seminar mkt

HOW TO SUCCESSFULLYMARKETSEMINARSANDWORKSHOPS

A practical guide

for creating

effective

seminar-marketing

plans and

powerful

promotional

materials

Jenny L. Hamby

How to Successfully Market Seminars

and Workshops:

A Practical Guide for Creating

Effective Seminar Marketing Plans and

Powerful Promotional Materials

n n n

Copyright © 2003 Hamby Communications, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

recording or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. No patentliability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein.Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the

publisher and authors assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither isany liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information

contained herein.

International Standard Book Numbers: 0-9747169-0-1

Printed in the United States of America.

First printing: October 2003

Design by Bohringer Creative, Inc.,www.AdRepairman.com

Proofreading by Jane Stiedemann

© 2003 Hamby Communications, Inc.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

How to Successfully Market Seminars and Workshops: A PracticalGuide for Creating Effective Seminar Marketing Plans andPowerful Promotional Materials

PREFACE by Fred Gleeck...............................................................8

INTRODUCTION............................................................................10

SECTION l: PLANNING

CHAPTER 1: Research … the Most Important Step ..................1-1

Three Critical Things to Research.............................................................1-1

Obtaining Information About Your Audience ...........................................1-3

Questions to Ask Your Present Customers and New Prospects ..............1-4

The Challenge of Marketing a Brand-New Seminarz ...............................1-5

CHAPTER 2: Designing an Optimal Marketing Strategy … for Minimal Cost ........................................................................2-1

A Menu of Promotional Options ..............................................................2-1

Getting Other People to Market Your Seminar – for Free.......................2-5

Choosing the Right Mix of Media ..........................................................2-7

Variety, the Spice of Life … and a Key to Successful Seminar Marketing ...............................................................2-10

Making the Process Feasible and Affordable .........................................2-11

Your House List … The Best Source of Prospects..................................2-11

Renting Outside Mailing Lists ................................................................2-13

How Often Should You Contact Prospects? ...........................................2-19

Timing Your Marketing Efforts for Maximum Response.........................2-21

When You Should Send Your Direct-Mail Pieces...................................2-23

How to Successfully Market Seminars and Workshops

© 2003 Hamby Communications, Inc. 3

CHAPTER 3: Building Your Budget ...........................................3-1

The Types of Costs You’ll Incur................................................................3-1

Important Numbers to Know and Watch.................................................3-4

Typical Response Rates ...........................................................................3-6

Calculating Break Even ............................................................................3-7

Marketing on a Tight Budget...................................................................3-8

SECTION II: KEY ELEMENTS OF SUCCESSFUL SEMINAR PROMOTIONS

CHAPTER 4: The Basic Information That Your Promotion Must Provide … But that Many Marketers Forget! ..............................................4-1

Customizing Your Message for Different Audiences ...............................4-4

Identifying the Most Important Benefits Your Seminar Offers ................4-5

Presenting Benefits for Best Effect..........................................................4-7

Identifying Who Should Attend ...............................................................4-8

Naming Your Price Without Causing Sticker Shock.................................4-9

What to Include in Your Registration Fee ..............................................4-11

Adding Value to Your Event ...................................................................4-12

Using Discounts to Increase Attendance ...............................................4-14

Types of Payment to Accept ..................................................................4-16

How Many Registration Options Do You Need?.....................................4-19

Whether Your Should Guarantee Satisfaction........................................4-21

Getting Prospects Off Their Duffs So They Finally Register ..................4-25

The Nitty-Gritty Details ..........................................................................4-27

Making Travel Arrangements..................................................................4-29

“Official” Language to Include ..............................................................4-30

Getting In Touch With You.....................................................................4-30



CHAPTER 5: Telling Attendees What They’ll Learn .................5-1

Setting the Stage with Background Information .....................................5-1

Presenting the Content for Best Effect....................................................5-2

Heading Off Refund Requests and Building Value..................................5-4

How Much Content to Include.................................................................5-7

Writing Compelling Descriptions of Your Seminar Content.....................5-8

Other Ways to Tell Prospects What They’ll Learn..................................5-10

Addressing Attendees’ Unique Challenges.............................................5-13

You Won’t Be Bored … I Promise!..........................................................5-15

CHAPTER 6: How to Deal with Fence Sitters ............................6-1

Understanding Your Prospect’s Mindset ..................................................6-1

Overcoming Prospects’ Indecision About Attending................................6-4

Remove the Risk ....................................................................................6-7

Using “Carrots” and “Sticks” to Spur Prospects Into Action ..................6-9

Backing Up Your Claims with Rock-Solid Proof .....................................6-11

Getting Leverage From Past Attendees ................................................6-13

How to Get Good Testimonials ..............................................................6-14

Presenting Testimonials for Best Effect .................................................6-15

Writing Interesting Instructor Bios .........................................................6-18

When to Create an Advisory Board .......................................................6-19

Chapter 7: Getting the Sale ......................................................7-1

Presenting the Registration Fee as an Investment .................................7-2

Increasing the Perceived Value of Your Seminar.....................................7-4

Helping Attendees Get Their Money’s Worth...........................................7-8

Selling The Boss and Other Decision Makers ........................................7-11

Making the Investment Risk-Free...........................................................7-13

Choosing the Right Type of Satisfaction Guarantee..............................7-15

Spelling Out the Details of Your Satisfaction Guarantee ......................7-17

Developing a Cancellation Policy...........................................................7-19

Setting Up The Registration Form .........................................................7-20

Increasing the Size of the Sale … and Boosting Future Marketing Results ................................................7-26

Promoting More Than One Seminar ......................................................7-27



SECTION III: CREATING YOUR MARKETING PIECE

CHAPTER 8: Copywriting Myths and Rules for Success ...........8-1

The Difference Between Good Copy and Bad Copy................................8-2

Putting the Words Together ...................................................................8-7

The Right Way to Use Jargon and Other Technical Language.................8-9

Writing from the Corporate Perspective vs. Writing Like a Person ......8-11

Stop Talking About Yourself … and Start Talking to “You” ...................8-12

Passive vs. Active Voice ........................................................................8-13

Forget What You Learned in High School English Class ......................8-14

Words to Avoid If You Want Compelling Copy ......................................8-15

Do You Have Time to Write Your Materials? ..........................................8-15

The Writing Process ...............................................................................8-18

Improving Your Copywriting Skills .........................................................8-21

CHAPTER 9: Putting Your Copy Together ..................................9-1

Components of Lead-Generating Ads, Postcards, Emails and Cover Letters .........................................................................9-1

Components of Sale-Generating Brochures, Direct-Response Letters and Web Sites, Fliers, Display Ads and Catalogs........................................................................9-8

CHAPTER 10: Things to Keep in Mind with Your Design........10-1

How Design Can Affect Printing and Postage........................................10-4

Colors to Use in Your Marketing............................................................10-6

Choosing the Right Font ........................................................................10-7

Using Formatting to Direct the Reader’s Attention................................10-8

Using Graphics and Photos for Best Effect............................................10-9

Creating an Effective Layout ...............................................................10-10

Must-Have Cover Elements ...................................................................10-12

Creating Easy-to-Use Registration Forms..............................................10-14

Effective Places for Calls to Action.......................................................10-15

Who Should Design My Materials? .......................................................10-16

Choosing the Right Graphic Designer ..................................................10-18



CHAPTER 11: Marketing Doesn’t Stop with Registration..........11-1

Heading Off Buyers Remorse While Pumping Up Enthusiasm ...............11-1

Keeping Excitement High at the Event...................................................11-4

Things to Do After the Event..................................................................11-6

Capturing the Rave Reviews .................................................................11-12

CONCLUSION ............................................................................12-1

ADDENDUM A: SUGGESTED READING FOR SEMINAR MARKETERS ...................A-1

ADDENDUM B: PLANNING WORKSHEETS FOR YOUR SEMINAR MARKETING SUCCESS ...............................................B-1



You’ve picked up the right book. As a seminar marketerfor the last 20 years or so, I should know. I’ve written theother great book on more or less the same topic. Mine iscalled Marketing and Promoting Your Own Seminars andWorkshops.

