More and more people are hosting regularly scheduled events and seminars to introduce potential clients to their products or services. Just about all of them are struggling with the winning recipe to fill all the open seats. Many are spending big bucks on expensive invitations, direct mail campaigns, and other tools. Many completely forget to deploy the power of free publicity to build the buzz. This week, I am going to share some of the most effective ways I’ve found to build buzz for events while using time wisely and spending very few bucks.
Among my favorites is to post meeting notices to Full Calendar. This is an online event promotion service that makes it easy to alert the online and traditional media about your upcoming events with one click and just $19.95. Full Calendar is based on a belief that event publicity is the single most important factor in event attendance and an organization’s vitality.A big “Amen” to that!
One of the things I’ve found by actively using this service is that my Publici-Tea™ workshop notices come up readily in a Google search. Check out the “Google” rankings for the term “Publici-Tea™ Workshop” to see that 12,900 references immediately come up. That’s pretty good buzz for an event that is just 18 months into service. Those who are curious about the credibility and value of this event can rest easy when they read all that has been written about it over many months. That makes “getting to yes” a lot faster and easier. (By the way, I am taking registrations for the May 15 event, if you want to save your place.)
Check this link to see all the cities served by this welcome and effective service.
Here are the “how to” details for using Full Calendar.
- Write a short, mid-length, and longer description of your event four – six weeks before event day so there is proper time to alert the shorter and longer lead time publications and online media about your event.
- Offer the details about how to learn more and register. Save all the details in the system, pay your $19.95, and hit “send.”
- When it comes time to promote your NEXT event, simply update your saved information with the latest information.
Full Calendar is as close to an “Easy Button” as I’ve found to alert the online and traditional media about upcoming events for the price. If you consider how much of your time or your overburdened assistant’s time could be taken alerting every “business calendar” section of every community paper about your upcoming event, the $19.95 for a “one click” solution is a no-brainer.
In the days to come, I’ll share a few of the other tried-and-true ways to use free publicity to build buzz, promote your events, and fill workshop seats. And, if you have a tried-and-true idea of your own to share that fills the seats at your events, please post it here so others can benefit. Here’s so sold out events for us all.
