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Posts Tagged ‘live event’

Venue pricing is always negotiable. There’s always another venue if one won’t meet your budget, or can’t provide a venue sufficient for your needs. However, supply and demand can play an important role in selecting a venue for your event. If you’re planning an event for a key time, or in a locale with limited supply, you may find your options limited when it comes to negotiating prices or selecting alternate venue sites.

Tip #1  Venue Availability Influences Price
Venue availability influences the price of your venue. If many venues are available for a particular period of time, the venue may be willing to negotiate a lower rate just to get a booking. Likewise, if you’re looking to book a venue during an off-peak period where the venue itself hasn’t been used in a while, the venue coordinator might be more interested in negotiating.

Alternately, if you’re booking a venue in a time of peak availability, venue pricing may vary. If the venue knows that several events are in town, or if it’s been booked repeatedly at a high rate for weeks or months, a venue may be unwilling to negotiate much on price. If this is due to a high rate of events in the locale, you may find similar rates everywhere, and may not be able to negotiate the great deal you could during off-peak times.

Tip#2 Venue Supply Varies by Locale
Some regions simply host a large number of events, or may have a limited number of venues available to meet demand. While it’s generally true that there’s always another venue, and you can shop around if a venue is unable to meet your budget, that’s not always the case. Some locales simply don’t have many venues for events.

Particularly if you’re planning a large event, your venue options are likely to be quite limited. Even if you’re planning a smaller event, you may still have trouble finding the right venue. Before you assume that another venue is available, make sure another venue is available. Don’t walk away from a venue in a locale that has a limited number of venues available unless you know you can get another venue.

Research Your Locale Before Shopping for a Venue
To ensure you have maximum negotiating power, research your locale before shopping for a venue. Learn what venues in the area can support a group of your size. Determine availability for your target date before you begin talking with any venue about price and reserving the venue.

Know whether other venues can support your event before you begin the negotiating process. You may find that venue options are limited, which might change your venue selection process. If you can’t or don’t want to pay what the venue is charging, you may need to move your event to a different locale, or schedule it for a different time when there aren’t as many events and more venues are available. You can still get a great price for your venue, but you’ll be better able to negotiate if you know what’s available.

Want to know more? Then make sure YOU reserve a front row seat at the Event Money Machine later this month. Tickets to this event are FREE – so join our priority notification list to be the first to know when they become available.

Overcome attendees’ initial discomfort and build rapport. This is easiest if you bring a good assistant who can help you field questions and concerns, and facilitate conversation among attendees.

When you’re running a one-day course, it’s important to understand group dynamics. In a one-day course, you must build rapport among attendees quickly so you can proceed with the underlying message of your course. Building rapport quickly is easiest when you have a little help.

Attendees’ Mindsets Upon Entering an Event
When attendees come to a course or event, they typically enter the event feeling a bit vulnerable or defensive. Your attendees may be worried that they’re going to be put on the spot, embarrassed, or humiliated. They worry that they may lack knowledge on a particular subject, and that lack of knowledge is going to be revealed. In business courses, attendees may be sent by managers and have even less confidence in their knowledge or attending an event. In other words, most attendees are a bundle of nerves at the beginning of an event. In a one-day course, you must overcome this initial discomfort quickly so that you can give attendees something valuable they can take away from the event.

Pre-Event Mingling
One way in which you can begin building the rapport and breaking through people’s insecurities is provide them with an opportunity to mingle prior to the starting of the event. Have coffee or snacks set up outside of the room prior to the session, and provide a comfortable area for people to sit and mingle. A breakout room where people can chat and interact with one another is a great criteria to include when you’re selecting a venue. This gives people an opportunity to overcome a little reticence before entering the event, and they’ll be more comfortable upon entering the room.

Bring an Assistant
At the beginning of an event, you’re focused on a thousand details. You’ve got to register all of your attendees. Your attendees may have questions, or needs that must be addressed. You may find that your attendees are too hot or too cold, and the temperature needs to be adjusted. What happens if the coffee isn’t ready, or if you run into a problem with registration or setting up the room? At the beginning of an event, you want to be focusing on the event; not the minutiae.

If possible, bring an assistant to help you manage these details. The assistant can help with registration, make sure everybody has their badges, check with the hotel about coffee, deal with temperature, and generally answer questions. A good assistant can also introduce attendees to one another and get them chatting; raising their comfort level and dispelling their initial fears. This frees you up to chat with attendees prior to the beginning of the event, or simply focus on the event itself.

