Taking Bookings Online

While Internet marketers are generally a pretty trusting bunch when it comes to buying goods and services online, using a shopping cart, via Clickbank or PayPal, it's easy to forget that's still not universal.

Some people are still wary of paying for things online, and the people likely to come to your event may not be very Internet-savvy at all. Plus, they may not know you, and could be reluctant to part with their money to a company they've never heard of. You should always try to eiminate reasons why people might not buy!

So it's worth considering using a third party ticket agent, with a professional and secure-looking website, to reassure your customers. One we're using for our next big event is a company called 'Eventbrite', and they offer everything from promotional links to social media sites to ticket printing and a built in affiliate system.

Plus, they look reassuringly professional to your customers.

You can also embed a 'widget' into your own website, like this:

Online Event Registration - Powered by www.eventbrite.com

The event, as you can see, is Ron Holland's Multiple Streams of Income Workshop, on 11th July, and there are still some places left. You can also make yourself some money before the event by signing up as an affiliate!

Ron has been called 'Britain's top business guru' and 'the number one motivational speaker in Britain'. He has also made a lot of people very rich, apart from himself! What Ron doesn't know about multiple streams of income isn't worth knowing - it's what he's built his fortune on, since before he left schoool...

But if you're planning an event of your own, and you're concernead about taking bookings online, consider using Eventbrite.

Roy

Two Ways to Improve Your Speaking Confidence

Here's another question I received from you in the Niche Seminar Secrets Survey:

'How do I overcome nerves/become more confident as a speaker?'

As with the very old joke I quote in Niche Seminar Secrets, to get to Carnegie Hall, 'You Gotta Practise.'

Dale Carnegie would agree (I know the hall was financed by Andrew Carnegie but the coincidence adds a nice symmetry).

Essentially, practice is the thing. First, write your presentation to sound as relaxed and natural as you can manage, then practise speaking it out loud (not just in your head), amending and adjusting it each time so that it becomes more and more like your natural 'voice'. A natural presentation is much more pleasant for the listeners, since an uncomfortable speaker makes them feel anxious, too.

By the time you've got a really natural-sounding presentation you will probably have learned it well enough to do without the script. If not, practise some more! When the time comes to make your presentation, you should need no more than your opening lines, plus some key words to prompt you and help to keep you to a logical sequence, plus your closing remarks. Put these on cards and staple them together.

If you've signed up to my niche-seminar list you should have had your copy of Dale Carnegie's 'The Art of Public Speaking', which still makes great sense today. Sign up now if you haven't done so and I'll send you the download link, free of charge.

I know some people prefer to learn in other ways than by reading, though, which is why I've previously recommended 'Step Up and Speak', an 11-part audio and video course (plus extras) that I'm confident you'll find useful. It's modestly priced and can transform your confidence and performance as a public speaker.

Remember, the more convincingly you speak, the more your public speaking will boost your business.

There are also some simple ways to combat nerves, which I've described in some detail in Niche Seminar Secrets, including taking moderate exercise and a great technique called Thought Field Therapy that I can personally recommend - TFT helped me overcome crippling nerves and I demonstrate some simple methods in an appendix to the manual.

Few things eradicate nerves as well as knowing you're well-prepared, though, so I'd recommend you use Dale Carnegie's book and / or 'Step Up and Speak' to help you prepare, then practise, practise, practise.

Enjoy the experience and you won't need me to wish you 'Good Luck'!

Roy

PS. The One Dollar Trial of Niche Seminar Secrets continues, here: http://seminar-secrets.blogspot.com/2008/12/one-dollar-trial-with-difference.html

Identifying a Profitable Niche

One of the questions that came up in the Niche Seminar Secrets Survey was, 'How do I choose a niche?'

To answer that, you need to ask yourself what it is you really need to know. Then, the answer becomes obvious:

You need to know what people are currently interested in, and especially what they're currently spending money on. It's quite easy to get a broad idea, but you will need to narrow it further. Remember that a broad niche may give you a bigger potential audience but to capture an enthusiastic, hungry crowd you need a smaller, more focused niche who will be keen to find out anything they can about their favourite topic.

Here's a simple three-step process to help you find your broad subject area and then identify your more tightly focused niche:

1. Remembering that seminars are information products, we can look elsewhere to see what subjects people are currently buying information about. So our first stop should be Amazon, the world's largest online bookstore, to study their list of current bestsellers. This gives you a very good idea of what's hot, topic-wise.

2. Visit your local magazine retailer and see which topics have the most magazines devoted to them. Also, watch to see which ones seem to sell best - you'll need to linger for a while - and browse through a few. Magazines that carry lots of advertising are probably doing well, since most (though not all) advertisers are quite careful not to waste their advertising budgets in magazines no one reads. The more successful magazines will be the ones that hit a particular niche most effectively, with content that suits the current tastes and interests of their readers. Make a list of the contents of these successful magazines. Now you're beginning to home in on your target.

3. Finally, visit online forums dedicated to the niche or niches you've identified. Now you're not just looking for the niche topic and its enthusiasts; you're actually going to find out exactly what they want to know. By spending time following discussions, contributing comments and questions of your own and identifying people's most pressing questions and problems, you will have found your niche and also have a very precise idea of exactly what questions to cover in your seminar. By contributing freely - you can research the answers elsewhere - you will also have begun to establish yourself as an authority in that area and developed a following - your first potential delegates!

You'll find more information and ideas about identifying a niche and its enthusiasts in Niche Seminar Secrets, including how to use other people's events to launch your own. And the one-dollar trial of Niche Seminar Secrets is still available, right here on this blog.

For just one dollar, you can secure a 30-day trial of Niche Seminar Secrets, with a further discount available at the end of the 30 days. Just choose the payment option you prefer when you order your one-dollar trial.

Here's to a prosperous 2009. Yes, it is still possible!

Roy

Making Money from Seminars

In case you're in any doubt about whether you really can make tons of money from seminars, I've made it my mission to ask a few direct questions of some top seminar promoters in the past few weeks.

Questions like, 'How much did you actually make that weekend?' and, 'Was it really that easy to make a hundred-thousand plus in one day?'

You know, the kind of questions you'd like to ask but maybe don't like to. It is easier if they're already friends.

Note than when I say 'seminar promoters' I don't mean people who only put on seminars - I mean people who use seminars and public speaking as a core part of their business marketing strategy. Increasingly so, in the cases I studied.

Well, if a hundred-thousand plus (pounds or dollars - does it matter?) in one or two days isn't motivation enough to make you want to do another event, what is?

Yes, we're talking sales, not profits, but remember the margins in information products are enormous - often over ninety percent, which is unheard of in other industries.

And given that two of the examples I looked into were only employing half of the Niche Seminar Secrets strategy, I might even say there's room for improvement! In truth, though, they are using the full NSS system in the longer term, so they probably do know what they're doing...

It's gratifying to see and hear of the Niche Seminar Secrets system working so well for two of my favourite marketers. Both are people I'd be delighted to JV with on a future event.

You could put yourself into that category too, thanks to the guidance you'll get from Niche Seminar Secrets. Currently, you can even get a trial version of NSS for just $17, just so you can finally convince yourself that Niche Seminar Secrets is the key to making six figures, and more, from organising and promoting your own seminar, workshop and conference events.

And maybe JV-ing on one with me...

Go here to your $17 Niche Seminar Secrets trial.

Roy

PS. My offer to answer any questions you have about seminars, etc, is still open.

PPS. I'm afraid the free Limited Edition of NSS is no longer available. All 100 went in just four days! But I think $17 invested in the (bigger) trial edition is still a bargain!

Seminar Secrets For Free

Hello again,

As this is very much a time for giving, I'm giving away 100 copies of a Special Edition of Niche Seminar Secrets. So now you can decide if a six-figure income, or more, from seminars and events appeals to you, without buying Niche Seminar Secrets itself.

As 61 of them have already been snapped up already, that leaves 39 still available as I write this post...

One very good reason for giving away 'trial' versions of new products is that people are understandably reluctant to splash out for something they haven't seen and that no one they know has invested in yet.

And often the best sales copy for a good new product like Niche Seminar Secrets is the product itself.

More than that, a trial version that's useful in itself will keep on promoting its creator and his or her products for as long as it's in circulation. Which is my cunning plan...

But there are only 100 of Niche Seminar Secrets Limited Edition to circulate in the first place, so you need to get yours now to find out if making six figures a year from seminars, workshops and conferences is for you.

Because 61 copies have gone already...

Roy

Results Just In...

No, not THAT result - that's old news...

I'm just getting the first results in from a survey I'm running at Niche Seminar Secrets about what people really want to know about planning and running seminars for profit.

