Tag: know like and trust

Meet Your Clients Where They Are

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Recently I went on a road trip with my husband to interview a Magic The Gathering store owner in Orangeville. I was just along for the ride with no real interest in the main reason for the journey, which was to create a blog post about the local store owner and support his business. This article would go on his blog (MTG Realm) as he writes about this game with a focus on spoilers for new card releases. It sounds simple and maybe even un-interesting to those that do not play the game, but he gets up to 14,000 hits a day on this blog, so there are a lot of people following along.

While in Shawn’s store I became very aware of the business skill he possessed. I was expecting a geek that opened a store so he could be close to his favourite game and what I saw as a man providing a service to his clients by meeting them where they are. Here are the top 5 things I believe he has done right and why.

Facebook not website

The clientèle for this business has an average age in their low to mid 20’s with a lot of teens and a few older people. They are primarily male (about 95 % of players are male). Although the store has a website, there is little information on it. The key communications for this game happens on Facebook, where his community of players can take part and be active in the decisions that are being made about their favourite place to hang out.

Young people want to interact not just have information pushed at them.

Games for everyone

In a past blog post I wrote about his business and I talk specifically about how he has created new games to appeal to the youngest of his clients, knowing that as they progress, they will get better and will stay clients longer.

As business owners you need to look at what you have to offer that will keep your current clients coming back. You can sell ‘one offs’ but you want to try and fill your business with clients that are ‘in love’ with your service and return over and over, bringing their friends and spending their time and money.

Invites the community

On the third floor of his business he has a huge room with high ceilings that needed to be painted. He opened up this room and started an non-profit Art Club for young artists to exhibit murals, painting and photography. He hosts regular events and even offers his own walls for the canvas (see image below).

Koros Games upstairs floor - Art Club

What can you be doing to support the community your clients live in. If you have a location, can you open the doors during off hours for a charity to use. If you don’t have a physical location can you commit time or other resources for local events, not-for-profits, or other community engagements. A business that operates without the connection to its community, whether locally or online, is not as connected to it client.

Simple changes

I laughed at this change, but really… it makes sense for everyone. All the prices in his store include taxes. Not only does it make it easier for his youngest clients to know how much money they need to get a new card to add to their deck, it makes it easier for his employees to help people. He said to me, “Why don’t all businesses do this? It just makes sense.”

Big thinking investments

Originally when he started he was renting a small space on the main street in Orangeville, a city of 25,000, just North of Toronto Ontario. With his focus on his clients his business outgrew the location and he had to move. His answer was to purchase a century old building in a prime location and rent out the street level floor space. He still has two floors of space and he can host up to 200 players for tournaments. This is unheard of outside the large cities. The key is he does not need to fill to capacity to make his money, he simply has the space to offer the opportunity without it being a financial burden on the business. It is one of the reasons he is able to run two events simultaneously to attract both the competitive player and the newbie or casual player.

Are you thinking about your best investments in your business that will give you great resources and give your clients a better experience at the same time? Meet your clients where they are and they will continue to follow you and purchase from you.

What Makes You Money? Revenue Generating Activities!

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Doing Revenue Generating Activities or RGA every day is not always easy, especially if you are a soul-proprietor doing both the work IN your business and ON your business. If you are a massage therapist, contractor, coach, or any other service provider and you are spending your days doing work for your clients then when are you generating new sales? If you say, “I’m not” then how do you intend to continue with a healthy business? The answer to that is likely “I don’t”.

RGA consists of marketing and sales activities, both of which you are in charge of and likely wear the overseers hat of management for their implementation and completion. This is an ongoing, daily activity that must be attended to regularly or you will feel the roller-coaster effect of alternating prosperity and want. I want to give you one activity to use every day to help you flatten out this prosperity line as you grow it and that is The Daily Diligence.

The Daily Diligence

Phone calls are still requiredPhone Speed Dial

If you think social media and emails are enough to get your clients to reach out to you and buy then you are wrong. People still need the personal touch and, because of this, sales calls are not going away. Even if you are networking to build relations or belong to a marketing group like BNI you will need to follow up with connections and referrals. Networking, social media, and email campaigns are part of your marketing and hopefully, if done right, will help you fill your funnel with great warm prospects. Don’t throw in the towel on your marketing until you have done the follow-up and you personally know that you have connected with everyone that may want your service.

