List Marketing - to make your event a success 

Lists are a big part of marketing a product or event. Your list consists of everyone with whom you have marketing contact, either in the form of mailing addresses, phone numbers or email addresses. If you have a limited list, you have only a small pool of ready marketing contacts. However, you can still plan a successful event without a big list by partnering with people who have good lists.

Find a Joint Venture Partner with a Marketing List

If you don't have a big list, you don't have to avoid planning an event or selling a product; you just have to get creative about how to do it.

For example, if you're planning an event but you don't have a list, partner with someone who does have a list and who can help promote your event. You might ask someone with a good marketing list to speak at your event, in which case your guest speaker will promote the event to their list.

Select Someone Whose Audience is Complementary

One of the best ways to promote an event with someone else's marketing list is to select a partner whose audience is complementary with yours; not necessarily in competition. A competitor probably won't want to share his audience with you, because then there'd be nothing to prevent you from swooping in and taking the audience away. However, a complimentary business owner might be happy to cross-promote your event to his audience, because it is another way for him to provide value to his audience, and he may find it to be a money-making opportunity.

For example, if you're planning an event on teaching businesses how to effectively utilize the Web for marketing, you probably won't want to partner with a competitor who offers the same information to clients. Instead, you might want to partner with a more traditional marketing firm, who can then offer your Web-specific information and services to their clients. Or if you make and sell artist's painting supplies, you might want to partner with someone who sells canvases; not someone else who makes or sells supplies. Think about who might have complimentary lists, and contact them about partnering in your event.

Be Clear about Terms 

If you do bring on a partner to help with list marketing, be clear about the terms of your agreement up front. You'll need to negotiate commissions and percentages on your joint venture. Have a proposal ready when you begin your discussions with potential partners, and know how much you're willing to negotiate. If you're not clear enough up front, you may find that you miss out on an opportunity to build your own list, maximize your income from your event or find yourself in the middle of a disagreement with your new partner. Know how much you and your event are worth, and make sure your new partner can respect that!

Even if you don't have a big list yourself, partnering with the right person can give you plenty of instant contacts, and help you build a marketing list of your own. Don't let a lack of a list hamper your marketing efforts.

Find a good partner with a good list, or even multiple partners, and move forward to make your event a success!

About the Author

Bernadette Doyle specializes in helping entrepreneurs attract a steady stream of ideal clients. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, sign up for her free weekly e-zine at http://www.clientmagnets.com