In this episode of The Smart Agency Master Class I have my first ever three way:)  For the first time ever, I have two guests – Jim Hohl and Lucas Gavin of Visify. Jim and Lucas are going to share with us how you can use events to build your authority and grow your business.

Where do you start with generating more leads for your agency?

Jim and Lucas knew that they didn’t just want to do business as usual. Chasing after projects and pitching all the time is exhausting. The duo decided to begin speaking at events and hosting webinars, which allowed them the chance to get their message out to a lot of people at once.

Bonus: you automatically earn some street cred by being an event speaker. It’s instant authority!

No events in your area?

Make one! It’ll be a great opportunity for you to get your feet wet.

It’s fairly simple to throw together a 2-3 hour weeknight event. For something larger, consider hiring an event planner. Jim and Lucas hired an event company, allowing them to focus on work and let the professionals handle event stuff.

Or you can create a mini-event around a bigger industry event. This way you can invite a select group to take part in a lunch-and-learn without having to do too much organizating.

Start small.

The event doesn’t have to be a huge crowd. No one expects you to start out at a TED Talk. Start smaller and work your way up.

Jim, Lucas, and I are all huge fans of webinars. Not only are they easy to setup, they’re an excellent first step in getting to be comfortable with speaking in front of people.

But first, you need to come up with what you want to say. The simplest way to do that is to think about what you find yourself saying to most of your clients. What’s some common advice that you give? Or, what is some aspect of your business that you are really passionate about? Use these as starting points for creating webinar content.

Tech to use: Try GoToWebinar or Google Hangouts for simple, effective setup.

Save the sales pitch.

You will attract a lot more people if you don’t make the event a sales pitch. Seriously, you don’t need to be pitching all the time, and no one wants to hear it. Instead, focus on creating quality content that delivers something of value to the audience.  Have a genuine conversation.

[ctt title=”You will find that people will remember you better if you give them something valuable rather than trying to sell to them.” tweet=”You will find that people will remember you better if you give them something valuable rather than trying to sell to them. http://ctt.ec/f_Eg9+ via @jswenk #generateleads #salespitch” coverup=”f_Eg9″]Offer a free download of a tool or white paper that they can actually use. They are guaranteed to remember you for it.

Don’t forget to include a CTA.

You want to keep the conversation going, so make sure you include a call to action. Not the lame “buy my stuff” CTA, but something like “comment on my blog to join the discussion.” You want to create a thoughtful and engaged community around your events.

So whether you’re doing a webinar, or an in-person event, make certain that you have some sort of call to action.

Success Story

We had our first Agency Mastermind event last week and one of our members has already generated over $20,000 in extra income from one thing we have covered. If you would like to have a similar story, click here