Set a time limit or accomplishment level

Ensure you have time for your Daily Diligence but don’t fill your day with it, unless you have booked extra time. To make sure you have time to do this difficult work you need to book it. Just like you would book your clients, you will book yourself time to do RGA work. There are so many activities that could be done for marketing and sales and if not managed correctly they can take over your week. Remember that time, in the not too distant past, when you had no time to do anything because you had booked so many networking events and coffee meetings? Well maybe you have not had one of those weeks yet, but if you are not careful, it will happen and then, when the week is over and you have not closed any new sales you should be wondering, “what was the value of my time and dollars”.

You can also book by accomplishment level. For instance you may say, I’m going to knock on 5 doors or make 10 calls. Pick a value you have control over. This does not work for number of sales, as you may need to spend the day to get one sale and then you have not balanced your marketing with your serving.

Start every day doing the one thing

Do the one thing that is hardest for you to do first thing in the morning. If calling clients and closing sales are difficult then start your day with the focus to accomplish that first. Don’t book any client work until you have fulfilled your commitment to your most difficult RGA.

Evaluate Your Investment

This can be applied to any RGA activity, but I want to look specifically at your networking. Have you evaluated your ROI on your networking investment?

  1. How much money and more importantly, how much time does it take?
  2. How much money and time have you budgeted?
  3. What return were you expecting (that would make it valuable / or at a minimum)?
  4. How much return did you get?

People have an expectation that just because they are liked by others or enjoy being at events, that eventually there will be a return. Even if you are one of the most productive referral partners in a networking group you may never see any return. I say, “If there is no cash flow then let it go!”

At the end of the day I want you to ask yourself, “did I do something today that was revenue generating?” Answer ‘Yes’ every day and you are on your way to accelerated growth.

Is Your Energy Getting You What You Want?

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I just had the most amazing Skype call with Tash Jefferies this morning. You know those calls or meetings you may have where you leave feeling uplifted, motivated, and connected – empowered to do something truly incredible with your life?

When I started this morning it was just the first day back from an extended Christmas holidays, as the last two days have been snow days for everyone that lives in this house except me. I had a wonderful Christmas. We baked, played games, ate lots of wonderful food, had family visit, shared times with friends, and I really got to relax. So much so that when I would work over the last 3 weeks I would make sure I was dressed (most of the time – I confess I did work in my pajamas a couple of times last week) and that was it. No makeup, no style’n, no dress boots when I went out, no meetings. My energy towards my goals was going down.

I’m not suggesting that you need to be formally dressed to make great things happen. During this time I met several of my colleges, but did not connect more than a few minutes. I could not manifest time with a close friend who is also an entrepreneur. I could not motivate my own self to feel worthy of the things I am working on. We call this a ‘Slump’ and it is not attractive. If you want to bring more into your business, connect with the right contacts, be a great leader, build a bigger business, help more people then you have to start with ‘you’. Use your heart to be attractive to yourself before you engage with your clients.

Hearts Attracting

Yes your energy can attract or repel your people. My dear friend Rose Adams demonstrates this clearly with a couple of coat hangers and two volunteers at one of her motivational talks. She shows how negative emotions close in around us and how the more powerful positive emotions reach out to our environment to interact with others and bring them in. The science behind this connection has been studied through the HeartMath Institute and shows how the energy of our being can interact with others before we even say a word. Do first impressions count? You bet they do!

So this morning, I got dressed to impress for a Skype call. I put on my makeup and brought my A-game to my call. Even though we were over 40 miles apart, I could see how my being was affecting her, and in return I was given the same gift back. The positive energy of two people does not equal 2 it is enhanced and multiplied to create an incredible field of abundance.

If you want something then make sure your energy is letting people know you are ready for it. Giving energy to that which you are passionate about does not deplete you, it fills you with more. I say ‘give to get’ and your business will grow like you have never seen it grow before.

I Missed My Meeting – AND I Was the Host

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Growth challenges are many but one key indicator that you are growing is you can’t always handle all the ‘hats’ that you have been wearing.

This month I’m revving up to a 2-day event with 4 speakers in Vaughan. It is a lot of work, but nothing like the amount of work it takes to market the event. Networking, speaking, calls, emails, free events, etc. are all ways I use to ‘fill the room’. These are still all my hats, and likely will always be. I love the person-to-person interaction these marketing channels provide me.

During this time I still have two programs I’m delivering, paid engagements, and my free monthly expert call that I have been airing monthly for just shy of 3 years. In that time I have never missed a call, but yesterday it happened. I was not on a call that I was hosting. The expert showed up and was confused, the people showed up and… nothing.

