The connections you make with leaders in your industry can have profound effects on a summit and your business.
This week Margaux Fraise is sharing how she brought in $20k in profit in her first virtual summit without any paid advertising by leveraging community and connection.
A Summit About Building Connections
I run The Wedding Summit series, and the theme for my first summit was “community”. I broke it down in a way where people could think about community in a way that would serve their business and end up making them more money.
I joined associations and started going to networking events. It turned my business around so I knew community was a valuable topic and what my audience needed.
Because of that, I built my summit around connections and community-building aspects.
My summit schedule looked like this:
- Monday was focused on networking.
- Tuesday was referrals.
- Wednesday was community building.
- Thursday was about social media connections.
Attracting Attendees without Ads
I didn't run paid ads at all for my summit. I've built my core wedding planning business successfully without ads and I knew I could do it here as well to avoid cutting into my profit.
Connecting with industry experts
Since I knew I wouldn't run ads, I brainstormed other ways to bring in summit attendees. The first thing I knew to do, from my experience in my industry, was to reach out to well-known speakers and educators.
I did a lot of research, never asking anyone for their email list size, but knowing they were well-known in the industry, and ended up with a great group.
Engaging with speakers
Second, I put in a lot of effort to engage and connect deeply with my speakers. I followed them on social media, engaged in the speaker Facebook group, created very specific and personalized swipe copy, and on a whole, they responded well.
In future summits, I'll be able to ask those same speakers to be affiliates, even if they aren't speaking again, thanks to the relationships built.
Promotional sponsorships with associations
Third, I used information from my audience to create a better experience for attendees. My industry has a lot of associations, so I asked my audience which ones they wanted to know about and reached out to those associations.
Instead of asking for monetary sponsorships, I asked that they send a few emails about the summit. In exchange, they got an hour in front of my attendees and my attendees got to hear about the associations that applied to them. It was a win-win-win!
And since I have connections with those associations now, it will be easy to reach out to them next time when my summit is focused on a different topic.
All in all, these three things will continue to pay off in future summits, where I would have had to continue paying for ads.
Margaux’s Biggest Takeaway
Think about who, outside of your speakers, may have the reach to the exact people that you want to talk to. That cuts straight to the people that you want to talk to.
In addition, make true connections with other people in your industry and it will pay off.
About Margaux
MARGAUX FRAISE IS THE OWNER + CREATIVE DIRECTOR OF HARMONY CREATIVE STUDIO, an award-winning boutique wedding firm in Los Angeles, CA. Since moving from retail consulting to events in 2011, her goal has been to design weddings with intention, infusing celebrations with her signature organic and minimal style yet still tailored to each couple.
A Stage IV breast cancer survivor, she has a unique perspective on what is truly valuable in love, life, and weddings – and brings that viewpoint to help her clients hone in on what matters to them. As a result, her work has been featured in numerous publications, including Style Me Pretty, Brides, and Green Wedding Shoes, among others.
Margaux serves as a wedding business educator, frequent podcast guest, and motivational speaker. Her meticulous onboarding, planning, design, and execution procedures have also caught the attention of her peers, and she shares insight regularly on efficient systems for creatives. Margaux has launched multiple educational courses for wedding pros and hosts the twice-yearly premiere online summit for wedding pros: the Wedding Summit Series.
Margaux's Website | Connect on Instagram
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