Why on earth would I want to endorse, much less writethe preface for, a book with such a similar message to myown? Two reasons. First, it’s a great book written by a goodfriend and client. Second, I have a prosperity mentality.

There is plenty enough “pie” for all of us. The days oftraditional competition in business are over. People who wereonce your competitors are now your joint venture partners. Ifyou read and like this book, chances are you’ll want more.More from Jenny and then more from other authors like me.

That being said, you should buy any and everything youcan get your hands on about a given topic if you’re a seriousstudent. Some of the material you find will be CRAP. Most ofit, in fact. This is not one of those.

No matter how great your seminar material is that yougive people when they come to your events, the key to yourlong-term success will lie in your marketing efforts. Thisbook will give you help in that precise area. As a copywriter,Jenny has a unique insight on how to get “butts in seats.”She is a true expert on writing copy for events, among manyother things.

I would suggest you get out your highlighter because thisbook is packed with useable content.

In chapter six, for example, Jenny talks about how to getthose who aren’t quite certain to commit. There is some veryvaluable content in that chapter that makes this book worth10 times the price you paid for it in that one section! I tookcopious notes myself.



In the very next chapter, Jenny gives you a long list ofthings to do to increase the perceived value at your events.Make sure you do EVERY ONE of the things sherecommends at your next event. You’ll thank her for havingbrought these items to your attention.

If you end up writing your own copy (or attempting to)you’ll be delighted by chapter 8, which gives you the mostcomprehensive explanation of how to do this right.

And the list of accolades I could provide for this bookgoes on and on.

Make sure and buy a few more copies to give to yourother friends and colleagues. It will be one of the best giftsyou will ever give them.

To summarize, you’ve made a great investment with ahighly competent expert. My only hope for you is that youquickly start to put into practice everything she has givenyou.

Jenny Hamby has created a marvelous book worthy ofpraise from me, Fred Gleeck, the guy who wrote the “other”book on the same topic. If you have both, you’ll beunstoppable.

All the Best,

Fred Gleeck1-800-FGLEECK (345-3325)www.seminarexpert.com



How to Successfully Market Seminars and Workshops:

A practical guide for creating effective seminar marketing plans and powerful

promotional materials

By Jenny Hamby

INTRODUCTION

If you have scoured your local bookstore, library orAmazon.com for information about properly marketingseminars and workshops, you know – the pickings are slim.There are just a handful of relevant titles available for theprofit-seeking seminar promoter.

How to Develop and Promote Successful Seminars &Workshops by the late Howard Shenson is an easy,informative read. Fred Gleeck’s Marketing and PromotingYour Own Seminars and Workshops is a must-read if youwant to maximize the revenue you generate with your events.And Don Schrello’s How to Market Training & Informationis a top-notch compilation of seminar-related statistics andanalysis.

There’s just one thing missing from these top seminar-marketing publications: a clear, detailed, step-by-stepexplanation of how to create your marketing plan and craftyour seminar-marketing materials.

That’s where this guide fits in.

A Do-It-Yourself Resource For Seminar Marketers

How to Successfully Market Seminars and Workshopsdelivers a step-by-step process for creating a sound plan forpromoting your training events.



You’ll learn how to research your audience … how tobuild a realistic budget … how to choose your marketingmedia … and how to craft compelling marketing materials.

You’ll discover time-tested techniques for increasingseminar registrations … dealing with prospects who are onthe fence about attending … and marketing to bosses andother budget-controlling decision-makers.

And you’ll master ways to reduce cancellation rates …increase the perceived value of your event … and practicallyeliminate requests for refunds.

Learn the Secrets of the Seminar Marketing Pro

Since 1994, I have marketed seminars and other informationproducts for small businesses, not-for-profit organizations, andhigher education institutions. Today, I work primarily withconsultants, speakers and trainers who want to use seminars toincrease their revenue and business leads, creating on- and off-line direct-response campaigns that are designed to increaseseminar registrations while marketing costs.

This guide was written for self-starters – the entrepreneursand marketing professionals who want to unlock the secretsto successfully marketing seminars on their own.

And now … if you’re ready to flip the page … I’ll showexactly how to do it.




Section I:

Planning

CHAPTER 1: Research … the Most Important Step

You’ve reserved a room at a local hotel. You’vepicked your topic. You know, perhaps just vaguely,who you’ll be marketing to. Now it’s time to sitdown and get started on the marketing. So you pulla chair up to your computer, plop down and starttyping, right?

Not if you want to create the most powerfulmarketing materials you can. Because the marketingprocess – at least when performed correctly – starts acouple of steps before the actual writing processbegins. It starts with research.

Spending just a few hours on research can make adramatic difference in your marketing results. It willhelp you develop a seminar offering that appeals toyour audience and then present your event in themost compelling way. It will help minimize your riskand expenses, as well as the time needed to developeffective materials. And it will help maximize yourresults and profits.

Three Critical Research Areas

There are three main areas you need to research.First, identify your ideal prospects. You don’t want“anyone” who could attend your seminar; you wantthe ideal prospects. Aim to develop a profile and anin-depth understanding of the individuals who aremost likely to respond to your marketing efforts. Atsome point, unless you have an unlimited budget,you are going to have to make hard decisions aboutwhere to focus your marketing dollars. Determining


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where to spend your limited resources becomes mucheasier when you know who you’re looking for.

Research your prospects’ demographics, whichare objective data such as gender, geographiclocation, level of education, and even ethnicbackground. Also, explore your prospects’psychographics, which is more “touchy/feely”information about your prospects’ beliefs and values,activities, buying behavior, and so on.

For example, you’ll want to learn what type ofmarketing your audience responds to. For example,do they buy online or through direct mail? Do theylisten to the radio, or do they prefer reading thepaper? What do they read and what associations dothey belong to? What are their hot buttons – dothey want to avoid pain of some sort, or are theymore turned on by the prospect of gainingsomething they desire?

You’ll also want to find out how your customersbuy. Do you need to start by pursuing a shyer “yes”– such as signing up for a free preview seminar –rather than going for the paid event? Do they needto get a supervisor’s approval before they register?Each marketing campaign and seminar you conductwill produce information that you can use to betterunderstand your audience.

The second critical research area is what yourprospects are looking for when it comes to your areaof expertise. Probe into the challenges they’re facing– what issues are keeping them up at night? Byknowing what prospects want, not only can youensure that your marketing materials stress the rightbenefits, you also can ensure that your event deliversthe goods.


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During this second phase, consider the questionsyour prospects will have at each stage of theirconversation with you. Then be sure to answer thequestions before asking them to take the next step.Repeat the process with likely objections that will beraised in your prospects’ minds when they receiveyour marketing materials.

The third critical research area is yourcompetition. The existence of competition is a goodsign – it tells you there’s a market for your seminar.And your competitors can help you make yourmarketing more effective. By studying their materials– and even attending their events – you can pick upclues for how to price your seminar, what benefits tooffer, what subjects to include and what to disregard,what types of problems your audience is looking for,and what you can bring to the table that otherseminar marketers are missing. You can alsodetermine how qualified your competitors are anduse their more-limited or different experience withthe subject matter to your advantage.

Obtaining Information About Your Audience

Now, if the thought of “Research” brings tomind time-intensive, pages-long surveys … hoursspent in libraries or tabulating data … hiring high-prices professionals to develop precisely wordedquestions to ask prospective clients, relax. Theresearch you need to do for your seminar marketingcan be fairly easy, inexpensive and conducted by“average Joes.”

Start by getting your hands on the magazines,newsletters, and newspapers your prospects arereading, many of which are often available fromindustry associations. (This is one reason you want


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to know what your prospects are reading and theassociations they belong to.) Skim through thesepublications to get a sense for the challenges yourgroup is facing. Study the ads to see what otherevents and products are being publicized.

The ads you see will tip you off as to who yourcompetitors within the industry or niche are. Checkout their web sites, call to get added to their mailinglists, buy their products and sign up for their events.Discover what they’re offering, how they’re pricingtheir events, what benefits they’re stressing … andthen position yourself as the different, and infinitelybetter, solution. Ask your customers and prospects ifthey’ve heard of your competitors or attended theirevents. If they have, find out what they like anddislike about those individuals or organizations.