So what do you do when you drop the ball? I started by calling my expert right away to apologize and ensure her that her time was valuable to me. It sounds lame, but it was genuine and that is all you can be. The second step was to think of ways to make it right and still give the expert the opportunity to share her brilliance. I offered her an opportunity to record the call so we could deliver it via ezine to you (check the ezine next week for that link).

There were circumstances that kept me away, but still, I know I need a fail-safe way to ensure it never happens again, so my final step is to review my process and determine what I might have done or can do next time. I’m going to use one of my favourite tools (brainstorming with a group) to come up with ideas to help me with this possible business failure.

Business growth is exciting and scary, it is energizing and exhausting, it is successes and it is failures – you have to accept the entire package and work on ways to make it the best experience and outcome possible.

Conference ROI

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So you are going to a 2, 3 or 4 day conference and you are excited. Great connections, great information, a chance to grow, be inspired and envision something different for your business, but what are you really going to get out of it besides a few days away from the routine of your business?

What to expect?

Before going to any event you should know exactly what you are there for. When I first started going to conferences I was there specifically to learn new tools and strengthen my entrepreneurial business mind. I chose conferences that had the specific learning outcomes I was looking for.

For example, when I was looking at investing in my marketing to increase my business I went to a conference that had experts that were focused on marketing to increase client attraction.

When I had a lot of the tools and techniques I needed as fundamentals in my business knowledge I started going to conferences to find the people that were on the same path I was so I could be surrounded by like-minded people with similar needs. I created my inner circle of people that could understand my needs and we could really connect. I also found the coach that attracted this level of people so I would be totally engaged and immersed in the culture that I could truly grow.

Now when I go to a conference I need to be able to know if there is a return on investment (ROI) for my time and dollars spent. There  is always a learning experience so knowing  how to get and measure an ROI for my time was important. It is possible to learn and get prospects if you are focused.

Do This

Know what you want to get out of the conference. Are you there to learn or to earn? E.g. new clients, people to come to your event, Joint Venture (JV) partners, a total learning experience. Be clear about your intention so you can come with the right attitude and ask.

Red rope barrier on red carpetWhat to do?

When you are at a conference to ‘earn’ and get more clients, you need to have a ‘call to action’ you can take with you. Do you have something to give away, an invitation, something to sell, a JV opportunity you want to share, etc. The key to knowing what to do at a conference when you are trying to create income is to know what you are looking for.

At an event I went to in June I was a speaker that was an addition to the program being offered, so I was unable to sell anything from the stage. What I was able to do was give something away. I created a date to give a free call with additional information on what I was talking about that day. I got nearly 100% conversion from the people in the room that opted-in for the free call.

At the last event I spoke at the conversion was only 10 % because I offered a PDF book written by someone else. Definitely a learning curve to find the offer that is more needed.

With a smaller conversion happening and 2 days left in the conference I was able to set a date for an another free talk and I started offering people the opportunity to come hear additional information on my core topic, which appealed to more people. The great thing about this is I could continue to offer this at any event I went to after the conference (e.g. Chamber trade show, breakfast meeting, etc.) and filled the call with people that might need the business growth support.

Do This

Are your clients at this conference? If not then go with an invitation to JV or partner with someone to create a relationship to build your list. If your clients are in the room know what you are going to ask them to do (know your ‘call to action’). For Example:

  • If you have a product online, bring free samples or a coupon to try it.
  • If you have a service, offer a 1-to-1  consultation with you
  • Create a free event where they can ask you questions and get answers
  • Give them something of value so they will remember you and want to reach out

KEY – get their information and ask permission to put them on your list (like a newsletter or special mailing list). There is no return on investment if they leave with your card and you don’t leave with their permission and contact information.

What could you get?

Since selling one product could turn into a $15,000 client for my company, starting with a trusting relationship and building on that is my key strategy. For my business it is the first steps of the invitation that brings people into my programs for free and invites them to continue to work with me in different programs.

My expected ROI is measured in new clients that sign up for a free program. I get about 100% of people on my list say they want to work with me, but the sale can take many months and most sales start as a small purchase to an event using an early bird pricing special. No one comes into my big programs without first going through this step (not yet anyway), so it is the stepping stone to my year-long coaching/mentoring and mastermind program.

If you have a long sales cycle that work hard to get those people that you know will need your services down the road and get them into your list so you can continue the relationship with them.

