When Not to Hold a Seminar

Source: Rainmaker Report

• If you expect a response rate of more than ½ of one percent, you won’t fill your room unless you’re famous or your subject is incredibly compelling.
• If the people on your invitation list are C-level people in very large companies, it may be virtually impossible to get your invitation read. But if your seminar is exclusive, held at a luxurious place, and presented by a well-known industry expert, it may succeed. But you’ll need a big budget.
• If your seminar is primarily a selling event, don’t do it. You must present valuable material such as best practices, research results, or industry trends.
• If you don’t have a good presenter, don’t present a seminar. If your people are better and more comfortable writing articles, that’s what they should do. It’s acceptable to bring in an outside speaker, or moderate a panel of clients discussing how they have dealt with specific problems.
• If you have a scanty marketing budget, you won’t fill the room.

From Rainmaker Report, www.raintoday.com, August 29, 2007. For the complete article click here.