Yellow Dog Consulting

Sales & Marketing Consulting for solo-preneurs.

3 Ways to Grow Your Event Registration

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I was talking with a client the other day about increasing attendance for their events. It’s a common problem for small business owners looking to grow. I find I often have three recommendations (big surprise) when I talk with clients about increasing attendance – so here’s what I said in response to…

How do I get more butts in seats?

  1. Have a Good List – Do you have a list you can talk to about your events? If you are only reaching out to your newsletter list to pitch your event you want them to pay money for, you likely don’t have a well cultivated list. I always suggest clients have a regular newsletter sharing useful content so people can see how great they are. That way when you reach out to pitch your event/book/thing/give me money they’re excited and ready to go! Start to cultivate your list. Have a good free opt-in on your website and make sure people are regularly getting added to your list.
  2. Ask Referral Partners to Help – Every time my colleagues ask me to promote their event I am more inclined to help if they have sent me some content I can tweak and schedule to post on my social media. Create your list of referral partners (NOW) who have great clients/lists that can help promote your event to THEIR audience (and remember they will ask you the same – or maybe already have…). Give them some images, a link and maybe even a custom registration code…
  3. Track Everything – As my business coach Debbie Page says, “what you measure matters.” When I have a new program I make sure to use custom codes for discounts and registration. That way I know EXACTLY where every person came from. My clients get a code, every networking group I’m a part of gets a unique code, and any referral partner gets the code of their choice so that I can track where all my leads came from. Why do I do this? So I know what worked and what didn’t. Is that a good networking group for this topic? NOPE! Is this a good referral partner who has prospects eager to hear what I’ve got? YUP!

Planning and getting attendees to your events can be HARD. Make sure you’re setting yourself up for success by cultivating relationships and communicating regularly to save you the stress when the time comes. What else do you do to get “more butts in seats”?

3 Things Your Speaker Marketing Plan Needs

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3 Things Your Speaker Marketing Plan NeedsI talk with a lot of speakers about their marketing efforts and I often share a few simple marketing tasks that can make your life as a speaker easier. This week I thought I’d share three I end up talking about most!

  1. Your Follow Up Email – You know exactly what you’re going to pitch when you get on that stage – so why isn’t your follow up email locked and loaded before you head out the door? Once you get home you can add in the contacts (more on that next) and make any final adjustments (a funny joke from the event you want to add in to personalize it?) and hit send!
  2. Ask for the List – Any time you speak you should be asking for (requiring) a list of the attendees WITH their email addresses delivered to you the day of the event. I am well aware some organizations aren’t allowed to share – and that’s okay. In that case make sure you’re passing around a sign up form (better yet – an iPad signup form so you don’t have to decipher handwriting when you get back to the office) and reference the follow up email that’s coming so they WANT to receive it.
  3. Adjust Your Automation – If you have a standard download on your website and you’re including it in your follow up email to attendees – make sure that you adjust whatever automation sequence is included if you need to.

You are speaking to groups because you want to grow your business by connecting from one to many instead of 1:1 meetings. Why not make sure that you’re following up in a timely manner and communicating with EVERYONE in the room right from the start? Don’t forget to have a handout and a great offer that makes it easy for your audience to say YES to working with you!

Your Coaches Toolbox: Getting Beyond Word of Mouth Without the Overwhelm

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If you’re a coach in the Portland area please join me for this kickass event on Friday, May 11th in downtown Portland! I’ve partnered up with 3 of my favorite small business consultants who are crushing it in their own areas:

Your Coaches Toolbox:

Getting Beyond Word of Mouth Without the Overwhelm

As a coach you know the importance of consistency and having a great presence – both online and offline. You started coaching to be a COACH, not to make your website work or to spend hundreds (thousands?) on branding and logos and setting up the right marketing systems, doing video and sending out a newsletter – how frequently?!??

We know. We’ve been there. In this interactive and hands on workshop you’ll learn from the experts on how your coaching business can grow beyond word of mouth without breaking the bank.

You will learn:

  • Why DIY branding is a great place to start
  • When to make big (and small) changes to your website
  • When to start collecting email address and when to start a newsletter
  • When to jump from Facebook live to setting up your own YouTube channel
  • What to do in your first year of business
  • Advice for growth as you start speaking, write a book or launch an online program
  • When to DIY and when to outsource in your business

This event is one you won’t want to miss…