Our last event did 186k with 15 people in the room.
The 186 is a combination of front end (tickets) revenue and back end (coaching) revenue combined.
Every week I talk to someone who thinks they need a big event to make big profits.
Here are a few things to consider with big events:
1) They require sizeable deposits from hotels and conference centres.
They won’t secure your venue unless they have a sizeable deposit.
To you the entrepreneur, you’re thinking “oh crap, what if I can’t fill the event?”
That’s why a lot of people lose money on these big events because hotels don’t always give you flexible cancellation terms.
I know a lot of incredible people personally that have lost multiple 5-figures from cancelling their event.
2) You typically need a team or at least one full time staff managing the event.
If you don’t have help, not only are you doing all the sales, but you’re also responsible for logistics.
From the stage, to audio visual, to room block management, to managing cancellations, and so much more.
Your brain won’t get a chance to think about what really matters the most to you - the content you care about and what you want to deliver.
3) Ticket sales become stressful.
If you’re hosting a 100-800 person event, now you have to sell tickets just to break even.
Sometimes even less priced tickets are hard to sell if your event doesn’t have a clear promise.
The days of “come and learn” won’t cut it anymore in the marketplace with hundreds of events to choose from.
You’ll be forced to give away free tickets just to cover your room block.
Let’s talk about smaller events (my fav) for a moment.
1) They can be highly profitable if your pricing strategy is dialled in.
I believe less is more, and that also comes down to the events I host.
Imagine only having to sell 10-30 tickets over the course of 6 months for a six figure payday.
2) With more intimacy, and more specificity, and higher touch experience, you can command premium pricing.
Let’s take 2 examples:
Event 1: This is for everyone!
Event 2: This event is for coaches between 10-20k/mo, who have a desire to get to 50k/mo and beyond, without having to scale a large team and without having to spend a fortune on paid ads.
If you’re in the target market for event 2, you’ll sign up.
And you’ll happily pay a premium for an event designed for people like you.
3) Your event can be 50% pre-sold with an early-bird strategy, allowing you to operate from a place of positive cash flow and ease, within the first month.
When you only need 8-10 people to believe what you believe, your first few ticket sales will come from people already in your network.
You won’t have to hustle and grind like you’ll have to do for a big event.
—
If you’re a 6-figure service based business owner that already loves to attend events, have you ever considered hosting your own retreat / mastermind?
If so, let’s chat.
I might be able to help you make it the most profitable thing you do in 2024.
