Scheduling Seminars in August

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

You’re the king or queen of planning ahead, and you know you have excellent ideas for a seminar or workshop. You’re thinking about holding it right before your kids head back to school, but one thought keeps running through your head…”Is it safe to hold a seminar in August or should I wait until September?”

It’s a valid question, because August is traditionally one of the worst months in which to hold a seminar. Why? Because it’s a popular month for summer vacations, and a huge chunk of the population gets swamped during the second half of the month getting children ready to go back to school.

The right answer to this common question for you and your events depends on many factors. Here are some things to consider as you start planning your calendar for next fall:

  • Will your audience be more free and flexible during August vs. during September and other months when kids will be in school? If so, August might be a good month for you. Personally, I find it easier to attend seminars in the summer because I don’t have to make arrangements for someone to take my kids from their sitter’s house to school and then back again. If August is “off season” for your target audience, a summer seminar is worth considering.
  • How long of an event are you holding? Even if your audience is busy during the summer, persuading them to attend a free evening seminar would be much easier than selling them on attending a 3-day bootcamp
  • How much notice are you giving them? If you provide months of advance notice (say 6-12 months), it will be easier for prospects to plan their vacations around your event.
  • How much do you have at stake … and how much risk can you stomach? If your business is riding on this single event, play it safe and hold it further into the fall … even pushing it back to October to allow more post-summer marketing. If the consequences of a low turnout won’t bother you much, then go for it.
  • What does your target market say? Send out a survey and ask them if they’d prefer a seminar in August or September.

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.