Then start talking to your prospects. Participatein chat rooms and listservs to get a feel for theproblems your audience faces. Set up some one-on-one interviews with prospects and/or with pastattendees or current clients.

Questions to Ask Your Present Customersand New Prospects

During your interview, you want to try getting insideprospects’ heads. Your goals are to becomeintimately familiar with what they want and howyour seminar can help them. Here are some of thequestions I like to ask past attendees:

n What are the three biggest challenges you’refacing right now related to <seminar topic>?

n Please describe your ideal solution – whatwould you want from a seminar on this topic?


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n What about the marketing materials appealedto you? What specifically was said thatconvinced you to register?

n What were the three most important things youlearned during the seminar?

n How have you used the information or skillsyou learned? What results have you seen?

Try to take detailed notes or, better yet, recordand transcribe your interview. This will help youcapture the words and phrases you should be usingin your promotional materials.

The Challenge of Marketing a Brand-New Seminar

If you’re marketing a brand-new seminar or ifthis is your first venture into seminar promotion,you’ll have to rely more heavily on educated guessingthan if you had been marketing seminars – andtracking the results – for years. To make the most ofyour learning curve, keep detailed records about howyou’re marketing your event and the type of resultsyour efforts produce. Note the mailing lists you rent,the types of promotions you use, when you startyour marketing, and so on. Also closely track thenumber of people who show up, how much they payfor a seat, how much product they buy at the event,and which list and promotional vehicle producedtheir registration. When it comes time for anotherround of marketing, you’ll have loads of useful datato help fine-tune your efforts.

For example, let’s say that the first time youmarketed your seminar, you rented four differentmailing lists. To enable you to track which list a


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Notes:

particular registration came from, you printed theregistration form with a unique tracking code.

To choose mailing lists for your next marketingeffort, you went back to review the results achievedfrom the first promotional effort. You had 22registrations from List A, none from List B, 17 fromList C, and 4 from List D. Which mailing lists wouldyou use again?

Your gut reaction is probably to drop List B,keep Lists A and C, and perhaps replace List D witha new, untested list. It seems sound, right?

Maybe, maybe not. Because, remember, theregistration fee is just part of the picture. If you wantto maximize your revenue, you’ll also be offeringproducts at the back of the room. And of course,you’ll be willing to coach or consult with attendeeswho want your personalized attention whenimplementing the skills you teach during your event.

Let’s take a look at the real numbers:

List A produced 22 registrations at $199 each,$1,000 in product sales, and no consulting clients.Total revenue produced: $5,378 or $244.45 per person.

Registration: $4378 (22 people x $199)Product sales: $1,000Consulting: $0

$5378 ($244.45 per attendee)


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List B produced no registrations and, therefore,no product sales or consulting work.

Registration: $0 Product sales: $0Consulting: $0

$0

List C produced 17 registrations at $199 each,$1,500 in product sales, and $5,000 in consultingwork. Total revenue produced: $9,883 or $581.35per person.

Registration: $3,383 (17 people x $199) Product sales: $1,500Consulting: $5,000

$9,883 ($581.35 per attendee)

List D produced 4 registrations at $199 each,$300 in product sales, and $10,000 in consultingwork. Total revenue produced: $11,096 or $2,774per person.

Registration: $796 (4 people x $199) Product sales: $300Consulting: $10,000

$11,096 ($2,774 per person)

It turns out that List D, though it produced arelatively low number of responses, also producedthe highest quality of attendees. List A, on the otherhand, which looked to be the winner with awhopping 22 registrations, actually pulled in thelowest amount of revenue. If you had made yourfuture marketing decision based solely on thenumber of registrations you had received, justimagine how much additional revenue you wouldhave been passing up.


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Now imagine what would have happened if youdidn’t code your registration forms at all. You wouldhave been operating completely in the dark. Youeither would have rented all of the lists again,essentially throwing your money away on mailing toList B, which didn’t produce any revenue, or youwould have operated on gut instinct, which couldhave resulted in dropping highly profitable lists.

To ensure you learn the most from yourmarketing successes and failures, carefully nail down the source of every registration. And then besure to track and calculate the lifetime value of eachattendee.


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CHAPTER 2: Designing an Optimal Marketing Strategy …for Minimal Cost

Once you know who you’re targeting and whatyou’re offering, it’s time to plan how to contact yourprospects and customers.

A Menu of Promotional Options

The explosion of Internet marketing has openedup a whole new world for seminar marketers whowant fast, cost-effective methods to get theirprospects’ butts in seats. But traditional, paper-basedmarketing methods also have their place. They willlikely regain some of their lost turf as the Internetworld becomes overloaded with competing web sitesand e-mailer users lose patience with spammers. Let’stake a look at the different marketing media you canuse to promote your seminars, workshops andbootcamps.

Postcards can be mailed to both your house andrented mailing lists. Because the space on a postcardis relatively limited, this tool is better used topromote free events, to drive traffic to a web site, toencourage prospects to contact you for moreinformation, or to build a list of qualified prospectsby offering a free giveaway.

Brochures range in size from a “slim jim” tri-foldbrochure that would fit in a #10 envelope to a morespacious, copy-rich 8-page (or longer) brochure. Skipthe #10-size brochure unless you’re promoting a freeevent, you’re mailing to a list that is already familiarwith your offering, or you’re also creating a web sitethat provides even greater detail about your event.Rarely does this format allow you enough space tofully explain the benefits of attending your seminar.


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Cover letters. Seminars are one of the few thingsthat sell well with a self-mailer brochure. However,you may want to test whether you can increaseprofits by sending a cover letter with your brochure.If you do, write a cover letter that will grab attentionand sell readers on taking the time to read theaccompanying brochure.

Using a separate cover letter necessitates the useof an envelope. And that means you’ll have to getprospects to open the envelope before they ever readyour marketing materials. Try including teaser copy(e.g., promising what they’ll discover inside) in thelower left hand corner of the mailing panel or on theenvelope flap. Alternatively, you can get pastrecipients’ junk mail radar by hand-addressing theenvelope and using live stamps to make yourenvelope appear more like personal mail.

Sales letters. Instead of using a brochure, youmay want to use only a sales letter to promote yourevent. If you do, here’s a rule that you must repeat… even copy down and post near your computer.

Your sales letter does NOT have to be 1-page long. It should be as long as it takesto tell your entire story and answer all ofthe questions your ideal prospect will have.

Many entrepreneurs, executives and businessowners blindly believe the “rule” that no one reads aletter that’s more than a page long. Baloney! Thepeople who are truly interested in your seminar willread everything you give them. As for people whoare not and never will be interested in your seminar,the length of your letter doesn’t matter. If they arenot good prospects, they will never read the wholeletter (if they even read the headline), whether it’sthree paragraphs long or 30 pages long.


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Seminar marketers have been reducing their useof direct mail in recent years for a few reasons. Themost dramatic reason is cost. You have to pay fordesign, printing, mailhouse services, and postage.Your direct costs can soar quickly. You also need tohave fairly long lead times. For nationally promotedseminars, you want to drop your mailing 10 to 12weeks before your event.

In addition, you need to acknowledge that there’sa chance, albeit slim, that your mailing might neverreach its intended target because of “postalmishaps.” Every direct marketer has heard thehorror stories of bags of direct mail being dumpeddirectly in the trash or being set aside during busypostal seasons. It happened to one of my clients.After spending considerable time, effort and moneyrewriting and redesigning their brochure, they werehorrified when the response was practically nil.Thankfully, these people are the proactive types.Rather than complaining about their fate andassuming the lack of response was because of thechanges we had made, they hit the phones andstarted calling their prospects and clients. It turns outthat about two-thirds of the brochures just vanished,never reaching their intended audiences.

Web sites. As with sales letters, web site copyshould be as long as needed to tell your whole story.And the copy should be presented on one page; don’tbreak it up among several pages.

For example, rather than creating a new page andbutton for “Who should attend?” instead place ananchor tag (a hyperlink that jumps to a point furtherdown the page) at the top of the sales letter. Clickingon the anchor tag enables the reader to jump to thepertinent section.