The Secret to a Successful One-Day Event
The secret to a successful one-day event is to overcome attendees’ initial discomfort fast and build a rapport. This is easiest if you bring a good assistant who can help you field questions and concerns, and facilitate conversation among attendees. The right assistant can make your life a lot easier!

Want to learn more about how to make money with your own events? Visit our Event Money Machine Blog. You’ll learn about an amazing Telesummit being held later this month. Tickets to this event are FREE – so join our priority notification list to be the first to know when they become available.

Venue-finding services are a very specific subset of the event planning niche. When you include venue-finding services in your budget and your venue requirements, the service then does the venue research for you. A venue-finding service can research various venues, negotiate pricing, and move on to another venue if a venue doesn’t look like it can accommodate your budget. Venue-finding services do provide a unique value, but only if you work with the right company.

Venue-Finding Services Free You Up
Finding the right venue can take a lot of time. You’ll start by spending some time researching venues. Once you’ve narrowed down your options to venues that are in your locale, you’ll need to visit those venues in person. You’ll need to establish a relationship with the venue manager, and then begin the process of negotiating the price. You may have to do this for more than one venue if you find that a venue simply can’t accommodate your budget, or doesn’t meet your needs.

A venue-finding service takes this entire process out of your hands. All you do is tell the service about your needs, and then sit back and wait for them to find you an appropriate venue. You’ll probably still want to visit the venue yourself in person, but you can let them deal with the initial research, price negotiations, and all of the back-and-forth; eliminating you from this time-consuming process, and freeing you up to focus on other aspects of your event.

Venue-Finding Services may Negotiate Better Rates
In many cases, venue-finding services can actually get better rates than you can as an individual event planner. Venue-finding services often make agreements with companies to utilize them for many events, thus effectively negotiating a volume discount. You can take advantage of this volume discount to pay a significantly lower rate for your venue, even if you’re not the one doing the volume. In this way, venue-finding services can pay for themselves quickly by providing you with rates you couldn’t get otherwise.

How Venue-Finding Services Make Money
Venue-finding services may make money in several ways, depending on their structure. Some venue-finding companies charge an up-front fee for locating and negotiating a venue. Others charge a percentage, based on the total cost of the venue, or on your cost savings from using a venue-finding service. Yet others take a percentage of the venue fee to cover their own time spent on locating a venue. Finally, some venue-finding services are actually employed by the venues themselves to source events to fill the space.

Beware of unscrupulous venue-finding services who are actually just venue-promoters in disguise. These services rarely or never host events elsewhere, and may seem unwontedly attached to the venue they recommend to you. If you’re working with a venue-promoter who is masquerading as a venue-finding service, you may find that you pay higher rates and may not get an impartial assessment of the best venue for your needs. Be sure to research a venue-finding company thoroughly before working with one.

A venue-finding service can be the solution you need for your event planning. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by aspects of planning the event, or if you plan multiple events and just don’t have time to hunt down venues for everything, consider using a venue-finding service. Free yourself up to do what you do best – sell your product, provide your services and make money!

Want to learn more about how to make money with your own events? Visit our Event Money Machine Blog. You’ll learn about an amazing Telesummit being held later this month. Tickets to this event are FREE – so join our priority notification list to be the first to know when they become available.

Price every detail of your event so you can create a comprehensive list of event costs.

Event costs can add up quickly, eating up the revenue that your event generates. If you want to host a successful, revenue-generating event, you can look at various ways to offset the costs so that your event generates more revenue and fewer costs. Consider your event costs so you can create a successful strategy to offset those costs.

Make a List of Event Costs
First, make a list of event costs. What must you pay to host your event? Do you have to pay for catering? Are the venue costs high? Are you planning to record the event and create DVDs? Do you need special equipment for your event? Map out the logistics of your event, and price every detail of your event so you can create a comprehensive list of event costs. Don’t forget the little details, like coffee breaks, name tags, handouts and other expenses relative to your event.

Look for Ways to Offset Costs with Your Venue
One of the easiest ways to offset costs is to negotiate with your venue. If you’re hosting a residential event at a hotel, will the hotel provide the conference room for free since you’re bringing guests into the hotel? Will the venue provide some of the equipment as part of the total venue cost, such as audio equipment or presentation equipment? Does the venue provide catering, and will they cut a special deal with you for a comprehensive package? Negotiating with your venue can help you offset many of these costs somewhat or completely.

