Stop for a minute and think about promoting your own seminars and workshops. What emotions bubble up for you?
If
you're like most promoters, you feel enthusiastic, optimistic, and
confident about what your event offers. But underneath the positive
feelings are whispers of anxiety, apprehension and doubt. Although
you're primarily excited, you're worried that you'll fail at the task of
filling your event seats. What will happen if you fail? How much money
will you lose? And what will people think?
You are not alone.
There is some logical basis to your fears. Marketing can be costly, and
marketing events in particular can be difficult. However, there are
things you can do to protect your investment and move past this
paralyzing fear:
1. Do not view your marketing results as
successes or failures -- and definitely not as judgments regarding your
value as a speaker, trainer or expert. Instead, view your marketing as a
series of tests. If something doesn't work, view it simply as a lesson
in what NOT to do. There are people in this world who are waiting to
hear what you are here to teach; now you need to experiment to find the
best way to reach them.
2. Build a list. If you build a list of
people who have signed up to receive your information, you will find it
easier to promote seminars than if you go out and try marketing to
strangers. Start to offer something free to prospects in exchange for
their contact information. Deliver the free thing (ideally something
that shares your knowledge and demonstrates your expertise). Then stay
in touch with them. Marketing to your own list makes it less risky and
less costly to promote.
3. On a personal note, dig deeper into
your fear. Ask yourself what you're really afraid of -- if your
marketing "fails"... so what? What are you telling yourself this would
really mean? We all have critical voices in our heads -- what is your
voice saying to you?
Sometimes just being brutally honest with
yourself about what you're truly afraid of (e.g., "I'm afraid to publish
a book because then people will criticize me") can be enough to release
you from fear's grip.
Other times, following the train of fearful
thought and then seeing how ludicrous it really is can be enough to
break the paralysis ("No one will show up... and then people will know
that I'm a fraud... and I'll lose my job... and then I'll lose my house,
car and friends and I'll die homeless and alone -- well, of course that
isn't going to happen").
Finally, look for proof of success in
the past. Write down a list of all the other ways you've succeed in
reaching your students and other problems you've solved.
You're a smart, talented teacher with a message to share. How to promote your seminars is simply one more puzzle to solve.
