How to Host Your Own Conference For Little or No Money- Part Two
This is the poster for one of my events.
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Aloha everyone! We are in a series right now on how to host your own conference for little or no money. If you missed part one, check it out here. In part one we talked about what a conference can be, the three types of paid speaking, and how to find a place for a reasonable price. I teased you about the free part last post, so let’s get into.
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Sponsors
The way you can host your event for free is to get sponsors; this is what I did for my second event. I got a local print company to sponsor my entire event; they cut me a check for $2,000 in return for advertising their business on all my material, and at the event.
There are companies where you live that would sponsor your one-day training, you just have to show them the value. Abbie Unger (coaching client) hosted her first event completely sponsored.
My suggestion is to approach small to medium size companies. You want to be able to talk to a person (not send a cold email), and especially a person that can write a check. Offer to take this owner or manager out to lunch and give them the readers digest version of your vision for this event. The key is showing them the value. How do you do this? The short answer is leverage anything you can.
If you have a decent social media following, tell them you’ll be promoting their company on your platforms. If you have spoken before, use that. If you write for large websites, show them that. Large websites can be juicy leverage.
Believe in yourself and the value you provide, and it will come through in your pitch. Realize this, you’re not asking for $10,000. My guess is you’ll ask for $1,000 at the most. If you show him or her you will fill this event and advertise that company, this will be a no brainer. Tell them they’re getting in on the ground floor of what will be an annual event.
Homework time: Identify at least three companies you can approach about your event. Map out what your pitch will be. Focus on the value they will get, and what you will leverage. When you do, email at kconstable29@gmail.com. For those that do the homework: I will be hosting a free session on what to do next to get your event going. It will be recorded if you can’t make it live. If you want help doing this, here’s your chance.
Marketing
Whether you get a sponsor or not, you still have to market your event. Look at your calendar; pick a date six months from now. Write the name of your one-day event on the calendar.
Six months should give you more than enough time to market, plan, and maximize your event. If you get a sponsor, you can use some of that money on Facebook (all social media ads really) ads. Since this event is where you live, it’s also worth it to take out an ad in your local paper. People still read those!
A few off the wall ideas are Craigslist and MeetUp. You can take out a free Craigslist ad-telling people about your event. To get their attention, offer a free door buster prize. It can be something small, but people love free.
MeetUp is a site where you can form groups. These groups are people from all over the world, and where you live. You can form a group related to your event. MeetUp’s algorithm will send the people who would be interested your way. You can have the event clearly scheduled as people join. Full disclosure: I haven’t personally tried this…. Yet! I do have a coaching client that is now using this strategy to fill up his events.
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This is the end of part two. Come back Friday for the last post in the series. We’ll take about how to leverage this for serious income.
Are you going to approach a company for a sponsorship? Are you going to do this in 2015?
