Remember the telesummit host who spent $12,000 to set up her virtual event, but only made $1,200 in registrations? When she shared her promotional strategy with me, I was able to pinpoint right away the mistakes she made.
She gave away too much.
And because she gave away too much, she wasn’t able to make money on her greatest asset – the expert interviews from her telesummit series.
To build the know, like and trust factor with prospects, you should give away something for free. That way, people can decide whether or not they want to do further business with you. That’s why offering previews is a wonderful strategy. You give away something for free and use it to upsell the participant to purchasing access to your entire telesummit. In other words, give something to whet the appetite, then move people to the paid telesummit series to consume all the success tips your experts have to offer.
But you have to be very careful about how much you give away for free and what it looks like. In a program called Proven Teleseminar ‘Preview Call’ Template to Help You Sell More Authentically, Kendall Summerhawk wrote that when conducting previews, “you are not training the participant to become an expert; you are simply providing great information about how they can get started solving a problem.”
Because for most people, if the entire telesummit series is free, they have no reason to commit to consuming the content. In her blog post entitled The Fallacy of Free, Lynn Pearce states:
“Because the event was free, when something more urgent came up — something that wasn’t free or that involved you making money — the free thing dropped to the bottom of the pile. So while free is initially an attention grabber it is easily pushed to one side when schedule conflicts come up.”
Resist the urge to give away everything for free. Understand how to craft a preview of your series so you motivate, inspire and get people to take action. Your free preview isn’t designed to turn the prospect into an expert. It’s designed to get them interested enough to invest in your telesummit.
As you can see, you can reverse the saga of low sign ups and boost your revenues if you follow the right strategy.
Need More?
On my FREE call that I’m hosting with Lynn Pearce on August 17, 2011 at 8pm Eastern, we’ll share a fantastic strategy that you can use to pull in more sign-ups. Clients who have use this strategy typically pull in 5-figures or more from virtual event registrations. We can’t wait to share this strategy with you.
To reserve your spot, head on over to www.virtualeventbootcamp.com.
If you’re anxious to host a profitable telesummit, video summit or virtual event, please join Lynn and I on this free teleclass taking place on Wednesday August 17th at 8pm Eastern.
Over the past year, I’ve seen alot of excitement from event and meeting planners about the hybrid event. That’s where you host a non-virtual event, such as a conference or trade show in a city and supplement it with a virtual event that takes place over the phone or online.
The hybrid event can take place consecutively, meaning that you host one, then a few weeks or months later you host the other. Or, it can take place concurrently, meaning that you host both together. Andrea J. Lee’s The Wealthy Thought Leader will have both a non-virtual component, taking place in Vancouver Marchc 18-20, 2010, and a virtual component happening at the same time for those who couldn’t travel to Vancouver.
Part of this excitement is due to the fact that event and meetings planners now see virtual events complimenting (and not replacing) non-virtual events. I guess it’s easier to support something if it no longer looks like it’s going to wipe out your bread and butter.
But I digress…
My point is that the hybrid event is nothing new. Those in the online marketing space have been using hybrid events for years to connect with their consumers.
The typical scenario is this – an online marketer hosts a virtual training or coaching program. They do this program annually for about 3-years. Over that time, they’ve not only trained hundreds of people, but for the thousands who didn’t sign up for the training, they are aware that it exists.
The online marketer decides to host a reunion event in a city somewhere in North America. Most will host this event in advance of a conference or trade show that relates to the content of their training or coaching program and that they’ll be speaking at.
For example, my buddy Paul Colligan, who co-hosts Podcast Secrets virtually with his co-trainer Alex Mandossian, would organize a Podcast Secrets reunion workshop one day before the Podcast & New Media Expo (PNME) started (now Blog World & New Media Expo). His students would fly in to attend the reunion, then stay on to attend PNME.
Paul’s first “hybrid” event was in 2006. So, perhaps it didn’t have a fancy name, but it’s nothing new. I’m happy to see virtual events grow as a strategy, but the excitement about hybrid events is not warranted given that it’s existed for quite some time.
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia is planning a virtual wedding expo for November 14-15, 2009. Registered visitors will enter an online space with virtual booths, manned by live company representatives, wedding experts and resources. And if you have to miss a session, the recordings will be available for playback until February 28, 2010.
I like the fact that Martha Stewart is looking at the wonderful world of virtual events to reach out to prospects and consumers. What I don’t like is the time limit on the recordings. Attendees will have just 3 short months to consume all the sessions they missed.
And then what? What will happen to these recordings? I truly hope that the company that’s providing their virtual event platform has given Martha Stewart Omnimedia advice on how to monetize the recordings after the February 28, 2010. Every virtual event strategy must have a monetization plan that takes them beyond just charging for admission at the door. Please make sure you also have a monetization strategy down pact.
Here are the 7 guiding principles that make up the Virtual Event Manifesto. Click on each link below to review each manifesto in detail.
