Grow Your Business Through Events

So you have planned your business event and are preparing what you are going to say at your event. Your brain is telling you to carefully craft your sales pitch in effort to land as many new clients as possible; afterall you planned this event in order to grow your business right? WRONG!

You must resist the urge to pitch your attendees. Let me let you in on a little secret, no one is attending your event so that you can pitch your products or services. You’ve created and marketed some draw that will bring the prospects to you so give prospective customers what they want, information and advice and remove what they don’t want, a sales pitch.

I recommend approaching your event with the mentality of building relationships and not selling products and services. If you listen to your attendees, talk about their needs, and solutions to their problems and skip the features and benefits talks you will actually land more clients in the end.

Get to know prospects as individuals and not revenue streams and share a bit of yourself with them. Attendees will depart feeling they have created a genuine connection with you making them more likely to do business with you or refer you to others.

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I absolutely love working with small businesses, it is very rewarding for me to assist a small business in planning their event and then watching them grow and flourish. However, one of my “challenges” with small businesses is the notion that everything can be bartered for or sponsored. And unfortunately, it is unrealistic to think that an event can be properly planned and executed without spending any money.

Let me start by saying that I am not at all against bartering services, sponsorship, or selling vendor/ad space. In fact, I have used each of these funding approaches successfully multiple times and will continue to do so in the future. However, I seek to give small businesses an understanding of how and went these tactics should be used and not abused.

Bartering: Bartering products and services is simply trading one thing for another. If you give me X I will give you Y. No money changes hands and the items or services exchanged should be considered equal. For example, if you are an attorney and wish to barter legal services for event planning the amount of service you offer to provide should be equal or greater than the cost of me planning your event. Businesses barter either because they need the product or service or to gain exposure for their business. If I lived in an apartment offering one year free lawn care service in exchange for planning your event isn’t an appealing trade.

Sponsorship: When a company sponsors an event they do so because the target market for the event is in line with their own and the anticipated return is greater than the requested investment. If these conditions don’t exist it is counterproductive for a company to sponsor an event. When approaching a business you need to be sure that the marketing exposure you are offering is valued higher than the amount you are requesting.

Selling Vendor/Ad Space: Some events are held in large enough venues’s that the host business can sell vendor tables (or booths) to related (non-competing) businesses. Larger events often have a printed program in which ad space can be sold. These funds can be used to help pay for the event or event marketing. The host business needs to be very conscious about the type and number of businesses they allow to set up at their event. If these businesses contradict your brand or there are too many it could detract from your event.

These tactics should be used to ASSIST in planning your event and not as the sole sources of funding. The host business should be prepared to at minimum pay initial deposits and a portion of the cost to host the event. Decisions regarding alternate funding sources should be made carefully and the fact that every company is in business to generate revenue should be taken into account.

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Earlier this week my husband forwarded me an article entitled Fake Boston bridal show signs up thousands. The article begins:

“Scammers set up a Web site advertising a fake bridal show billed as the “biggest and most extravagant” and used it to steal from thousands of brides-to-be and their vendors, who were lured by chances to win “fabulous gifts and prizes,” police and FBI experts said Monday.” Click Here to Read the Full Article

Vendors for this event paid up to $4,000 for a booth and the show sold thousands of couples pre-registering to attend the show spending $10 to $15 per ticket. As an event professional I am saddened by the scammers who have left a scarlet letter on the industry and can empathize with the thousands who have been screwed over, especially the vendors.

While I am outraged by this situation, I want to put an optimistic spin on it and use this occurrence as a prime example of a key principle when planning a business event. In order for an event to be successful, you have to have a solid event-marketing plan! These scammers in Boston have proven that the event-marketing plan is more important than the event-plan itself. Thousands of tickets were sold and there was no actual event.

Now I am not encouraging (or suggesting) anyone to plan fake events. However, I am encouraging (and STRONGLY suggesting) that you spend as much time planning your event-marketing efforts as you do planning the event itself. Here are 5 tips to having an effective event-marketing plan:

1. Set SMART Goals: Almost every business owner has heard of the “SMART” method of goal setting. Your goals for your event should be Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic and Timely. The first step in planning an event is determining what you want to achieve by planning the event.
2. Clearly Define Your Target Market: The target market for your event should be specific and well segmented. Selecting your target market requires that you take a close look at who you want to attend your event and how to appeal to them. What demographics will allow you to achieve your results? What mix of each demographic do you need to attend?
3. WIFM Approach: As an event-marketer you have to understand that your “guest” are going to have a “What’s In It For Me” mentality. In order for your event to be a success you have to create a draw for your invited guests. In the case of our scammers they promised attendees that they would “receive a welcome bag of goodies and will be entered for a chance to win fabulous gifts and prizes!” and that is was to be “New England’s biggest and most extravagant Bridal Show!” So what reason do your invited guests have to attend?
4. Timing is Everything: An event marketer walks a thin line between promoting too soon and not soon enough. How early you should start promoting your event will depend on the event itself. For example, and event that requires travel, or carries a high price tag may need more promotion time than a free, local event. You should carefully consider how early to begin promoting your event to maximize attendance.
5. Hindsight is 20/20: Even if this is the first time you are holding this event, it is important to look at past experience as a guide on how to market your event. What have your competitors done, and how successful was it? What marketing tactics have you seen used that produced the desired results? What market research can you find about your intended target market? This questions and others like them will allow you to develop a sound marketing plan for your event.

