7 Tips for Marketing Seminars on a Tight Budget

By Jenny Hamby, the Seminar Marketing Pro™
Certified Guerrilla Marketer and Direct-Response Copywriter

Building a successful seminar marketing campaign when funds are limited is challenging. Take, for example, a recent email I received from one of my newsletter subscribers. 

“I have stretched myself too far, and now face reality of bills to pay without sufficient funds to market the seminar that is to be my source of income.”

Ouch! That hurts. Even if you’ve never found yourself in this exact position, you can still understand the desire to maximize your registrations while minimizing your expenses, right?

While going through the Guerrilla Marketing Coach certification program, I learned  that marketing involves 3 things: your time, your money and your creativity. At least two of the ingredients are needed for a successful marketing campaign.

So … if you don’t have a lot of money to spend, you plan on investing more of your time and creativity to make your seminar marketing work.Seminar marketing tips to increase profits

7 Budget-Friendly Seminar Marketing Tips

Here are a few ideas to consider:

  1. Focus on your very best prospects and spend your resources pursuing them.
  2. Don’t be afraid to get a little zany to make your marketing pieces stand out. Lumpy mail is a great way to do this.
  3. Use promotional tools that last a long time and are cost-effective. For most seminar promoters, this means creating an effective web site to sell seminar seats.
  4. Leverage relationships with past and current clients, colleagues, etc. Get them to help promote your event to their list in exchange for a share of revenue
  5. Offer your seminar in a webinar format. Virtual events are easier to fill because attendees don’t have to travel. The events also are typically recorded. This gives attendees the option of listening to your material when it’s most convenient to them.
  6. Pick up the phone and call people. When money is tight, try calling. Fine-tuning your sales skills can be a smart investment of your time. Plus, in this era of digital marketing, the personal touch of a phone call can make you stand out.
  7. Secure one or more sponsors. Find organizations that want to be in front of your attendees. Then offer to get their company name in front of attendees in exchange for a fee to cover all or part of your event costs.

guerrilla-marketerJenny Hamby is a Certified Guerrilla Marketer and direct-response copywriter who helps speakers, coaches and consultants fill seminar seats and make more money from their own seminars and workshops. Her on- and offline direct marketing campaigns have netted response rates as high as 84 percent … on budgets as small as $125.

To explore how Jenny can help you generate more registrations and profits from your seminars, workshops and webinars, book a 30-minute complimentary discovery session.