"Accidentallyā€¯ Adding 300+ Members to a Membership with a Virtual Summit with Bail Ansari
There's something really special happening with summits in hobby-based niches right now. Over and over we're seeing our clients host a summit for B2B niche with a hobby-related topic, and they absolutely take off. I've got an incredible story to share with you today from one of our clients who experienced this firsthand when she "accidentally" added 300 members to her membership through a summit for laser crafters. But first, let's talk a little more about why this trend among hobby-based summits is happening in the first place.
I think there are a few key reasons:
- These niches aren't over-marketed to, especially when it comes to summits. I could go on IG right now and find 3+ summits for business owners. But a summit for a certain type of hobby or craft? That's a whole lot more difficult to find.
- These people LOVE community. A free event filled with thousands of people who share a passion, when those around you don't really get it? Sign 'em up!
- There are big audiences involved. It has taken me 6 years to build my Instagram following to 3000 people. Granted, I don't put in a ton of effort, but still. I see people in hobby niches get tens of thousands within the span of a year.
And all of those things carry into wild summit results.
In this week's podcast episode, you'll get to hear from one of our clients, Bail Ansari of Just One More Project, about her totally unexpected success with a virtual summit for laser crafters.
With one summit she went from having a hobby to being a CEO. In addition to her summit revenue, she added over 300 members to her membership, and then she did a beta course launch and generated $45,000 in revenue. It's an incredible story that you won't want to miss.
Read on to hear the powerful and fast impact a virtual summit can have on your business!
Listen to the episode
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Download the episode transcript here.
Episode at a glance:
[0:55] Bail is the owner of Just One More Project. She got started by dabbling with digital file design and really enjoyed the passive income that came with it. It's evolved from there and for the last 5 years she has been selling files, creating files for laser cut machines, and has a digital course teaching others how to create their own files. That led her to host her first summit where she launched her membership for people with lasers. (And now, she's currently planning her third summit!)
When I started my first summit, I was still thinking of my business as a side hustle. I didn't have any core offers, and it was really in it's baby stage of being a business. I wasn't where I wanted to be, but my first summit definitely changed all that. I didn't even know what "doing a summit" entailed. I just knew that I hadn't seen anything like it in my community of laser crafters.
[8:55] Even though she had doubts when she joined the Launch with a Summit Accelerator program, but our team was able to help her overcome those doubts and plan a successful summit. Her event was geared towards crafters, but the biggest piece of feedback she got was how everyone wanted more business content from the event. That really sparked an idea for her.
There were attendees who were crafters and hobbyists, but there were also attendees who had legitimate businesses selling products. They just needed the tools to make their business successful. That was not something I'd touched on in our first summit, but it's where we put our focus for the second summit.
[10:12] Bail goes on to share how she didn't have a grasp on the volume of people that the summit would bring into her world. There were so many eyes on her business! She brought in $67,000 in revenue (far exceeding her goal of $10,000), and 314 people joined her monthly membership. We call it "accidental" because it wasn't positioned as a launch off her summit, but an upsell to the VIP pass with a free trial in the membership. For her second summit, she focused on business and entrepreneurship and brought in $123,000! This time, she had committed to launching her membership, and brought in 137 new members!
I went from not knowing if I had a business to now I KNOW I do. I have a team of two gals who work with me daily, and I couldn't survive without them. I never anticipated having a business and being in charge of all this stuff. It's been a learning process. I went from hobbyist to CEO overnight! My advice to you? Just do the thing.
About Bail
Bail Ansari is the creator behind Just One More Project and the Laser Craft Fest. She's a laser educator, SVG file designer who focuses on laser-cut files for crafters and small businesses. Bail is a self-taught tech nerd who loves to geek out in Adobe Illustrator. She is a girl mama, runs on coffee, and is all about simplifying the path to create.
Bail's Website | Laser Craft Fest
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