How to Promote Your Event

How to, Marketing0 comments

Whether you’re planning to put on workshops for 20 people or to hold seminars for 100, it’s obviously important that you promote your events effectively. You don’t need a large budget to do this; there are many cost-effective ways to get your event in front of your target audience.

So here are some ways to promote your event without breaking the bank:

Eventbrite. This is a popular tool for selling tickets to your event, whether it’s a free event or paid one. If you are asking people to pay for tickets, then Eventbrite will automatically add a fee to the ticket price which you can either charge to the attendee or absorb into the cost of the ticket.  Eventbrite is easy to set up and once your event is published, you can choose to have it appear in the Eventbrite event listing which gives you some extra free publicity.

Email marketing. By using Eventbrite to sell tickets, you can easily promote your events to your mailing list as the application integrates with both MailChimp and Aweber. Just connect your Eventbrite and email marketing accounts, create your event page and then email it out to your list – no additional editing to the mailout is required!

Social media. If you use social media for your business, then you can create events on LinkedIn, Facebook and Google+ to promote to your online followers. Your events will be automatically shared to your contacts and will appear on your profiles. They will also appear on your profile stream and in any search results when people are looking for events such as yours.

Hashtags. You can also post a link to the event page on Twitter. If you’re using Twitter, then it’s a good idea to create a hashtag for the event and ask any attendees or speakers to use it when they are tweeting about it. This helps with the promotion both before and during the event. So before the event, your followers can see who will be attending and speaking, and during the event they will be able to follow peoples’ comments and feedback which helps to create a buzz about the event.

Joint ventures. If you belong to business organisations or local networking groups that send out regular newsletters, or have contacts with large mailing lists, then you can ask them to promote the event for you. You can do this by offering a percentage of any ticket sales or in return for free tickets to the event.

So as you can see, marketing your events doesn’t have to break the bank. You can use some or all of these methods to promote your events cost effectively to your target market.

 
If you want more tips and advice on how to manage an event, then download a copy of our free guide How to Plan a Successful Event. This guide is packed full of helpful advice including how to find out what a venue is really like, why it’s essential to get feedback and how to stop emergencies derailing your plans. Click on the link to download the guide >> How to Plan a Successful Event
 

How a Virtual Assistant Can Manage Your Events

Event planning, How to, Virtual Assistant0 comments

This is the first in a series of blogs detailing how a virtual assistant can help you in certain areas of your business. The first one covers handling the administration of events and future ones will include helping to set up webinars, e-courses, podcasts and videos.

There are many ways that you can market your business; putting on workshops is a great way to raise your profile and credibility, and videos and podcasts are becoming increasingly popular too. However, you may not have the expertise or time to learn how to set these up yourself. So this series of blogs will show you how a virtual assistant can help you.

If you are someone who organises training events such as workshops or seminars, it can be easy to get bogged down in the details of organising the event rather than focusing on preparing the necessary materials. If this is the case, then here’s how a virtual assistant can help you organise events that your delegates will benefit from attending.

Bookings and payments. You can easily set up an online booking and payment system using applications such as Eventbrite. A virtual assistant can set up a booking page on Eventbrite and keep track of the number of attendees. If payments are being made by invoice, then the VA can raise and send out the invoices and chase up payment.

Event promotion. Eventbrite integrates with MailChimp so the virtual assistant can upload on to MailChimp the details of people who have booked in and then send out further emails about the event. They can also post a link to the booking page on your Twitter profile, and use the events feature on Facebook and LinkedIn to promote the event to your online connections.

Manage attendees/speakers. It can be time-consuming handling all the enquiries from attendees and speakers so let a virtual assistant do it for you. They can deal with any issues or enquiries via phone or email, as well as add a FAQs section on the booking page. A virtual assistant can also prepare and collate any materials such as agendas, name badges, goody bags etc, and manage equipment requirements for the speakers.

Liaise with venue. Ensuring that everything is set up properly at the venue is essential for the smooth running of any event. A virtual assistant can liaise with the venue to ensure that the room is set up correctly, all the necessary equipment is in place and working properly, there is sufficient catering, and there is a front desk to book in attendees if necessary.

Follow up after event. Once the event is finished, it’s essential to get feedback from the attendees as this is invaluable when planning future events. A virtual assistant can set up and send out a questionnaire, and collate feedback received. They can also email details from you about any future events that may be of interest to them.

So if you’re someone who organises workshops and seminars, then hire a virtual assistant to help you handle the administration so you can focus on ensuring that the delegates will gain valuable insights and learnings from the event.
 
If you want more tips and advice on how to manage an event, then download a copy of our free guide How to Plan a Successful Event. This guide is packed full of helpful advice including how to find out what a venue is really like, why it’s essential to get feedback and how to stop emergencies derailing your plans. Click on the link to download the guide >> How to Plan a Successful Event
 

How Cloud Computing Can Benefit Your Business

How to, Small business, Time management1 comment

There are many great benefits to using cloud-based applications. OK, you have to pay a monthly fee rather than a one-off licence for software, but there are two distinct advantages.  First of all, many cloud applications can integrate with each other which make it a massive time-saving tool versus having to use separate software to do the same tasks.  Also, by having the information stored online, you don’t have to worry about losing it as you can access it from any PC.

