Speaking on stage is one of the fastest ways to grow your visibility, build brand authority, and connect with your audience. But you don’t have to wait for the invitation to come to you–you can create your own stage by hosting a live or in-person event.
Shay Wheat is a visionary entrepreneur and CEO of Grace and Ease Productions, supporting entrepreneurs with event-based marketing and sales strategies. She and her team of Certified Event Producers™ produce impactful events to help entrepreneurs build authority, credibility, and visibility while rapidly scaling their businesses and saving time and money.
Shay has produced events from 50 to 4,000+ attendees and collaborated with well-known celebrities such as Dr. Oz, Lisa Nichols, Dr. Claire Zammit, Bill Baren, Alison J. Prince, Josh Turner, and many others. Her clients have made over $24 million in revenue, gaining over 3,500 new clients and changing the lives of over 16,000 attendees.
The Event Promise
A successful event isn’t just about selling people into your program. You need to provide a transformative experience, whether your attendees decide to do business with you or not. Shay calls this your “event promise” – the result your event will deliver. This should be related to but separate from your program’s promise.
Start by reverse engineering your goals for the event. If the goal is to convert people into your high-ticket coaching program, what do they need to know about that program? What beliefs need to shift and what information do they need to make a buying decision? The idea is that your audience could take the information from your event and do it on their own, or they could choose to take the shortcut and work with you.
Tips for Hosting a Profitable Event
At a well-executed event, you can expect to convert between 10-30% of attendees into paying clients. Some of Shay’s clients have closed up to 47% of the room. The exact number depends on the size of your event, the relationship you have with your audience, and whether your attendees are existing clients or not.
In-person events are effective but notoriously expensive. One area to save money is your contract negotiation with venues and vendors. Read over your contract in detail (or have your event planner do this for you) to make sure you aren’t paying for any unnecessary clauses.
Lastly, consider what stage of business you’re in and how your event fits into your vision. If you’re just starting out, you may want to focus on growing your audience before trying to fill 500 seats at an in-person event. If you don’t enjoy speaking in front of big crowds, maybe an intimate retreat is a better option. Tailor your event plan to meet your business strategy, whether you’re focused on lead generation, scaling, or client retention.
Enjoy this episode with CEO Shay Wheat…
Quotes

“Part of my superpower is helping to ground the client and to do things with as much ease and grace as possible, and that’s how the name of the company came about.
“That’s a huge piece of it, it’s not just about ‘I’m going to sell people into my program.’ No, you’re investing in your audience, whether or not they do business with you. That event promise is huge, that’s what we’re really making sure we’re delivering when we host an event.”
“The event promise is our north star. Whether people do business with you or not, they are going to leave with xyz because that is the promise of the event.”
“We’re not competing with other events. We’re competing with Netflix.”
“Think of your event as the appetizer and the full-course meal is your program, your high-ticket offer.”
Links mentioned in this episode:

Podcast Resources
Visit Shay’s website: http://ShayWheat.com
Grace and Ease Productions: http://GraceAndEaseProductions.com
Connect with Shay on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/shaywheat/
Certification program: https://shaywheat.com/cep/
High-Profit Events Playbook freebie: https://highprofitevents.com/

Connect with The Business of You
Visit the Business of You on the web
Like The brandiD on Facebook
Follow The brandiD on LinkedIn
Join us on Instagram
Learn more about Branding on The brandiD Blog