Say you've got a great idea for a killer event in your community. Maybe it's a local competition. Maybe it's a networking or continuing-education event. How do you get people to actually attend?

Just do what Per Mattsson did.

Per is a Two-Brain Business mentor and the founder of Coaches Congress, a multi-day event in Sweden for gym owners and coaches. The Congress is attended by fitness professionals from around the world, and it features world-class speakers and exhibitors.

But the Coaches Congress started just like any other event—as an idea. Per grew it from the ground up, sourcing speakers from his personal networks and personally inviting people to attend. Without little to no real marketing efforts, he grew his audience from around 80 people the first year to nearly 300 in 2019.

In this episode, he'll tell you step by step how he cultivated his audience and established so much trust that when last year's keynote speaker backed out—Greg Glassman himself—only two people asked for a refund.

Links:

Buy tickets to the Coaches Congress 2020
"Founder, Farmer, Tinker, Thief"

Timeline:

2:06 – What is the Coaches Congress?

2:59 – Where did the idea come from?

5:33 – Why not pair a business event with a competition? 

7:30 – Diving in without worrying about potential problems.

8:50 – How to get people to show up.

10:39 – Engaging the audience before and after the event.

12:59 – Finding great speakers.

15:09 – How to attract sponsors and exhibitors.

18:27 – Why people come to the Coaches Congress.

19:54 – What to do when your key speaker backs out.

23:12 – Coaches Congress 2020: More world-class speakers, workshops and value.

26:17 – The key to building a robust, trusting audience: communication.