One of the most challenging components to sponsoring a course of any kind is getting people to show up. I’m Rich Sands, Head Honcho at Rich Sands Seminars. I have been the instructor very well attended courses, and I have been in some real lonely ones.
What I’ve noticed in the last 19 years is that your instructor choice can be one of the major factors in whether or not you are placing butts in the seats or having one of those loneliness experiences. It makes sense that with some planning, cooperation, hard work and caring, you and your instructor should be able to achieve a standing room only scenario and make everyone extremely happy.
So in keeping with that idea of everyone being happy, anyone who hires me in 2022 receives the marketing package/pledge, a six point commitment from me to you. It outlines the possibilities we might explore in the marketing of a course…. at least from my end. You may utilize the whole package, or pick and choose the parts that work for you. We both have the same goal, and my thought is, if you and your attendees are happy, I’ll be happy.
So here is the five-point marketing pledge:
- Flyers.
Flyers are a long used, very traditional marketing piece. They can be used for email marketing, handing out in person at other classes, or sent by the USPS. Flyers create a great opportunity to share the course description, the benefits of taking the course, citing location, time, date, cost, as well as registration and contact information.
Flyers come in various types:
1. Informational. Everything anyone could possibly want to know.
2. Visual. Flyers made for the quick look when you have 2-5 seconds maybe in an email preview window. They are Powerful visuals combined with short, informative bullet points. All pleasing to the eye.
3.Benefit driven. flyers can show a competitive advantage gained in attending a course outside of just the course content like a designation, certification, credits or some other additional benefit of attending
4. Testimonial The testimonial flyer allows the potential attendee access to the recommendation of others who found the course to be beneficial.
5. Combos. All little bit of several types.
When appropriate, we may use one course to feed, then another sort of cross pollinating the marketing.
2. Social Media.
With social media becoming many people’s window to the world, it can present itself as a great marketing venue.
The SM Quick Hit is designed to be visually driven to answer the big question, by asking a smaller one. Using your contacts and/or mine, Quick Hits are effective in Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, Snapchat. Below are a few examples…
What people really want to know is “what is the one thing I’ll learn in this course that will make a difference.?”
The quick hit asks a smaller question like “it’s the listing season, are you ready to compete?” to get possible attendees thinking, can this course help me?
In another one the question is “does your website meet the two biggest needs consumers have?” well i don’t even know what needs consumers have so i had better show up for this class!
3. Video.
The world has gone video mad. It is estimated that over half of all internet activity is people watching videos. So, knowing that, why wouldn’t any sponsor or provider be hitting their potential attendees with relevant, benefit driven videos describing the following:
- The benefits of taking the course
- An explanation of the certification, designation, or course “perk”
- The instructor’s unique take on how the course is relevant to today’s business
- How the course fits in the goals of the provider
Videos are easy to include in email and social media marketing Here are a couple of examples
this one is very simple: top benefits to taking the RENE course. https://youtu.be/B5ur0QKAT-E
This one, while also focusing on the benefits of taking the course, goes deeper into not just the course contents, but why the course is important. https://youtu.be/3LVR4Oo7QPg
Videos can be found at https://richsandsseminars.com/course-gallery/. OR https://www.youtube.com/user/runningrealtorrich/videos?view_as=subscriber
4. ZOOM Meetings, Webinars, Podcasts, Group Calls.
Many times a little content or instructor exposure online, before the course can be just the thing to create agent urgency when it comes to registering for a course. Webinars can take many different directions. The most popular are:
- Creating an instructor led Q & A about course content
- Taking a course topic and teasing it
- Taking a course topic and expanding on it
- Taking a related topic and using it to reinforce instructor credibility
AND……
5. My pledge to you includes my pledge to your attendees. Whenever I have taken a course, I am are inundated with a bunch of fantastic stuff. I get back to the office, and wonder, “what next?” In my courses, Every agent who wishes to participate receives a follow-up email within twenty-four hours that includes”
- A sincere thank you for attending the course
- Forms, graphics, charts and more directly related to course content
- An action plan for what to do in order to implement that which they have learned
- A book list and follow-up resource guide
- The date for the next locally sponsored course
After 15 years of teaching high schoolers, and 19 teaching salespeople, what I’ve discovered is that I just enjoy the crap out of helping people become the best they want to be. So, My bonus pledge is that I will make it my highest priority to deliver a knowledgable, focused, relevant, fun experience for your attendees. After our time together, they will truly understand my mission: do what you love, love what you do.
SO……
So here is how this works: As soon as we book and contractually agree on the terms of a course, I send you the whichever of the following that you request:
- 3 Flyer types of your choice
- 6 Social Media Quick Hits
- 2 Customized Videos emphasizing the benefits of taking the course
- 1 ZOOM course teaser, content choice by mutual agreement
- The Follow-up email for attendees
My BONUS pledge to you… my fee isn’t higher because I’m doing these extra activities, my fee is the same as it would be anyway. I simply just want to bring more value and a more complete education experience. I simply want you and everyone who attends to have a RICH Experience.
Feel free to peruse my website at www.richsandsseminars.com for more information. Follow this link to see descriptions of the classes I share. https://richsandsseminars.com/courses/
If I may be of service to you and those you represent, don’t hesitate to call me at 303-817-5329, email me at richteaches@gmail.com, or both. Thanks. And let’s make 2022 awesome!