01/21/2021
I remember my flight home from San Diego like it was yesterday.
I had just wrapped another successful event with some of my favorite clients, and I felt like the world was my oyster.
2019 had been the most successful year in my business, and I could feel the momentum building.
I was doing what I love, with clients that I adored and earning money to fund a lifestyle that brought me true fulfillment.
And within the span of a week, it all came to a screeching halt.
What came next was a flurry of phone calls and emails to and from clients and hotels, arranging cancellations and postponements.
After the dust had settled, my once vibrant calendar of events looked bare for the next 90 days.
Almost the next day, event industry leaders were urging me to PIVOT! PIVOT! PIVOT to virtual.
But this had to be temporary, right?
Surely by July. . .
Surely by September. . .
Before I knew it, I had plucked every last contract off the calendar for 2020.
It was May before I really started getting serious about virtual events, as I saw the writing on the wall.
But who will attend a virtual event? I thought.
Can I recreate the magical experiences from past in-person events on a digital platform?
How are my clients going to make offers and sell their programs?
Our guests will miss out on networking and all the fun social aspects of our events!
I was not a fan.
But, I knew that I had to learn the craft for the sake of my clients and their communities.
SO. . . I attended multiple virtual events and trainings in my industry to gain as much knowledge as possible and see what others were experiencing in the field.
I was pleasantly surprised to hear tales of astronomical sales numbers and exponential growth in attendance for virtual events compared to their in-person counterparts.
Maybe there was hope for my clients after all?
I got to put my new-found knowledge into practice for a client for the first time in June, and despite the fact that there were only 45 attendees, the virtual event generated $34,398 in revenue.
Not bad for a one-day event with only 2 weeks of preparation.
Oh, and his costs totaled a whopping $1,700. That’s a ROI of over 1900%!
At that moment I was hooked and couldn’t wait to do it again for my other clients.
The next virtual event was a 2-day format that produced $250k in gross revenue with a cost of less than $20k, and more than that, at both events, the guests were highly engaged and grateful to have the opportunity to connect and learn from the event host and guest speakers.
Across the board, virtual events proved to be a huge success for all of my clients as a great way to connect with and educate their followers and generate the same (or more) revenue they were used to from their past in-person events.
As of the end of 2020, I am now a stone-cold believer in virtual events, and I know my clients will continue to keep them as a tool in their toolbox for years to come.
If you’ve been considering hosting a virtual event to grow your business but don’t know where to start, I created a FREE Virtual Event Checklist to give you some guidance.
https://www.virtualeventplaybook.com/checklist
Now is the best time to get in the game and host your own event, so download the checklist and get started!
To Your Success,
Christy ❤️
Want to host a virtual event - but not sure where to start? Grab the checklist now