Do This

The key to final ROI is to do what you promise and then follow up. Every person that signed up for your event, coupon, or free give away needs to be contacted after they have received your promised item. There will be no tangible ROI if you don’t follow up. You might get them as a client sometime in the future, but you don’t want them to forget you and the amazing things you have to offer them.

What Money is Not

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Recently I have spent a lot of time considering success and significance, not only in my life but also in others. What makes someone successful and what makes them significant and is there a difference? If you get Success Magazine, go back to the CD in the October 2011 issue and listen to the interview with John C. Maxwell. Maxwell describes significance as the ability to “make a difference with people that want to make a difference doing something that makes a difference at a time when it makes a difference.” I would add to that “while empowering others to become significant so they can also make a difference.”

So, on my journey I have found myself continually surrounded by people that are significant to those in their lives, bringing success and significance to others. One of those people is Rev. Karen Russo.

The Money Keys

I am so grateful to have been introduced to Rev. K, the author of “The Money Keys“. When she was in Toronto a couple of weeks ago she made time to come and speak at my event. Her message was so powerful even I had to purchase her book and CD’s to further my own money mindset and the traps I have around money that stop me from becoming more successful.

In chapter two she has an exercise that had me write two columns: one titled “Money is” and the other titled “Money is not”. Under each title I wrote what I felt money is and what I knew money was not. The interesting thing was that success fell under money and significance fell under what money is not. Here are my two columns.

Money is – Food , House, clothes, shoes, Success, vacation, Cottage, bike, car, membership, people that you know

John C. Maxwell describes success as money, position, expertise, and that it is all about me – Selfish

Money is not – Happiness, time, learning, ability, relaxation, significance, creativeness, love, fun, people that know you

John C. Maxwell describes significance as “something more than success”, what I can do for others – unselfish

Work towards having money, because the challenges of having to deal with life on a minimal or limited budget can be  more stressful and a lot less fun than if you do have money. But once you have money start working towards significance.  What can you do for your community, your city, your country, others without success or significance in their lives, locally and around the world. What are you passionate enough about that you will make a significant difference to someone else? This is what money is not.

More Money – More Success? Right?

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Dollar Signs

When we think success we look at the things people have and think, ‘nice car, they must do well to afford that’ or ‘they are always going away on vacation, it must be nice to have that kind of money.”

Is it really the money that makes people successful? The answer is Yes and No. It would be great if I could say, ‘well you can be completely successful without money, but there is a component of success that deals with comfort. Someone can be successful in money when they reach their comfort level, whatever that may be, but being comfortable does not mean they are successful. Let’s look at the three pieces I feel really elevate someone, in my eyes, to being seen as successful and what you can do to obtain success yourself.

1. Significance

The number one (#1) thing that really screams success to me is how significant the person’s life is. By this I mean:

  • What are they doing that will outlive them
  • Who have they positively affected
  • How many people are now on the path to being successful themselves

Having a life of significance is important to use all. It doesn’t have to be that the world knows you; it is that the world around you knows you. I think the easiest way to measure someone’s significance is to listen to what others say about that person.

To bring significance to your own life look at doing something like:

  • Take on a volunteer project that you can stick with for more than one event
  • Give back every opportunity you have without expectation of receiving
  • Mentor someone else so they become more successful

2. Credibility

To become successful people have to trust you…

  • trust you to do your job right
  • trust you with their children
  • trust that the information you gave them will be correct and actually help

To be successful you have to be credible in the things you do. Try some of these tips to become more credible in what you do.

  • Honour your commitments
  • Continue to learn and be open to being wrong
  • Apologize when you are wrong and make it right

3. Struggle

Every person who is successful has a story. At some point there was a challenge that caused the person to grow. To be able to take on more we have to learn how to be bigger and more effective at what we do. This means there is a struggle that happens during these times of transition:

  • Struggle to believe in their own worth
  • Struggle to make the money last longer than the month
  • Struggle to become credible and significant

This growth stage (which will happen every time a successful person grows again) can be eased by following these three tips:

  • Surround yourself with great people (supporters, mentors, staff, partners, coaches, etc.)
  • Accept that you don’t have to come in with the answer, but that you will leave with one
  • Have a specific and measurable plan so you can have full faith in your own abilities to reach your goals

Being successful, whether at home, in your job, at your volunteer position or in your business, means reaching your goals through tolerable struggle, creating credibility around our abilities, and having a legacy of your worth as a parent, spouse, leader, teacher, owner, or entrepreneur. With this in place, the money will come.

 

 

What Do You Do When You Need Money Now?

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Have you ever been at a place in your business when every bill and invoice you were expecting all came in at the same time, your car breaks down, your kids need braces, and you are not expecting any significant income in your business for a month? I know I have. So what can you do to get on track?

Leverage

For a short period of time it may be possible to leverage your credit. If you have a longtime standing relationship with your bank you may be able to arrange for a line of credit or a credit card to help you bridge these times.

There are two things you need to know about this.

  1. Banks are not usually willing to loan money to you when you are completely leveraged already so if you foresee that you will need this you are going to have to apply for this credit when you don’t need it.
  2. This should be a short term resolution for your business growth. Plan to continue to build your business so that you can see a sustainable income that is consistent. If you are building a business that is just trading your hours for time, have a consistent income may be a very difficult objective for you.

Sales

Consistent sales are the goal, but until then, what are you going to do? Bills need to be paid now so money needs to come in now! Start with these three lists.

  1. Create a list of all products you can sell. When I did this I found I had a product I only look at once a year (it is a seasonal sponsorship) that I could focus on right away. With a potential of 6 spots available at $2500 each, my income could change dramatically in the immediate future.
  2. Create a list of potential clients you know are interested in a product of yours.
  3. Create a list of past clients that may be ready to purchase from you again.

Look at each product from your first list and write down at least one name for each product. Now start contacting people. The number one (No. 1) way to make a sale from these lists is to call people and talk to them personally. Yes, you do have to make sales calls. For past clients you might send them a personal card first inviting them to purchase from you (e.g. a sale or event). I would still follow up with a call.

Mitigate

Money Roller Coaster
Money Roller Coaster

If you want consistent business sales you have to be building a business that does not run on the roller-coaster model – Lots of money when you are in a project and little or no money in between projects. This is caused by the fact that when you are in a project you do not have time to do your marketing or sales. For a consistent business cash flow you must always have marketing and sales, whether you feel you have time for it or not.

  1. Create a marketing plan that includes marketing channels you can manage while you are working on a client project.
  2. Create a sales plan that allows you to sell your services even when you are focused on another client’s project.
  3. Make sure you are doing both of these every day. That’s Every Day! If you want a truly successful business you must have intentional growth. That means you cannot hope that someone will stumble upon your product or services and purchase from you, you must be creating relationships that you can call upon to make the sale.

Getting What You Need From Networking

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If you think networking is one-size-fits-all you would be wrong. All networking can be successful but not for the same reasons and not for all people. When evaluating networking I look for three key things: Family, Focus, & Fit.

Family

Family is what I feel is the most important. The key is, do you feel comfortable in the presence of these people? Are you welcomed, do you like them, will you be happy to be in this location with these people several times a month for years? Does the location feel like a place you would feel comfortable bringing your clients? It’s like choosing a home. You are going to spend a lot of time and money to work this networking group so you had better be sure these are the people you want to spend your time with.

Focus

Is this group focused on generating business to the same level you are? What is the focus of the group and what do you expect to get out of being with the group. In my first networking group I was focused on becoming a more confident, credible business owner. I surrounded myself with long-time, successful business owners and I got exactly what I was focused on. When I changed my focus to reaching a global market I had to change my networking group.

Fit

Does you networking group fit your needs? I have a great tool that I use to evaluate a lot of different types of decisions. When I was young and looking for a job I went to the HRSDC for resume training. The counselor took me through an evaluation and I have used it for every large decision I make, like going into business for myself. Let me share it with you for networking.

1. Start by listing your values

Make a list of the values that are so important to your life and your business that they must be the things that are not adversely affected by a bad choice. For networking I have these six values listed.

  • It cannot significantly affect my time with my children
  • Low travel time
  • Must be able to connect with my target market
  • Must be filled with business focused people
  • They must have access to a global community
  • I must have opportunities to speak to my target market through the network

2. List Your Networking Choices

Create a list of all the options you have available to you. Reduce the list to the three or four you really like. For my example I have Choice A, B, & C. I have put some of the details of these three choices for you to understand the outcome.

3. Create an Evaluation Matrix

I know it sounds ominous but it is really easy. Put your values across the top and your top 3 choices down the side. Now evaluate your selection based on how it affects your values. I used a scale of 0-4 where 0 is the worst choice of the three and 3 is the best choice of the three. A value of 4 was beyond my expectations.

Evaluation of Networking Matrix

Note that Choice B, even though it requires much more travel time, rates almost twice as high as Choice A and almost 3 times as high as Choice C. I now have a scale that tells me how aligned with my target values a networking group choice will be. This is really important if you don’t want to spend years trying to work a group that is just not in line with your needs.

