When you’re a small business owner, it becomes necessary to think of out-of-the-box ways to find clients who are right for you. One way to engage your specific target market is to brand yourself as an expert by hosting an event such as a workshop or seminar.
The important thing to remember when filling a room for such an event is that quality is more important than quantity: you want to attract attendees who you can convert into clients down the road.
Here are a few tips for throwing a successful workshop or seminar:
Offer quality content, not a sales pitch
No one wants to take time out of their day to attend a sales pitch, so make sure you are providing valuable content, something your target audience is willing to pay for. You don’t have to give away all of your expertise, just offer enough to qualify which members of the audience would be interested in consulting you on a deeper level. Think of your seminar as a teaser of greater things that you are capable of.
Offer a networking opportunity
If your seminar is intended to attract other business people, think about reserving some time before and after your seminar so that you and your attendees can mingle. This is not just an opportunity for you to connect with your audience and learn more about them and how you can help them, but it will add value for your attendees; particularly if they happen to be entrepreneurs themselves and they can network with like-minded professionals.
Provide food
It is difficult to get people (especially business people!) to take time out of their busy schedules to attend a seminar, but everyone needs to eat! If you can throw in lunch or dinner or some kind of snack, your seminar might be more enticing to those who are more strapped for time. Just make sure that the food doesn’t distract from what really matters… your seminar!
Follow up
Follow up with every attendee in order to get constructive feedback and hopefully some new business. Ultimately, if you want to do more events in the future, you will want to grow an email list and social media following. As you build a community of like-minded individuals, you’ll see that filling your events will get easier and easier.
Attract new blood while maintaining old friendships
If you’re not careful, throwing events can grow stale if they’re attracting the same group over and over again. The key is to keep introducing new blood while maintaining connections with your loyal group. Offer incentives if faithful followers bring in new faces. Partner up with an entrepreneur who is after the same target but who is in a non-competing business and let them present at your seminar so you can share and cross-pollinate your networks.
Need a hand with your business’ brand? Call Kim Speed at Purple Moon Creative today!
