If you’ve ever seen delegates queue to purchase audio cd's, handout, video cd's, etc at a seminar, that's the power of a good seminar presentation.

Seminars are a hybrid sales tool. They combine the benefit of face-to-face (or at least eye-to-eye) contact, with the scalability of a direct mail campaign. (By ‘scalability’, I mean that seminars make it possible for you to speak to over 300 to 1000 people with little more effort than would be required to address just one.)

In this article, I will show you 6 ways on how to harness the power of seminars and workshops to multiply the effectiveness of your sales process and also attract some new clients.

While some of the ideas in this article may fly in the face of conventional wisdom, we’ll stand by them. The fact is, over some time now, we’ve helped business owners to sell more than half a million products to our various seminars and events! In fact, in the last year, our own low-key free seminars have been attended by just over 1,000 executives!

Why use seminars?

Now it could be argued that a seminar is likely to be less effective than a one-to-one sales presentation because the attention of the presenter is shared between audience members — but that isn’t necessarily the case.

You see, a good seminar presentation has two important advantages over a one-to-one sales presentation (other than scalability). First, a seminar automatically positions the presenter as an expert (after all, a congregation has gathered to hear this person speak). And second, because a seminar is less invasive than a one-to-one sales presentation, a seminar is easier to use for promoting product or services.

Using seminars as a part of your sales process:

Please allow me to continue this article in a short while.

Best regards,
Joshua Udom

Continued from previous post...

The question on every small business owner’s mind is how to gain more exposure. No matter the size of your marketing budget, it takes a lot of time, effort, and creativity to get new customers.

Fortunately, you can piggyback on small and big events and seminar to build momentum.

Your community where you live is the best starting point.If your biggest obstacle is boosting traffic to your business, events such as seminar, trade fairs, festivals, and conferences have a lot to offer. Get a list of events your customers attend, and embrace the chance to promote your brand face to face.

1. Know your audience
Figure out which local events cater to your customers. Government and travel websites are great places to find event calendars. If you sell food or crafts, almost any seminar, fair or festival is a ripe opportunity. But if you serve a specific niche, think about how your customers spend their time. What excites them? What supplies do they need before, during, and after an event?

Sponsoring a local bike race or stunt show would be perfect for a bike seller. A T-shirt seller could make big bucks at a music festival or comic convention. And a children’s furniture designer could be a hit at children birthday events.

2. Research profitable events
Don’t waste time and money on an event that might be a bust. If the organizers expect 300 people and 50 show up, you might not meet enough new customers to justify the cost. So stick to all events with and know your audience. Contact the organizers to find out:



3. Decide your level of involvement
Are you planning to buy a booth or just taking advantage of event traffic? If it’s the former, talk to veteran participants about how to stand out at the venue. They often have great tips about the right signage or the best location for your booth.

Make a list of everything you’ll need on event day, and order supplies well in advance. Remember, most local businesses will be buying up supplies to prepare for a major event. So, you don’t want to get stuck scrambling for something important at the last minute.

Even when you aren’t involved in the festivities, you can get extra business from tourists and locals in a spending mood. If you won’t be at the event venue, plan creative ways to drive traffic to your business. For example, offer a discount or an entry in a prize drawing to anyone who shows an event ticket.

4. Become an event sponsor
Sponsoring an event is one way to get your business name in front of a lot of people. The best part is sponsorship doesn’t have to take a chunk out of your budget. You usually have two options: fixed sponsorship tiers or donations.

Weigh the cost of being a paid sponsor. Ask an organizer for the details of each package and exactly how your business info will appear to attendees. With a top tier, you might get full-page ads in an event program, venue signs, a prominent booth, and radio call-outs. Whatever the case, get the contract in writing to make sure you get the level of exposure you want.

Prefer to go the donation route? Give away a product or service that has the potential to bring in repeat business. The customer data you already have can be a big help here. Look over past sales to find popular gateway products that open the door to more purchases.

Another option is to donate a space or venue for an event. Organizers are always looking for ways to cut costs, especially for events spread across multiple venues. If you own the space, you have even more leverage to get your signage in visible locations.

5. Host your own giveaway
Whether you attend the event or not, giveaways are a low-cost way to generate buzz. Now, you might be thinking, “I don’t have exciting products. I don’t have products that are easy to package and hand out.”

It doesn’t matter. Every product has value to the right customer, so focus on selling your services as an experience. Think beyond physical products. Let’s say you own a printing company or a small accounting firm. Raffle off a consultation or introductory package.

Don’t get discouraged if it takes a little more brainstorming to find the right approach. Local marketing is about putting a human face and personality on your business. Let’s say you’re opening a personal training business. A fun way to reach customers is to set up a snack and water tent at a marathon, sporting event, or music show. Give away free healthy treats to customers who are willing to snap a photo doing their favorite muscle poses.

6. Collect customer information
Following up with customers is the key to getting repeat business and referrals. Customers are bombarded with marketing at big events, so they easily forget vendors. Find an efficient, respectful way to gather contact information.

Many people don’t want to listen to you talk about your company for 20 minutes, but they’re happy to leave a business card. If you give away company swag, ask customers to leave a business card in your collection jar in return.

Finally, if you are looking for an event in Port Harcourt to promote your products or services and make more sales, email me or call and let's discuss.

I will love to hear some comment from you.

Best regards,
Joshua Udom

joshuaudom:
If you’ve ever seen delegates queue to purchase audio cd's, handout, video cd's, etc at a seminar, that's the power of a good seminar presentation.

Seminars are a hybrid sales tool. They combine the benefit of face-to-face (or at least eye-to-eye) contact, with the scalability of a direct mail campaign. (By ‘scalability’, I mean that seminars make it possible for you to speak to over 300 to 1000 people with little more effort than would be required to address just one.)

In this article, I will show you 6 ways on how to harness the power of seminars and workshops to multiply the effectiveness of your sales process and also attract some new clients.

While some of the ideas in this article may fly in the face of conventional wisdom, we’ll stand by them. The fact is, over some time now, we’ve helped business owners to sell more than half a million products to our various seminars and events! In fact, in the last year, our own low-key free seminars have been attended by just over 1,000 executives!

Why use seminars?

Now it could be argued that a seminar is likely to be less effective than a one-to-one sales presentation because the attention of the presenter is shared between audience members — but that isn’t necessarily the case.

You see, a good seminar presentation has two important advantages over a one-to-one sales presentation (other than scalability). First, a seminar automatically positions the presenter as an expert (after all, a congregation has gathered to hear this person speak). And second, because a seminar is less invasive than a one-to-one sales presentation, a seminar is easier to use for promoting product or services.

Using seminars as a part of your sales process:

Please allow me to continue this article in a short while.

Best regards,
Joshua Udom

when is the next article coming up? I am waiting!

Smartcodeclub:



when is the next article coming up? I am waiting!

Very soon! I will let you all know.

Thanks for your understanding