**reprint from my Birthing An Empire program.**
And far too many people GROSSLY underestimate 1) how hard it will be and 2) how long it will take. If you are planning your own event, congratulations. This takes courage. There isn’t JUST the financial outlay you’re risking, there’s also the huge ego risk… of showing up to an empty room.
While “selling IS selling,” there are multiple INHERENT challenges in filling a live event (virtual or otherwise) that do not come into play when you’re selling jewelry, therapy or 1:1 services. This articles details EIGHT challenges you must overcome — via your marketing STRATEGY and messaging — to put butts in seats; as well as a few tactics that may just help you fill your next event.
But first… let me point out the (apparently) non-obvious: Whether you’re planning a 20 person event or a 2000 person event, there MUST be a detailed strategy dedicated exclusively to putting butts in seats.
FAR TOO MANY skip this step… thinking it UNIMPORTANT if they get the right venue, the right video, the right speakers or — maybe — the right budget to advertise. I have been called in to “rescue” attendance at events whose agenda was LITTERED with mutlple celebrity speakers.
Celebrities ARE a great addition to your event, specifically if you aim to put on a larger event (over 250 people or so). BUT they do NOT move the needle MUCH if they are “ONLY” speaking. You should ALWAYS include some sort of option in their contract that requires them to take pictures with EITHER 1) those who buy tickets early… (SEED that attendance, y’all!) and / or 2) those who purchase VIP-ish tickets.
The right budget IS a great asset in selling seats, but ONLY if applied in the right way with the right messaging sent via the right media. (The right messaging addresses ALL of the 8 challenges below and the right media is nearly ALWAYS direct mail.)
Okay, so let’s talk about WHY it’s so hard to sell a live event, so you can address these things in your sales copy and sales STRATEGY:
⚠️ Challenge #1: There is an EASY “out” for anyone invited: DATE. This means other “issues” with your marketing can stay hidden, as people prefer to say, “Oh those dates don’t work for me.” if the TRUTH is
1) I don’t have the money or don’t think it’s worth the money;
2) I’m not sure WHY I NEED to be at this event;
3) I don’t think the event really applies to me;
⚠️ Challenge #2: FEAR OF NEGATIVE EMOTIONS. This sounds crazy, but it is 100% legit and relevant. When it comes to live events, people fear feeling:
— out of their element;
— behind everyone else and intimidated;
— shame of not implementing what you learn;
— overwhelmed with everything they learn they now need to do (especially relevant for entrepreneurial and marriage conferences); and
— that dreaded post-event let down when all of the hoop-lah of the live event disappears.
⚠️ Challenge #3: PREVIOUS event disappointments. They fear investing AGAIN (tickets, hotel, travel) in an event that disappointed them. Things that disappoint them: when every speaker is a live sales page vs. a TRUE content provider; and / or when the content or connections are inferior to what was advertised are the top two disappointments.
⚠️ Challenge #4: LEGITIMACY CONCERNS. They need to KNOW 1) that your speakers are “legit,” (having information that they NEED, and information that SHOULD be delivered by THAT particular speaker… so keep this in mind when choosing and highlighting your speakers.) 2) that they’ll get more from your conference than from a book or series of blog posts.
⚠️ Challenge #5: POORLY DEFINED “Master” or POORLY PREPARED market. If the person putting on the event has no real “gravitas” on their own, people will NOT feel the DESIRE to fly, hotel and sit at the “feet of the master.” And if the market is poorly prepared (usually by NO consistent contact at all, followed by a huge sales and ad push) you’ll run into huge obstacles filling your room.
⚠️ Challenge #6: MONEY. It costs a lot of money to attend a conference. Not just the seat, but also hotel and travel… as well as food while you’re there, etc.
⚠️ Challenge #7: HASSLE. To attend a conference, I may have to take off work, get a sitter, plan for “home matters” with my spouse, organize a pet sitter, maybe feel guilty leaving the kids or spouse… and if I own a business, I’ve got an even GREATER task in terms of “walking away.”
⚠️ Challenge #8: ANY EXCUSE WHATSOEVER will apply. The top way we “reason our way” out of attending a conference — or any live event — is this one: I’ll go next year.
Hopefully you see what you are up against. However, NOTHING does for your brand what a live event can do for your brand. So, it IS worth it. AND a great sales STRATEGY and copy can help you overcome them ALL.
As a bonus: here are some tips that can help you fill your room:
⭐️ Give yourself a long runway. Give yourself as much lead time as possible to fill the event. Some events can be filled quickly, but ONLY if you have a strong brand (and market relationships) already, it’s a RECURRING event people look forward to, and you use personal invites as your primary selling tool.
Side note: Take HUGE advantage of the early EARLY campaign… selling tickets before you can really reveal all of the details. This is a SEXY and EFFECTIVE strategy too many skip over.
⭐️ Make “buying tickets” AS SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE. It is fine to have “general seats” and “VIP tickets” but it’s BETTER to have a CORE “yes” (core fee to attend) and then UPSELL them into a VIP experience than to have 3-4 options they have to think through before securing their ticket.
A confused prospect ALWAYS walks away, so simplify, simplify, simplify.
⭐️ Seed ticket sales… by inviting people to lead roundtables, introduce speakers, hold a vendor table, etc.
⭐️ If you have celebrities speaking (Local or national) PROMPT more sales by offering a certain number of “picture opportunities” with said celebrities. (Example: The first 100 people to buy tickets get a private reception with _____________!)
⭐️ Use the “bring a partner” campaign — which can be life partner or biz partner, but can help you turn as many as 25% of your individual tickets sales into TWO tickets sold.
⭐️ If you are filling a larger event, have a boots on the ground team selling tickets. Similar to a local political campaign, you need influencers to passionately bring people to the event!
⭐️ If you have speakers other than yourself at the event, PROPERLY MOTIVATE them to help you fill your event. A tweet, an email blast, a podcast interview will SURPRISE you with how FEW tickets they sell. (I promise you this is true.) And no one will take the responsibility YOU will take to fill this room. So motivate your speakers properly. Think beyond a percentage share.
For instance, if they are centers of influence, they love their people. So, what “special experience” can you give to THEIR attendees that will make them excited to promote it? Think backstage experiences, time with a celebrity, a book signing… things like that.
And above all…
⭐️ RUN THIS RACE AS A SPRINT AND A MARATHON. It’ll take a lot out of you, but it IS worth it. Keep your foot on the gas and sell tickets until you literally take the stage.
If you need my help with this, message me.. the EARLIER in your event process the better.
