to groups to create a buzz. 'See you all at the event' has great appeal to people who've only met online or who haven't seen each other in a while. It's reassuring for some more nervous people, too, to know they'll be amongst friends. Perhaps offer a discount to groups.
12 Tap into emotions. A lot of friendships start at seminars. Remind them they'll be seeing old, familiar faces. Nostalgia sells, too.
13 Make your events local by specifically naming all the major towns within reach in your promotion. People will feel you've connected with them. Honestly!
14 Because we couldn't have 13! Tap into the warm, fuzzy feeling at the end of your previous event and offer a big discount for next year. Cost price, even. The take-up will be astronomical - believe me!
There, that should be enough to keep you thinking! More on public speaking and seminars at Roy Everitt dotcom.
Roy Everitt, Writing For Results
www.royeveritt.com
1 Make it easy. The buying process for your seminar needs to be as easy as possible - but don't make it free unless you can promote it to hundreds of thousands (and you've lots of experience in predicting numbers). If people don't pay something they won't feel committed to attending. You need them to turn up!
2 Make turning up as easy as possible. Choose your venue carefully and always supply good directions, by road, rail and even air. Hold the event at the weekend if you’re looking to attract people with jobs. Weekdays are better for professional events where the seminar is part of their working week.
3 Emphasise value at every opportunity. Promise valuable information and give the impression you're giving it away.
4 Give access to the speakers. If they are patently or apparently the leading experts in their field, people will be very keen to meet them in person, hoping to get the bit of ‘inside information’ not even the other delegates will hear. A ‘secret’ might just be one bit of information they feel they lack, and where better to get it than from your experts?
5 Promise them special offers and make them conditional upon attendance on the day. Old hands will expect these offers but first-timers might not.
6 Give them a freebie. You’ll probably have to provide this, although another speaker may have good reason to give stuff away. Make it a condition that delegates must attend on the day to collect it.
7 Two exceptions to the ‘no free tickets’ rule.
a) Bring a friend or partner for free. Two bums on two seats for no extra marketing cost. Simple.
b) Free tickets for your members. They're very highly qualified and they’re also your fans, so they should be a good, responsive audience.
8 Make your seminar the obvious ‘next step’ by riding on the coat tails of other events, you can make yours the next step in your delegates’ education.
9 Give them what’s 'missing' in their education, even if it's just the impetus to take action.
10 Give them ‘exclusives’, so your marketing emphasises that the information isn't available elsewhere or to the general public. People love being in on 'secrets', even if they're of little use.
11 Appeal to groups to create a buzz. 'See you all at the event' has great appeal to people who've only met online or who haven't seen each other in a while. It's reassuring for some more nervous people, too, to know they'll be amongst friends. Perhaps offer a discount to groups.
12 Tap into emotions. A lot of friendships start at seminars. Remind them they'll be seeing old, familiar faces. Nostalgia sells, too.
13 Make your events local by specifically naming all the major towns within reach in your promotion. People will feel you've connected with them. Honestly!
14 Because we couldn't have 13! Tap into the warm, fuzzy feeling at the end of your previous event and offer a big discount for next year. Cost price, even. The take-up will be astronomical - believe me!
There, that should be enough to keep you thinking! More on public speaking and seminars at Roy Everitt dotcom.
Roy Everitt, Writing For Results
www.royeveritt.com