Christianjoint venture marketing
Setting up a business seminar is an excellent way to find new clients, but it is important to make sure the event is well run and provides a lot of value to the attendees to increase the likelihood the event can be a catalyst for not only finding new clients but for closing deals. A business seminar should have a few core characteristics in order to be a success for all those participating as well as drive interest from others across social media websites. An informative topic that is related to the industry is critical as well as providing networking opportunities amongst the participants. Serving refreshments or a meal is always appreciated by business people that take time away to attend an event.
Luncheon seminars can work very well for business people as lunch is often a time for meeting with people or is a time that’s more flexible for most individuals. This can also be the case with morning events and dinners however many people have more obligations in the evening due to family commitments with kids in the evenings and should be considered depending on the target audience for the seminar.
A sample schedule of a short business luncheon seminar:
11:30 Registration / Name Badges
- Networking
- Lunch should be available
- Any handouts / presentation should be placed at the tables
12:00 Noon start the seminar
- First 5 minutes should be for introduction / speaker background
- Mention ways to learn more about speakers company
15 – 25 minutes Presentation about the topic
- The presentation can go longer if the topic is less likely to have a need for interaction with the audience, but no longer than 45 minutes.
5-15 minutes for questions and answers
End by 1PM
- Reserve the space with the location for at least up to 30 minutes of post seminar networking and interactions with the speaker and attendees.
- An additional 30 minutes should also be planned for breaking down equipment, marketing collateral, etc. Do not do this until at least a majority of the guests have left the facility.
While this is a sample short seminar it fits with many busy business peoples schedules and a lot of information can be delivered and connections created. It is recommended to always have additional team members on site for networking with the attendees so the speaker does not feel required to try and meet everyone if the group is a larger one.
Of course seminars can be developed that take up an entire morning or afternoon or even a whole day depending on the topic and frequency of the seminars but short luncheon seminars are a great way to put a face to a name and begin developing relationships with potential clients.
Good items to serve
- Sandwiches
- Pizza
- Fruit / Cheese / Cracker platter
- Breakfast items like Bagels, Muffins, etc.
- Always have a vegetarian option available.
Bad items to serve
- Soup
- Pasta with sauce
- Foods that can potential spill or not easily eaten by holding in a single hand.
Always serve bottled water regardless the time of the event and then adjust other beverages accordingly. Some sodas are usually desired at a luncheon seminar, but also have an alternative such as a juice. If all that is served is bottled water it will still be fine and can be easier to plan and execute if you are setting up the seminar without utilizing outside catering.
Use an online website like Meetup.com or Eventful.com to assist in marketing the event as well as tracking the number of attendees and potential attendees. This is very helpful when deciding on how much food and drink to order. If attendees will be paying to attend the meeting then setting up a payment process through PayPal generally is the easiest method.
Have fun hosting a group of business people for a seminar and if it goes well you will develop relationships with new clients. A regular schedule of seminars can really help establish a new company in an industry and is an awesome platform to use to separate oneself from the existing market.
christian fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A joint venture marketing firm. He exemplifies how to profit from Joint Venture relationships by creating profit centers with minimal risk and maximum profitability.
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