Giving Seminars To Local Business Owners

This is exactly what I do. I speak to sell a Done-for-you local online marketing package.

If you want to sell directly from the seminar, make it free. It takes some promotion even for a free seminar, but you just want local business owners in the chairs. Right?

I went the "got to a school to fill a program" route. It fills the room with everyone except local small business owners.

Don't use newspapers. The ad will go to everyone, of which 99.9999% are not who you want. I scraped the business owners contact information with Local Scraper. The ones that already advertise online are the best leads.

You can call them on the phone to offer a "Free 2 Hour Report On Local Online Advertising Trends" and say it's only for small businesses that advertise online locally. (or anything that makes them part of a select group.)

You can hire people from the Philippines for a few dollars an hour to make the calls. You can invite them in person, or by invitation. In person is best if you are dealing with small numbers (less than 100 in a given city)

If you charge for the talk, it will cut the response by 90%.

I even offer a gift for attendance. I give a copy of a book I wrote. I used to buy lunch.

Do NOT hold it in a place that is dimly lit, or serves alcohol. It's the kiss of death.

Hiring people to sell tickets is a completely different route.
Tom Hopkins (a well known sales trainer) used to have guys go to small businesses and sell tickets to a three hour training for $100. The rep got $50.

But they were selling to the reps of sales organizations, not the owners of small businesses.

Me? would hire people to fill the seats. Make the tickets free and pay $20 for each business owners that showed up. That will keep them from throwing away the tickets ad giving you fake names. You may end up paying $100 per small business owner for them to show up. But if you can sell, it's a bargain.

It's fairly easy to fill a community meeting room, or library meeting room with 20-30 people. You can use a better restaurant if you want to feed them.


At the end of the meeting, I have them sign up for my service. It's a very abbreviated form that just gets contact information and their credit card info. To them, they bought. Then I make an appointment (in the next few days) for create videos at their location. But the sale is made at the event when their interest is at the peak.

jtchaschowy had a great idea with having churches raise money by selling tickets. But be sure they know you want the business owner, not the stock boy.

Hope that helps.

Added later; The key here is how you present. I deliver real content about 1) Why online? 2)Where online? 3) What's needed (website, videos, social networking, lead gen)

The entire theme is Why online is the way to market your business...Show them that it's an involved process (while showing them what they need to do)....that they really need someone to do this for them...and that I'm the guy to do it.

Then I say that I only accept one client per city per business. In a crowd of 30 business owners, I'll always get a client or three.

Once you get the RSVP, give them information that sells YOU before they show up. I send them a few articles, a copy of a book I wrote, and e-mails with links to video testimonials from previous attendees. You want them showing up thinking "He's the Go To Guy". And intro video before you speak setting yourself up as an expert (or promoting local internet marketing in general) will also make you a minor celebrity. It makes a huge difference when you ask for the order.

Good luck to you.

Eventually, if you actually sell consistently at these talks, you can joint venture with promoters that put on marketing bootcamps for business owners.

You will get paid 50% of the money you generate. The other half goes to the promoter. You can create several clients in one 60 minute speech that way. But first, you have to work out all the bugs in your talk and get experienced in front of a room of prospects.

This isn't for everyone. In fact most people bomb at it. But it's where the real money is being made.


If you go the "Lunch talk for the Chamber of Commerce" route, I would use it to sell a joint venture with the chamber. Split the door with them, and then sell your little heart out. But don't pitch at the short talk. I've never seen it allowed.

Pitching another seminar that will bring money into the Chamber? Sure.

I have only done this type of talk once. I didn't repeat it because it only generated one sale, and there are quicker ways to make sales.

But for most speakers? Absolute gold. Mike Rounds (look it up on Amazon) has a program that completely covers how to speak at these local Chamber, Kiwanas, Rotary type events.