So let’s take a look at some examples of how cloud applications work with each other.

The world is your office. Cloud computing allows you to work from anywhere in the world.  So if you would like to have everything in one place which you can access from any PC then something like Google Apps could be just what you’re looking for.  Not only can you access your emails, calendar and documents online, but you can use the many add-on applications to help you manage your time more effectively, whether it’s invoicing, database management or project collaboration.

Managing your contacts. Using a CRM (customer relationship management) system helps you to organise your customer information and manage your sales pipeline quickly and easily.  Then once you’ve got that information online, you can use it in a variety of ways.  For example, CapsuleCRM integrates with many cloud based applications such as MailChimp, Kashflow, and Xero.

Setting up an email marketing campaign. If you want to start sending out newsletters to your contacts, or perhaps have a sign up form on your website, then you’ll need to sign up to an email marketing program.  For example, MailChimp does all this and integrates with Capsule, which means that you can quickly upload your contact information straight on to MailChimp without having to set up a list from scratch.

Sending out invites to events. Once you’ve got your email marketing campaign underway, you might want to invite your contacts to a workshop you’re holding.  Eventbrite is one of the best known online event booking services and it integrates with Mailchimp.  So you can either invite your whole MailChimp list or a segment who you think might be interested.  Once the workshop has finished then you can upload the attendee list from Eventbrite.

Manage your accounts. Online accounting applications such as Kashflow and Xero both integrate with Capsule.  This helps you to keep an eye on your cashflow as you can see what money is coming into your business and who your late payers are.  So you can easily view your invoicing history against your sales projects – all from within Capsule.

The above examples should give you an idea of how working with cloud applications that integrate with each other can be a real time saving device.  So if you’re not using cloud computing already, take time to have a closer look at the wide range of applications out there.  Alternatively, take advice from a virtual assistant, many of whom already use cloud applications in their own business so understand how they can help you work more effectively in your business.
 
If you are struggling to set up or manage any of the above, then let us take the burden off your shoulders. Our virtual assistant services include managing your diary and emails, promoting events via Eventbrite and MailChimp, setting up and managing your CRM database, and doing basic bookkeeping and invoicing. Call us on 0845 0181016 for a free consultation or enquire online to see how we can help you save time and money in your business.
 

How to create a successful event

Event planning, How to0 comments

If you’re organising an event, you know that it’s essential to have a plan in place from the very start.  You can’t take any chances as a minor oversight could quickly turn into a major problem.  So you’ll know that creating a successful event takes meticulous planning and many hours of hard work.

Depending on the size and nature of the event, there are many issues and activities that need to be dealt with. 

As a start, here’s a list I’ve put together of the top 10 tips on how to create a successful event.

• Draw up a project schedule so that everybody involved knows what needs to be done, who’s doing it and by when.  It is useful to plan in reverse, by starting at the event date and working backwards.

• Build a team. You can’t organise an event by yourself so create a great team of people who will help you.  The less people have to multi-task and more they can focus on one job at a time, the less chance there is of something going wrong.

• Handle delegate enquiries promptly.  Set up a dedicated phone or email address for delegates to send their details and any enquiries about the event, and ensure that this is monitored regularly.

• Make sure that everyone is aware of the budget for the event.  Stay within budget by tracking all expenses on a spreadsheet, and keep a copy of all receipts and invoices.

• Get the timing right. Set a date so that you have plenty of time to plan and organise the event properly.  Check that the day doesn’t clash with any other major events which might prevent delegates from attending.

• Have a contingency plan in place. Even if you have planned right down to the last detail, you cannot anticipate everything.  Create a contingency plan during the early stages which will address any potential problems.

• Set up a database with all the delegates’ information, including arrival/departure times, transport pick-ups, accommodation and dietary requirements and any other special needs.  Keep them informed of all timings so they can organise trains/flights accordingly.

• Visit the venue several times to get to know the layout and facilities.  Check whether any signage is required to help direct attendees.  Check and test any AV equipment.

• For large events, set up a reception desk to meet and greet delegates.  It may also be useful to set up an area with a laptop and printer so support staff can provide admin assistance during the event.

• Follow up with attendees. It’s tempting to think that once the event is over, the job is done!   But following up with attendees is key.  Feedback forms are a great way to take away learnings from the event and what improvements can be made for the next one.

So now you know how to create a successful event. However, if you find that you are spending more time handling the administration rather than focusing on hosting the event, then we can help you. Our event administration services include liaising with attendees, speakers and venue, handling enquiries, preparing and distributing materials, managing the budget, and collating feedback as required. Call us on 0845 0181016 to find out more or enquire online.