Why A Seminar Series is Better Than A One-Off Event

I’ve had a couple of conversations recently with clients about running seminars. And it’s prompted me to share some thoughts with you here about the psychology of putting together events.

The key idea is to run a series of events, not just one. Here’s five reasons why…

1 Build an Audience

There is a general rule for authors that suggests it’s easier to get a series of books published than just one. The reasoning is that it takes a couple of books to build an audience. The first book merely introduces you to your audience. The second will sell much easier and a third can be the cream on the cake. The same applies to creating seminars.

2 It’s Less Effort

Running a series of events is less effort if you design the systems along the way. Yes, the first seminar will take a bit of work to put together. For example, it can take time to research and find a good venue. However, once this is done you can re-use the same venue and spread this initial effort across multiple events.

3 Spread the Word

When you run a regular series of events you’re likely to build some momentum around your numbers. Ideally, people who attended will tell others to come along later. Plus, there’ll be people who want to come and simply can’t make the one-off event. And, if you run it at a regular time and place, you’ll attract your own regulars.

4 Increase Sales Options

When you have multiple events you have multiple selling options. You can sell individual events or bundle multiple events together. This can be particularly useful to fund your event. If several people pay for a series in advance this can cover your initial costs.

5 Improve Performance

As good as you think you’ll perform at your first event, you’ll be much smoother by your third, fifth or tenth… And, ultimately, this is the key to your success. The better you perform and the more value you create the better you’ll build your reputation and your audience.

My Suggestion

Bite the bullet and commit! Don’t test a one-off event, build a series instead.