
Recipe: Hosting a Live Event
Whether it’s a small, local gathering, or a large conference with multiple speakers, sponsors, and networking, hosting a live event can be beneficial to business owners.
Attendees will: see you as the expert, get a chance to learn more about you and your offerings, and be more willing to make a purchase. If face-to-face selling is what you’re best at, then you’ll want to consider this option. Just be aware that any event can be a lot of work.
Content Ingredients
- Registration Sign Up Page
- Promotional Emails for Your Contacts
- Referral Partner Emails to Promote Your Event
- Registration Follow-up Emails
- Emails for Following Up With Attendees
Processing Time
Between 2 weeks and 6 months
Small, local events don’t need a lot or time to promote. Like a webinar, they take little effort from the attendee. And they’re are often some great perks to attending. If that’s the type of event you’re hosting, you can host a successful event in as little as 2 weeks.
If your event is larger, more expensive, or you’re expecting attendees to travel, you’ll need a lot more time to make your event happen. Plan on starting promotions a minimum of 2 months in advance.
Preparation
Tools
Step-by-Step Directions
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1. Determine the type of event you want to host.
If your services or products only extend to people within your vicinity, then a smaller, more personal event is what you’re looking for. If your reach is longer, and you’re looking to set yourself up as an expert in your industry, then you need to consider hosting something a little larger. Both take a lot of time and effort, so weigh the end results (expected revenue) again the expense.
2. Create a sign up page.
A smaller event doesn’t need a lot. Date, time, place, and a few reasons why the person should attend will be sufficient. If you’re hosting a larger event, you’ll want to consider a lengthy, persuasive registration page or even a fully developed website just for the event. If you need help with sign up page content, take a look at our Live Event Invite Campaign (for larger conferences) or our Small or Local Event Invite Campaign (for more intimate settings).
3. Promote your event to your contacts.
Keep your prospects in mind especially. Events are a great time to close sales or get your prospects one step closer to it. Let your customers and prospects know about your event far enough in advance that they can clear their calendars and make arrangements to attend. If you need help writing these emails, take a look at our Live Event Invite Campaign (for larger conferences) or our Small or Local Event Invite Campaign (for more intimate settings).
4. Ask referral partners to promote your event.
If you have referral partners, this is a great opportunity to get them involved. Let them know what you’re planning and ask for their help getting the word out. Depending on the cost of the event, you can either offer a commission for attendees your referral partners bring in, or offer them a percentage of any sales that take place as part of your event. Just remember to provide your referral partners with plenty of resources to make promoting your event a piece of cake. For help writing content to and for your referral partners, see our Referral Partner Event Promotion Campaign .
5. Remind registrants of your event.
You really need to keep reminding people of your event (and why they want to come) – especially if the event you’re hosting is free. We recommend following up once or twice a week in the weeks prior to your event, and then as many as 4 times the week of your event. If you need help writing reminder emails for your event, see our Live Event Registration Follow Up Campaign (for larger conferences) or our Small or Local Event Registration Follow Up (for more intimate settings.)
6. Host your event.
7. Follow up with your attendees after your event.
Be sure to thank them for coming. Remind them of the great information they learned. Then, if you extended special offers of services or products during the event, be sure to remind them about those offers. If you need help writing these emails, see our Post Live Event Follow Up Campaign (for larger conferences) or our Post Local Event Follow Up Campaign (for more intimate settings).