If you want networking to help create business for you through successful marketing then you have to choose wisely. Find the family, know theirs and your focus, and make sure it is the right fit for your values. This way you will be more engaged to create the income you need in your business and you will enjoy doing it.

 

Why Reviewing and Acting = Dollar$

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People often think that there is no real value in spending time to review the past. We have been told over and over to review our business plan, our project outcomes, our past year, but what is the dollar value or does it even have one? Let’s look at one example of how we get investment for our business and how reviewing your past performance can affect your current and future income.

Of course it is not all about the review, it is what you do with the knowledge you gain from the review that really increases your chances of being successful.

Investment

Money coming into your business is how you can continue to grow and invest in new ideas, markets, clients, etc. Without money coming in you cannot continue to increase your business income. As an example I want to talk about a company run by two ladies that does not do a review after each event they put on and with the happenstance information they get from the outcome of their events they do not act. What does it mean for their bottom line?

I do not want to elaborate on who they are to protect their current business but I will give you some insight into what they have lost in business and in credibility. These two people are well liked in their community. So much so that when they have gone to well-known, local business owners to get support for their business they have been greeted with support. Once they were loaned the money they needed to put the deposit down on their event. As the money came in from the customers of that event they would put that money into their business, but not onto the loan. They were living dollar-to-dollar in their business. Each dollar received was already spoken for somewhere else in their business.

Many people just starting their business have this issue, but how do you grow your business if you cannot invest in the growth, if you are always in debt for the past ideas?

They have come to realize that to grow their business they have to do more marketing for the event and investing in the content of the event. Again, they went to their trusted sources and raised money through sponsorships – a great idea, but forgot to market the sponsors. Raising money again this way will be much more difficult in the future without a plan to provide significant marketing for their event and the sponsors.

So, if you want investment in your business what do you have to do and how do you provide it?

Bank

If you have been in business only a short time you are going to likely require collateral and for large sums of money you will need a business plan showing the research, review, and actions you plan on taking to increase your business significantly, so that you not only can repay the bank but you can also put money into your business and pay yourself.

If you have been in business for a few years you may be able to get a small line of credit on your business account. But you will have to show past income to get this.

The bank wants to be sure they are going to get their money back with interest.

Outside Investment Money

Outside investors have different motives for investing in your company. For large investments you will definitely require a business plan with the information on how you will make your money and how you will pay them back. Angel investors are looking for their money back while Venture Capitalist may be looking at how they can own part or all the business.

You have to know what you have done and what you will do to be able to come up with this plan.

Your Investment

You have been investing in your business since day 1. You must look at your accomplishments to see what you have done to get you this far. If you were an outsider, what qualities and skills would you point to as those things you brought to the business? What have you done to create a significant business value? Remember, you will be putting a lot of time into your business, plus your own money and not to mention the cost of what you have had to give up to make your business work. Would you invest in you?

By reviewing your past achievements you can more easily show people how you have made money and how you can pay back their investment in you.

View details

Review Outcomes and Actions

Back to the example company: Here are a few things they can do to see their event make more money every time they run it. You can use these ideas for your own business growth as well.

  1. Review the numbers from the event.
    • Pull out the most valuable pieces of the event to the customers. (e.g. 50% of people were satisfied with the event location, 80% loved the content, 30% were happy with the schedule, etc.)
    • Evaluate the costs and income of the event and ask yourself, “am I making money?” Remember to take into account the amount of time you have to put into preparing.
  2. Create more interest.
    • Look for the things that generated interest and excitement and create your new marketing material around this information.
  3. Create a plan
    • Start with the end – the event date and work backwards
    • What do you have to do to start generating interest?
    • What new markets are you going to reach out to and how?
    • What do you have to create (marketing collateral, new branding images, copy content, etc.) and who will do it?
    • What are your regular marketing touchpoints and when will they be implemented?
    • How much money are you going to need to do this marketing successfully?

    Related Link – “How to Plan the Marketing for Your Upcoming Event“

  4. Decide to do it.
  • Sometimes the challenge is that the things we need to do to grow our business, we cannot do successfully because it is not our core competency or it is not our passion. Can you do this work and will you do it?
  • If you find you do not want to invest in this required business component of your event then find someone to partner with that will do the work. Create an alliance so you can make money, your clients will have the best experience possible, and your investors will get paid (whether through sponsorship marketing, loan payment, or business value).