Consider Bringing on Sponsors
Sponsors can help you pay for part of your event, or can help cover your event costs entirely. Consider bringing on sponsors to finance a part of your event, or provide goods and services so you don’t need to buy them. For example, you may be able to get your local coffee house to provide refreshments for your event, or have an exhibitor at your event cover the costs of some of the handouts and materials. You can have more than one sponsor; you could even have a different exhibitor covering virtually every item at your event.

Offer Preregistration and Special Event Pricing
For the costs you can’t offset through the venue or sponsorship, offer pre-registration deals and special event pricing to generate revenue prior to the event. Doing a prelaunch to your client list with special event pricing can generate revenue prior to the event to cover any event costs you can’t defray otherwise. Then the event revenue itself is purely revenue; you don’t need to pay any costs out-of-pocket, and you don’t need to worry about paying for costs after the event. This is a great way to generate revenue prior to an event to cover costs.

In summary, with a little creativity, you can reduce or eliminate virtually all of the costs of your event. Start by making a list of event costs, and then determine what you might be able to negotiate with your venue. Your venue may be able to offset these costs by providing equipment or cutting you a deal on catering or the venue price. Sponsors can help further offset costs by covering specific aspects of the event. Finally, pre-registration or special prelaunch pricing can help you bring in cash before the event to ensure that all of the costs are covered, without you ever spending a penny on your event.

Want to learn more about how to make money with your own events? Visit our Event Money Machine Blog. You’ll learn about an amazing Telesummit being held later this month. Tickets to this event are FREE – so join our priority notification list to be the first to know when they become available.

When you plan an event, you establish specific goals for your event. Maybe you simply want attendees, and the revenue stream is the event itself. Or maybe you are launching a product, or providing a service, and your event is a marketing strategy. No matter why you’re planning an event, selecting the right venue for your event is important.

Match your Venue to Your Event
One of the most important reasons you must find the right venue for your event is to match the venue to the event. If you’re launching a high-profile coaching program, you don’t want to hold an event in an overheated community center or a low-priced, low-quality venue. On the other hand, if you’re hosting a budget marketing event for small businesses, you don’t want to host the event at an upscale hotel that the event costs can’t cover. Plan accordingly and match your venue to your event.

Venue Affects the Total Experience for Participants
When people register for an event, they’re registering for the contents of that event, but they’re also registering for an experience. The right venue complements the event that you’re planning. Selecting the appropriate venue helps to set the mood for your event, and puts your attendees in the right mindset for your content. By selecting the right venue, you can add value to your events and improve your attendees’ satisfaction with your events.

A personal development event may be more of a treat, and you may market it as a retreat or special indulgence. For an event like that, you want a sumptuous, peaceful, relaxed venue; something that fits the overall mood of your event. If you hold a personal development retreat in a school classroom that you were able to borrow, you’re not creating the experience that your event promises. Your attendees are less likely to attend future events, and may share negative press about your events.

You Want People to Remember Your Event
You want people to remember your event; not the room that was so cold people couldn’t take their coats off, or the fact that fire alarms were going off and your venue had to be evacuated. When you select a venue, plan ahead for the event. Does it provide ample seating? Is the venue guaranteed to be reserved? If you can visit the venue before your event, you can ensure that the temperature is good, and that the venue will meet your needs and work well for your event.

Remember: you don’t want to mismatch your venue and your event. You want a venue that will complement your event, and provide the overall experience that guests are seeking. You also want a venue that won’t become the focus of your event, through faulty heating, a noisy environment or otherwise inconvenient venue details. If you put thought into your venue before you set up your event, you can minimize venue-related issues and focus on preparing the best event you can present.

Want to learn more about how to make money with your own events? Visit our Event Money Machine Blog. You’ll learn about an amazing Telesummit being held later this month. Tickets to this event are FREE – so join our priority notification list to be the first to know when they become available.

Most people don’t realize it until they host their first event, but a thousand little details go into planning an event. The event organizer must consider everything from marketing the event to organizing speakers, handouts, food, lodging and other relevant event details. If you’re hosting an event and you’re the main feature of the event, you have far less time to focus on these thousand-and-one details that go into a successful event. Dealing with the details becomes an integral part of handling event logistics.

