Now, onto this month’s topic of how to fill your workshops & webinars every time. The biggest myths is that you need a large mailing list to fill them. What you do need, first and foremost is an open mindset. What do I mean? Let me share a scenario….”I ran a workshop/webinar and no one showed up (or only 3 people were on the webinar), so I decided not to run it again”. Can you relate to this? When we don’t fill our workshops & webinars, it’s natural to automatically jump to a conclusion that it was a flop! But, when I help my clients dig deeper we can identify exactly why and it’s often a few small things that need tweaking. So, when I refer to an “open-mind”, I just ask that if this has happened to you, I urge you NOT to give up right away and jump to conclusions. Check out below the critical success factors to filling your workshops and webinars every single time and take charge of your success! (you’ll be surprised that so many of them need to happen before you even market it!)
Factors Critical to Filling Your Workshops & Webinars:
- Topic must Meet Immediate Need: If your target market does not need your topic right NOW, they won’t sign up. They will say “that’s nice to attend someday”. Urgency is created when they see that your topic alleviates a specific pain or challenge they are feeling right NOW or they see your topic can take them to the level they have been craving for!
- Right Price: If it’s priced too high and beyond what your market can bear, people won’t sign up. Give payment options, early-bird rates and promotions to entice people to sign up. If it’s priced too low, people don’t take the value seriously. Either charge $35 or make it free, but don’t undervalue it.
- Narrow Target Market: When your target market is too broad (e.g. Professional Women, Athletes, Men), they are much harder to market to because there are so many. It’s counter-intuitive, but when you narrow your niche, they will be faster and easier to locate. (e.g. Professional Women in the Biotech industry in an Executive Position, Newly divorced Dads with kids at home)
- Compelling Title: Catchy, short & sweet and results oriented. Title and subtitle are great but don’t create one that people respond “What?” You want them to respond, “Cool…Interesting…I wonder what that’s about?…That’s right up my alley!”
- Marketing Copy that Draws your Target Audience in: Your marketing copy can make or break your target market’s desire to sign up. They will either be drawn in or sent away because it doesn’t speak directly to them. Always write copy as if you were your audience reading it.
- Leveraging your Biggest Fans & Followers: If you don’t have a large list, ask your biggest fans, followers and friends to help market it for you. They are your greatest sales people because they can speak to your experience and how great you are!
- Power Partner: Find other colleagues who market to the same target as you do but sell different things. You complement each other so you can help market each other’s ws/webinars while growing each other’s lists and exposure.
- Give a Taste Before asking People to Dive in: If you are marketing a high end program, you can’t expect people to sign up right away from a 1-page marketing copy. Run a free webinar/teleseminar/video training or free talk to give a taste and then promote the high end program with a discount to reward people who sign up that day.
- Your Heart is Aligned with your Head & Your Ego is put to Rest: If you are running a ws/webinar because you need the money or you are in a bind or doing it for the wrong reasons, it will be driven from a head or ego place and not from a genuine desire to serve. You won’t fill it as much as when it’s coming from your true essence and purpose. Seek what’s in your heart and reconnect to that if necessary before marketing it. You will surely see a difference in the number of seats that are filled.
Instead of jumping to conclusions, I invite you to apply these critical success factors and begin to fill your workshops and webinars every single time!
