Monthly Archives: July 2013

Event Tip #2: Charging for Events when Drumming up Business

Should you charge for an event?

It doesn’t seem entirely fair, does it?

If you’re putting on events in order to close clients to use you for video production services, or whatever services you are selling, should you charge for them to attend? After all, if you get some clients out of the event, wouldn’t that pay for the cost of the event?

Real Value and Perceived Value

There’s a difference between real value and perceived value. How much value did you assign to an item that was given to you with no price tag attached? Chances are, if it was without sentimental value, it was assigned a low value. They say one’s man’s trash is another man’s treasure; potential clients tend to perceive product and service value based on how much they pay for it, regardless of it’s real value.

Obviously pricing your events at 1 million dollars per ticket is going to be out of range for most small or large businesses. So common sense is important.  But to charge or not to charge is a decision event organizers have to make. Constant Contact, the online event system we use to register students for our Canon Boot Camps, reviewed 20,000 reasons potential registrants gave for declining event invitations, and discovered there were two main reasons:

  1. Time/Date conflicts
  2. Location

Out of the 20,000, less than 1% listed cost as a reason not to attend. That’s pretty low!

Try Constant Contact's Online Event Solutions

If you’re providing value, charge attendees. Attendees will perceive the value to be higher, pay  more attention and treat you seriously. Appeal to a variety of budgets by including pricing strategies for several levels of attendees, such as listing Early Bird discounts, special pricing for existing customers/clients or referral discounts for those who help get more attendees through referrals.

Although events can be a lot of work, the relationships you build by meeting potential clients in person may be priceless.

Need an event solution? Try Constant Contact. They offer a free trial and clients have access to many useful webinars, tutorials and other resources, all in one place.

 

Event Tip #1: Offline or Online Registration?

Tuesday, July 2, 2013 by Trevor Eisenman

 event_meeting_

Pulling off a successful event requires some organization. A huge part of any successful event will be registering people who want to attend. When it comes to event registration, there are two basic ways to go: Offline, or Online.

Registration consists of capturing the identies of attendees so you can direct them properly and make sure they arrive. There’s lot of ways to accomplish this task. Examples of offline methods would be the phone, email, snail mail (postcards, etc.), faxing and spreadsheets.

The challenge offline methods present is they are all indirect methods of registration. Once you get the data, someone still has to input it manually into a useful form everyone on the team can use on demand. After all, a bunch of registration postcards sitting in someone’s desk drawer isn’t going to do much good!

Online registration is usually accomplished with a web-based program that allows people to register for an event without you being around. Distinct advantages to online event registration are as follows:

event_markerting_cta

  • It’s always on. Doesn’t depend on your working hours.
  • Streamlines the process – data is dumped straight into a database designed for the purpose.
  • Other needed information, like meal requests or how they heard about your event, is easily obtained.
  • There’s no limit on how much information you can share about the event, as you’re using a web-based page (virtual), not a flyer or postcard.
  • Fees for a paid event can be collected using a variety of methods and tracked online.
  • Related items can be pre-sold, such as t-shirts, prior to arrival, making planning easier.
  • Keeping in touch with attendees is simple. Send an email with the touch of a virtual button.
  • Social Media and other channels may be employed to promote the event, both by you and by the people who sign up.

The bottom line is that online registration can buy you time and make your life easier. Don’t forget, you’re going to have to deliver on the day of event. Wouldn’t you rather be planning out the event content, instead of taking registrations over the phone or processing a bunch of email/paper requests?

There are a number of online event registration tools available. We’ve been using Constant Contact for all our Canon Boot Camp events very successfully. To find out more about Constant Contact’s event services, click HERE. Stay tuned for the next Event Tips blog post where I discuss charging for events. The data might surprise you!

 

- See more at: http://blog.theassociation.tv/blog/the-association/page/2#sthash.mP5wCmNy.dpuf