The Logistics of Planning an Event
The logistics of planning an event require you to negotiate the details. You must coordinate the venue, any food and refreshments, the temperature, handouts, lighting, lodgings and many other details. If you’re using an A/V system, you must make sure the equipment is where it’s supposed to be, and fully functional.

If you’re coordinating an event with multiple speakers or sessions, ensure that each participant’s needs are met. The event itself requires coordinating these logistics in the days and weeks leading up to the event, a flurry of activity the day before and the morning of, and managing details during the day of the event.

Balancing Logistics with Price
The specific logistics of your event vary depending on the price point of your event. If you’re charging a low price point, you’re probably not providing refreshments, meals, or substantial handouts. Conversely, if you’re charging a high price point, you might want to provide your attendees with special little touches that make the price seem more justified, including handouts, promotional materials, refreshments and a meal.

Handling Logistics When You’re Presenting the Event
When you’re planning and presenting at an event, not only do you have the details to manage to ensure the event runs smoothly, but you must also think about your presentation. If you’re running around the morning of the event taping cords to floors or thinking about your lunchtime refreshments, you’re not getting yourself into the right mindset for presenting at the event.

If you’re presenting, you might want to hire a professional that has event management experience to take care of the details for you, leaving you free to focus on your presentation. If you do hire a professional to deal with the logistical details, make sure you’re hiring someone who has experience dealing with event logistics. Hire someone with whom you are comfortable presenting your image, as the way they handle the event will reflect on you as the host and presenter. If you hire an event manager who won’t provide the customer service experience you want, or who doesn’t know how to manage the details in a way that is acceptable to you, you have only yourself to blame if the event is not well-received.

Think about the logistics of your event during the event-planning phase. Don’t wait until the last minute to decide how you want to handle logistics, or realize you’ll want to hire an event manager to free up your attention for the event itself. Make a list of the details you need to manage for the event, and determine whether you’re comfortable managing the details yourself or whether you want help. Eliminate details that are cost-prohibitive in a low-budget event, or add handouts and giveaways for a high-budget event so your attendees feel like they’re getting their money’s worth for the event.

Want to learn more about how to make money with your own events? Visit our Event Money Machine Blog. You’ll learn about an amazing Telesummit being held later this month. Tickets to this event are FREE – so join our priority notification list to be the first to know when they become available.

Many people don’t use their business potential to the full. It is relatively easy to focus on your every-day business; the sales and marketing, the product or service; and forget that you can leverage your business to perform far more than simple day-to-day operations.

If you’re ready to turn your business into a serious money-making venture, it’s time to think about hosting a Big Pay Day live event. Hosting a live event and turning it into a Big Pay Day is a perfect way to boost your revenue, increase your income and turn your business acumen into big dollars!

How do you monetize your event, and how do you create the opportunity to service your clients better and increase your earning capacity? Let me share a few of my secrets with you …

1. Launch a new product or service. You can also use your event to launch a new product or service for your existing business. If you’re creating a new product line or have new services to offer your clients, launching them at your event is the perfect time to introduce the products and generate buzz.

2. Launch a high-end coaching program. Your Big Pay Day Event is the perfect time to launch a high-end coaching program. You’re hosting an event because you are an expert in your niche. You could be sharing your expertise about your business field, or sharing the keys to your personal success. Use your event to share your expertise, and then launch a high-end coaching program to help attendees achieve their own success. It’s a great way to monetize your knowledge.

3. Turn your event into a product. Don’t forget that you can turn your event itself into a product. Take video of your event and launch a series of DVDs, or take the written materials from event and turn it into a book. Be creative, and think of ways in which you can share your event in the form of a new product.

4. Build your reputation in the industry. Building your reputation in the industry gives you two benefits: you can boost your existing business, and you gain the leverage you need to launch new products and services. While building your reputation in the industry might not yield direct revenue, it can lead to the acquisition of new clients, as well as creating additional business with existing clients.

Decide How to Monetize YOUR Event
When you’re considering hosting an event, think about how you will monetize it. You can use any one of these strategies, or a combination of strategies, to yield revenue far beyond the registration fees you’re charging people to attend your event. Start with one of these strategies and build on it, depending on what you have to offer and the resources you can leverage while you’re planning the event. Think about your business plan and your business goals. Ensure your strategies are consistent with helping you achieve your goals and your BIG PAY DAY!

Bernadette Doyle specializes in helping entrepreneurs attract a steady stream of ideal clients. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, sign up for her free weekly e-zine at http://www.clientmagnets.com

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