Virtual Event Manifesto #1 – Ease of Access Trumps Flashy Technology
Virtual Event Manifesto #2 – Quality of Your Relationships Matter More Than Quantity of Your Database
Virtual Event Manifesto #3 – Passion, Not Permission, is Enough to Get You Started
Virtual Event Manifesto #4 – Community First, Commerce Later
Virtual Event Manifesto #5 – Diversity of Needs Calls for a Diversity of Options
Virtual Event Manifesto #6 – A Celebrated Topic is Better than a Celebrity Name
Virtual Event Manifesto #7 – Every Star Needs a Supporting Team
Do you believe in the Virtual Event Manifesto? If so, why not become a member of the Association of Virtual Event Managers, Organizers & Hosts (AOVEM)? Click here to read all the benefits and to become a member today.
A one size fits all approach will not work with your virtual event.
People’s needs are diverse and your virtual event must provide a variety of plans and packages to meet those needs. Develop a cheap, middle ground and VIP packages for all those who want to participate in your virtual event, for example:
- Attendees want to attend your virtual event when they want to. If an attendee takes vacation, he wants to know that he’ll get additional features at an additional cost to allow him to listen to the content on his time.
- Speakers want to present their session when it’s convenient for them. If a speaker cannot present her session live, she wants the option to pre-record her session so she can go on maternity leave. While she takes care of her newborn, you can play her pre-recorded session to a live audience as if she’s sitting right there.
- Exhibitors and sponsors want to access to your attendees, but you have to be mindful not to overwhelm attendees with a slew of advertising messages. Providing various packages to exhibitors and sponsors shows what type of access they can get for the money they’re willing to pay.
People thrive on options. They want choices. So, give them a reason to say yes no matter their budget, timezone, language, lifestyle or learning style.
Recommended Resource: Curious to know how to price your virtual event so you provide options to attendees? Click here to join the Association of Virtual Event Managers, Organizers & Host (AOVEM) and listen to an audio recording on how to craft different price points for your virtual event so you attract the maximum number of attendees.
Those who sign up to attend your virtual event aren’t attendees, they are people.
Those who choose to speak at your event aren’t speakers, they are people.
Those who want to sponsor or exhibit at your virtual event aren’t exhibitors are sponsors, they are people.
At the end of day, all those who participate in your virtual event want to be a part of a growing community. For this reason, you need to develop ways in which all these individuals can connect with each other before, during, and after your virtual event.
If you put money and profits first and start counting the potential dollars that come rolling through the door, you’re focusing on an intense craving that takes you away from being of service to the people who can make or break your event.
If attendees, exhibitors and sponsors get the sense that you’re driven by money, they won’t participate in any virtual event you produce in the future. And people talk. They’ll share with others why they would NEVER work with you again.
Focus your energy on being of service. Provide an environment where people can interact with each other without too many rules or meddling. Be thankful that you attracted a talented group of people around a topic that you’re passionate about.
Stop trying to control this interaction. Stop trying to put barriers up that prevents those who participate in your virtual event from connecting with one another. Your virtual event is a means to allow people to build their own tribe. Be seen as the individual that allows this to happen. Be seen as this community’s Messiah. Let go of the desire to make money first and instead build the community. You’ll be financially rewarded if you focus on people first.
Recommended Resource: If you’re using WordPress to deliver your virtual events, add a wonderful plugin called SimplePress Forum. It’s a free plugin, so I recommend that if you like it, donate some money to their effort.
We’ve wrapped up the 10 Days to Producing a Better Virtual Event series. Here’s a summary of what was covered over the past 10 days.
- 10 Days to Produce a Better Virtual Event, Intro
- Day 1 – Benefits of Hosting a Virtual Event
- Day 2 – Planning Your Virtual Event
- Day 3 – Virtual Event Delivery Options
- Day 4 – Marketing Your Virtual Event
- Day 5 – Managing Virtual Event Speakers, Exhibitors & Sponsors
- Day 6 – Monetizing Your Virtual Event
- Day 7 – Measuring Your Virtual Event
- Day 8 – Engaging Your Virtual Event Audience
- Day 9 – Virtual Event Associations & Communities
- Day 10 – Other Virtual Event Issues
Produce a Better Virtual Event Activity Book
Want to download the free PDF that contains the homework from all 10 days in this series? If so, just enter your first name and email address below and you’ll get an email with details on how to do so.
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There are many ways that you can make money from your virtual events.
Homework: Write down the 1, 2 or 3 ways you can make money with your virtual events.
Did I miss a really great resource that fits the theme of this post? If so, leave the URL in the comments below so others can see it.
So, Why Won't They Sign Up?
Click on the Image Below to Discover the 3 Reasons Why People Just Don't Sign Up for Teleseminars, Webinars, Telesummits, Video Summits and Other Virtual Events (and What You Should Do Instead)
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