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Depending on the diversity of your audiences andtheir challenges, needs and wants, you may want tocreate separate sales letters and web pages geared toeach group.

E-mail. Direct-response e-mails can be used todrive traffic to your site. Your message should teasethe reader, ask a compelling question or promise ahuge benefit that readers will discover by clicking ona link in your message. The link should take themdirectly to the page on your web site where you’veposted your sales letter.

Publicity. If you can generate publicity for yourevent, do it. Getting mentions in the press is theclosest thing you will get to a free ride, and it cangenerate a tremendous return on your investment.Identify the publications that your audience reads andaim for a listing in their calendars of events. Betteryet, try getting a feature article written about yourprogram or even land radio and television interviews.

Advertisements can be published in anypublication your audience reads, from the localcommunity newspaper to national magazines, fromtrade publications to e-zines (electronically deliveredmagazines). For the greatest return on yourinvestment, resist the temptation to model MadisonAvenue-style advertising, filling your ad with flashypictures and just a sprinkle of copy. Instead, use thespace to make your pitch and ask the reader to takeaction, whether that action is calling to register orgoing to your web site for more information.

Flyers can be posted on community billboards ortelephone poles, stuffed under car windshield wipers,distributed with the daily or weekly newspaper,mailed out with each product fulfillment, left at thecounters of local retail establishments to be pickedup by their customers, or handed out door-to-door.


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Telemarketing. Working the phones may not be ajob that you relish. It will cost you time, anddepending on your phone service, it can cost you asizeable chunk of change. But telemarketing canproduce impressive results.

Phone calls to prospective attendees work best intwo scenarios: (1) when you really know theprospects well and have the influence to get them toregister for an event with a personal contact and (2)when you’re following up to a previous promotion.Sometimes people just need the extra kick in thepants to get off their behinds and register.

As you’re probably well aware from personalexperience, people on the receiving end oftelemarketing calls can be very resentful of theintrusion, and you want to be sure not to callsomeone who has registered with the Federal TradeCommission’s do-not-call list. That’s why I usetelemarketing only with people with whom I have aprevious relationship, namely past and currentcustomers and prospects that have contacted me inthe past for information or advice.

Getting Other People to Market Your Seminar – for Free

An extremely successful and increasingly popularmethod for getting butts in seats is to enlist the helpof other professionals who already have relationshipswith your prospects. Gaining their help will involvegiving them something of value, typically a share ofthe revenue. However, the price you pay is wellworth the payoff of securing additional registrationswith virtually no work on your part.

These mutually beneficial relationships areknown as joint ventures, affiliate programs, and


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fusion marketing. The distinction between thesedifferent terms is blurring, but there are subtledifferences.

Joint ventures. In a joint venture setup, youapproach other professionals who have lists of clientsand qualified prospects who meet your profile. YourJV partners pitch your event to their lists andtypically receive a 50/50 split of the profit. If your JVpartners have significantly larger lists than you do,be prepared to do much of the gruntwork, such aswriting the marketing materials that will be used topromote the event, handling registrations, processingcredit cards and so on.

If you’re approaching a big name within yourindustry, recognize that he or she is probablybombarded with JV opportunities and may expect alarger share of the profit. Don’t be surprised by this,but don’t be turned off either. If you can get asignificantly larger crowd by partnering with theindividual, giving up the larger share of profits couldwell pay off in the long run.

Affiliate programs. Affiliate programs are similarto joint ventures in that they involve other peoplepromoting your event for a share of the revenue.The differences are that affiliates can be anyone whohas an interest in promoting your event, such aspast attendees, and that their share of the revenuetends to be less than 50 percent. Affiliate programsare often automated. Affiliates sign up on a website, and a computer generates their affiliate code,tracks sales and pays commissions. Affiliatestypically promote all of your products and services,whereas joint ventures tend to be one-time,invitation-only deals.

Fusion Marketing. This type of arrangement isvery much a “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch


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mine” setup. You give something of value to yourfusion marketing partner to offer to his or her list.This helps position your partners as heroes to theirclients. For example, give them a discountedregistration fee, entrance to a special closed-doorluncheon, or free follow-up coaching above andbeyond what is being offered to regular attendees.

Choosing the Right Mix of Media

The media you should use with your initialmarketing effort depends on your audience andbudget. The only way to know for sure whichmarketing methods will work best for your event isto test different media, tracking the registrations andrevenue generated by each.

The biggest decision to make at this point iswhether you’re going to use online promotions, off-line promotions, or a combination. Start byanswering a few simple questions about youraudience:

1. Where do they go to look for information?

2. What type of media do they respond to?

If your audience, in general, is not made up ofcomputer users, putting all of your marketing eggs inthe online basket is a risk. If they’re not online –specifically, searching online for the type ofinformation that you offer – pigs might have a betterchance of landing at O’Hare International Airportthan you do of getting those folks to read youronline seminar promotion.

On the other hand, if you’re marketing a seminarthat’s geared to individuals who spend a lot of time


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on the Internet – for example, web site designers –it’s logical to assume that they will use the Internetto locate your seminar and be more open to receivingpromotions through that media.

You can get a feel for how many people aresearching online for the information and training youoffer by using a tool that tracks keyword popularity,such as Wordtracker.com (www.wordtracker.com) orOverture’s search term suggestion tool(http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/).

To use these tools, just enter the keywords yoususpect your prospects are typing into a search enginewhen they’re looking for information about yoursubject. You will get a listing that shows how manypeople searched on those particular keywords withinthe past month using that particular search engine.

In addition to providing insight into potentialdemand for your seminar, the results will also alertyou to other search terms your audience is using.They may also spark ideas for new seminars orniches you could be serving.

For example, if I type in “sales training” intoOverture’s keyword suggestion tool, I see that 8,614people entered that keyword phrase into Overture’ssearch engine during June 2003. I also see thatalmost 1,700 people searched for “salesmanagement training” and close to 769 peoplesearched for “phone sales training.” So I mightconsider developing a training course specifically forsales managers, as well as one for people who sellover the phone.

Now, if you’re going to be using “real world”direct mail to promote your event, stop and consider


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again the prospect you’re after. Are they readers? Dothey handle mail on a regular basis? Do they have“gatekeepers” who sort and prioritize their mail?The answers to these questions should be taken intoaccount when choosing your media and designingyour direct mail piece.

If gatekeepers are involved, you will need topersuade them that your mail must be put in the “A”pile of must-read materials. Design your mailer so itappears personalized. If the gatekeepers think yourprospect is expecting your mail – meaning they couldget into hot water if they toss your mailer – it willlikely be delivered safely into your prospect’s hands.

Try using a live stamp and hand addressing theenvelope to make it look like a piece of personalmail. Handwrite “The information you requested isenclosed” on the outside. Attach a Post-It note to thesales letter. Or you include a note stating “A specialinvitation for XYZ Association members.”

If your prospects don’t handle mail on a regularbasis, such as factory workers, don’t fuss with theenvelope. Use a self-mailer or a postcard instead. Ifthey aren’t readers (and remember, the profile ofyour perfect prospect will never apply to every singleindividual), consider using an audiocassette orvideotape to sell your event. Sell prospects on theidea of calling to order a free audio or videotape thatwould deliver some basic content about the subjectmatter and then sell seats for your seminar. Thisstrategy could also work well with people who travela lot. Pitch them on the idea of listening to your tapewhile they’re stuck in traffic or cooling their heels atthe airport.

Budget will be another top consideration whenchoosing your marketing media. Direct mail costscan add up quickly. Online marketing can be more


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affordable; that’s not to say it is completely cost-free,however. Depending on your skills, you may need tohire a copywriter and/or a web site designer. Youmay also have to pay for web hosting,autoresponders, and a shopping cart.

Variety, the Spice of Life … and a Key to SuccessfulSeminar Marketing

To improve your chances of securing themaximum number of registrations, use a variety ofmarketing media. This strategy is important for acouple of different reasons.

One, some people will respond to one type of“touch,” while others are more likely to respond todifferent methods. One group of prospects mightignore online promotions because they don’t trustonline marketing. Another group might ignore directmail because they believe it’s all “junk.” The moreways you have of touching a prospect, the greateryour chance of capturing his or her attention.