As you are planning your next event allow ample time to plan and execute your event-marketing plan. You could plan the most elaborate and fabulous event but if no one attends it is all for not; that is time, money, and resources wasted.

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For those of you following our blog, you are already aware of the small business services we offer. We are pleased to announce we are running an introductory special. Save 30% when you book your event between 2/14/2010 and 3/14/2010. Promotion valid for “Mixing Business with Pleasure – Full Service Business Event Planning” only. Date of the event must occur between 6/1/2010 – 10/21/2010. Subject to date availability. Not valid with any other promotion.

SPECIAL EVENTS COMPANY UNVEILS NEW INITIATIVE

SSWE Announces New Services For Small Businesses

(ATLANTA) – Starr Studded Weddings and Events is eager to announce its stunning new addition to the array of services they currently provide, adding small business events to the many types of events they coordinate.

Since April 2009, SSWE has created memories for a variety of social events, nights out on the town; weddings, home events and now they look forward to making small business events just as memorable.

“Business events come and go, but an experience can last a lifetime,” says Brandi Starr, owner and CEO of SSWE. “I will work with you to identify the type of events that will help you to reach your business goals. Together we will turn prospects into leads, clients into referrals, and businesses into partners by impressing them with a truly Starr Studded event.”

SSWE provide different services for planning small business events, which include full service business event planning, event marketing services and obtaining financial support.

Being a small business owner, in addition to nine years of marketing experience focused around the development and execution of marketing strategies and campaigns, marketing data collection and analysis, basic web and graphic design, and customer relationship management, Starr believes that she can offer small businesses a way to allow every guest to feel like a Starr.

Starr Studded Weddings and Events is a social events planning company that offers a host of products and services specifically tailored to meet the needs of each client. Starr Studded Events specializes in infusing the clients personality into the event to create an environment that is uniquely them. For more information please visit Starr Studded online at www.yourstarrstuddedevents.com or call 678-58-STARR (78277).

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The purpose of a business launch party is to introduce your business (and yourself) to your industry and prospective clients. Introducing your business in a way that is both beneficial and memorable for your guests can help to ensure your business gets off to a solid start.

So when should you have a launch party? Contrary to what seems natural, a business’ launch party should not take place immediately following the “opening” or establishment of the business. On day one of your business no one knows who your business is, what they do, or how well. In addition, on day one you haven’t fully figured out your businesses identity, or worked out all of the kinks that come along with starting a business. Read the rest of this entry »

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I am a member of several event related ning.com groups. This question was presented for discussion “The ENVI team would like to know is it necessary to host client appreciation events for your customers or is that just another way for the company to spend money unnecessarily?”

My brief response was:

I believe client appreciation events are extremely important. The hard part of sales is convincing someone to buy from you the first time. Once they have already purchased they are 70% more likely to purchase from you again or recommend you to someone else. If you nurture the relationships you have already spent time building the reward for your business can be huge!

Let me expound upon that here. Most businesses spend a lot of their resources prospecting, and moving prospects through the sales cycle. It can take both time and money to woo a potential client enough to motivate them to purchase. Where many businesses fail is believing that that relationship ends following the delivery of the final product or service and a token of your appreciation.

By not continuing to court your clients after you have sealed the deal you are allowing a competing business to come in and steal them away. Afterall, you have already identified the need for your product or service why let someone else reap the residual benefits. And, even if they don’t have an immediate need to purchase from you again are you top of mind when their friends and relatives ask if they know anyone in your line of work? If they never hear from you after the final “thank you” chances are you are not.

The reaction from most small business owners when I mention holding a client appreciation event to nurture the relationships you have with existing clients is “I’m a small business or soloprenuer, I can’t afford to hold a client appreciation event.” This mindset is generally based on previous exposure to large-scale client appreciation events. You don’t have to send your clients to Hawaii or host a huge golf tournament to say thank you. Why not hold a small reception with wine and hors d’oeuvres to say thanks? Or a picnic in the park? You can offer a raffle or contest, give away free products and services, there are tons and tons of ways to host a successful customer appreciation event that won’t break the bank.

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