Ever get the feeling that IM is not real? That somehow all the digital stuff is dissatisfying because you can’t reach out and touch it?
Funnily enough, I feel the same way sometimes which is why this week I’m exploring ways for you to combat that with some real life, all too tangible stuff based on my own experiences over the past few weeks.
You may remember my mentioning that I’ve been organising events, in this case book-related events that led my getting a new publishing deal.
Yes, it was a lot of hard work but it was also a lot of fun and notice that most important part…
I got a deal out of it. A real, tangible one for a real, physical book.
Now, you may not want to publish a book but you may have other ambitions that you want to jumpstart and events are the perfect way to do that in many cases.
Want to teach/coach/consult/simply sell in a particular arena or niche?
Organise an event around it.
You can keep it as simple as a talk or spice it up with all kinds of entertaining variations. The important part is to know what you want out of it and invite the right people along so they can help deliver that result.
This is what I would call experiential marketing – you let them experience you or something that you are offering and they, in turn, buy into it.
As you can see from my own experience, it works and works really well. For some tips on how to do this for yourself, take a look at the following resources.
First up is this 2019 guide to event marketing:
https://blog.bizzabo.com/event-marketing-guide
With some great templates, strategies and timelines you can grab here:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/blog/academy/event-marketing-strategy-ds00/
Of course, you will want to promote your event and this is where your online skills come in very handy. In case you need some tips, here are 10 excellent ones:
https://billetto.co.uk/l/promote-your-event-online-for-free
But remember that you can keep all this super simple. This coming week, for example, I have helped someone with a start-up neighbourhood beauty business organise an at-home pamper event which she advertised on Facebook and via Messenger.
Guests will receive a free mini treatment and get to try out all her products while having a glass of wine or juice. Simple, highly effective and she is booked out.
Also remember that you can hold virtual events in place of, or that complement, physical events. An obvious example is the blog tour in place of a book or product launch tour.
Other examples include contests, giveaways, live stream, webinars and challenges, all of which can boost your product or service launch or your authority and profile.
Here are 21 tips for holding successful online events:
While here is how to use a Facebook event in your launch strategy:
And then you can use these 7 steps to plan and execute your successful virtual event:
With 20 more virtual event ideas here, you are bound to find something to suit you and your business:
https://blog.bizzabo.com/virtual-event-ideas
I firmly believe that physical and virtual events should work side by side and springboard off one another if at all possible.
I’ll be going deeper into some of the ideas I’ve shared here to help you do that in the coming weeks but, for now, enjoy this TED talk on why your adaptability really matters and how to measure yours…
Very apt when I am sharing new ideas and strategies with you that may take you out of your comfort zone:
