7 Ways to Get People to Attend Your Online Conference

7 Free Lessons from the Teachers of The Secret

Sometimes one of the most difficult aspects of hosting an online conference is getting people to attend. You’ve found the right software, you’ve outlined your conference and even set up the graphics – it’s going to be a great conference. Now who is going to be there? Here are a few tips to get people flocking to your conference.

1. Email signature. Your email signature is more powerful than you might imagine. Think about all the people you email each and every day. If your conference is promoted in your email signature, you’re reaching a whole group of people who may benefit from your conference.

2. Email marketing campaign. Speaking of email…email marketing is extremely cost effective. Plan an email campaign to promote your conference to your opt in list. No opt in list? Rent a list of email addresses who might be interested in your conference. Start the campaign at least a month before the conference to really get the ball rolling.

3. Send reminders. Remind people a week before the conference, especially if there are passwords necessary to attend. Remind attendees again the night before or even the day of so they make time for the conference.

4. Ask for reservations. Make the conference limited to a number of people. This creates a sense of urgency and motivates people to sign up. It also creates a sense of responsibility because when people have a reservation they are more committed to the appointment. They may feel a sense of obligation to attend as well because they’ve reserved a coveted space on the guest list.

5. Focus on the benefits. When you’re promoting your conference tell people what is in it for them. They will learn______________ and it will help them because _________________.

6. Make it during a convenient time. While it is impossible to make your conference convenient for everyone around the world, for example 6pm in New York is 11pm in the UK. Additionally even people in the same time zone will have scheduling conflicts. Do your best to make your conference convenient and if you have several interested parties who cannot attend during the scheduled time consider offering transcripts of the conference, audio recordings of it, or schedule a second conference to make attending easier.

7. Offer it for free. Offering your conference for free has advantages. People feel less pressured to sign up and attend because they have no risk of attending. Their only cost is their time. Conversely, offering your conference at a price may imply value – we as a society tend to place a higher value on items that cost more. For example a watch that is free will be perceived as having less value than an equal watch that costs 1000 dollars.

Hosting a conference can have a tremendous effect on your business. In fact, as you host more and more conferences you can use the recordings of past conferences to promote future ones. You can use them to demonstrate the value of attending. Advertising, email signatures, and a marketing strategy specifically for your conference will add to your conference success.