Second, there may be external factors beyondyour control. If there is a national disaster the dayyour mailing piece hits, chances are good thatprospects will ignore it. If you have additionalcontacts planned, such as a follow-up postcard or ane-mail campaign, you won’t be putting all of youreggs in one basket. With luck, you’ll recoup yourlosses on a different promotion.

Take another look at how your prospects buy.What is their average day like? Do they tend to jumpon opportunities like your seminar, or do they tossmarketing materials aside to be looked at laterbecause more pressing issues are cropping up on anhourly basis? If the latter, you might need to usesome reminders to spur your prospects into action.


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Making the Process Feasible and Affordable

Obviously, the more times you contact yourtarget audience, the more time and money you’llspend. If you have budget or scheduling constraints,apply the 80/20 rule to your marketing efforts. Focusyour resources on the 20 percent of your mailing listthat will produce 80 percent of the registrationsand/or profits.

For example, you could send follow-up e-mails tothe prospects who have expressed interest by callingto ask questions about the event. You could send asecond mailing only to people within driving distanceof your event, rather than people scatteredthroughout the country who would have to pay forairfare and a hotel room. Or you could focus yourattention on the top tier of customers who havepurchased related products.

Finally, recognize that the number you want to bemost concerned with is not your marketing cost noryour marketing response rate. Your primary concernshould be the maximization of profit. Somemarketing methods may cost you more. But if theyproduce more income and a greater net profit, it’s asmart investment to make.

Your House List … the Best Source of Prospects

The people in your company’s database are, byfar, the best prospects for your event. People buyfrom experts they know, like and trust … and thepeople in your database fit that description.

Most databases can benefit from segmentationbecause rarely will you want to market an event toyour entire list. Here are five different ways you canslice and dice your names:


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n By interest. Send your seminar promotions topeople who have expressed an interest in thetopic by calling you for information about theevent itself, purchasing a related product, orattending a similar event. Also included on thislist would be referrals from past attendees.

n By type of customer. At the very least, separateprospects from customers and see howresponsive each group is to your offer. Youmight further segment your customers based onwhat they purchased – a book, a tape,consulting time, another event, etc. Or youmight separate prospects based on how theycontacted you – people who opted-in to your e-mail list versus people who responded to apostcard versus the individuals who called afterseeing one of your ads.

n By geography. If you’re holding two differentevents, one on the East Coast and one on theWest Coast, you might want to promote eachevent only to those prospects closest to theevent. You could market the East Coast eventto people living east of the Mississippi Riverand the West Coast event to those living west ofthe river. Or you could send your promotionalmaterials only to people within driving distanceof your event.

n By profitability. People who have alreadypurchased from you, regardless of how small apurchase, will always be better prospects foryour seminar than people who have never heardof you before. Likewise, the customers whohave purchased a lot of product or servicesfrom you are more likely to register for a livetraining event than people who have madesmall purchases.


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n By job title. Your event might be geared topeople of different levels of experience and/orresponsibility. For example, one seminar mightbe for business owners while a secondworkshop might be geared to managers. Or youmight want to promote the same eventdifferently, depending on the audience.

For example, if your ideal prospects typicallymust get approval from a supervisor to attendtraining events, you might send yourprospective students one promotional packagethat explains how they personally will benefitby attending. You could send their supervisors aseparate mailing that explains how theorganization will benefit by sending employeesto your seminar.

Renting Outside Mailing Lists

If your house list is small, or if you are looking forways to continue adding new names to your database,you’ll want to consider renting a mailing list.

There are two basic types of lists: compiled listsand response lists. Compiled lists are, well, compiledusing public sources, such as phone books, legalrecords, and newspapers. These lists usually can besegmented by basic demographic information such aszip code, gender, age or income.

Response lists are house lists people who haveresponded to some type of offer. Organizations willrent these lists as a way to generate revenue. Forexample, most publications will rent their list ofsubscribers. Some companies rent lists of customerswho have purchased a product or service. Still otherorganizations rent the names of prospects who havequalified themselves by responding to an


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advertisement, commercial or some other offer.(“Aha!” you might be thinking. “That’s whymanufacturers ask all those silly questions onwarranty-registration cards.”)

As a general rule, response lists are much moreresponsive and should produce a better responsethan compiled lists. The individuals have already“raised their hand” to express an interest in yoursubject matter. If you rent the right list, you’ll bemarketing to people who have demonstrated theirwillingness to buy your type of product or service.

To research and choose lists that may beappropriate for your seminar, you can contact largelist management or brokerage companies, such asEdith Roman Associates or Dun & Bradstreet. Insome cases, these companies are hired by list-owningorganizations to manage the rental of their mailinglists. In other cases, as with Dun & Bradstreet, thecompany owns and manages its own compiled lists.

If list rentals will be a significant part of yourstrategy, I suggest heading to a large local library andasking the reference librarian to direct you to theStandard Rate and Data Service (SRDS) DirectMarketing List Source®. This publication is amassive directory of tens of thousands of mailinglists that are available for rent. The directoryprovides vital statistics about each list – a descriptionof the group as a whole, the number of names on thelist, selects, costs and other details. Perusing theSRDS can give you some great ideas for the types oflists available.

For most lists, you can expect to pay between$100 and $150 per thousand names. (Fees arealways presented as a cost per thousand.) Here ishow those fees break down; understand that somelist owners with highly responsive, exclusive listsmay charge more than these fees:


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$100 to $120 base price

$10 to $60 per select; a “select” is anythingyou use to segment the database,such as zip code, job title and typeof industry. If you select e-mailaddresses, plan on paying apremium – such as $100 to $400per thousand names

$0 to $75 for delivery; Cheshire labels areusually no charge. You can alsochoose to have names delivered onpressure-sensitive labels, onmagnetic tape or electronically

$0 to $10 for keycoding. Each name will becoded so that you can tell which listor portion of a list the name camefrom. You can use the samekeycode for an entire list (good ifyou’re testing one list againstanother), or you can use differentkeycodes within the same lists (forexample, if you wanted to testmanagers against non-managers).

For example, let’s say I want to rent a list of5,000 florists in the Chicago area for a marketingseminar I am going to teach. I want to address mymailing piece using the owners’ names, not just“Owner.”


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Here is how the costs might break down:

Basic list price:.......................$100/K or $500Zip code select: ......................$10/K or $50Owner name select: ...............$10/K or $50Keycode: .................................$5/K or $25Delivery via electronic file:.....$25

My total bill is $650 – for a one-time use of thelist. If I want to do a follow-up mailing, I need torent the list again. If you know that you will bedoing multiple mailings, be sure to place an order formultiple usage. Often the list owner will extend adiscount for additional uses if the order for allrentals is placed at the same time. For example, let’ssay the list owner offers a 25% discount on multipleuses. So I would pay $650 for the first use and$487.50 for the second use if I order both lists at thesame time.

A word of warning: Most list owners requirea minimum purchase of 5,000 names. Ifyour selects whittle a list down to fewerthan 5,000 names, expect to pay for aminimum order anyway. More flexible listmanagers will let you rent a smaller listmultiple times to meet the minimum. Forinstance, if the list you want to rent is just2,500 names, you technically would have topay for 5,000 names anyway. Some listowners would give you two copies of thelist for the 5,000-name price.

As you think about the type of prospects youwant to address, consider which of these selectsmight help you identify your prospects from the restof America:


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nn Age

nn Where they live

nn Income

nn Gender

nn Level of education

nn Job title or level

nn The industry they work in/SIC code

nn Company size

nn Sales volume

nn What they’ve purchased

nn Whether they’ve made multiple purchases

nn The topic of the last seminar they attended

nn When they last made a purchase

nn Whether they’ve responded to fundraisingappeals

nn Whether you want to mail to the home oroffice. If your seminar is of personal interest,mail to the home. If your seminar is forprofessionals, you probably will want to mailyour promotions to their business addresses.However, if prospects receive a job-relatedpromotion at home, it might be enough out ofcontext to grab their attention.


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If you are just getting started in the seminar-marketing business, strongly consider rentingmultiple lists and testing a portion of each list ratherthan renting just one list and mailing the wholething. That’s because if you guess wrong, you couldend up losing your shirt.

