13

Event
Production

What makes a celebrity CEO a celebrity CEO?

Remember what we shared very early in this book? You want to build a base of fans. You are a celebrity, and you want to be perceived as one. You want your fans to have opportunities to connect with you, and nothing builds a stronger connection than being present, live and in person!

By hosting or holding an event, you are taking a big step toward solidifying your celebrity brand. My first big event was in 2006 at the Small Business Summit. I organized it with my then partner Marian Banker, and I’ve been doing it every year since!

The Small Business Summit brings together hundreds of business owners and great sponsors every year. So in 2006 I was just your average business owner. I was speaking, blogging, and doing some other things here and there. My brand was okay.

However, the day I held the Small Business Summit, gathering together hundreds of attendees, it put me on a platform, a branding platform, above my peers. I started my journey of being the Celebrity CEO. Today, years later, the conference, now entitled the Smart Hustle Small Business Conference, is still going strong!

Why?

I had a stage—a real, physical stage—but also a “stage” for my brand. An event to showcase that social media alone can’t match. Think about the Super Bowl or other marquee events. These events are smorgasbords of sensory delights and experiences. You need to have your own marquee event. Events can provide an experience to your community that only an in-person event can do. They can SEE you live and in person. They can HEAR you (and others). They can TASTE the food during networking. They can FEEL someone else through a handshake or hug. An event solidifies you as a celebrity CEO!

The media has attended my conference, as well as VIPs in my industry and big brands. In-person events give you a platform that social media alone just can’t match. Events take time to organize. They take money to put together (getting the space and food are the biggest costs). But if they are done well, they are a huge boost to your brand.

Let’s pretend you’re a local sales coach and you make your living giving sales training to companies. I would assume that there are many other sales coaches in your area, and for sure in your country, doing just about exactly what you do. If you were to organize the “Miami Sales Conference and Workshop,” I bet there aren’t many of your competitors doing big events.

By hosting an event like this, you bring together your clients and potential clients; some local media might come to cover the event, and you invite a few local celebrities in the field of sales training. Now you have a stage. You are the celebrity. You’ll put your face and bio on all the handouts; you’ll be one of the featured presenters. A good event gives you credibility, visibility, and legitimacy.

See what I mean? Do ya feel it?

Events take you from “average” to “celebrity.” I warn you again—it is hard work. It is an expense. But events are an important pillar to separate your brand from everyone else.

Another opportunity for events is through partnerships. I’ve had sponsors (who help pay for the event) from leading brands. I’ve been blessed to have speakers who have appeared on Shark Tank attend my events. The rich opportunity for collaboration and partnerships is a huge part of producing an event as well.

You can do a big event with thousands of people, or you can do a small event with twenty to fifty people.

Here are a few tips on event production:

1. Marketing: I like to leave at least a month and a half to market an event. The bigger the event the more time you need to market it in advance. For my annual Smart Hustle Small Business Conference, I market it throughout the year! The best way to market an event is to use your own lists. This is the cheapest way. Use your email list and your social media followings to share your event with others. Remember, most event registration occurs at the last minute. It can be very scary to wonder if anyone will show up, and you’ll never know—until they do. Partner with other individuals and organizations who can help you market your event to their networks.
2. Event registration: Use a tool such as Eventbrite, Meetup or Zoho’s Backstage, to manage your attendee list and ticket sales.
3. Event venue: I’ve used many different spaces for my events. From conference rooms in private companies to conferences spaces for rent, and more. You can even work with local restaurants or bars to use their space during the day or when they’re closed. Breather.com is a nice service for finding space to rent by the hour. If you’ve never been to the venue before, go there at least once to be sure the venue is what you want. Hotels are a nice space, but pricey. Maybe you want a hip space with brick walls, but does this space have the equipment you need to produce a great event? Do you have to hire staff and bring in additional equipment?
4. Fee or free tickets: There is no right or wrong way when it comes to a free versus a fee event. A free event gets those who are not as serious, for sure. You might get a hundred people to sign up, and assume half of them won’t show. If you charge for the event, you can expect most of the people who register to attend—no one wants to lose money. Charging for the event (even just five dollars) increases the percentage of people who will show up. One more thing: by setting a ticket price you add value to the event. You tell the market that your event is worth something.
5. Agenda: Who speaks at the event is another important consideration. The more well known your speakers are, the more interest people will have in attending your event. I try to have a “draw” at my event, that one person I can get whom everyone in my industry might want to see. At my annual Smart Hustle Small Business Conference I’ve had Seth Godin speak on several occasions. Remember, most people want to speak at an event to get on your stage and boost their own brand. Oftentimes, you might not have to pay for a speaker.
6. Know your speakers: You want speakers who add value to your event and respect you and your audience. There have been a few times I was mortified by a speaker who boringly read his or her presentation or by a speaker who was just selling something to the audience. Get speakers who want to share and contribute to the success of your event.
7. Event title: The name of your event and the title of your agenda items are important. Maybe you’re having an event on how to sell your business. Instead of an event entitled “How to Sell Your Business,” what about “How to Scale and Sell Your Business”? See how a couple of words in the title add a bit more spice to the event name?
8. Staffing: If you’re doing a very small event, you can do the event yourself. The bigger the event, the more important it is to have staff who can help you manage the event. It is important, especially for a bigger event, to have professional event staff. You don’t want your cousin or your poor momma to staff the event. You want people who are professional, can manage a crowd, and know the art of event staffing.
9. Budget: It’s important to manage the money you’re spending for an event and the money you hope to bring in. Using a simple spreadsheet, you can put down your budget items so you can do your best to anticipate costs and income. You can expect money from sponsors and from attendee ticket sales.
10. Energy and excitement: It’s important to ensure your event has LIFE! The audience wants to feel energized, not bored. Think about whether or not you should hire or partner with someone who can be the event host or emcee.
11. Giveaways: One of the fun parts of my events are the giveaways. I work with sponsors to give away computers, books, pens, and everything in between!

BIG TIP: For the last few years, I’ve started promoting my attendees in the premarketing of the Smart Hustle Small Business Conference. When attendees register, via Eventbrite, I have their registration sent to Infusionsoft. From Infusionsoft, I email each attendee and ask them to tell me about themselves. With this information I promote THEM via social media. They love it and others love it. Guess what? FOMO (fear of missing out) creeps in, and others sign up too!

Here’s a few other things to keep in mind: Who are you serving? Who is your audience? Are they looking for in-depth and detailed insight? Do they want lots of networking? Do they want to meet sponsors? Your number one metric of success will be your attendees. Serve their needs and your event will go well. Build your agenda around the needs of your audience, NOT your own needs. During the registration process you can survey attendees to get a sense of what topics they want to hear about and whatever else is of importance to them.

Of course, before even considering the event ready to open up, it’s essential to know what your audience wants at an event. It’s important to know what they’ll get out of it and what’s important to them. After your first event, ask for critique. While you want praise, you want to hear the toughest critique from attendees so you can be sure that the next event is even better!

How Can You Speak at Events

I’d be negligent if I did not offer some advice for how YOU can speak at events. While it’s great to produce events, it’s even better in some cases to speak at events. I started speaking for free at SCORE—http://www.score.org—the nonprofit organization, funded in part by the United States government, that provides free counseling to small businesses. From this beginning and by leveraging the power of personal branding that I’m sharing with you in this book, I have built a successful, paid speaking business and work with well-known brands and agencies across the country.

First, start speaking for free at small events. Your local chamber of commerce is a great place to start. Be involved in your local association, and ask to speak on panels. As you do this a few times, people will see what a great speaker you are (right?) and you’ll be invited (or you can ask) to speak more and more.

For most of you, speaking for free will often help you gain new clients and get added visibility for your business. If you’re interested in being a paid speaker, I highly suggest you start attending your local National Speakers Association events—http://www.nsaspeaker.org. Tell them Ramon from the NYC chapter sent you.

The MOST important thing about getting more and more speaking engagements is just be the BEST at what you do. There are all kinds of tricks and tips I and others can give you. But if you’re not what I call a “stage-crushing speaker,” you’re speaking opportunities will be limited. The best of us—Jay Baer, Seth Godin, John Lawson, and Mike Michalowicz—are exceptionally great speakers, and we are in demand. If you’re among the best, your speaking career will soar.