Things To Consider When Thinking About Running An Online Summit

The Opportunity

Why is a virtual event such a big opportunity? I’m going to let you in on my 5 secrets…

My virtual event formula simultaneously helps you:

  1. Grow your email list and audience
  2. Increase your authority
  3. Build a network of influencers
  4. Earn high-margin profits
  5. Make an impact on the world

When all of the above comes together, you’ve got a high-impact, high-profit event. And trust me… once you launch one, you’ll want to do it again, and again and again!

The good news? You can do it in just a matter of weeks. That is the opportunity you have in front of you.

This blueprint is going to show you how.


The 5 Steps to Creating Your High Impact Virtual Event

There are 5 key steps to creating a high-impact virtual event.

  1. 🎯IDENTIFY YOUR END GOAL
  2. 📃BLUEPRINT YOUR VIRTUAL EVENT
  3. 📣MARKETING YOUR VIRTUAL EVENT
  4. 🚀LAUNCHING YOUR VIRTUAL EVENT
  5. 🪙MONEZATION

Follow along in this blueprint and I’m going to show you how these 5 steps come together to create an event that will make a difference not just for you and your business – but also for the people attending your online event!


Step 1: IDENTIFY YOUR END GOAL

The key to a successful event – or for any decision – or for any decision you make in your business for that matter – is knowing what you want to achieve from it.

We have a START here, and reverse engineer your event to help you reach these goals.

Being clear on your goals will help you whenever you get stuck.

Whenever you’re unsure of what decisions to make, you can refer to your goal and ask yourself: Does this decision move me towards my end goal?

An exercise to identify your end goal is to ask yourself, what’s your dream? It could be a personal, business, or financial dream. But let’s get specific about this. Where do you want to be in 12 months from today?

Perhaps it could be to:

  • Quit your 9-5 job and work full time on your own business?
  • Have enough money to retire and travel the world?
  • Have more freedom to spend time with your kids?

What is driving you? You need to get clear on this. If you’re not clear, how are you going to motivate yourself to get you up in the morning and put in the effort to create an amazing event and business?

Write all your reasons down, and then choose the number 1 goal that’s the MOST important for you to achieve in the next 12 months.

Next, we establish your short-term goal, within the next 3 months. We call this your event’s end goal, the impact you get immediately from your event.

Is it to:

  • Get more coaching clients?
  • Earn $5,000 profit?
  • Sell more online courses?

Just with your end goal, be specific with your goals down and pick one to go after first.


Step 1.2: High Ticket Offer

Many business owners have a financial goal, so create and position a backend high ticket.

This could be your online course, group coaching, consulting, service, or another program. Ideally, your high ticket offer should be highly scalable with a high-profit margin that raises your fees and is priced from $2,500 or more.

This is where we maximize profit from the event, turning our warm leads into high-paying clients.

In order to make the offer a no-brainer for your customers, you should – as a rule of thumb – aim to 10x their investments.

That means for a $2,500 program, the return on investment should be $12,500.


Step 2: BLUEPRINT YOUR VIRTUAL EVENT


Step 2.1: Your Shareworthy Idea

Now that you have your event’s end goal, you can go ahead and reverse engineer your event from this goal.

So we go to the start of the funnel and we decide your shareworthy topic idea for your event. The topic that will attract your ideal clients into your world.

Whatever your niche, there are 3 main cornerstones to a share-worthy topic idea:

  1. Knowledge
  2. Passion
  3. Profitability

I’ve found that you can’t have one, or two without the other. For a high-impact virtual event, you need to tick all three!


Step 2.2: Target Audience

Now lets about the target audience and your ideal client. Do you have an existing audience?

If so, survey them on their needs, wants, and problems. The #1 question I like to ask is “What’s your biggest struggle?”

For example: What’s the number 1 struggle you experience in your business right now when it comes to building your email list.

This will determine how you structure the event sessions and speakers you should invite.

No existing audience?

Ask in places your ideal client hangs out, for example, you could post the question in a relevant Facebook group.


Step 2.3: Event Types

Large, 30+ speaker virtual summits. They’re great for making a big splash in your niche!

However, they do require more work than some other, smaller event types, which can be as (or even more) effective. Different events cater to different outcomes. It all depends on what end goal you have.

Event types for you to consider, include:

  • Workshops
  • Masterminds
  • Challenges
  • Summits
  • Conferences
  • Other types of online events

Once you know what type of event


Step 2.4: Event Length

Once you know what type of event you’re hosting, you can settle on the length.

This is determined by several factors.

Is the event going to be live?

If so, think about whether you feel able to keep up the energy level necessary to be live, on camera for longer than 3 days?

Perhaps a 1 to 3-hour afternoon event is better?

Or a 1-day event?

Are you inviting expert speakers?

If you have guest speakers at your event you might (depending on speaker numbers) want to consider a more extended event.

This way, you attendees will have time to watch all the expert sessions!

Are you considering a large summit or conference?

I recommend a 3 to 5-day event as you design your event to include multiple speakers and partners.

Have a packed schedule?

It’s better to start with a smaller, shorter event if you feel like your schedule doesn’t currently have room for a bigger scale, multi-day event.

Test the water with a smaller event first, build on it and improve next time.


Step 2.5: Event Delivery

When you’re organizing a virtual event, you have the option of delivering it live, pre-recording sessions, or a combination of both.

Let’s consider the PROs and CONs.

OPTION 1: Pre-recorded

PROs:

  • If it’s the first time doing this type of interview or teaching in front of the camera and you are a little nervous, you don’t have to worry about making a mistake. You can re-record or edit the recording.
  • You don’t need a team to help you. The pre-recorded event setup gives you peace of mind, and no one needs to be in chat support, etc to help out.
  • Not much unexpected can happen.

CONs:

  • More to set up as you’ll need a website which also means higher cost.
  • You’ll need to edit your videos.
  • You won’t get as much interaction with your audience as you will during live sessions.

BONUS TIP: If you’re going to offer a high-ticket coaching program on the backed, adding a live element will help give your audience an idea of what they can expect when working with you.


Step 2.6: Session Styles

OPTION 2: Live

PROs:

  • Less tech and therefore lower costs. You can use Zoom, even for your landing page. Just set it up with any email provider to communicate with your attendees.
  • You’re more likely to develop a connection with your attendees, as you can speak to them directly.

CONs:

  • Risk of tech issues. This is rare, but I suggest you do a test run beforehand and have a backup plan for late speakers or any other issues.
  • You may need an assistant to help attend to attendee questions. This could be a downside if you don’t have a team already.

Only your imagination limits the number of session styles you can run during your events.

Again, you need to start with your end goal and work backward. The session styles can also be influenced by whether you deliver your event pre-recorded or live.

Ideas for your session styles include:

  • Training sessions
  • Individual or group exercises
  • Breakout rooms Q&A’s
  • Interactive Presentations
  • Case studies
  • Panel discussions

Step 2.7: Speakers: YES or NO?

An online event can be just you teaching, perhaps an afternoon seminar or a one-day workshop.

You could also invite internal people on your team such as a co-founder or staff member to contribute.

It can also include guest experts. Guest speakers bring content, authority, and expertise to your event, and they could also be valuable marketing partners.

To decide which is best for you, ask yourself:

Do you want any guest speakers to be marketing partners?

If you have an existing list or audience that you can promote the event to, you may choose to skip the expert speakers and provide the content yourself.

You could hold 3 to 4 highly valuable sessions – all closely aligned with your topic and that leads your prospects towards your high-ticket offer.

If you don’t have a list or audience that you can promote your event, then perhaps you’ll want to sign up some marketing partners. This is how you build an email list that you turn into clients.

Select which speakers you’d like to collaborate with on this event, and invite them to be a marketing partner.

For any marketing partners you decide to invite to participate, speaker or not, they should fulfill the following criteria:

  • They agree to promote your event via email – not social media – as this will result in low numbers, low-quality leads, and conversions. Ask about the size of their email list, and willingness to send dedicated emails to maximize your results.
  • Their expertise should be well aligned with your end goal – thus your high-ticket offer. Your speaker sessions need to tease the problems of your ideal target client, so when you put your high-ticket offer in front of them it just makes sense for them to say – “YES, this is exactly what I need.”

Step 2.8: Event Offer

For most events a tiered offer structure works best to maximize profit:
  1. Free Tier – Free tickets to the event for a limited time. This helps attract more people and build your email list.
  2. Low Ticket Offer – ‘All Access Pass’ including the recordings of the event sessions plus some bonuses. The price for this offer increases at specific times before, during, and after your event to incentivize action-taking,
  3. High Ticket Offer – This is where you’re going to make your big profit. The high ticket should be $2,500 or more and can be sold at or towards the end of your event.

On top of this, you may decide you want sponsors, and you should decide whether this helps or hinders your move towards your end goal. Be really strategic here.


Step 2: MARKETING YOUR VIRTUAL EVENT


STEP 4: LAUNCHING YOUR VIRTUAL EVENT

The big day you’ve been waiting for has come!
Your ideal clients are flowing into your email list, they are attending your sessions, and they are getting to know, like, and trust you for providing such a high-value event that helps solve their struggles!
You’re now seen as an authority in your niche. So there will be a number of attendees who want to spend more time with you.
The next step is crucial for high profit.

STEP 5: MONETIZATION

Your ideal clients are warmed up, excited about the future opportunities ahead, and ready to buy.
This is the perfect time to offer your high ticket program to those attendees to be able to continue working with you and go deeper into the topic to really get results!
You can position your irresistible offer during a live session at the end of your event or enroll clients during a phone call.

You are now achieving your event’s end goal and are closer to realizing your dream lifestyle and business.


Let’s talk VIRTUAL EVENT TECH

NOT TECH-SAVVY?

