So You Think You Should Host a Summit On Your Own?
I’ve thought about doing an episode on this topic many times, but I've always shied away from it because I want to come across as helpful and as someone who delivers a ton of value. I know I have incredible programs, but I never want to go over the top to sell them, and I want you to trust me to have your best interest in mind.
So I’m guessing you can already see why an episode titled, “So…You think you should host a summit on your own?” would feel a little sticky for me.
It would be easy to come at this episode out of a place of being sassy and a little sarcastic...and I'll be honest, sometimes in the moment, when someone tells me they're planning to host a summit on their own without our programs, that's where my thoughts go. But I also know that sharing why I don't recommend trying to host a summit on your own is coming from a place of serving you as well as possible.
So let's dive into why I want you to reconsider trying to host a summit on your own first.
Listen to the episode
I've Been Hearing This More Often Lately
Let's start off with a little background on why, after 250+ episodes of the podcast and having my program for years, this episode is happening now. I’ve been having a lot more conversations lately, and a lot of times, they lead into low-key sales conversations. I share that I think my program would be a really good fit, ask if they want to hear about it, and a lot of the time, they say yes.
This has been incredible over just a straight automated sales funnel because I learn so much more from all of you who I get to talk to. I learned what I need to change in my messaging, and what I need to update in my offers, and I've made direct changes to my programs because of these conversations.
I’ve even learned more about who my offers aren’t a good fit for which has been great for getting more clarity on.
With those conversations, even though I've been selling Summit in a Box for over 3.5 years at this point and the Launch with a Summit Accelerator for about a year and a half, just recently I've heard people say things like, "Yeah, all of that sounds amazing and really helpful, but I'm just going to try a summit on my own first, see how I like it, and if it goes well, then I'll join your program."
My reaction is...huh? 🤔
It doesn't even make sense in my mind. However, I do realize that I have a huge advantage by being the one to create the programs, having a true understanding of exactly what's inside, and having seen incredible results, testimonials, and transformations from hundreds of students.
From the outside looking in, I know it’s an investment. But from the inside looking out, for our students and clients, it’s a no-brainer that will transform your business and your life. It will literally multiply your results several times over, save you hundreds of hours (no joke), and create a summit that’s significantly higher quality than you’d likely make by just throwing one together quickly by yourself to see how you like it.
Please know that this isn't me saying I'm better or smarter than anyone in any capacity. It's me saying that I've had my hands in hundreds of summits over the last 8 years, have learned 8 years of lessons, have created thousands of trainings and templates, and have all of that sitting and ready for you.
Plus, I know that I offer top-notch support that makes the process so much more fun, exciting, supportive, and successful!
If You Host Your Summit On Your Own...
I can sit here all day and tell you how great our stuff is, but I want to give you tangible reasons why I would encourage you to not wait until after your first summit to join our programs.
You'll Sacrifice Quality
When you host a summit without a framework to follow, you feel it throughout the entire process. It feels new and like you don't know what you're doing. And when you feel that, your speakers and attendees feel that too, affecting your results.
I want you to host a gold-standard summit for your attendees who know exactly what they're getting when they sign up, they're pumped for day one, ready to jump in, and want to buy your all-access pass. I want you to roll out the red carpet for your speakers so they know exactly what benefits they get from being a part of this summit, how they can earn revenue and grow their email lists, and how they can continue to work with you in the future.
You'll Sacrifice Revenue
You sacrifice so much money when you're doing it yourself the first time. A lot of people don't join our programs because they're "going to save a couple of thousand dollars upfront by not joining". It sounds like a good decision, sure, but then you get to the end of your summit and you miss out on way more than a few thousand dollars in final revenue.
We see this time and time again. We have had clients go from:
- a $23,000 first-time summit to a $56,000 summit using our strategies.
- a $39,000 first-time summit to a $97,000 summit using our strategies.
- a $1,800 first-time summit to an $18,000 summit using our strategies.
I don't want you hosting a $1,800 summit. It's not worth the work you'll put into it. I want you to jump in the right way from the beginning and get the most revenue, results, and momentum possible with your event.
