5 Keys To A Successful Virtual Summit

There's a lot that goes into hosting a successful virtual summit. And success can look like so many things.

It could be:

• The income you make
• The growth you see in your email list
• The success you see from your attendees who are taking action
• How much you're able to give back
• Or something else entirely

No matter what your goal is, there are some key pieces you should always pay attention to. 

Key #1: Know your goal

First, and most importantly, you need to know your goal. In order for your summit to be a success, you need to know what success looks like.

So before you start planning your summit, figure out what your goal is and write it down.

• Is it related to your income?
• Is it related to list growth?
• Is it related to the new connections you'll make with your speakers?
• Or the new client leads you're going to get?

Determine what your goal will be and then use that to plan the rest of your summit. 

For example, if your goal is to grow your email list, make sure you're taking every opportunity to do that in the way you're planning your summit.

Key #2: Plan ahead and be prepared

To run a successful virtual summit, you have to be prepared.

Like I mentioned earlier, hosting a summit takes months of planning. In fact, I still plan 3 months for each summit even though I have done it several times.

When you first have your summit idea, go in knowing that it will be months of work (fun work!) and planning before it's actually launched, and make yourself a timeline to follow.

Be prepared in everything from what technology you'll use to what will happen if a speaker drops out at the last minute to what you'll do if you have a tech glitch show up on Day 1 of the event.

Be prepared in all aspects and, that way, if something goes wrong, the whole thing isn't going to fall apart.

Key #3: Keep your speakers happy and engaged

If your summit is going to be a success, your speakers have to be engaged and excited. For that to happen, you have to treat your speakers well.

There's a lot that goes into this because you're likely gonna pull them in very early on in the planning process.

To start, when you pitch your speakers, give them all the information they'll need upfront. For example,

• Have your registration page nearly finished so they can see if it's a good fit
• Provide them with all kinds of information of what's needed from them and when
• And let them know how it's going to benefit them.

Speaking of benefits, you have to have specific benefits for your speakers to make it worth it for them to put together a presentation that gives value to your audience without it being a complete sales pitch.

These benefits can include things like:

• High affiliate percentages on sales (learn more about utilizing affiliates in your summit with this freebie)
• Specific payout amounts for each speaker
• Giving them the email list of people who showed interest in their topic
• The ability to reuse their presentations elsewhere

Make sure that your speakers will get a return on your summit just as much as you are getting return from having them speak.

Along with this, also make sure you're supporting them and giving them what they need to do their job well. This can be anything from worksheet templates to graphics and scripts for sharing on social media. If you'll have pre-recorded presentations, you could even take care of video editing for them to make their process super easy. 

Key #4: An engaged audience

If your summit is gonna be a success, your audience needs to stay excited and engaged throughout the event. This includes the promotion period, during the live summit, and the days following before the cart closes.

My favorite way to keep attendees engaged is through a free Facebook group. In there, I have daily prompts that they can participate in, encourage them to team up with accountability buddies, and do some bonus trainings before the summit starts.

That way they are excited, they're engaged, and they're ready to take action when Day 1 roles around.

Throughout the time that the summit is running, I do prizes and giveaways for attendees that are engaged and interacting. I make sure all their questions are getting answered and offer an insane amount of value through the summit.

And speaking of which...

Key #5: So. Much. Value.

The final way to make sure your virtual summit is a success is to give an insane amount of value.

This happens in a lot of different ways. When you bring together a group of experts, you're automatically giving your attendees a ton of value. But there are some ways that you can go above and beyond.

First, as I mentioned earlier, do some bonus trainings. Before your summit starts, jump into your community and do some live or write some long-form posts related to things they need help with. Give your attendees actionable tips so they can see results before the summit even starts.

Also, make sure that the value your speakers are giving is truly something attendees can take action on. Remind your speakers that this is not a webinar - it's not a place where they should give little hints of value and then pitch.

Your attendees should be able to walk from each presentation away feeling they have exactly what they need to accomplish a very specific goal.

Ensuring your attendees can leave your summit with results will do a lot to reach whatever goal you've set for yourself. When they're excited they will be more likely to share, stay engaged, and speak positively, which will bring in even more people.

Where will you focus?

If you focus on these 5 keys, you will increase your summit results tenfold and have a lot of fun in the process. But it can be overwhelming to tackle so much at once. So, where will you focus?

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