Free Marketing Tools: "Seminar Promotions"
One of the deadliest marketing mistakes you can make when trying to successfully promote your own seminars and workshop is launching your promotional schedule too late. Many new seminar promoters wait until four to six weeks before their events to start promotions (sometimes even less) … and then can't understand why their registration numbers are low.
The simple fact is that most prospective seminar attendees need time to clear their schedules and make up their minds about whether to attend your event.
Perhaps they want to do some research about you, to check your credentials and verify the claims that you make. Maybe they need to get permission from their approving manager. They might even just need to take some time to think about whether your seminar or workshop is going to be worth the investment of their time and money. Although a handful of prospects will decide within minutes of hearing about your event that they want to attend – even if it's just a few days away – most people will need time.
Here are three rules of thumb to follow when determining the timing of your promotions:
* The longer the event, the further in advance you want to market. Attendees need more lead time to clear their schedules for a 3-day boot camp than for a 2-hour evening seminar.
* Allow more marketing time for paid events than for free events. It's easier to say “yes” to something that's free. Ask people to fork over their money, and they'll need time to “think about it,” to ensure they have the funds , to get the powers-that-be to approve their attendance, etc.
* The closer the relationship you have with your prospective attendees, the less time you may need to market to them. If you have an inner circle group or clients that work with you closely, sometimes all you need to do is tell them “Here's an event – show up please” and they'll respond. If you're marketing to people who don't know you as well, you need more time and “touches” to get them to trust you enough to attend.
By Jenny Hamby, the Seminar Marketing Pro™ Certified Guerrilla Marketer and Direct-Response Copywriter
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