Let’s say you’re offering an advanced salestraining workshop. You decide to rent the names oflocal members from the National Sales Association.You rent the minimum of 5,000 names, print andmail the brochures … and get just three registrations.Now what? Do you hold the event anyway, do youcancel it or do you scramble around trying to getmore brochures out in the mail?

Instead of mailing just that one 5,000-name list,rent two (maybe more) keycoded lists. Mailing tohalf of each list will still let you send 5,000brochures, but this way will let you spread your risk.The downside is, of course, that you end upspending more money on renting the lists, and thatmeans more revenue you must generate to breakeven. As with any marketing decision, you have toweigh the risks and determine if the gathering ofinformation for use in future marketing is worth theprice that you will pay now.

When splitting your list, do NOT split the listevenly in half starting from the top – for example,mailing to the first 2,500 names and saving the rest.This can bias the outcome.

Instead, split the list on every other name (formailings to households). If you’re mailing tobusinesses, split the list by ZIP code – for example,all ZIP codes ending in an odd numbers wouldreceive the mailing, while all ZIP codes ending ineven numbers would be set aside.


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TIP: As Don Schrello explains in How to MarketTraining & Information, you will need to take careto ensure that your test results are statistically valid.You will need 20-30 responses per list to evaluate thelist’s true value. By working backward from thenumber of expected responses, you can determinehow many pieces of mail you should send.

For example, if you expect a 1 percent responserate, you can expect to receive 10 responses perthousand pieces of mail sent. So you should test2,000 to 3,000 names from each list to decidewhether the list is “good” or not.

Be aware that it is not unusual to have a lowresponse rate to rented lists. Getting one or tworegistrations out of every 1,000 pieces you mail isperfectly acceptable with some seminars. That’s wellbelow a 1 percent response rate, but the key point tokeep in mind is that your response rate in and ofitself is not important. What you should beconcerned about is the revenue and profit. Tworegistrations per thousand from a promotion that ismailed to 5,000 people is 10 attendees. If they pay$500 each, that’s $5,000 in revenue. Would thatenable you to break even or even generate a profit?

How Often Should You Contact Prospects?

Now that you know what types of media you willbe using and to whom you’ll be sending yourmaterials, it is time to determine your mailing schedule.

Generally speaking, the more times you contact aprospect, the more likely it is that that individual willrespond to your offer. The common rule of thumb isthat prospects must hear from you seven to ninetimes before they respond. This is because we arebombarded by thousands of marketing messages


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each day. It could take several touches before aprospect even notices your promotion, much lessfeels compelled to act.

Using multiple contacts does not mean that youmust, or even should, use the same media with eachcontact. A surefire method with one segment of youraudience will cause another group to tune outentirely. Press releases and newspaper ads may be aneffective way to reach the newspaper-reading portionof your audience. Direct mail might work well withanother segment. If you rely on one media ormarketing piece, you risk losing the attention ofentire segments of your audience.

Using multiple means of contacting prospects alsoenables synergy. In essence, this means that each ofyour marketing mediums and contacts will build onprevious contacts. The sum effect of all of yourmarketing efforts will be greater than you’d expect ifeach method were employed alone.

For example, you might mail out a postcard toyour house list telling customers and prospects towatch their mail for a brochure describing theseminar. A few days later, you follow up with a self-mailer brochure. A week or two later, you send yourdatabase an e-mail, which in turns links to youronline sales letter promoting your seminar. Twoweeks before the event, you call every person onyour list to see if they want to reserve a seat, andyou also fax a press release to local newspapers andradio stations.

Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it? The chances ofyour prospects not being aware of your event wouldshrink with each additional contact. The chances ofgetting a lot of bodies to your event would be greatlyimproved, as well. The multiple contacts would be agood investment because the additional marketing


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could dramatically increase the likelihood of yourgenerating a profit on the event.

But let’s get realistic. Even though you agree thata multi-channel approach to marketing your seminarmakes sense, it also means that you must have thecash up front to invest in your marketing. If youdon’t, don’t worry; you can still develop an effectivemarketing program or a limited budget. Here are thecomponents I recommend, at a bare minimum:

n Killer press releases. Spending a few hourswriting and sending out a powerful pressrelease is a no-brainer. The publicity you couldgenerate would be invaluable, easily worthhundreds or thousands of dollars.

n A foundation piece for your marketingprogram, such as a brochure and/or online sales letter.

n Follow-up with your best prospects. Here iswhere you should take a cue from corporateAmerica and its focus on customer relationshipmanagement. Spend your limited resourceswhere they are most likely to pay off – withyour customers and qualified prospects, thepeople who have somehow indicated that theyare interested in your program. How youcontact them is a matter of time and budget; ifyou can’t invest in phone calls, try a postcard orshort letter.

Timing Your Marketing Efforts for Maximum Response

One of the biggest – and potentially most deadly– mistakes seminar promoters make is not allowingenough time to promote their events. Be sure to buildtime into your schedule to allow for the inevitable


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mixups, delays and snafus. Here are the timelines Ilike to work with:

National or international events: mail yourbrochures 10 to 12 weeks before the event, eightweeks at a minimum. If you are mailing first classversus bulk, you may be able to shave a week or twooff this deadline. Just be aware that most of yourprospects will need adequate time to secure necessaryapprovals from their supervisors, make travel plansand otherwise clear their calendars.

Local events: mail your materials six to eightweeks in advance. Because your prospects won’tneed to make hotel and airline travel arrangements,you can often get away with a shorter lead time.

Free local events: free events, such as a previewseminar to drive prospects into a future paid event,can usually be promoted via direct mail oradvertising one to three weeks in advance.

Teleseminars: teleseminars, which essentially areseminars conducted via a conference call, can bepromoted as little as 24 to 48 hours in advance.Teleseminars are an effective way to give interestedprospects a taste of what they will learn during yourlive, paid event.

In addition to geography, also take into accountyour prospects’ buying behavior. If your prospectsneed to secure a supervisor’s approval to register,allow plenty of time for the approval process. If yourprospects plan their lives weeks or months inadvance, give them plenty of warning to get on theircalendar. On the other hand, if they typically waituntil the last minute to commit to events, and last-minute travel plans and changes are common andacceptable, you can probably get away with a


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shorter time frame.

Finally, don’t forget about hotel-related deadlines.If you need to make a go/no go decision by a certaindate to avoid cancellation penalties, allow plenty oftime to achieve your minimum registration goals.

Years ago, I worked with a client who hadplanned to drop the seminar brochure in the mail ascant five weeks before the event. The brochurereached prospects a little over four weeks out,leaving little time to generate adequate registrationsbefore the meeting space had to be secured threeweeks before the event. Not surprisingly, my clientdecided to reschedule the event.

When You Should Send Your Direct-Mail Pieces

A final, minor point to consider when buildingyour mailing schedule is responsiveness, which canvary depending on the day of the week.

If at all possible, avoid having your direct mailpieces arrive on a Monday or Friday. Mail volumetends to be higher on Mondays and after holidays,so your piece will have more competition. Fridaysare good delivery days to avoid, as well, becausemany prospects will be eagerly anticipating theweekend rather than paying attention to theimportant business- and/or personal-improvementmessage you’re offering.


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CHAPTER 3: Building Your Budget

Your ability to turn your seminars into aprofitable venture vs. a money-sucking loser dependslargely on how well you know your numbers andmanage your costs. Expenses are important for tworeasons. One, every dollar you spend is a dollar thatmust be recouped before you can turn a profit. Two, you probably have a limited number of dollarsto invest.

That said, the most important rule to keep inmind is that your measure of success is your abilityto generate a profit. Revenue alone is less importantthan profit. Cost alone is less important than profit.Response rate alone is less important than profit.The combination of all three and how they worktogether to determine your profit is what’simportant. It is possible to spend a lot of money toearn a mind-blowing amount of profit. Likewise, it’spossible to make fistfuls of revenue, yet not turnmuch of a profit. So your goal is to minimize costswhile maximizing response rate and revenue.

