Most consultants understand the value of giving presentations as a way to gain exposure, and hopefully, new clients as well. Presentations, such as those given at local meetings of professional and trade organizations, are a fairly common way to promote your consulting practice. Seminars are more work than these presentations, but you also have more control. They are usually longer and require much more time to be spent on marketing, but they can also be much more lucrative. If you are a new consultant with a lot of time and little money, seminars can be a great way to ramp up your business.
There are many reasons to do seminars. First, wouldn't it be nice to have potential clients call you instead of you having to hunt them down? Doing seminars gives you valuable "face time" with clients and potential clients, and such contact is almost always better than all of the e-mails, phone conversations and mailings combined. People feel much more comfortable doing business with people they know. By meeting someone face to face, you are no longer a stranger. They can see your style, your personality and your communication abilities.
Seminars can also be inexpensive. A mailing can costs hundreds or thousands of dollars. A seminar will involve little out-of-pocket expenses. Your prospects will actually pay to hear you speak, and the cost of registration will generally cover your expenses.
To get started, select a topic that you know a lot about and are comfortable discussing. Also consider what topics are of interest to the audience you are trying to reach. For example, if your chosen niche is construction, you would want to select a construction-related topic that people really need to hear about. Think about the concerns, problems and important issues that face your target audience. You can gather topic ideas by talking with experienced consultants, reading through journals and trade magazines, conducting surveys and polls, and paying attention to the hot topics discussed on safety listservs. After you identify the key issues, select those where your expertise and experience can be used.
Next, create your presentation. It is always better to have more information prepared than you will need. It would be terrible to have attendees pay for and expect a full 8-hour seminar only to have you finish covering material by 1:30 p.m. Also, do not forget to build in plenty of breaks and opportunities for class interaction and questions.
When creating the presentation, don't forget about the importance of a great title. Would you more likely attend a seminar titled "OSHA Compliance Update" or one titled "Seven Sure-Fire Ways to Avoid OSHA Citations"? The title should have a hook or benefit built in; it should grab attention and promise value. A great seminar title might seem irrelevant, but it can play a large part in your overall success.
When your materials are complete, practice, practice, practice. This is your shot to be in front of a group of potential clients-you have to be good.
Before you begin to advertise, select an inexpensive location. Look to community organizations that may have space to rent, libraries or community colleges. If you select a more-polished venue, such as a hotel, be careful. Often, a hotel will demand a minimum or will charge you for the number you expected even if only half show up. If working with a hotel, be sure to collect all registration fees upfrton with a clear statement about your refund policy in the event that someone cannot attend and asks for a refund.
Once you have the topic and the location and other pertinent details worked out, endlessly promote your seminar. In addition to that great title, develop a compelling description of the seminar. This not only will draw more interest, it will also help keep you on track. If the seminar title and description are built around some type of formula (such as "The Top 10 Methods . . . ), it will help you sell value and give you a structure for the seminar. When writing the description, be sure to use action words and refer to potential attendees as "you" instead of as "participant." Sell the seminar in the description as if the person has already decided to attend.
Before you promote the seminar, decide what to charge for it. Some experts say you should estimate the dollar value of the information being provided and multiply it by five to determine the seminar cost. This may not work for safety seminars because it is hard to put a price on the value of what you are delivering. You should also check out similar seminars offered by other consultants and organizations to get an idea of what you should charge.
Some consultants consider offering seminars for free or at a low cost just to get potential clients in the door. The problem with this approach is that many people will assume that just because something is free or costs little, it is also worth little. Free seminars often result in a large number of no-shows. If you are planning to go this route, consider charging at least a small fee such as $25. The percentage of registrants who actually show up will be much higher.
One way to promote a seminar is to write an article on the topic, then mention the seminar in your byline. Because of publishing deadlines, you will need to have the seminar planned well in advance in order to have it mentioned with the article. Writing articles helps to build your reputation as an expert in that area and it gives you something you can provide as a handout to attendees
You can also promote the seminar in your voicemail annoucement; add "speaker" to your job title on business cards; and adding seminar information (preferably with a web link) to your e-mail signature line. All of these methods are easy and will help you get the information about your seminar in front of those who are already interested in you, your service or your company.
A few other ideas include mentioning the seminar in a newsletter, sending personal invitations to your prospect list, and sending a press release to area newspapers and trade magazines.
Before the first registration comes in, have a system set up for accepting payments and registrations. You can do this yourself, but if you expect a large group, you may want to use an online system. For a reasonable price, these websites accept registrations and online payments. Make sure you have a reliable telephone number and mailing address, along with several accepted forms of payment on your marketing materials.
The day of the seminar, arrive at the location early to ensure that everything is as expected and that it all works. Make sure you have "giveaways" for every attendee plus extras to cover any walk-ins and requests for extra copies.
Make sure that your contact information is included on every piece of information you distribute during the class. The handouts will likely be copied and shared with others. With respect to photocopying and sharing, consider whether you want to copyright everything you create. To do this, you simply put the copyright symbol ((c)), the year it was published and the copyright owner's name. For example, on handouts I distribute I add "Copyright (c) by Linda Tapp, 2006." On the other hand, if your goal is to get your materials (which, don't forget, also contain your name and contact information) into as many people's hands as possible, you might not want to place the copyright information on the documents.