Tech often becomes a big obstacle for aspiring event hosts – for no reason. You don’t have to worry about being tech-savvy.

The key is not to complicate things too much. 

You can choose to use an all-in-one platform. There are a bunch of them that will do this for you.

We suggest that you think about your overall goals for your company.

If you are selling this content 1 time then great you can use an all-in-one software that you pay for during the launch and then get rid of.

If you are looking to sell these sessions for a “lifetime” purchase or use the content in a course or future product then all-in-one systems are quite expensive to maintain. You have the ability to host these events directly on a wordpress website with the option to duplicate them or use them as long as your website is live. So much more cost-effective.


TECH FOR DELIVERING A LIVE EVENT

For a live event | recommend using Zoom for your sessions.

But you can also use Zoom to set up your landing page for people to register for the event and then simply integrate it with your email software, such as Mailchimp or Active Campaign.

This means you don’t need any other website to run your event.

For collecting payments you can use a payment provider, such as Thrivecart or even Booklikeaboss.

You can do a mix of the above. For example, run 3 pre-recorded speaker sessions on HeySummit, and use Zoom to run a live Q&A session or workshop.

NOT WORRIED ABOUT TECH?

If you on the other hand are tech-savvy, I recommend using WordPress and building your own tech stack.

Some of the software options include:

  • Web Hosting: Cloudways, WP Engine, Digital Ocean
  • Payment solutions: Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.Net, Braintree
  • Email automation software/CRM: Infusionsoft, ActiveCampaign, HubSpot, Convertkit, Drip
  • Membership: Thinkific, Memberium, Learndash, Teachable

COMMON ROADBLOCKS

can you relate?

I’M NOT TECH-SAVVY

A virtual event doesn’t have to involve a lot of techs, so don’t let any worries about this keep you from launching your virtual event. 5 … Make things easy by choosing a drag-and-drop, all-in-one option. This is also a low-cost option, but still provides a great experience for your attendees! (Check out tech recommendations above.)

 

CAN I DO AN EVENT ON MY OWN?

Yes! One of the big benefits is don’t need a big team to launch your virtual event – it’s completely doable on your own. A great cost-efficient way of getting help with organizing your event is to hire a virtual assistant. You can hire someone full or part-time on a consultancy basis and this is especially great for repetitive tasks.

 

I’M NOT USED TO THE SPOTLIGHT

It’s natural to be nervous. That’s why it’s so important to choose a topic you’re knowledgeable and passionate about. When talking on something you love, you’ll soon forget about being nervous. Many famous entrepreneurs started out as introverts, but in order to take their company to the next level, and spread their message out into the world, they had to overcome that fear. It’s an amazing confidence boost, once you’ve taken the leap!

 

 I DON’T HAVE A BIG UPFRONT BUDGET

Here’s the beauty of a virtual event, and why it’s such a good strategy to start earning income: you don’t need a huge upfront budget! There are no big initial costs to running an event. You don’t need to pay your speakers, and your affiliates are paid a percentage of referred sales. The costs you’ll incur are mainly tech costs, and they won’t add up to any large numbers – especially not for your first event.

 

IS THIS THE RIGHT STRATEGY FOR ME?

I’m yet to see one single niche where a virtual event does not provide huge value to the audience, and big results for the host. I’ve worked with hundreds of event hosts on topics ranging from pets, healthcare, spirituality, and wellbeing to coaching and more What do the hosts all have in common? They’ve never seen the type of life-changing results they gained from a virtual event, with any other strategy.

 


MY SCHEDULE IS PACKED! I DON’T THINK I HAVE TIME

If you have a lot on your plate already, I recommend starting out doing a shorter event where you provide high-quality content yourself.
You can for example run a training session, workshop, and Q&A. Simple! Once you’ve launched your first event, you can build out and improve for future events (chances are high that you’ll be hooked on this strategy and will be hosting A LOT of these events moving forward.)
The important thing is that you just get started on this strategy because trust me – if you don’t, someone else in your space will!
For a bigger, 20+ speaker event, you’ll need to put more time and work into it.
The ROI however, will most likely be much greater than any other strategy you’ve ever tried and it will be worthwhile making time in your schedule.
If you’re using a proven strategy, templates, and scripts, you’ve got a massive advantage. It will save you a huge amount of time and stress, worrying about whether you’re doing the right thing.

FROM THEORY… TO ACTION!

The blueprint you just read gives you a foundation to begin building your very own, high-impact virtual event.

You’ve got a potentially life-changing, journey ahead.

Your next step is incredibly important. If you don’t take immediate action on new strategies – the odds of ever doing it, are extremely low. It ends up in a to-do pile that never ceases to grow. But you’ll regret leaving the virtual event in that pile.

 

If you have decided that a virtual summit is for you no matter how big or small then search  “summit” in our member directory to find potential partners to help you or “speakers” if you are going that route. 

If you want to talk to someone about hosting a virtual summit or getting SBGC involved please email us at su*****@sm*****************.org to see how we may work together! 

 

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