Last week, after an incredibly successful round of Shift presentation Secrets evets (or 1-day Intro events) around Australia- the 3-day intensive training (Presentation PROFITS) Sold Out! That’s right, with 130 people in the room we absolutely could not fit another soul in! Which was great news for me but no so great for the dozens of people waiting on the waiting list to be called in case someone decided to roll over to next year!

Christine really wants to attend Joanna Martin's Shift Presentation Profits!

But the collective prayers of these Aussies seem to have been heard! Much to the upset of my staff. Let me explain…

The venue we had booked for our event, called us up and said “we’ve put you in another room- its about the same size, you won’t mind will you?” Mind?! I think they thought our event was a quiet sit down affair where everyone would squeeze in and not move for the whole day.

They obviously didn’t recognise that a Shift Training is interactive, full of exercises and lots of loud music!

We flew Tam to Melbourne to pore over floor plans and measure chairs, but no matter how we shook it, their change had meant we wouldn’t even fit the 130 people in any more. Grrrrrrrr!

So thankfully the great people at CQ venues in Queen St have come to our rescue- with a lovely big room. Which was lucky realy considering EVERY OTHER VENUE in Melbourne was booked out that weekend! Ahhhh- the joys of running events.

The problem is now 130 people (ourselves included) have to re-organize our selves into a new venue (did I mention Grrr?).

But the good news is for those people who simply couldn’t wait another year- like Christine- they don’t have to. You see the room at QC is bigger – so we could COMFORTABLY fit in another few profit-minded souls.

At today’s count there’s another 11 places still available. So if you’re keen to get to this year’s event check it out here:

Shift Presentation Profits with Dr Joanna Martin

The moral of this story- never underestimate the prayers and affirmations of a few ike-minded individuals to wreak havoc on otherwise perfectly laid plans!

Love Jo!

PS This post also appears on my personal blog

The venue and environment you select when doing your presentation is as much a vital part of what you do as everything else.

You want to choose somewhere that supports your message and adds to what you want to achieve. For Example: Don’t choose somewhere dark and gloomy if you have a bright and sunny message.

The place you choose to have your presentation will have it’s own story to tell. Make sure you find out what that story is (if it isn’t obvious) and make sure that it is in alignment with what you will be speaking about.

One of the most common excuses I hear from my clients when they are stalling on doing the things they know they should do is “I don’t have the time”.

If you have ever said to yourself “I just don’t have the time to get these things done that I know I should be doing” then you should consider outsourcing.

This has allowed us to grow our business by implementing marketing strategies that we alsways knew we should have, make changes to our web sites that we always knew we should have – all these things that are on the “To Do” list but don’t quite get done you can usually outsource.

There are loads of web sites out there where you can post a job and people will bid to help you with that job.

So whether its help with writing copy, getting your book written or getting your newsletters written – there are so many strategies that you can use as a speaker to draw more attention to your business and build a relationship with your list that you don’t necessarily need to do yourself.

Some Outsourcing sites I recommend are:

• www.Rentacoder.com
• www.Elance.com
• www.Odesk.com

Some Tips to Remember When Finding Good Training Venues

1.    Get Clear on the Outcome of Your Training.  The clearer you are on what impression you want to make at your training, the number of people who are coming, and the ideal location, the easier your search will be. 

2.    Think about the Location of Your Training Venue.  Think about things like:

• Who are your target market?
• How mobile are they?
• Are they driving or catching public transport?
• What impression do you need to give?

If a lot of people are flying in, it is a good idea to have your training venue at or near an airport.

3.    Think About What Your Training Venue Says About Your Company.  Every part of the training experience, right down to how easy it is to find parking says something about you and the brand of your company.  Be aware of this when making your selection.

4.    Think About Your Budget For Your Training Venue.  Be realistic about the cost of training but always be ready to negotiate. It is not uncommon to be able to get a venue down to 75% of an original quote if you negotiate well.

Remember to cast your net wide when looking for venues that suit your training requirements, and give yourself plenty of time.  Don’t be afraid to play venues off against one another for your custom! 

