Growing your email list doesn’t have to happen only online, or only away from home. In fact, you can grow your email list with local events and public speaking bigger and stronger than you may have thought possible. Let’s look at how you can do that. All these hacks work with local events that you attend as a guest or a speaker. Plus, they will also work well with events that are outside your local area, including across the country and sometimes even in a different country. But, start locally, you’ll be surprised at how simple it is to build a dedicated audience locally.
Plan & Host Local Events for Your Audience
Planning and hosting events local to you can make you an immediate public speaker without having to wait for someone else to give you a chance. You can then parlay this experience into being invited to speak at other people’s events within your niche. So, if you want to speak in public and you want to get people to sign up for your list locally this is an effective way to start.
Choose the Right Type of Event
It’s important to choose the right type of event. You may want to start with something simple like a limited seating, hands-on workshop. In this case, you’d advertise to fill 10 to 20 seats for your workshop. You’d speak to them and then you’d work with them on some sort of activity together. If you do well on the first event, you can plan to do more. Then you can start to grow the event, culminating in a longer event, such as a conference with other speakers and leaders.
Provide A Lot of Value for Attending the Event
When you host any type of event, you want the experience to feel more valuable than the cost of the event. Even if the event is free, you want to provide enough value that they don’t feel like they wasted their time leaving their homes. Ensure that you send them home with something physical and something learned and remembered in their mind.
Give Attendees Something to Take Home
Even if it’s a T-shirt or a notepad, giving your attendees something branded will make them remember you. When they come away with a helpful and tangible item that is branded, they’re more likely to remember you. But it doesn’t stop there. They are also more likely to become part of your community. You can also give them a form to fill out that they return to you for more freebies or a discount, in exchange for subscribing to your email list.
Socialize Before & After Your Talk
Whether you’re a speaker or a host, it’s important to socialize with everyone before and after the event. You want them to come away feeling energized emotionally so that they don’t lose the desire to sign up for your list, buy your products and services, or find out more about you and what you offer. The only way to connect effectively with your audience is to be open and listen to them, before and after the main event.
Market Your Local Event
No event can happen without good advertising and marketing. During this process, you can get people on your list whether they choose to attend your event or not. You can put anyone who signs up to attend the event on your list automatically. But, for those who click away and don’t sign up you can offer another opportunity to get on your email list by offering something of value to them that they need. Don’t just market one way, try several.
Blog Your Event
If you’re planning an event, you’ll want to start blogging about it while you’re in the planning stages. This will give you a way to get the word out about your event and get the search engines finding your website so that it can deliver it to your audience when they’re looking. Plus, it builds buzz and excitement with the audience you have.
Get Social About It
When you blog, always share your blog posts. Do this on your social media platforms, in your existing email list, and share with the local people you know on a personal level. Making these local connections help you to reach others through additional family/friend connections. You can also set up a Facebook Event, which allows you to be listed in the upcoming Local Events calendar.
Local Event Listings
The Chamber of Commerce, Women’s Groups, and other organizations often love listing local events. Make sure you send an announcement about your event the moment you have the information so that they can list it.
Facebook Ads
This is an easy way to get people to find out about your event. You can set up a landing page on your site and then market that landing page on your Facebook Page. You can also write a blog post about the event and then boost it via your Facebook Page. You can run look-a-like ads, choose a brand-new audience that is focused locally, or use another method.
Local Newspaper Ads
One of the best ways to market your local event is to run the advertisement in a local paper or magazine. Often, you can get good deals if you run the advertisement on off days. Call the publication you want to run the ad in directly to find out the rates and deadlines.
TV & Radio Ads
You can often get good deals with local TV and Radio Ads too. Don’t discount this idea. Of course, it really depends on how large your event is. Check the prices because you may be surprised at how inexpensive these types of ads can be.
Send Out a Press Release
Even if you have a zero-dollar budget, you can still write and send a press release. Be sure that you know who to send the press release too and make sure you frame it as an important community news story and not just to market your event.