The Types of Costs You’ll Incur

First, you’ll have costs to create your marketingmaterials:

Design. Rarely do I suggest doing your owngraphic design. Some of my marketing colleagueswould disagree, arguing that the availability ofdesign software and preprinted papers make the do-it-yourself approach more cost effective. If you’relooking solely at direct expenses, I can’t argue withthat. But always stop to consider the value of timeand the potential results.


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Your time is valuable. There is only one you, soyou need to ensure that you’re spending your timewhere it will generate the greatest return. Unless youhave a graphic design background, designing yourown marketing materials can end up hogging hugeamounts of your time.

Second, you will get far better materials if youchoose a talented designer who understandsmarketing. The increased response rate should morethan cover the designer’s fee.

Copywriting. Whether you can write copy, muchless highly effective copy, is a question only you cananswer. Some people have a natural ear for the tone,rhythm and pacing of effective copy; others canstudy, practice and bomb, campaign after campaign,year after year. If your budget allows it, hiring acopywriter who is familiar with the intricacies ofhow to market training events can produce betterresults and save you precious hours.

Postage. If your mailing meets the requirementsfor bulk-class mail, you can save considerablycompared to first-class postage prices. However,first-class postage may out pull third-class, and bulkmail often gets “lost” in the mailing process, whereasfirst-class mail is pretty much a sure bet in terms ofdeliverability. Test the two options yourself to seewhich method produces the most profit.

Mailhouse. Rarely will it be in your best interesttime-wise to stuff, address and stamp envelopes. Ifyour mailing or budget is too small to hire a full-service mailhouse, round up some neighborhoodkids, stay-at-home parents, retirees, or family andfriends to do the work for you.


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Advertising. Advertising can be expensive, at leastwhen you’re calculating the direct expense. (To makeyourself feel better, look at it from a cost-per-readerperspective.) Even small ads can cost hundreds ofdollars. If you’re going to spend your money onadvertising, make sure it is crammed with benefit-laden copy. Don’t waste your money on fluffy,graphic-filled image or brand advertising.

Web site hosting and domain name registration.If you’re going to use online marketing as acomponent of your plan, you’ll incur some relativelyminor costs in putting up a web site. Domain names,also known as URLs, can be reserved from someregistrars for less than $10 a year. Hosting can costyou $10 to $50 a month, depending on the provider.

Printing. Printing costs depend on four basiccriteria: the number of ink colors you use, the typeof paper you use, the quantity, and the complexity ofyour graphic design. (We’ll discuss this in more detailin Chapter 10.)

Shopping cart. If you’re going to enable onlineregistration, you’ll need shopping cart software tohandle the transactions. The one I’ve heardrecommended most is 1ShoppingCart.com. You canpurchase the service by the month or, for a discount,by the year.

Registration processing and confirmation. If youdon’t have the time or resources to handleregistrations yourself, look for a professionalanswering service that has experience working withseminar registrations. (If you need suggestions, sendme an e-mail at [email protected].)Your registration process should include processingcredit card orders and mailing confirmationmaterials to all attendees within 48 hours ofreceiving the registrations.


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Keep in mind that these are just the directexpenses you’ll incur when marketing your event. Todetermine your break-even number and end profit,you’ll need to subtract costs such as meeting roomrental, food and/or beverage service, audiovisualequipment rental fees, workbook duplication,commissions paid to your joint venture partners,your travel expenses, postage to ship your equipmentand seminar materials to the meeting facility, andfees (if any) paid to any instructors other than you.

How much you’ll be willing to spend on aseminar – and how you define “success” – dependsin part on the event’s purpose. Some seminarpromoters are willing to break even or perhaps takea loss on a seminar. They know from experiencewhat percentage of seminar attendees will buy fromthem again, and the lifetime value (how muchrevenue they will generate, on average, from eachindividual over his or her lifetime) of their customersis high enough to justify running the seminar at aloss. Seminars of this ilk are known as “lossleaders.” You take a loss on the lead product (theseminar) because you know you’ll more than recoupyour money on later sales.

Other individuals offer seminars as a revenuegenerator in and of themselves. In this scenario,you’re more concerned about hitting the break-evenpoint and making money on your event.

Important Numbers to Know and Watch

The type of response rate you can expect fromyour marketing efforts relies on so many factors:who you are mailing to, your offer, when and wherethe event is being held, the topic, how well yourcopy explains the event, how the marketing piecesare designed, world events, the economy, yourcompetition, and so on.


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Many of these factors are outside of your control.Obviously, you’ll do what you can to accommodatethem, such as offering a better value for the dollarwhen the economy or training industry is in a slump.But at some point, you’ll just have to take a leap offaith. One of my clients sent a local mailing out onSeptember 10, 2001. Can you guess what kind ofresponse he got when his mail started hitting thenext day? Yep, it went straight into the trash. There’snot much you can do about this, so focus on whatyou can control.

The three most important variables you shouldfocus on are:

1. Your list. Put your materials in front of thewrong people and it won’t matter one iota howgreat your offer is, how well the copy iswritten, or how eye-popping the design is. Theyaren’t going to respond. But get your materialsin front of the right people, and some will signup based only on the topic, date, time andlocation.

2. Your offer. How much are you going to charge,and what will you be providing in return? Youmust provide value if you want people to signup for your seminar. By value, I mean unique,highly understandable content that teaches youraudience something they are desperate to know.In some cases, it also means delivering extras,such as free reports or follow-up coaching, thatgive your customers more for their money.

3. Your copy. Unless you are going to call everysingle prospect to personally sell them a seat at your seminar, you will be using the writtenword to sell. As famed copywriter John E.Kennedy said, advertising is “salesmanship in print.”


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I’ll be the first to admit that your copy can flatout suck and still produce results – IF you have avaluable offer and you get your materials in front ofthe right audience. The same thing goes withsalesmanship. If you’re selling water in a desert, itdoesn’t matter how skilled you are at selling – peoplewill buy because you have something they’redesperate to get their hot little hands on.

But if you’re selling ice to Eskimos, you need to bea bit more persuasive to see the results you want. Andthat means ensuring that your copy is up to snuff.

Typical Response Rates

Remove from your mind the common, and false,rule of thumb that 2 percent is a good response rate.As any marketer worth his or her salt will tell you,the only good response rate is one that produces aprofit (or produces enough registrations when yourseminar is a loss leader).

Response rates, at least when marketing aseminar to cold and untested lists, tend to be prettylow. One or two registrations out of every 1,000pieces mailed is not unusual, nor is it bad, dependingon your offer and other expenses. If you’re mailingto a house list, especially one of customers orprospects who have indicated an interest in the topicor seminar itself, your response rates can be muchhigher, often as much as eight times greater. Onsmall, very targeted lists of past purchasers, I’veachieved response rates of more than 80 percent.

Be conservative in your expectations. It’s better toplan on receiving only a handful of registrations forevery thousand of pieces mailed and being pleasantlysurprised with a flood of sign-ups than it is to plan ona packed house and getting only a tableful of people.


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As your experience with seminars grows, youwill be better able to predict attendance and whenyou’ll reach the break-even point and/or yourrevenue goals. One important point in your timelineto know is when you’ll reach the halfway point inyour registrations; some people call this “double-down day.”

When you hit double-down day depends on yourevent. In general, you can expect the number ofregistrations received each day to increase the closeryou get to your event. In other words, don’t panic ifyou aren’t bombarded with registrationsimmediately following your mailing or e-mail blast.Some people will sign up right away. But most ofyour attendees will need time to make a decision,clear their schedules, get approval from the higher-ups and so on.

Calculating Break Even

“Break even” has popped up quite a bit in thissection. Let’s talk briefly about what it is and theright way to calculate it.

Break even is, not surprisingly, the point atwhich you break even on running your seminar. Youcalculate the break even point by dividing yourseminar expenses by the registration fee. This tellsyou how many registrations you need to secure toavoid losing money by running your event.

When making the calculations, use only thedirect expenses you’ll incur if you actually moveforward with holding the seminar – the meetingroom rental fee, food and beverages, equipmentrental, handouts, etc. Don’t include marketingexpenses in calculating the break-even point; theyhave no bearing on whether it makes financial sense


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to proceed with the event. Once you send out yourmarketing materials, the money is gone.