Register Now for this FREE Webinar Series where I will reveal how I started with absolutely no database, and grew a successful 7 figure speaking business in my first year

“The ABCs of Growing Your Business Through Speaking”

Join me on these webinars, where I will reveal the EXACT steps I took to create a lifestyle business from my passion and to skyrocket my income to multiple 7-figures in the first year. (And just in case you’re thinking “I couldn’t do that”- discover how many of my clients have done the same- and how you could too…)

In this FREE webinar series I will reveal:

• NEW and easy ways to use SPEAKING and the INFORMATION PRODUCTS to create a business that you LOVE!
• The ABCs of a successful speaking business. Each webinar will focus on a different aspect of your business success.
• How to create an ELEGANT BUSINESS MODEL as a back-end to your speaking so that you can STOP trading your time for money, and get your knowledge working for you.
• How to STOP selling one-to-one and START selling one to hundreds… or even thousands! (This leverage is your KEY to super-fast income growth despite the “tough times”.)
• BRAND NEW strategies and secrets that I’ve just uncovered to grow my business FASTER and attract wealth easier than ever before. (And believe me, your mindset is just as important as your marketing and sales.)

These calls are a sneak preview of my “Shift Presentation Profits” LIVE TRAININGS happening in both March in Melbourne, Australia and November in London, UK.

Take my word for it… you DON’T want to miss this FREE webinar series.

Click here to get registered immediately

FIRST CALL ON OCTOBER THE 22ND

Calls will be once a month, commencing on the 22nd of October, 2009.

Watch this Video Now…

(for more like this and other free training subscribe to our Youtube Channel)

Feature Article: Sales Letters That Fill Seminars-  The Big Idea!

… with guest contributor – Pete Godfrey

Pete Godfrey- Copywriting Guru!

Sales letters that fill seminars is a BIG subject; too big for this small article. However, I’m going to give you one big tip to take on board that almost guarantees your next event is a sell out. And look, I’ve been a copywriter for the past 10 years. Tens of thousands of people have gone to seminars because of the words I’ve written. So frankly, I know a thing or two about this subject… might pay to listen up.

Understand this: It doesn’t matter what kind of seminar you are running; from an Intro Night workshop to new prospects to a multi-day event to your own Tribe; your seminar needs one BIG thing to make it a success.

It needs a BIG Idea!

Every seminar needs a great theme to capture the attention and interest of the intended market. It’s got to be exciting! Dramatic.

The BIG idea can also be your bonuses or prizes. Cars and Holidays are popular; however the main thing is to match the prize to the market.

There are too many same old, same old seminars at the moment. There is no clear cut distinction between them; no compelling reason to choose one over another. Even worse, there are no REAL, exciting personalities behind these events. Everyone is so damn politically correct it makes me cringe. They’re so nice they are BORING.

Don’t you be one of them! If you want a profitable seminar, come up with a BIG Idea, backed up with a BIG Bribe, and infuse your promotion with personality.

That’s how you put bums on seats. That’s how you ensure your next event is a sell out!

***

Pete Godfrey, AKA the Wizard of Words, is a Copywriter and Sales Strategist who lives in tropical Mackay North Queensland Australia with his wife, 2 kids and his dog Ben.

His client list contains many of the world’s savviest entrepreneurs. They trust him to write and develop promotions that put money in the bank like clockwork. To see more on Pete, and get his blatantly bias opinions on Life, Copywriting, Marketing and Mind Set, he’s running events around Australia in August check them out: www.ShiftSpeakerTraining.com/petegodfrey

I SHOULD WARN YOU: Pete tells it like it is without the sugar coating. Sensitive souls should not click on the link above.

And remember- Our Ultimate Speaking Resource Members Can Meet Pete “in person” In Our Free Teletraining (Members Only) on Thursday the 6^th of August.  He will go into detail about his closely guarded “Seminar Sales Letter Secrets” on the call- so get involved.

http://ShiftSpeakerTraining.com/silver

This package is going to blow your mind. At least – that’s my intention. Why don’t you head on over- check it out and let me know what you think? If you know of a better value, more useful speaker training and mentoring program out there- with the kind of results we get- I’d love to hear about it!

