There’s a seminar I think you might want to go to. And, if you go, I want to give you a gift worth $100.
THE BACKSTORY: So, I just spent two days with 25 of the world’s leading small business marketing gurus. It was pretty great. More on that whole experience soon.
But, while I was there – I got to connect with Max Simon who was also participating. Max has got about to a decade of experience putting on high-quality live events, and it seems that he’s really nailed the formula for providing unparalleled content AND making six-figures per seminar. His dad is one of Deepak Chopra’s closest colleauges and Max grew up in the biz. He’s participated in and helped organize over 200 live events.
After dinner tonite, Max and I recorded a quick sit to chat about his upcoming program called “Sold Out Seminar Secrets“. Click play and check it out.
Max has put up some really useful free videos about his program. Check them out.
The Six Fundamental Things I Learned From Max About Filling Seminars:
LESSON #1: Focus on the experience. There are so many seminars and workshops available. And there will be more and more every year. And, being real, many with the virtually identical content. So, focus on the ‘experience’ pieces. Who else will be there? What kind of food will be served? Are there any parties included? Morning yoga? What could make it so special? What makes it memorable? If you pick a cool and unusual venue this can help draw people. Don’t focus on the content alone.
LESSON #2: Go Narrow and Deep. The more broad you are about your topic base the harder the workshop will be to fill. A workshop called, “Empowerment for Everyone!” will get a much smaller response than, “Online Marketing for Massage Therapists”. Narrow your focus on who it’s for – this allows you to go deep into tailoring the event for that crowd. Most workshops are Broad and Shallow in their focus. But the wider you go with your topic base the fewer people will come – ironic but true. Focus is power here. Focus on a particular group experiencing a particular problem and promise a particular result.
LESSON #3: Something They Can Finish. Build the workshop around a central result. Some promise of something they will actually accomplish by the end of the event. This will keep your event from just being a data dump. People are no longer satisfied with ‘more information’. They want results. So pick a particular result and then help them achieve that by the time the workshop finishes. Don’t just give them ideas. Give them time to integrate and work with those ideas during the workshop. For example, if the workshop was about how to lose weight – by the end of it they would have created a customized plan, phoned people to build a support team, booked their times with a personal trainer etc. If the result was about financial management – that they would bring their laptops and actually create a spreadsheet of their finances there and a plan for the next 12 months on exactly what they can do.
LESSON #4: Price higher. The lower the price – the less people will come. They’ll assume it’s not valuable. Narrow & deep + higher price + promised result = “Ooooh. This looks good!”
LESSON #5: Do it for them. If your workshop is about helping people describe what they do – give them a bunch of written examples. Give them cookie cutter ‘fill in the blanks’ templates they can use. The easier you can make it for them – the better.
LESSON#6: Give them value before they come. Max has got a lot of ideas on tactics to fill workshops – but you could do worse than doing a video launch. Meaning, offering people a series of three videos that give people not only a sense of the value of the event – but some useful tools they can use right away. A basic format to follow is: Video #1 is the Free Content. Video #2 are video testimonials from past participants. Video #3 is the video where you describe the event (focusing on the experience not just the content). Tell them about the content – but not in detail. More like Chapter Headings. Max has got some videos like this up – check them out.
This is really just the start. Max gave us a 45 minute download on his seminar at the workshop which is absolutely going to improve the way I promote my own workshops. I’m super grateful.
Check out Max’s free Sold Out Seminar Secrets videos. And consider going to his workshop – I think you’ll be glad you did.
MY GIFT TO YOU: If you go – let me know – because I’d like to give you $100 of my time (30 minutes) to help you integrate it – as my way of saying, ‘Thanks for trusting me.’
But I invite you to share – what ideas and strategies do YOU have on filling up workshops? Share them below!
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