Lots of people agree that giving talks can help promote their business, but are reluctant to do so because it is considered as an extra option or they don’t know the procedures of organizing one.
Still, imagine giving a talk to a crowded room of potential customers…and then having 90% of them ask for an estimate or quote!
Don’t you think it’s lucrative?
Most marketers don’t know how to “work” a speaking opportunity properly to maximize the number of leads and sales generated from their presentation.
Typically, when you give a speech in a room of 50 to 100 people, how many approach you when you’re done and give you their business card?
Only a handful, right?
But with the “green sheet” method, you can increase the ‘capture’ rate of attendee names and addresses in the room from just a few percent to 75% or higher.
Here’s how it works…
Before your talk, create a one-page document with some tips, resources, or other valuable content.
Print one copy on your laser printer on green offset stock. Bring this one copy only (and this is important: no multiple copies) with you to the meeting.
Around the middle of your talk, after making an important point, say something like: “If you’d like more information on this, I have a free tip sheet/resource guide.”
Hold up the green sheet and continue: “If you want a free copy, just write ‘GS’ for ‘green sheet’ on your business card, and hand it to me after the presentation.”
When you do this, the audience will swarm the podium after you finish speaking, eagerly shoving their business cards at you to get the free green sheet…and in return, you will capture their names and addresses.
If your talk is accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation, you can use a variation of the green sheet method.
Tell attendees that they can get a free copy of your PowerPoint e-mailed to them.
All they have to do is write “PP” for PowerPoint on their business card and hand it to you.
At some events, the conference sponsor gives attendees a big binder with copies of the PowerPoint presentations already in it.
But the reproductions usually have multiple copies per page, to save paper, and those smaller slides are difficult to read.
You can then tell attendees, “My PowerPoint is in your conference book, but some of the slides may be hard to read. If you want me to e-mail an electronic copy of the PowerPoint to you in full size, just give me your business card.”
My colleague, Internet Marketing expert Fred Gleeck, likes to automate the process.
Instead of collecting business cards and sending out follow-up material, he tells attendees to go to a web page where they can download the free material.
To download the freebie, the visitor has to give you his name and e-mail address, which you capture and add to your e-list.
Of the above variations, my favorite method of capturing leads from speaking engagements remains the “green sheet” method for a few reasons.
First, it’s proactive. You promise to do the work of sending them the freebie they requested. You don’t sit around and hope they call you or visit your website later to get it.
Second, it has the highest capture rate. You get 75% or more of the audience giving you their contact information vs. only 20% or less of the audience who go to your website after the conference to request your free information.
Third, you get all their contact information—including e-mail and snail mail addresses—because you are getting their business card.
Fourth, as audience members hand their business cards to you, a percentage will express interest in not just getting the green sheet, but in exploring the possibility of hiring you.
Jot a brief note about their needs and requests on the back of the business card they hand you, and follow up the next day when you get back to the office.
When you put these name-capture techniques into practice, you will not only double or triple your seminar leads, you’ll also get more high quality leads from your workshop marketing.
As Fred Gleeck points out, the quality of a sales lead is proportional to the proximity of the prospect (did anyone already know this fundamental rule in offine marketing?).
When you get a click on your site from an Internet user in Hong Kong, the likelihood of doing business with him is slim.
If you get a phone call from a postcard mailing you did to prospects in your town, the lead quality and likelihood of closing a sale go up, because the prospect is much closer to you.
At a seminar or speech, the prospect is as close to you as he can get—literally in the same room with you.
And so lead quality…and the chances of a sale…are at their highest.
But to close seminar leads, you have to first get those leads.
You do this by asking for them proactively—using the “green sheet” method or the other seminar prospecting techniques described here.
Bob Bly is the author of “World’s Best Copywriting Secrets” and has written copy for more than 100 companies including IBM, Boardroom, Medical Economics and AT&T. He is the author of more than 75 books and a columnist for Target Marketing, Early To Rise and The Writer. McGraw-Hill calls him “America’s top copywriter”.