Many summit hosts go into their first event already knowing exactly who they like to serve and how. But sometimes, a summit helps uncover a new direction that you didn't even know was possible!
In this episode, Kimberly Costa is taking us behind the scenes of 3 successful summits, and sharing how she learned exactly what offer she needed to create and which audience she needed to create it for by hosting her events.
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Episode at a glance:
[3:55] The Creative Spark Summit started with the desire to give entrepreneurs an outlet, even a sense of permission, to use creativity as a form of self-care. She heard lots of entrepreneurs talk about how they were burned out and overwhelmed and got a great response when she started sharing her summit idea.
The positive feedback about my summit idea really fueled the name and branding around it. Looking back, it all makes sense. But when it's happening, you're stumbling through it and aren't sure if you're doing the right thing. But it worked out so well!
[6:57] Kimberly's main reason for hosting a summit was list growth, but she was hesitant to set specific goals because she didn't want to be disappointed by goals that she didn't reach. She also had a fear of visibility and being seen that got in the way of setting her goals.
I was afraid of being in the spotlight, so I started by going live every week in my free Facebook group. I hated it, but I kept doing it and doing it until I got comfortable with it.
[10:47] She ended up bringing in $24,000 in revenue and her email list grew by 6,000 through her first summit. She used that as a baseline for setting goals for her next 2 summits, setting goals of $25,000 in revenue and the same amount of registrations. What she ended up with in her third summit was $42,000 in revenue and 7,000 registrations!
I think part of the reason it was so successful was because I've always been very open to listening to my community. I sent a ton of surveys out and made a summit around those results.
[15:00] For her fourth summit, she surveyed her audience to truly get to know her audience and what her next summit should focus on, and they wanted the same summit again around digital products. And while the revenue numbers are great, and adding people to her email list was great, it wasn't even the best part!
Attendees were begging for a community, so I put something together quickly and that's how the Creative Lab was born. It involved workshops, live meetings, trainings, list parties, and it's been a wildly successful community.
[24:26] Kimberly's program is about designing and illustrating digital products, and she walked us through her 3-step creation process: Planning, Designing, and Listing. The Planning phase can be anything from sketching to writing to drawing diagrams. Next, in Designing you get to pick your colors, fonts, patterns, and illustrations, and you gather your assets. After you put all your energy into creating this new thing, you take the Checklist so you can be sure you're not forgetting anything when you launch your new product.
My biggest pieces of advice are to look at the big picture and don't let fear stop you. I almost let the fear stop me, but I pushed through and now hosting that summit has changed my life!
About Kimberly
I’m incredibly passionate about all things design, and especially digital product creation!
I’m from a little town in Costa Rica called Escazú and I made my way to NYC to be an animator. While working for studios like Nick Jr., PBS Kids, Cartoon Network, & Disney on Broadway, I also taught myself all sorts of things like graphics, branding, & web design, illustration, lettering, and pattern design. I now use all of these in digital product creation and to help other creatives design gorgeous products as well.
When I’m not busy drawing or designing, you’ll likely find me hanging out with my college sweetheart, Patrick, or putting some Harry Potter Legos together with my boys, likely with ice cream in hand!
Creative Spark Summit | Creative Lab | Product Listing Checklist Freebie
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