Seminar circuit? I need some help!

A

andrasnm

I am self-employed for 14 years. I trade 20-30 percent of my time and have a small online publishing company that also makes me money and hands off (no time involved). I trade mainly indexes and trade only for the long term. I am a trend trader, turtle disciple by the way with both equities and futures experience.

In my spare time I like perhaps to offer some honest, live seminars on trading. No BS and no conning people. Does anyone know or have heard of any marketing company that works with seminar speakers, as a contingency basis. (read, percentage of take) for organizing, promoting, marketing etc etc. I have material and background to back it up!
I like a referral for a decent , clean (read, honest company and willing to pay a referral fee upon satisfaction to whomever refers me. (e-mail me if want to know my terms or have a dollar figure in mind to propose..)
 
You may have trouble getting a company to work with you like that as they take on all the risk. There is no downside for you, only them.

It might be better to approach it is a more organic manner. Set up a website with an outline of what will be covered. Offer the initial seminar for an extremely low price and promote via web message boards and the like.

Limit your first seminar to a set number, say 50 people, even 20 if you've never spoken in public before. Set the payment fee at an nominal amount that will cover the cost of the venue and coffees for all. Like 10 bucks.

Before you go live, present to a group of friends you know and trust, and get them to offer feedback on your presentation. Mannerisms are probably more important than material, so make sure you at least seem like you know what you're taking about. That means flawless preparation.

Even do a professional course in presenting or public speaking. There are clubs you can join where you practice you presentation in front of others who are also trying to become proficient in public speaking. These clubs can be great fun, and you really learn a lot about yourself from them.

Once you have one successful event behind you, you can add advanced lessons for those that benefited from the first seminar at a higher fee, and expand your initial introductory seminar numbers each time around.

Make sure you collect email and postal mail details for all attendees, these guys become your sales force. Next time you have a seminar, allow them to bring a friend for free. The friends will become your next wave of customers.

I've had some experience on the marketing side of info guruism, and the rule of thumb that all the great seminar speakers work to is this.

Give away 25% of your knowledge for free. (To get people interested)

Charge a small amount for 50% (Giving them a thirst for more knowledge)

And charge a large amount for the final 25% (To make it worth your while)

In reality, this is usually holding the introductory seminar for free, holding the advanced four hour seminar for $90

Holding the weekend bootcamp for $2,500

If you have some success, you can then hand the managerial and administrative roll over to a professional organization, who will be much more interested in you now that you have a proven track record.

Also, consider offering email support, chatroom or IRC discussion of the material for a given period after the seminar. The punters love this.

There are plenty of books on the topic also. Just do a search at amazon.

Cheers,

Runningbear
 
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