The ideas in this article can apply to ANY business, but are especially relevant to service businesses

 

If you are a trainer or coach or consultant, you especially stand to profit by adding this lucrative source of income to your business. There are several secret benefits of promoting your own events that not only put money directly into your pocket immediately, but also build your credibility, increase your visibility in the marketplace, position you as an expert and quickly establish you as a 'Client Magnet'.

1. Public Seminars, Workshops, And Training Courses Can Be Very Profitable AND Help You To Raise Your Fees

Depending on the topic, you can typically charge several hundred pounds for a place at your public event. As long as you keep your marketing costs down and pay a reasonable fee for the venue, even with relatively low numbers on a course, the profit can easily run into the hundreds and thousands. In many cases the profit you make in just one day will far exceed the fees you would get paid by a corporate client. This will raise your perceived value in your eyes and your clients'.

Actually, raising your perceived value in your eyes is what's most important. Back in 1998 I used to find it difficult to ask for more than £500 per day, then I ran an event which made me £1600 gross profit. After that, I had no problem raising my fees. It also made it much easier to turn down work where a client was unwilling or unable to pay what I asked. After all, why would I sell a day for £500 when I knew I could make at least £1600 promoting my own event on that same day?

2. Promoting Your Own Events Gets You Out of the 'Needy' Position

Instinctively, most of us know that neediness repels rather than attracts clients. Even if you try to cover up your neediness, prospective clients can smell your desperation and it keeps them at bay. Promoting your own seminars, workshops and training courses reduces your neediness and puts you in control. You are no longer in the needy position depending on clients to book you, relying on associate work through third parties or at the mercy of clients who may cancel at short notice. You can say 'no' with confidence to clients who are unwilling or unable to pay your full fee. When you promote your own event, you are in control. You get to choose the date, the location and set the price. Of course you will still work for clients 'in-house', but with the confidence of knowing that you always have an alternative income stream when you need it.

3. Promoting Your Own Events Removes A Major Barrier To The Sale

When a client is thinking about hiring you, two major questions in their mind are: 'Can this person deliver what they say they can deliver?' and 'Will their approach work in our particular business?' The trouble is no client can really answer these questions until after they have hired you. And that's the catch 22. This is a major stumbling block which can delay, if not totally grind, the sales process to a halt.

You can probably think of situations with your own prospects where this is the case. It's a frustrating stalemate. Promoting your own training courses or seminars can help you avoid this stumbling block because it gives your prospective clients a chance to sample you at low cost and low risk. If a client is interested in hiring you, they can first send an employee to one of your events and get a chance to evaluate your approach. It also gives you a chance to test how serious your prospective client is. After all, if a company is not prepared to invest a few hundred pounds for a place on one of your courses, how likely is it that they will invest thousands in a longer term project?

4. Opens Doors To Consulting And 'In-House' Opportunities

But you may actually get hired for in-house projects immediately off the back of your event marketing, because promoting your own event increases your visibility in the marketplace. I quickly realised that every time I offered a course, I not only sold places at that particular event, but also attracted several enquiries along the lines of, 'You obviously have expertise in this area, can we talk to you about a project we are planning?' and 'Actually this course isn't suitable for us, but is similar to something else we need, could you help us with this?'

When you promote your own events you start to position yourself as the expert on your particular topic. Offering public courses helped me to become a Client Magnet. Instead of having to cold-call, prospect or chase after clients, I had interested, motivated and ready-to-buy prospects calling me. When you start promoting your own events you can quickly be in this position too. Ironically, often the very people calling you are the ones it would be impossible to reach via a cold call.

5. Establishes You As An Expert

Not only does running an event increase your visibility, it also establishes you as an expert. Firstly, your seminar, training course or workshop is a wonderful showcase of your expertise. Many of my first in-house training contracts came as a result of referral or recommendation by participants who had attended my open programmes.

In fact, one participant referred over £18,000 worth of business within the first 12 months after attending my course. My data bank of testimonials was built by satisfied seminar attendees. Secondly, public seminars or training courses can actually be a form of market research because you quickly discover that the same issues and questions come up time and time again.

Your participants will teach you what the key problem areas are. You can demonstrate this understanding in both your marketing and sales meetings, and your prospective clients will see you as someone who truly understands the real issues. This is invaluable at helping you stand out from the crowd.