Attending knowledge-building sessions like seminars, conferences, and webinars is an excellent way to network, increase your business acumen, and advance your career. But have you considered hosting one yourself? Holding an event can help you boost your exposure, position yourself as an authority, and reach a larger audience, much in the way that powerhouse events like the National Association of REALTORS® Conference & Expo, Inman Connect, and the biannual National Association of Personal Financial Advisors National Conferences do for their industries. If you were to develop an event of your own that can instruct and provide value to its attendees, you could use it to create exposure for your brand and expand your influence.

Should you decide to plan an event of your own, one caveat is not to aim too big when starting out since its planning will involve multiple variables and you could face a learning curve. To ensure success, you could first plan a gathering for a limited group of participants and host a bigger one next time. For instance, you could offer a webinar to gauge demand and follow up with a poll of your database to see what type of event would most interest them.

If there is enough interest and you decide to move ahead and start planning, give yourself plenty of time to set and finalize the details. For example, you may need to reserve your venue, catering, and vendors a few months to maybe even a year in advance. It all depends on your location and event size and whether you want to invite speakers or other well-known personalities.

Settle on specifics

It’s crucial that you pick a target audience for your event, whether it’s clients, business leaders in your industry, or leaders across industries. If your target audience or demographic is too generalized, you might have difficulty generating interest and your event may fall flat. Once you know your target audience, you can customize your event for their needs and interests and get additional information you can use to market your event.

Pick your format

You will also need to set your event’s format, such as a webinar, trade show, or conference, since each has its benefits. Webinars and conferences are useful for sharing information and can help you establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry, while a trade show can help develop sales leads. Each type of event will have its own requirements. For example, a webinar may benefit from skilled speakers like your company’s executives, other business leaders and execs, authors, and motivational speakers, and a trade show will require vendors and room for trade-show booths.

The format you pick can also inform whether you would want to settle on a virtual or in-person event; each has its pluses and minuses. In-person events allow for face-to-face networking and may facilitate more interactions between participants, but they may be hindered by COVID-19 restrictions and require more time and money to account
for travel, lodging, and food. A virtual event could provide flexibility and savings for both you and attendees, but it could limit participants’ interaction and engagement.

Other details you’ll need to determine include where and when to host your event, the platform you will use if hosting virtually, how many attendees to invite or accept, your event schedule, any food and drinks you will be serving, and entertainment. You should consider whether you want to seek event sponsors since the revenue from your event might not cover all its costs.

Set a budget

Knowing your format and other basic details of your event will help you to determine its budget and what you want to charge for attendance. You may want to set a ticket price that is competitive with similar events and ideally covers your costs. A basic way to settle on your ticket price is to compute all of your expenses and then divide that sum by the lowest number of people you expect to attend. Computing how much to charge can be tricky since you’ll want to cover your projected expenses and not make your ticket prices too high.

Make it memorable

You’ll also want your event to foster positive word of mouth, so it should be both productive and fun. Consider these ideas to make it stand out:

• Pick a good location.
  An appealing destination, like a major city or resort locale, can help attract more people. You’ll also want to pick a place that’s not difficult to get to.
• Provide a schedule.
  Publicize a schedule for your event so participants will know what to expect, and include breaks for food, rest, or entertainment.
• Feed them well.
  Provide an interesting and varied menu, such as one influenced by your event’s locale or one that mixes healthy meals with tasty finger foods, savory tidbits, and decadent desserts.
• Let guests mingle.
  Make time for downtime, such as during a coffee break or dinner, so your guests can recuperate, socialize, and share ideas.
• Animate your virtual event.
  If your event will be a virtual one, find ways to engage with your audience. You could add visually appealing elements like graphics and animations, invite participation through question-and-answer sessions, and introduce a surprise speaker.

Promote your event

Once all the details of your event are set, you can start promoting it. A good place to start is by working your CRM and getting the word out to all your clients and contacts. You could also publicize the event on your website and through email marketing, social media (including event hashtags), and paid advertising; build excitement by running a ticket giveaway; and offer a discount for early-bird registration. Boost your ticket sales by building a website for your event and providing an opportunity for online registration.

Take Action: Crunch the numbers to determine whether hosting a business event would be a gold mine for your organization.