You can also consider giving out copies of related articles, CDs with a copy of the presentation materials, brochures and/or other giveaways. People want to feel that they are receiving value for their money.
Many professional speakers report that they make more money from selling products at seminars than they do from attendance fees. Many report that 30 to 60% of their seminar income comes from these "back of room sales." If you are just starting out, you may not have much of your own to sell. If this is the case, you can start out by selling other's products that relate to seminar content. Many people will sell their materials (books, CDs, manuals, etc.) at wholesale prices for you to resell at a seminar.
If you want to sell our own products, consider putting together a workbook that covers material you did not cover in depth in the class or resource guides or even shorter booklets (10 to 20 pages). With the availability if desktop publishing software and inexpensive laser printers, you can easily create a high-quality document. You can also sell a CD or video of previous seminars you have given. CD and video replication is relatively inexpensive and you can charge well above what it cost to make it. You can also sell a manual of related worksheets, special reports and software-again, either something you create or something created by someone else that you have permission to resell.
One important rule to remember when giving seminars: Do not solicit business during the presentation. If you do, you will likely turn away potential clients, and your attendance at future seminars will not be as great.
If it's best not to sell during seminars, how do you promote the back of the room products? First, develop an attractive display for the products and locate the products near the door where people will see them. Make sure someone is available to help sell products before the seminar starts, during the breaks and at the end of the day. Experts suggest that you bring enough product to sell to 10 to 40% of your audience. Consider offering special packages, such as a set of three books and a CD for a price that is less than if each product were purchased separately. You can also consider offering a day-of-seminar discount, since attendees will be most motivated while they are there.
You can discretely mention that there are deals available at the table and that attendees should stop by and check them out or leave a sale flyer at each seat. Another great way to let others know about your products without actually selling them is to give products away as door prizes. Collect business cards for a drawing or ask for volunteers for demonstrations and reward the volunteer. Instead of just handing over the product, first announce what it is and give a quick overview of why the product is so valuable. That way, you are promoting your products while creating a bond with the audience.
Finally, make sure it is easy for attendees to buy your products. Take cash, checks and charge cards. You can also offer to ship products directly to a company or home address. This can be especially appealing if attendees flew to attend the seminar.
It is very important that you do not try to do everything yourself. If you have ever given a presentation at an ASSE conference and have been swarmed afterward by attendees wanting to talk to you, you know why this is important. Recruit someone to serve as an assistant before, during and after the seminar. This person should handle registration and any miscellaneous tasks such as making extra copies or setting up lunch.
It is also a great idea to record your seminar, and the assistant can help with this. The assistant can also distribute and collect evaluation sheets and help with back-of-room sales.
After the seminar is over and you have a nice list of potential new clients, your work is far from done. Follow-up is as important as the seminar itself. Send a thank you letter to each attendee along with opportunities for you to maintain the relationship. You could include a questionnaire or survey. Send a news release to local papers with a summary of the event.
If you mentioned additional materials such as journal articles during the seminar, use this opportunity to send that material. You could also offer a free needs assessment, training materials or a certificate for another product or service you offer. Throughout this time, think of ways you can connect to the next step and what you want that next step to be.
Do not let the relationship end. Let their attendance at the seminar be their invitation to stay in touch. Just because someone attends one of your seminars, it does not mean you will instantly get consulting work from that person. As with most consulting engagements, it is about the relationship you build. You may not get work from attendees for months or even years after they attend.
In the end, you must decide whether doing seminars is a worthwhile way to grow your business. How much did it cost you to prepare and promote it? How many new clients did you get? How many new potential clients were you able to add to your database? How much press coverage did you get? Coverage in a newspaper or trade journal could be worth much more than you realize. What would you have paid for an advertisement of the same size?
It is important to realize that doing seminars should be only one part of your overall marketing plan. Depending on your business, you will probably not bring in enough attendees (which need to be covered to clients) to have a successful business. Remember to keep on writing articles, giving short presentations at local dinner meetings and regional and national PDCs, and networking. You can also add advanced seminars and possibly move to offering in-house seminars for large corporations or for existing clients. The possibilities are endless.
Using seminars to promote your consulting business works very well for some consultants. Success will depend on your niche, your ability to communicate information effectively in front of a group, your abilities to market and promote the seminar, and your return on investment, even if that investment is mostly your time.
Unless you are well-known or are speaking on a hot topic, you may not be able to charge a registration fee that will allow you to make a great profit on the seminar, but the real value may not be immediately seen. Getting your name out and meeting potential clients can make planning and delivering seminars well worth your time.
As a side note, it is important to mention that creating and delivering your own successful seminars can be the start of a new income stream. If your seminars are popular, consider hiring others to present your material or selling your lesson plans and class materials to others to use. If you decide to go this route, be sure to research not only copyright concerns but also licensing agreements. Licensing agreements can be very profitable, especially if your agreements include annual fees that licensees must pay to continue receiving updates and support from you.
You can also consider setting up a joint venture with other consultants to help share the costs. Look for someone with a complementary topic with whom you would like to work. For example, if you provide a seminar on OSHA recordkeeping, consider forming a joint venture with an occupational health nurse, workers' compensation specialist or labor attorney who could provide related information in their area of expertise. In a joint venture, the two (or more) speakers can share costs of promotion, meeting space and mailing lists so that a greater number of people can be invited.