This LIFETIME ACCESS offer is only available for the next 7 days- so don’t miss out. Go over now and find out all about the “Ultimate Speaker Resource: including the $10,000 speaking opportunity- it could be you on my stage!

The sooner you register the sooner you get to start implementing and increasing your speaking profits. Steve Brossman emailed me the other day- he increased his sales by 200% from this system- go check it out!

http://ShiftSpeakerTraining.com/silver

See you on the platforms of the world!

Joanna

Press Play to Begin watching the video (this video is a sample of the content from my “Complete Seminar Marketing System: How to Fill A Room Program”).

In my line of business and a mentor and business strategist for speaking organizations, the question I am asked most often is “How do I fill A Room?”  It seems that events marketing and seminar marketing is the most widely underestimated task in a speakers career.

A copywriting mate of mine, Pete Godfrey, who is by the way a room-packing master- once said: “Never under-esteimate the difficulty of a task”.  And nowhere is that more real than when it somes to seminar marketing.

In this video I have packed in as many tips as I can about how to get this right, as believe me, most people get this wrong.  I have worked with international companies who should know better, and they still get ths wrong.  People who spend $50,000 to secure a celebrity speaker, who get this wrong.  So if it is so easy to get it wrong, how do we get it right.

I’m telling you now, if you run events, or are even thinking about running an event EVER in the future, do yourself (and all of your potential participants a favour and watch this video on seminar marketing.  Events marketing is a different beast to many other types of marketing as there is a delay between purchase (or registration in the case of free events) and attendance.  So find out how to address this in the video.

Also you’ll find:

• The mistakes people make when trying to market their seminars
• How much time is enough to fill a room, and how to make sure you give yourself enough to AVOID STRESS
• The 3 phases of attraction for an event or seminar and how to apply them for a room full of happy attendees
• The secrets to getting the right people in a room. Discover how we make routinely well over $500k (sometimes up to a million) in a weekend with only around 60-70 people in the room.
• A great free program you can use to design a website to sell your event tickets… even I can use it and it took me 10 minutes to set up a site. 

That site is called eventbrite and I really encourage you to go to check it out.  It’s free to have a play around with and it really is a solid tool for when you’re just getting started with events.
www.ShiftSpeakerTraining.com/eventbrite

Do you want an insiders edge?

This video is a sample of the kind of content I go into detail with in my newest Training Program: “The Complete Seminar Marketing System: How to Fill A Room”

In that program I go step by step, and hold your hand as you create all the materials you need to market your event professionally, and more importantly profitably.  This program has only ever been released to a handful of my top clients (only 14 in total so far) and I have been keeping it very much under wraps – until now. 

On July the 22nd it will be available as one of the goodies when we open the doors on a very special launch offer of our Silver Mentoring Program. 

You should make sure you put this date in your diary if:

• You are a public speaker, coach, consultant or trainer who knows that standing in front of an audience is the quickest way to increase your profile and make more money.
• You are a business owner looking for a new and accelerated way to grow your business without all the hassle.
• You have been to a seminar in the past and thought “I wonder if I could do that!”
• You are an event promoter who knows that filling a room is not as easy as it looks
• You are a teleseminar host or you sell your products or services over the phone and want to make more sales more often.
• You are an author and you want to sell more books. But not just that- you’re smart enough to see the book alone won’t make you rich, and you want to build an Elegant Business Model into your business to make you massive, passive income from your efforts.
•  You are an information or internet marketer who really wants to put your current business on steroids and prepare for a “Big Pay Day”
• You want to seriously improve your communication and presentation skills so that every time you open your mouth you make a lot of money!

You’ll be able to register for the program on the 22nd of July for 7 days only.  I promise I’ll let you know the website address closer to the day.  Don’t even go looking for it.  It doesn’t exist yet!

Til then enjoy the video.

Cheers,