How To Make Money and Build Authority With Local Seminars -- Step-by-Step

a few points.

It's far harder to fill a room than it sounds from this article. You must have a way to contact prospects that is conducive to filling a room fast. Calling prospects by phone will work, and become your main funnel. Speaking in small groups, at local events, or to Chambers of Commerce meetings is a good way to funnel people into your event. Make no mistake, selling tickets is 95% of the job.

I wouldn't book an event until I already have a meeting set up, in front of a group of prospects...to sell tickets.

The article says $312 an hour. But that's just for the time you are in front of the group. Almost all your time will be spent creating a program, and selling people into your event. So for total time invested, you may just break even at your costs. Yes, I'm saying that selling tickets at $250 each, you may break even. You may even lose money.

That's why..you need to have far more than 5 people at the event. It takes exactly as long to present to 50 people as it does to 5. And you have a far more excited audience with a larger group.

Another reason you want a larger group, is that you are going to sell your services, or consulting, at the event. Not later, not calling for an appointment...but at the end of the event. A 4 hour seminar only needs 15 minutes at the end, to offer your services to those who are ready. If you are any good at all, you'll sign 5 or 6 in right then. Maybe one straggler will buy later, but don't count on those.

My last 3 hour seminar was in Las Vegas. 30 people each paid $299 to hear me talk about Local Online Marketing. I split the $9,000 with the event promoter 50/50. So I made $4,500. Yippee.

But wait, I had to pay my own expenses. So subtract $1,500 for flight and room. Oh, and I had to send multiple offers to a list of 5,000 to get the 30 to pay. I wrote monthly articles for the magazine, promoting the event (mine and theirs) for a year. So.....maybe 25 hours for that. I gave an interview that was available on the industry website. I had to write all the copy to sell the event (never let the event organizer write the copy. Hire some one that can sell, or do it yourself...if your already good at writing sales copy)
I had to be at the event the day before I spoke and left the day after. Plus two whole days of travel. So that's 5 days..not one.

You may think, "But Claude, you made a net of $3,500 for 5 days work, aren't you happy?" Not at all. I missed 6 days at my retail store, where I would have made that much, or more...and been in my own bed at night. And 5 days in Las Vegas sounds great..unless you don't gamble, don't socialize, except to sell...and have been there 40 times. Now, it's a chore.

So...is there a happy ending? Yes. 8 of the 30 people bought my $6,000 service. I kept all the money from that, minus fulfillment costs. Let's call it $52,000 net. (They also signed up for $199 a month continuity. That's included. They average 15 months, before they drop out. I only include the first 4 months in my sales figures) Everyone who signed up for te event (30) got a copy of my book, and promotional CDs. They were primed....and I still only sold 8 out of 30. This is real work, and highly advanced selling.

What was the difference? I was there to sell. Speaking is a sales presentation. A 3 hour sales presentation that people are paying to hear. And in that 3 hours I told them everything they needed to know, to do everything on their own. You need to dazzle them with actionable content. Make them sit on the edge of their seat. Can you do that?
That's selling. And if you are speaking...thinking you'll make money from ticket sales...you'll very soon tire of it. And just a couple of bad events can drain your resources.


If you think this is just having people flock to hear you, and then just flying or driving to packed rooms of fans...you're in for a surprise.

Do you want to guarantee that nobody will buy? Let them drink alcohol.

Added later; Oh, always video your seminar. A good one can then be sold as a course on your website...or in my case, at the end of a book.