Strategies Behind Two Successful Summits with Eden Fried

A lot can be learned from taking a look at the experiences of other business owners. In this episode, I’m so excited to go behind the scenes with Eden Fried to talk about the two successful virtual summits she’s hosted this year.

We’ll cover things like:

• the results she’s seen
• the strategies that work best for her
• and the differences between her two summits like pricing structure, tech choices, and the use of sponsors.

This is an action-packed episode you won’t want to miss! I'll let Eden take it from here.

Deciding to Host a Virtual Summit 

I decided to host a virtual summit because it was one of those things on my laundry list of things I wanted to do in my business that I put off for a really long time. A lot of other people were doing it, but I didn't know if I had what it takes, I guess. Then one day I was driving home from a conference, feeling all kinds of inspired and ready to take action, and I decided I'm going to make it happen, I'm going to do it.

So I did my first one and then a few months later I ran my second one, and here we are now.

Where Eden Saw the Biggest Results

The biggest result is the growth in my email list. If you've ever done something like a JV webinar, you grow your list because you're getting subscribers from another person's email list. But a summit is like having 25 JV webinars at once. You're getting subscribers from lots of other areas, people that you might've never met before or been introduced to before.

Next, would be the increase in credibility. More people know my name, more people associate me with creating and selling digital products. So that credibility lends itself to a lot of trust, and increased conversion rates for my products.

Beyond that, I've gained more opportunities. People are seeking me out for more things. Sometimes I turn them down because they're not really relevant to me. I have a lot of people asking me how to host a summit and that's not really something that I teach and I always refer them to Krista!

Comparing Eden's Summits

They were both successful in very different ways.

Summit #1

• 3 days long
• Included sponsorships
• $47 All-access pass- no other pricing options or discounts
• 3,100 new email subscribers
• $10,000 in profit from sponsors and sales

Summit #2

• 4 days long
• No sponsorships
• 2,800 new email subscribers
• Fewer speakers 
• #19 order bump to grab summit #1 videos
• $67/$97/$127 all-access pass ticket prices
• $10,000 in profit from sales

Tech Eden Uses for Her Summit

At the first summit, I used ClickFunnels, and if you're interested in hearing more about that I'm happy to talk about it. I wasn't the biggest fan. Choosing the right tech can be hard if you are unfamiliar with the software options.

But for the 2nd summit, I moved over to ThriveCart, WordPress, and ConvertKit.

ThriveCart was great because it has all the functionality for everything that you need. I was able to have two different pricing tier options. I was able to have the order bumps. I was able to have affiliates that would earn a commission, no matter whether somebody bought the lower-priced one or the higher price one, they would even earn a commission on the order of bumps.

Everything was just perfectly tied for that, it all just worked together really, really well. I didn't have to worry about affiliate link tracking, everything is seamless. Sometimes trusting in the technology is a huge thing, because if you're using a tool that you have to really wrestle with, that's going to take a lot of time and energy from you, which time is money.

How I Got My Speakers Good Results

One of the things that I believe in as a speaker is that you might not be getting paid for your time as a speaker, but that doesn't mean that you can't leverage the opportunity to pay yourself in a little bit of a different way. That could be through using your affiliate link to promote this summit, but it also can be through what you set up in the backend of your website.

I encouraged all of my speakers to set up a tripwire. A tripwire is a low-cost digital product that is offered to your new subscribers instantly when they sign up for your email list, for a very limited window of time at a very discounted rate.

Summit Expenses

I was very careful with the summit. I made sure it'd be financially worthwhile. I was very budget-friendly. I capped my VA's hours to save money, hired my sister to take notes, and also watched videos myself. I used what I already used for my business and also purchased a lifetime membership for ThriveCart. 

Eden's Biggest Piece of Advice to You

Don't be afraid to fail with your summit and take risks. You always have an opportunity to do it again. You'll have new speakers, you'll have a new audience, there won't be a lot of overlap, so it's okay to be experimental.

About Eden

 Eden Fried is the "digital product lady!" After bailing on her plan to attend law school back in 2016 (despite paying her seat deposit, securing an apartment, dropping thousands on textbooks), Eden decided to try her hand at entrepreneurship instead. Since then, Eden mastered the art of making a full-time income with digital products (things like ebooks, courses, workshops, etc.) She's the host of the Rebel Boss Ladies podcast and the founder of Rebel Boss University, a membership community where she teaches rebels how to create and launch a digital product within 90 days. When Eden's not at work, she can be found at the gym throwing around some moderately heavy weights (emphasis on the word moderately) or rewatching an episode of Friends or How I Met Your Mother for the millionth time.

Your First 1K Online | Instant Customer

Resources

• Episode 31: Virtual Summit Tech Platforms
• Episode 88: Where To Save And Splurge When Planning Your Virtual Summit
• Eden's Instant Customer Guide
• Rebel Boss Ladies podcast
• Rebel Boss University
• ClickFunnels
• ThriveCart
• ConvertKit
• Summit Host Hangout Facebook group 

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