Instead, use your promotional expenses todetermine the point at which your event becomesprofitable. Add your promotional costs and meetingcosts together, then divide the sum by yourregistration fee. This number tells you how manypaid registrations you need to start making a profiton the event.

Marketing on a Tight Budget

If you’re working with a limited budget, startbuilding your marketing campaign with thefollowing low-cost promotional methods:

n Press releases that are written to generatearticles or interviews about your topic andseminar

n Press releases that are intended to get yourseminar listed in the local events calendar inarea newspapers and other publications

n Postcards, which will drive traffic to your website, get prospects to call and request abrochure or letter with more information, orwhich will get prospects to save the seminardate and watch their mail for more information

n A web site that contains every possible detailabout your event

If your audience is easily defined and you canobtain a mailing list of good prospects, it may makesense to invest in direct mail. Self-mailer brochuresare the most commonly used form of direct mail


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when marketing seminars – and one of the fewinstances where a self-mailer consistently pulls betterresults than a mailing in an envelope.

If you can’t easily obtain a good mailing list ofyour prospects, or if the size of your audience makespurchasing such a list cost-prohibitive, considerplacing a direct-response ad in a newspaper,magazine or trade publication. When creating ads,use the space to make the sale – don’t sacrifice copyin favor of pretty graphics and lots of white space.Ad space can be expensive, so make every inchcount! Also consider designing your ad so that itlooks like editorial content. This approach will helpyour ad slip under the radar of advertising-avoidingreaders.

In addition to choosing your media wisely, thereare other strategies to help keep marketing costsunder control.

First, know your numbers and let them guideyour plan. Invest your time, money and energywhere you’re most likely to see results. One way todo that is to segment your database. Focus yourattention on customers who have purchased relatedproducts or services from you in the past, as well ascustomers who have attended a past seminar.

When marketing to prospects, focus on thosewho best match your ideal-customer profile. Onceyou’ve adequately marketed to your primaryaudience, then worry about contacting yoursecondary audiences.

Careful investment of your resources is especiallyimportant when you’re launching your seminarbusiness. As your revenue grows, you’ll have the fundsneeded to expand your marketing for future events.


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For example, it’s very common to say, “My idealprospect is anyone who ….” Anyone who owns abusiness. Anyone who writes for a living. Anyonewho owns a computer. “Anyone who” is a warningsign that your audience may be too large.

Instead, break it down. One client of mine statedthat his audience was anyone who owned a smallbusiness, wanted to start their own business, orthought that they someday might like to be anentrepreneur. His seminar taught the business basicsthat most entrepreneurs don’t know, but should.

Pretty broad, right? After all, how do youidentify a list of people who aren’t even aware thatthey need your event?

Rather than trying to tackle all of theseaudiences at once, we started with the most likelyprospects: people who owned a small business. Andwe focused on businesses that had been in operationfor less than two years. We figured that by thispoint, there was a good chance that the businessowners had figured out that, though they were goodat providing their product or service, perhaps theirlack of business training was hindering their success.We also figured that these people had the most togain from the seminar (or to lose by not attending –namely, their businesses), so they would be theeasiest to persuade.

The client spend the most resources marketing tothis audience, including renting a mailing list andsending a direct mail letter. One secondary audience –people who were planning to start their own businesses– were addressed in the newspaper ads, onlinemarketing and press campaign. We decided to waituntil the seminars were profitable before attempting tomarket to the third audience, people who thought thatthey might someday like to be entrepreneurs.


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Another clever, and currently popular, way tosave on marketing costs is to get other people tospread the word for you. Find other professionalswho will be willing to market your event to theirmailing lists in exchange for a share of revenue or adiscounted registration fee for their clients. Alsoenlist the help of past students and clients. (For amore detailed discussion of these options, review thesections on joint ventures and affiliate programs inChapter 2.)


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Section II:

Key Elements

ofSuccessfulSeminar

Promotions

CHAPTER 4: The basic information that your promotionmust provide … but that many marketers forget!

Your seminar’s title is arguably one of the mostimportant components of your marketing materials.In a matter of words – just two to seven words formost seminars and workshops – the event title needsto grab prospects’ attention and explain what thetopic is.

Don’t fall into the trap of relying on cuteheadlines or cryptic seminar titles. Cleverness andhumor may pass muster around the boardroomtables in Madison Avenue advertising agencies. Butyou’re not out to gain the approval of marketing andadvertising folks, your peers, or even your friendsand family. Using humor and play-on-wordsheadlines is a gamble in the real world. First, youhave to hope that your readers will be able todecipher what you’re truly trying to communicate.With humor, you have to hope that your readers“get” the joke and, if they do understand it, thatthey agree it’s a laughing matter.

A much better bet is using a title that tellsprospects exactly what you’ll be teaching and/or thetop benefits they’ll get by attending.

The best seminar headlines help prospectsrecognize their need for the information or hint atthe benefits they’ll receive by participating. Forexample, “Internet Marketing” would be better titled“Effective Internet Marketing.” “Electric PowerSystem Design” could be better targeted if called“The Basics of Electric Power System Design” or“Advanced Electric Power System Design.”


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Going hand in hand with the title in terms ofimportance in grabbing eyeballs and building appealis the headline for your marketing materials. Spacepermitting, the headline area of your marketingmaterials will contain three copy elements: theprehead, the headline, and the subtitle or posthead.

1. The prehead. Often printed in italics or in aslightly smaller font, the prehead is used to helptarget your message to a particular audience.

Use the prehead to address the audience byname (A special message for retired educators),to identify the top problem your prospects arefacing (Worried about shrinking profitmargins?), or to highlight key benefits yourevent delivers (Eliminate confusion about howto comply with OSHA regulations…).

2. The headline. Usually printed in a colordifferent than the body text (such as a brightred or blue) and a larger font size (three to fourtimes that of the body copy), the headline grabsprospects’ attention to get them to read theentire message.

You can use the name of your seminar as aheadline – “How to” seminar titles work greatin this regard. Or come up with a longerheadline that is focused on the benefits yourevent delivers. On direct mail brochures, theseminar title usually doubles as the headline.

3. The subtitle or posthead. Commonly printed inthe same color, but a slightly smaller font size,as the headline, the subtitle expands on theheadline’s message.


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Here are a few examples of how all of theseelements can fit together:

Version 1:

Version 2:


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Customizing Your Message for Different Audiences

If you have two or more distinct audiences thatyou want to target in your marketing efforts, it maybe beneficial to create different sets of marketingmaterials to target each group’s unique needs andwants. You can customize your materials byaudience or by the solution you provide.

Let’s say you offer a basic accounting coursedesigned to teach small-business owners the basics ofmanaging their finances, and you want to attractland surveyors, physical engineers, and architects tothe event. Adding the simple phrase “for<TARGETED GROUP>” to each set of materialswill help your materials grab more attention moreeasily as your prospects are flipping through themail. One set of materials would be titled “TheBasics of Accounting for Land Surveyors,” the nextwould be “The Basics of Accounting for PhysicalEngineers,” and the third would be “The Basics ofAccounting for Architects.” In addition to title, youcan further customize your materials through the useof audience-specific case studies, examples andtestimonials.

If your prospects can’t be neatly categorized byprofession, education, age, gender or otherdemographics, customize your materials by stressingdifferent benefits.

For example, small-business owners who attendyour accounting seminar report that the informationyou provide helps them save time on handling theirfinances and reduce the time it takes to get paid. Soyou might come up with two headlines:


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Identifying the Most Important Benefits Your Seminar Offers

To get prospects to sign up for your event, yourmarketing materials must convince them that they’llbenefit by attending. It’s not enough to merely tellprospects what they’ll be learning at your event. Youneed to go one step further, connect the dots, andprovide specifics about how they could, andprobably will, benefit by learning the informationyou’re going to be sharing.

There are three different ways you can pinpointthe benefits that are most important to yourprospects. Use these methods alone or incombination.

1. Take a look at the challenges or problems yourcustomers are dealing with, then flip thesituation around. What’s the solution to thatproblem? What would the reverse scenario be?These are things you will want to stress.

For example, if your audience is facingshrinking profit margins because of a flat


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