4 Reasons to Host a Virtual Summit as a Course Creator
Once you have a proven signature course (or membership, group program, or other scalable offer) your next goal is to get that offer in front of fresh eyes. This is the point where most course creators tend to jump on the hamster wheel of creating content and trying every lead-generation strategy out there to get new leads...and it's exhausting.
I have good news!
There is a way to get out of this exhausting cycle by hosting a virtual summit that will fill your funnel with leads and help you make more signature course sales. There are many ways that hosting a virtual summit can be beneficial for any business, but it's an especially effective strategy for course creators.
Here are 4 reasons why:
Reason #1: Thousands Of Warm + High-Quality Leads
Think about it: What do you feel is the biggest reason your funnel isn’t making more sales? If you could improve one thing about your funnel, what would it be?
More leads, right?
You have an incredible offer that sells, you have the pieces of your funnel set up, you just need more people to go through it.
I show this with really clear visuals in my 3-part framework training that you can get access to by applying and being accepted to the Summit in a Box® Accelerator, but right now you’re doing so many things to fuel your funnel…
- Running ads
- engaging on social
- creating content week in and week out
- and probably a whole lot more!
But, a summit can generate more leads faster and more efficiently than all those things combined.
Not to mention the fact that…
Reason #2: You’re making money to generate those leads
…you’re making money to make those leads, which is the second reason you should be hosting a summit as a course creator!
With a lot of the lead generation methods that you could, in theory, scale to the size of a summit, you’d need to throw tens of thousands of dollars at an ad platform to even have a *chance* that it would work.
Back 2020, ads were working incredibly well for us, and I was spending $15,000 on ads per month and seeing a return. So I'm not saying that ads are a bad thing, but a virtual summit can get you the same number of leads AND turn an immediate profit without cutting into your course launch revenue.
How does that work?
When you host a summit, the event itself is free. This makes it incredibly easy (with a well-positioned event) to draw in thousands of leads and makes it a no-brainer for speakers to promote. Why wouldn't they want to promote something high-value and free?
But after that free ticket, you give attendees the opportunity to upgrade to an all-access pass.
If you host a typical summit using standard summit strategies, that all-access pass would lead you to break even on the event. But if you’re using our strategies that typically bring in 3x higher results, you’d see a great profit just from the event alone.
For example…
- My $121,000 summit had a $70,000 profit.
- A client who hosted a smaller $25,000 event had a $16,000 profit.
- A client who hosted a $75,000 summit had $61,000 in profit.
Those all include affiliate payouts taken out before we counted the profit, and don't even include any revenue from the course launch yet - it’s just pure profit.
So making money to generate leads for your course is another reason you should really consider a summit as a course creator.
Reason #3: The Magic Of Collaboration
Sticking with the theme of the leads here is my third reason you should host a summit as a course creator: The magic of collaboration.
I have a question for you: What would it normally take for you to make 15 new industry connections, get those connections to engage with something you’re doing, and promote that thing you’re doing with actual success?
Option 1: Affiliates for a promotion
You could try to find 15 people who’d be willing to be affiliates for a launch. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never gotten super excited to promote a launch of someone I don’t really know. I’ve done it for 3 of my very closest business friends, who also happen to have super relevant offers, but it takes a lot for me to say yes to that.
This method has a few challenges though…
- Challenge #1: Finding 15 “perfect fits” who would actually agree.
- Challenge #2: Getting those 15 people to do any sort of promotion.
- Challenge #3: Getting a single conversion through that promotion.
Generally speaking, unless you go all out with your affiliate program, they aren’t going to double, triple, or more your normal launch results.
Option 2: JV webinars
What usually gets more effective promotion and engagement than an affiliate promotion is a more in-depth JV webinar. So, instead of the 15 affiliates, you have 15 JV webinars lined up.
Does that sound enjoyable to you? It sure doesn’t to me.
Back in 2020 after I launched our original Summit in a Box® program, I played the JV webinar game.
- I’d connect with people and talk to them until I felt comfortable asking.
- I made some cold pitches.
- I really went all-in on JV webinars for a few months.
- I got 4 webinars lined up over the course of 2 months.
It was exhausting. I couldn't have done more than 2 a month, so it would’ve taken me at least 8 months to make the 15 webinars happen.
With those 4 webinars, I made a total of $24,500, which was $14,700 after affiliate payouts, which definitely isn’t bad, I was super happy with that.
But then I launched my course with a summit…
Option 3: Course Launch After A Summit
By launching my course with a summit…
- I got 3x as many leads as I got in the JV webinars
- made over $63k in course sales on top of the all-access pass revenue - that more than covered expenses, including affiliates!
I’m not saying JV webinars don’t work or are bad. In fact, they are a great compliment to increase sales between summits.
But, launching with a summit…
- took less time to see results
- made pitching less uncomfortable
- brought in significantly better results
If you have a course, membership, or high-ticket program, you should be launching through a summit at least once per year.
Reason #4: Attendees Want The Next Step
So many summit hosts run an incredible event and then…it’s just over! The fact that attendees want the next step by the time you’re done with that summit is reason #4.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve done that exact thing and ended my summit with no launch for 4 out of my 7 summits.
But the thing is, the people who are engaged with your event don’t want their progress to stop!
- They may have just discovered you and quickly come to love what you do - a process that might usually take months with traditional funnels.
- Or they might feel like they made progress toward where they want to be through the summit, and they're ready to solve the ultimate problem they came to solve.
This is the perfect opportunity to use that momentum to launch your course!
When you position a virtual summit the right way, both in terms of the event itself as well as how it relates to your course, membership, or group program, your attendees want that next step from you.
Both myself and clients have experienced this. When they know you have another offer that can take them further, they will literally beg you to open your cart and take their money. I have screenshots of attendees saying this at my summits, and I’ve had clients tell me the same thing!
Attendees want that next step when you do this the right way. It’s such a powerful and feel-good way to get those extra sales rolling in.
A Strategy That Can't Be Beat.
I hope you’re excited and inspired when you imagine what’s possible when you host a summit as a course creator and use it to launch your signature course.
If you’re successfully selling a course, membership, or group program, hosting a summit should definitely be on your radar for your next big launch.
There’s nothing else out there that will…
- bring in thousands of warm + high-quality leads
- pay you to do it
- leverage the magic of collaboration
- leave attendees begging for you to take their money
Really…you should give it a try!
Free Training Series: Summit to Sales
Learn how virtual summits can become your most effective lead generation strategy, cash injection method, and lead to a long-term, reliable increase in sales of your signature offer.