Then ask yourself, which of the companies you listed would make the MOST sense to approach first. The most sense for THEM! Which companies would benefit the most from getting in front of your group at your event.

Who do you talk to? Start with the vice president of marketing. In some companies they will be the right person to “pitch” on sponsoring your event.

If not the VP, then he/she will direct you to the right person. The decision maker will make their decision on a number of different factors.

They will include:

• How much are you charging for sponsorships?
  
• Are their competitors sponsoring your event?
• How many people are you projecting to attend?
• What is the possibility they will purchase?
• Are the attendees likely to be INFLUENCERS?

All of these questions are critical to be able to answer whomever you talk to sponsorships about.

They will want to feel that the price they pay you for the sponsorship will give them more value than what they paid for it.

What will you give them for sponsoring the event?

Will they be able to put up banners and signs or will they just have an booth or table at the back of the seminar room?

Do they get to sponsor a meal? Will they get to speak in front of the whole group?

What should you do? Sorry to say, but it DEPENDS on what you’re trying to do. If you want the MOST money, you let them have “face time” with your audience. The more time you allow them, the more money you should try and EXTRACT from them.

I’ve also seen people sell the back cover of the seminar workbook to a sponsor. The possibilities are endless. Just put your thinking cap on.

You should always TRY and write the copy yourself You may find you are very good at it. If you’re like me you’ll find that you are NOT particularly good.

No worries.

You can have a professional copywriter write the copy for your seminar or event. IF you have a LOAD of cash!

Hiring GOOD copywriters to write an entire site will NOT come cheap.

If you’re on a limited budget, I suggest you write the copy yourself and then have someone like Sabrina Brick TWEAK the copy that you write.

This will save you a lot of money AND allow you to promote your event with some very well written copy.

You can find Sabrina at:

http://www.SuperFastTweak.com

(Make sure to tell her where you found her!)

A few reasons why this is so crucial:

First, you don’t want them to ask for their money back. Second, you want them to buy a lot of product from you. Third, you want them to come back to future events. Finally, you want them to buy your consulting services.

If you blow it at the seminar itself, you’ll lose on all four of these points. When people come to your events, they expect a minimum of two things. First, they want someone who is a good presenter. Second, they

want someone who will give them lots of usable and relevant content. These two are equally important; one without the other is a failure. If you’re weak in either of these areas, get some help. If you need a refer- ral in either the content or presentation skill area, contact us.

Being good is not enough; you must be great!

Many seminar promoters do only the minimum to fulfill their contractual obligations to their attendees and customers. I suggest you significantly exceed the expectations of your audience. Do more than they expect. Doing things this way will increase product sales and increase your enrollment at future events.

Giving you a complete list of specific things that go into making a great seminar and presentation would occupy another book this size. The best advice I can give you in a small space is to concentrate on those things you can do that impress the heck out of people but cost you very little “out-of-pocket” dollars.

The rest of this chapter offers some things to keep in mind when you present your seminar to make sure you do it right!

Your Look

I have a trademark speaking wardrobe. I always wear my famous Coogi sweaters when I present. These are these very bright and color- ful sweaters that I got turned on to in Australia. These work best for me. They fit my personality and my results are always good when I’m wearing them.

Find out what works for you. Note what you’re wearing each time you present and tabulate the results. See what you tend to sell best in. Whatever works best, wear that outfit all the time.

You may find that your most effective wardrobe varies with your target audience. Some kinds of attendees may respond better to a suit- and-tie look while others will buy like mad when you wear jeans and a humorous T-shirt. Within the bounds of good taste, you should experiment and keep track.

Once you find something that works well, don’t mess with success.

Psych Yourself Up

When you are giving a seminar, you are “on stage” for a good part of the day. As you know if you’ve done any seminars (and as you’ll soon find out if you haven’t), there is a combination of exhilaration and exhaustion that occurs in conjunction with such performance. To be at your best, you probably need to “psych yourself up” to get into performance and selling mode before you start your seminar.

There are many ways of doing this. Only you can figure out what works for you. Some people use affirmations, others use meditation, still others use physical exercise. Whatever you use, make sure and put yourself into the right mental state before you start or your prod- ucts sales will suffer.

Be Physically Fit

Giving a seminar is hard work. It can be fun and exhilarating, but there’s no doubt it is physically draining. It’s important that you come into your seminar room in as good physical condition as you can get. This doesn’t mean you have to be some kind of fitness nut or spend hours every day working out in a gym. (If you’re inclined to do those things, of course, they won’t hurt you!)

The night before your seminar, you should consider following a few simple rules that many seminar leaders have discovered over the decades this business has existed.

• First, eat a light but satisfying dinner, as early as you can. Many seminar leaders report that avoiding red meat the night before a presentation helps them feel more energy in the morning. You might experiment with that. Note that this might require you to arrive in your seminar city a day early rather than simply the night before, so that you can get a meal before too late at night, local time.
• Second, get a normal amount of sleep the night before the semi- nar. It’s important to be well-rested, but if you, for example, arrive at your site city exhausted and then sleep two or three hours longer than you are accustomed to sleeping, you might find that works against you.
• Third, avoid sugary or starchy breakfast foods. Fruit plates, egg- and-meat plates (in moderation) or grain and cereal-based foods are a better regimen than donuts, pastries, and waffles.
• Finally, if you are traveling to present your seminar, call your significant other before you go to the seminar room, assuming time zones allow that. This will both provide you encouragement and remove or reduce the likelihood that you’ll be dwelling on home concerns when you should be focusing on the room and your attendees.
• Another technique that helps me greatly in dealing with the stress of staging an event — or even just being in this business! — is meditation. It’s definitely worth you experimenting with it to see how it works for you.

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