It seems that, for people who've been there and done it, the speaking part isn't usually a problem. I suppose that's not surprising, since if you're uncomfortable speaking, you might not think seminars are 'your thing' anyway.

Of course, you can get coaching in public speaking, or you can learn from a master like Dale Carnegie.

But the two main issues that seem to crop up are choosing a subject or niche, and the management of the event once it's underway. Things that can go wrong apparently will go wrong.

I'll talk a little more about finding a niche soon. Meanwhile, those problems on the day come down to trying to plan for all eventualities and thinking on your feet, but we'd hope that nothing insumountable will crop up when you follow the Niche Seminar Secrets system.

Anyway, ours is a simple survey that you're welcome to take part in too.

But why not join us at Niche Seminar Secrets and add to our well of wisdom? I'll even throw in a free Dale Carnegie book (and a couple of our ebooks) when you do.

Roy

Sign up below:

Making Money from Seminars

I just read this headline:

"Proven Advice To Make Money Every Time You Attend
A Seminar -- From The Experts Who Do It All The Time."

When those experts include Alex Mandossian, Armand Morin and Michel Fortin, you need to take that headline seriously. And when that money comes in six-figure sums, maybe you should look even closer, at Seminar Strategy Secrets...

(Click the link to discover more)

Just to prove there's more than one way to profit from seminars, Ray Edwards and Dave Bernstein want to show you how just attending them can lead to truly amazing results - when you know how.

We showed you in Networking Nitro how we make the most of every event we attend, but Ray and Dave have put us in the shade! Let them put you in the picture, at Seminar Strategy Secrets
To your continued prosperity

Roy
Niche Seminar Secrets

Free Help For Seminar Organisers

If you're planning a seminar or even considering running one, I've an offer you'd be daft to refuse:

Any help you need - just ask.

That's it. Just drop me an email with any questions or problems you might have and I'll do my very best to help. If it's already in Niche Seminar Secrets you should get an answer within a working day. If I have to research it, I may take a little longer to answer.

And if I really can't help, I'll let you know that too. I don't see that happening too often, though.

Email me at Roy@RoyEveritt.com

And if you're wondering why I would give you free information and help when I could be selling Niche Seminar Secrets, let's just say I want you to know just how much knowledge and experience is packed into Niche Seminar Secrets and how much help you can still get from me, even after you've bought the manual.

That's because you may be just the kind of joint venture partner I'm looking for, so it will pay me to teach you everything you need to know about staging seminars the Niche Seminar Secrets way.

And if you don't know what questions you need to ask, maybe you need to read Niche Seminar Secrets anyway!

To our success!

Roy

Sign up below for more information:

Seminar Secrets

Hello again

It seems a long time since I touched on the topic of seminars and public speaking as a way to improve your visibility and especially to grow your business and bottom line.

It's no coincidence that the subject has come up this week. Having spent last weekend in London at the Focus Marketing Seminar, where we met lots of old friends and celebrated may of their successes, it seemed high time to raise the topic again. If you were there too, I hope you enjoyed the buzz as much as I did. I think it's fair to say Alex Jeffreys was buzzing!

Frankly, I feel refocused - thanks, Alex!

But there's more...

The fact is, I've been working on a product for some time that teaches you everything you need to know about planning, staging and profiting from your own seminar. It's been almost ready for a while, and now it's really, really ready.

As a taster, I've put together a couple of ebooks that will certainly point you in the right direction. I've added a surprise bonus, too.

You can get those at Niche Seminar Secrets, which is endorsed by the president of France, no less (even if he doesn't know it).

Thanks to Sean Roach and Pat Lovell for a great weekend at Heathrow, to all the speakers and to the delegates (even the quiet ones) who made it such a splendid three days. To the speakers who found time to chat in private afterwards (which was most of them), special thanks. Internet marketing really is quite a community.

To see Niche Seminar Secrets played out for real was very reassuring, too! The Focus Marketing Seminar worked extremely well, thanks to following a tried and trusted system. Yours can, too.

And there is nothing in business, nothing at all, that works quite so well as networking at events like last weekend's. That, and giving stuff away - thanks again, Alex Jeffreys.

Speak soon,

Roy

PS. Actually, here's another free ebook for you, that tells you not only about networking but about the next step - power groups, mastermind groups and the synergy that leads to exponential growth. It's powerful stuff, which is why I called it Networking Nitro. It's so hot off the press, it doesn't even have a cover yet!

PPS. Catch up with Alex Jeffreys, HERE.