Butts in Seats: 7 NO/LOW COST Secrets to Fill Your Seminar

You’ve designed a terrific seminar. Lots of great content. Cutting edge stuff. Ideas that people will find highly creative and help them immensely. Only one problem! You can’t get anyone to show up. Bummer.

It happens to people I meet all the time. Seminar and workshop leaders with those “million dollar ideas” who end up in an empty (or virtually empty) room talking to no one. Or, no one that “should” be there.

And your competitors? The ones who are handing out SHODDY information. The ones who you feel should be LOCKED UP for some of the things they do. Their events? Packed! Filled with people who are gobbling up their drivel.

Make you kinda sick? ME TOO! Let’s STOP that. Now.

Here are 7 ways to get more people to come to your events:

1. Create a Targeted List

A guy came to me not too long ago for help with his event. He wanted to do a seminar 90 days from the date that he got in touch with me. The first question I asked was: “How are you going to promote this?” His answer? Radio and TV.

I asked him if he were independently wealthy. He said no. I told him that there are certainly examples of people who succeed using radio and TV ads to promote their events, but they usually have BIG budgets. If YOU don’t have a big budget, keep reading!

My suggestion was to build himself a big list of people who MAY be interested in a seminar on the topic. I told him that may take a while to do. He wanted to do the event in three months time. I told him he would be better off donating the money he was prepared to spend on TV and RADIO to his favorite charity (or ME perhaps!).

If you’re ever told you can do a successful event from a standing start, with no list in 90 days, you’re being LIED to. Ain’t gonna happen. Build your list by giving away something of GREAT value. Then show people you’re one of the good GUYS (or GALS) in your field. It may take a while to build the list, but then you’ll have a fighting chance!

2. Design a KILLER Site

Take a look at my site: http://www.FredInfoBootcamp.com. This site has got an average visitor value of well over $100. That means that for every 25 or 28 visitors, one of them shells out $3000 to come to an event.

Use this site as your template to create a site for YOUR event. Don’t try and reinvent the wheel. Take what I’ve already done and adapt it to your seminar, workshop or event.

There will be a lot of people trying to sell you on their services to create a website for your event. Take a pass. Use what I KNOW is working and basically copy it.

3. Find OTHERS to help you promote Your Event

You say you don’t have a big list of your own? Or you do? It doesn’t matter. It will always help to enlist others to help you fill seats at your events. How do you find the people to approach?

There’s this new thing out there called GOOGLE!! It will be your best friend in finding partners to help promote your event. Find the top 20 or 30 sites that relate to your topic and approach the site owners.

When you contact them show them what’s in it for THEM to work with you on this promotion. You’ll naturally want to give them at least 50% of the revenue for any sales they generate. That’s standard. BUT, what will push them over the edge to work with you will be the NON monetary benefits they will get.

Check their site for clues on what their HOT BUTTONS are. Be a sleuth, you’ll find them. They ARE there. You just need to LOOK.

4. Use the Media to get the word out

One of the BEST ways to get more people at your events is to use the free media. The newspaper, the radio and the TV folks can help. As I was writing this article I saw something on TV earlier that perfectly illustrates what YOU need to do.

A 10 year old had seen food banks for those who were unlucky enough to have to ask for help with getting fed. He thought about the PETS of all of those people who were getting foreclosed on. HIs idea was to develop a food bank for the dogs and cats of those who had been victims of the recession.

Why did he get coverage? Simple. He took a TWIST on a problem. People getting fed? Everyone knows that. What about their pets? He was FIRST to market with the concept. Timely? Absolutely. Appeal to a mass market? You betcha.

Your action point? Find a way to do the same with your event. By the way, he was also able to get a number of local as well as national companies to chip in. And, press, generates MORE press!

5. Slice it THIN – microniche it!

One of the biggest, if not THE single biggest mistake I see when coaching people in this area is the attempt to try and get EVERYONE to attend. If you’re a well known international celebrity, this may be a wise approach. BUT, for the mere mortal like you and me, there’s a better way.

Instead of trying to be all things to all people, slice it down. Going after the body building market? Try FEMALE bodybuilders instead. By slicing it down you’ll attract a much higher percentage of people who are exposed to your marketing efforts.

You’ll also be able to charge more! Don’t slice it TOO thin. Going too tight on a given market will make your numbers such that very few people will have an interest. Where’s the middle ground? Test it to find out!

6. Find out what THEY want to know

Think you know what people want to know about your topic? Think again. You live in your own little bubble. The only way to truly know what your audience wants to know about your topic is to ASK them. The question is HOW?

Use a service like SurveyMonkey.com to ask people what they want to learn at an event you’re thinking of doing. Once you discover what they want to know, then your job is to prepare your marketing efforts accordingly. To give them what they have told you they want.

Sounds simple, but less than 1% of seminar promoters do it. Try and get as big a group as you can to give you answers to the BIG QUESTION of what you should cover. Then create your seminar and all of your marketing efforts to mirror that back to them.

The event YOU had in mind won’t be NEARLY as good as the one they “cook up” for you and other people who attend!

7. Great copy

I hate to say it but people won’t know how great your event is until after they attend. Getting more butts in seats is all about having a great marketing/promotional effort. Yes, YOU have to become a marketer!

If you have a message that you feel is worth sharing, don’t worry, it’s doable. Even for you. There are plenty of people out there who will “help” you write your copy. For a HEFTY fee. Please don’t use their services.

Instead, get a copy of Bob Bly’s book called the Copywriter’s Handbook. Before you read it, please note who it’s dedicated to! (Thank you Bob!) Then write the copy as best you can. Again, use my site that I mentioned above for all the necessary components!

After you’re done, consider TWEAKING the site. Take a look at: http://www.SuperFastTweak.com. Sabrina can help you get MORE people to sign up and she’s VERY reasonable for the results she gets folks.

Conclusion:

If you’ve got a great event and no one shows up it’s not just discouraging, it’s a downright shame. You’ve got great information to share and people need to hear it.

Follow the steps above and your chances for success will be MUCH improved. I’m not saying you’ll hit it out of the park every time, but your CHANCES will be much better!