HOW TO MAKE A FORTUNE WITH SELF-IMPROVEMENT SEMINARS

_________________________________________________________________

 

Ever since the beginning of time, ambitious people of the world have attributed some "indescribable secret" to the success of those people with wealth.

 

These people have spent, and will continue to spend millions of

pounds to cultivate these "secrets" within themselves.

 

Particularly since the early seventies, there has been a growing

demand by the public to attend classes, workshops, and self

improvement seminars that will enable them to align their

thinking as well as their actions, with those of people who have

already achieved success.

 

The popularity of such best-selling how-to books such as,

Winning Is Believing ... Think and Grow Rich ... How to Develop

a Winning Personality ... Overcoming Shyness ... Imagineering

... New Life Options ... Winning By Negotiation ... Successful

Visual-Verbal Communications ... Conversationally Speaking ...

and countless others lend reinforcement to the "need" for self

improvement seminars.

 

You can promote and stage these seminars either as a generalist

or as a specialist in a specific area of expertise - and attain

wealth for yourself almost beyond your current imagination!

 

The market potential has only barely been scratched, affording a

real ground floor opportunity for those with the gumption to

take action.

 

Dale Carnegie - the author of the book, How to Win Friends and

Influence People - was certainly one of the first, if not the

first, self improvement seminar marketer/teacher.

 

Back in the Great Depression of the thirties, he recognised this

need in people to improve themselves - he worked out a deal with

the local management of his hometown YMCA - got the word around

that he was holding classes on self improvement - and the rest

is one of the truly classic unemployed to multi million pound

success story of our time.

 

A self improvement seminar is conducted much the same as a

Toastmaster's Club meeting ... it can be held just about

anywhere, from the informal atmosphere of someone's living room

to the formalities of the Hilton convention centre.

 

Basically, a self improvement seminar is a gathering of people

where one or more speakers talk on a specific subject. More

often than not, only a certain aspect of self improvement, such

as How to Develop a Positive Mental Attitude - is the thrust of

the seminar.

 

In other words, the more successful seminars deal with

"specialised areas" of self improvement. These speakers usually

wind up their talks with audience involvement question and

answer sessions. Most of them "wind down" with the speaker

circulating through the audience, plus lots of opportunity for

the purchase of self help books and tapes by the people wanting

on going motivation and reinforcement relative to what they've

just heard.

 

Always - sometimes even as the featured subject of the seminar

there's a great deal of motivation projected during these

meetings.

 

At the bottom line, motivation is more the purpose of these

seminars than the attenders learning something they don't

already know.

 

The favourite words of most seminar speakers is usually, "It's

the difference between having a dream and taking action - a

matter of saying I can, believing it, and then doing it -

because you can!"

 

Success seminars are generally based upon the concept of giving

you the power to believe you can. The speakers usually speak

from insights and expertise gained from their own life

experiences.

 

Self improvement seminars give the attendees the tools - and the

motivation - to succeed. Thus, a well-organised and

well-presented seminar that helps people up the ladder of

success can't help but succeed because we are a success oriented

society - it's an easy sell with an income potential limited

only by your ability to express yourself.

 

You won't need an office to make it big with self improvement

seminars.

 

The public doesn't visit you - you take your programmes to them.

 

Self improvement seminars appeal to almost everybody - from blue

collar workers to top executives.

 

The average cost per person to attend a seminar is very close to

£300 - so your basic audience will be from the upper income

brackets - but if you handle the promotional aspects properly,

you'll pull them in from lesser income brackets as well.

 

Many seminar promoters employ sales teams to call upon top

company executives and either get them to partially pay the cost

of several employees to attend as educational or business

improvement investments - or to foot the bill for the

sponsorship of a "group seminar" for all of that company's

middle management personnel.

 

Many speciality speakers make in excess of £100,000 per year

with regular motivational and/or self improvement seminars in

this fashion.

 

In the beginning though, you'll get your start by staging

seminars for the general public in restaurants, banquet rooms,

hotel ballrooms, and convention centres.

 

These will entail advertising costs, plus the charges for the

rented space, and an "on hand" inventory of the materials you

want to sell to the people who attend your seminars.

 

Generally, you'll do best with an intensive radio advertising

campaign during the week preceding your seminar date. In a

metropolitan area of half a million population, you should

probably spend a couple of thousand pounds on radio advertising,

plus about half as much for flamboyant newspaper advertising.

 

Some seminar promoters invest a quarter of their budget in

newspapers, then a quarter in direct mail and/or telephone

advertising, with half going into radio.

 

Of course, the allocation of your advertising budget should be

related to the previous proven pulling power of each media

within that particular market.

 

Not too much concern is given to television advertising, except

for guest appearances on local ITV talk shows.

 

Most promoters spend all this effort and money to promote a

series of free seminars.

 

These free seminars usually draw huge crowds, during which

special "front men" turn everyone on with super motivational

stories designed to whet appetites of those attending for more.

 

These free seminars generally last only 45 minutes to an hour,

and are strictly motivational in purpose.

 

Each person in attendance is handed a brochure describing the up

coming main event as they leave these free seminars.

 

An attempt is made to get a commitment - at least a deposit for

the cost of the "real thing", which is usually set for the week

following.

 

Those who do not commit themselves to attending the big one are

then contacted by professional telephone sales people and given

the complete sales presentation between the time of the free

seminar and the date of the real thing.

 

With good advertising, up-front motivational speakers,

attractive programme brochures and experienced telephone sales

people - you can count on closing about 30% to 35% of those who

attend your free seminars.

 

If you don't have the confidence or inclination to participate

be the principle speaker - at your seminars, you can hire local

sales training people, professional people for the medical

specialities, local "experts" known through your area newspapers

or broadcast media, and/or nationally known speakers willing to

travel and operating through speakers bureaux.

 

Finally a reiteration of the fact that there are literally

millions of people in all parts of the country willing and able

to pay you for helping them to improve themselves.

 

You can start with meetings in your living room, or your local

restaurant.

 

All it takes is action on your part to get set up, and a push

from yourself to start making it happen.

 

Best of luck, and now get going with it!