Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Seminars as a Marketing Strategy

Q: I am a CPA and was thinking of offering some seminars as a way to drum up business next tax season. I was wondering if you have any thoughts on this sort of marketing strategy that may be of use.

Jeff, Idaho

A: Well, it just so happens that this is an area with which I am very familiar.

When I opened my first business, a law practice, I began by advertising my bankruptcy services in the “Business Directory” of the local paper. Although the phone started ringing right away, almost every caller wanted to compare my prices to the other lawyers in the directory. I learned quickly that if I wanted any of this business, I had to undercut everyone else's prices. Yet since being the cheapest bankruptcy lawyer in town was not the brand I wanted to create, I knew I had to find a better way to set myself apart; something that would allow me to charge what I was really worth.

And then it hit me. Seminars.

So I placed an ad for a “FREE BANKRUPTCY SEMINAR” in the paper, rented a reception room at a local hotel, and hoped for the best.

I need not have worried. My three workshops that day drew about 100 people, and over the next few months, many of them became clients. The best part was that since the seminar established me as the expert, these clients neither blinked nor balked when I quoted my fee. They were happy to get me to be their lawyer, not because I was the cheapest, but because they perceived me to be the best.

For the next seven years, until I gave up the full-time practice of law, I got all of my clients through these seminars.

Along the way I noticed that many other professionals use seminars to create more business: Liposuction doctors, Lasik eye surgeons, living trust lawyers, and so on. It is not hard to understand why: Seminars offer many advantages that could be of use to almost any professional:

As indicated, being in front of a room full of people supplying information they need makes you the expert. People pay more for that expertise.
Whereas your print or media marketing is inevitably less personal, seminars enable you to establish immediate rapport with the people who attend.
The people who are present may hire you right away, or instead, they may go home, think about things, and then hire you down the road. Either way, you will be remembered above the din.
You will build your brand by virtue of other people seeing your ad again and again. This in and of itself has tangential benefits.

If you do decide to offer seminars, keep these tips in mind:

Start small. A small, inexpensive ad is a good way to see if this strategy works for you. After a test run or two, and you see that your seminar is going to work, then you can spend more and go for bigger results. I started with a small ad, saw that it pulled, and eventually advertised on television and the local major newstalk station during drive time.
It is a good idea to have your ad say “seating is limited, call for reservations.” The night before the seminar, everyone who signed up should be called back to confirm their attendance.
Choose a well-known hotel or other location that is easy for people to find.
Have handouts containing your contact information.
Deliver objective, helpful information. Do not spend your seminar time selling yourself. Save that until the end. I used to say, “Well, now that I have given you an hour of free information, you have to listen to my one minute ‘commercial’ about why I am the attorney you could hire.” The soft sell worked.

Not only are seminars a proven way to get more business, but they are fun too.

Today’s tip: When speaking at your seminar, keep these speaking tips in mind:

Know your speech inside and out
Be friendly, personal, and professional
Be animated and energetic
Use humor
Save time at the end to answer individual questions