Virtual Event Success

My sister from another mother, Nancy Marmolejo, recently stated this on Facebook in a rather exasperated tone (at least that’s how I interpreted it):

“I’m happy that so many people are doing telesummits to build their businesses, but I’m getting numb to SO MANY of them. How about we mash it up a bit peeps? Who said each call has to be 60 minutes? Let’s break the mold, it’s getting moldy!!”

Twenty-two people have responded to Nancy’s plea, agreeing that telesummit organizers need to think differently. I had to add my own 2-cents because I know what is working in today’s marketplace when it comes to telesummits.

You see, I’ve had the profound privilege to manage a number of telesummits this year and because of this, I’ve been privy to some unique offerings made by my clients through their virtual events. Here are some ideas to give your telesummit a refresh:

• Hold 15-20 minute sessions instead of an hour. This rapid fire approach was used by Carrie Wilkerson for her Women’s Wildfire Rally.  She pre-recorded her interviews, then played them back one by one at a certain time on a certain day as if the speaker was there live. You can use InstantTeleseminar to play back pre-recorded sessions.
• I haven’t seen this one before, but for visual learners, you can do a transcripts-only telesummit. Release 1 transcript per day of a speaker’s session (you’ll need to pre-record and transcribe it in advance). Then, offer a mastermind to attendees later in the day so they can ask questions and apply what they learned about in the transcripts to their own business. NOTE: If anyone does this, please let me know so I can profile your virtual event as a wonderful case study.

Duration isn’t the only place where you can innovate your telesummit. Those who speak at virtual events aren’t promoting them. Those who attend virtual events are mildly engaged with them. The pricing structure is tired. The incentives offered are old. Look at what everyone else is doing with telesummits, then do something different. I dare you

PS – If you’re ready to refresh your telesummit, join me November 3-5, 2010 in Atlanta, GA for Telesummit Refresh. At this 3-day workshop, I’ll share with you what’s not working with telesummits (some of you already know what these are) and give you real strategies you can use to refresh your next telesummit. These aren’t “I hope it works” techniques. These are actual tactics my clients have used over the past 12-months and I’ll share them with you. The info page isn’t live yet, but you can click here to add your name to the early bird list.

Aside from the duration, what other moldy telesummit strategies do you wish would just go away? If you had advice for someone who’s going to host their first (or 3rd) telesummit, what would you tell them to make their telesummit stand out?