You'll Sacrifice List Growth
Your email list fuels so much of your business, that you don't want to wait until your second, third, or fourth summit to maximize that list growth. That list is what fuels your all-access pass sales and revenue right away. It fuels your business moving forward in everything else you do. Every challenge you host, every webinar and workshop you do, is fueled by your email list.
I want you to maximize that from the very beginning, and we specialize in helping you get as many qualified people signed up for your summit as possible without you needing a big audience or having to spend a ton of money on Facebook ads unless you want to.
You'll Sacrifice Your Time
It's a huge sacrifice of your time to do the first one on your own. It's a lot to put together and think through. Doing it from scratch can take you hundreds of hours. My summit summit took between 400-500 hours. That's why I went into this business with a mission of making it so no one ever has to start anything related to their summit from scratch.
You have every email, website page, design template, speaker communication, promo template, graphics, and thousands of other things already laid out for you. You're not starting anything from scratch and can get so much time back in your business and life. I don't want you sacrificing more of your time for fewer results.
Don't Just Take My Word For It!
I don't want you to just take it from me, so I asked in our student community, "If you thought it was a good idea to host a summit without Summit in a Box the first time, and then joined us since then, tell me about that."
Here are some of the responses we got:
"I'm still in the planning stages of my first summit. But I'm already so glad I didn't do this on my own. There are so many things I would have missed that I already recognized would hinder my ability to land great speakers deliver a great summit experience and even just get my stuff together on time."
"I've hosted several summits using Summit in a Box resources and trainings. I've also participated as a summit speaker for other businesses that don't use this method and resources. And it felt so clunky. And I didn't know what was going on where to find things or anything. I was really disappointed in how clunky it all felt and it made me appreciate your system even more."
"I can't even tell you how many times I've had someone say Summit in a Box and Accelerator summits are the only ones I will speak at because the other ones are just a hot mess and not even worth it for my business. I don't get results."
"I wouldn't have been able to do it without the Summit in a Box program. The templates and checklists are totally worth the price alone. Also, knowing the strategy part of things helps, too, when you're deciding what to do on your own summit. Also, I was just a speaker at a summit that didn't use Summit in a Box, and I didn't even have swipe copy for the speakers. I felt that was a huge missed opportunity for the host. Most of our signups came from ads, which is okay, but there's so much room for organic signups from the speakers and audience."
"I know my co-host would agree that we wouldn't have been able to have this successful event we did without the Accelerator. Hosting a summit is one long stretch if you don't know what you don't know. Fortunately, your program tells you all of the things you already know, plus all the things you didn't even realize you needed to know. It's also crazy organized and thorough. We had so many questions along the way, but not one was left unanswered inside of your program. And when we found the answer to each question, it also had a video, a worksheet, and five other supporting documents too. I would always say start off on the right foot from the beginning with these programs; it's well worth it and pays for itself many times over. If you have the audience, niche, and topic to support your event, best way to go hands down."
You can read many more testimonials from students and clients here.
This episode isn't meant as a sales pitch and I hope it doesn’t come across that way. This is genuinely me feeling bummed out over people going through the work and headache of hosting a summit on their own and missing out on literally tens of thousands of dollars, hundreds of hours of their life, and momentum that will move their business years ahead of where they'd end up on their own. I truly don't care about the lost money it means for me...I am way more focused on what it means for you.
If you're thinking about hosting a summit and want to chat about whether one of our programs is a good fit for you, just send me a DM on Instagram that says "FIT" or you can just ask a question.
Resources
- Episode 15: How To Host A Successful Virtual Summit With No Email List
- Episode 38: How To Run Facebook Ads with Tony Rulli
- Episode 120: Create an All-Access Pass That Gets Virtual Summit Attendees Hitting 'Buy Now'
- Summit in A Box and Launch with Summit Accelerator Testimonials
- Summit Host Hangout Facebook group
- Launch with a Summit Accelerator
- 6-Figure Summits Workshop Bundle
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