Nothing is going to grow if you don’t do some form of marketing. You must get the word out. If you’re not willing to shout it from the rooftops, why should anyone else? Remember in this process to make it easy for people to sign up for your email list. Include multiple ways to get on your list on social media, on your website, on your blog, and in every advertisement that you run.
Set Up a Registration Table for Your List
Once you have your event you’ll want to set up a registration table at your event. This will serve more than one purpose. You’ll get to validate those who have paid for your event, give them their premiums and freebies, sell your books if you have them, and provide a way for them to register for your email list right there using a touchscreen computer.
Get Them Registered
Greet people when they come in. Give them their name card and free items. Also, make sure they know where the bathroom is located, and where they can get water or a snack. Tell them to sign up for your email list by directing them to the touch screen or by offering a sign-up sheet where you ask for their email address.
Give Away Books
At the registration table, you can give way some books and sell others. Having a few free items available is a nice touch but don’t be afraid to sell your books at the registration table. When you sell things alongside giveaways, it boosts the value of everything you offer and will make them want to get on your list to see more of what you have to offer.
Provide a Coupon Code
A great way to motivate them to give their information is to give them a coupon code in exchange for signing up. That way they can get a good deal and extra value when they buy the things you sell. Remember to make your codes easy to remember so that you can verbally remind them with an easy to say and remember URL.
By having this sign-up area you’re not just getting info for your email list, you’re beginning to build a relationship. That will encourage them to tell their friends about you. The next time you have an event, more people are likely to come. Plus, if you offer additional discounts for telling or referring their friends, you may get additional signups even after the event.
Ask People to Sign Up At the End of Your Speech
Once you have everyone in the meeting area, you can start your presentation. Whether it’s a speech or a workshop, always mention your email list more than once. You want to emphasize throughout the event how important it is to get on your email list.
Remind them to Use Their Sign-Up Coupon
Take time during your talk, whenever it’s appropriate to mention something about your website, and the URL, and the landing page URL you want them to go to. Tell them about a coupon offer they get for being at this event. The more times they hear about it the more likely they’ll be to sign up.
Sweeten the Deal with An Amazing Offer
Toward the end of your talk, you’ll want to sweeten the deal by offering an amazing offer. Not only will they get on your buyer’s list, but they’ll also end up with some of your products and or services based on listening to your talk. Plus, they’ll never miss an opportunity to attend one of your live events or hear you speak.
Teach Them How to Sign Up
One way to get more people to sign up is to do a live demonstration showing how easy it is to do. Record it. Loop the video and play it continually at the signup desk/table. Doing a quick demonstration that also shows the value they get is a great way to get them excited about signing up.
The main thing is to ensure there is no mistake that you’ve mentioned ways for them to sign up. They can get on your list from buying. They can get on your list by downloading a free resource. They can get on your list just by signing up. Telling them every single way that they can get on your list and why it’s a valuable thing for them to do is important.
Ask People to Sign Up When Networking
Before and after your event ensure that you provide time for networking. You want your events to be places people enjoy coming. You don’t want them to just walk in, sit down, and not connect with you or anyone else. When people are connected, not just to you, but to the other attendees at an event and they see one person sign up or buy something they’re going to be more likely to do it too.
Give Out Cards with QR Codes
To make it easy for people to sign up for your email list at any event, create cards with QR Codes on them. You can even give out other things with QR codes on them such as bookmarks, your book, or even on your own clothing so that they can use their smartphones to get on your list via your clothing.
Encourage them with a Special Value
Talk about your deals, talk about the enormous value everything you do offers when asked. But, when networking, remember to listen. Answer questions in a way that leads them to your offers and list but focus on listening to them more and they’ll be more likely to check you out.
Make Them Not Want to Miss Out
Listen to their problems. Listen to and learn their names. Listen more than you talk. Ask questions. Listen to the answers. When you have something to offer that helps them solve a problem give them the information.
One final hack is to record your speeches. The part of the workshop where you’re just talking to them and the part where you’re giving your presentation are both great opportunities to record. You can use these later to market yourself as speaker, market future local events, and to get more people to sign up for your list.