3 Reasons Entrepreneurs Should Create Their Own Free Summit
Have you ever considered hosting a free summit? Whether they be in-person or virtual, summits can serve as a launchpad for your small business – where expertise meets hyper engagement, attracting eager learners seeking guidance on a specific topic. This is an opportunity to not just share your insights, but to magnetize a pool of high-quality leads who are investing significant time with you from the get-go. Through this blog post, you’ll find out how you can use this summit strategy to grow your leads, income, and credibility!
It’s Free, But You Can Still Monetize 😉
Creating a free summit is a savvy entrepreneurial move that increases your brand awareness, but can also generate sizable revenue. By offering a VIP ticket upgrade at a low ticket price, you can provide additional value to your attendees and up-sell them at registration. Brenna McGowan shared in episode 224 of the podcast how she priced her summit’s VIP tickets at $27, and included a couple simple bonuses to entice the free attendees to put some skin in the game.
It is important to not include too many bonuses with the VIP upgrade, so as to not overwhelm people with a surplus of resources they may not want or need. Brenna’s VIP ticket included lifetime access to the summit conversations (that disappeared after 48 hours for the free attendees), and a bonus Q+A scheduled for the week after. That’s all she offered, and she was able to make $13K from it!
With this cash injection, you can generate a profit or donate the funds to a cause you care about. Brenna went the charitable route and found that the charity aspect played a significant role in enticing upgrades. Many attendees felt drawn to contribute to a larger cause, strengthening the sense of community and collective action.
Regardless, people who buy once will feel more comfortable buying from you again in the future. So if you provide the option to capture payment during an event where you are providing such high value content, you will establish brand loyalty and and increase your repeat buyers down the line.
It’s The Best Kind of List Builder
Entrepreneurs who host a small free summit can unlock a powerful benefit: lead generation from borrowed audiences. This strategy is a goldmine for entrepreneurs looking to expand their reach beyond their own existing community. By inviting other speakers to take part in your summit, you’re able to leverage the collective reach of all the speakers’ audiences when promoting the event.Like Brenna, you can grow your list by more than 1,000 hyper engaged leads in a very short amount of time – all without paying for ads.
The allure for participants is clear: they gain free access to a variety of experts with tailored conversations on a specific topic of interest, all without risking anything other than their upfront. For the host, it’s an opportunity to establish authority and credibility not only in front of a new audience, but also among their peers – by way of hosting a a high-value event.
Summits mimic the magic of IRL events by expediting the speed at which you can nurture a relationship with a new lead, collapsing the average timeframe between “discovery” and “purchase.”
It’ll Make You The Expert They Trust!
As we’ve mentioned, free summits offer entrepreneurs a strategic path to establish credibility and position themselves as industry authorities. By crafting an event that provides quality education and truly resonates with the listeners, you naturally become the credible source attendees will turn to for that specific topic.
Featuring other industry experts further bolsters credibility as well. Collaborating with renowned leaders adds value and reinforces the host’s position as a credible authority. Attendees perceive these collaborations as a stamp of approval, enhancing the event’s overall impact.
With strategic planning, deep audience understanding, and sharing of high-value content, you can be the influential resource that helps someone learn and achieve their goals.
(Check out these 3 steps for getting valuable clients from your next summit)
Entrepreneurs who dive into hosting a free summit tap into this trifecta of growth strategies. These summits are about more than the immediate gains – they’re strategic platforms driving revenue, lead generation, and industry authority.
Want to hear how Brenna McGowan leveraged her free Voxer Summit to raise $13K for charity, and generate $66K in her next launch? Listen to episode 224 of Cubicle to CEO – available everywhere you listen to podcasts!
Connect with Brenna:
- https://brennamcgowan.co
- Instagram: @brennamcgowanco
- Facebook Group: Behind The Launch with Brenna Mcgowan
