Four Rookie Virtual Summit Mistakes You’re Probably Making

Hosting a virtual summit? Good for you!

You’re in for an incredible experience. I have hosted six and what it did for my business is remarkable! You can do the same. You’ll grow your list, make some money, show off your expertise, and even make some important connections with leaders in your niche.

Using these business-building approaches helped me start two businesses and allowed me to stay at home with my son during 3.5 years of cancer treatment, buy a condo for my parents, and travel the country speaking and training (pre-COVID of course).

I have approached these tasks in many different ways. I have made a lot of mistakes along the way and offer these tips so you won't do the same. Here are a few rookie mistakes you may want to avoid:

Not leveraging your summit to finish your book

I know you may not have heard of this strategy before but I created a framework to help clients do both at the same time. By leveraging your summit this way, you will enjoy so much brand exposure for your book that you will have a jump start to becoming a top seller. To do it, however, creating a book has to be one of your major objectives from the very beginning and you need a process to complete your book while tapping into the expertise of industry leaders without being a content theft.

Not planning ahead

A virtual summit is a big commitment. There are all kinds of moving parts you must coordinate, including:

·      Multiple speakers and their many scheduling conflicts

·      Email autoresponder connections

·      Upsell and downsell opportunities

·      Landing and access page creation

·      Promotion schedules and marketing materials

Clearly, this is not something you can pull together in a few days. Take your time, and consider hiring an expert to help you keep everything moving forward.

Not getting out of your comfort zone

As the host of a virtual summit, you don’t get to fade into the background. Make a commitment to put yourself out there, not only when it comes to promoting your event, but also when inviting guests and letting everyone know that you are also writing a book. Reach for the stars, and don’t be afraid to approach your “dream” guest. You never know who might just say yes.

Not researching and testing everything

Your summit and book niche must be researched. Don't skip this vital step. What's already out there, what are the content gaps, and what are professional organizations saying. Set a goal and a plan for how much research you need to do. Get others to help you. Surprisingly, since you are using a summit leverage model, you will need to do far less research than you think.

Also, no single webpage should be published, and no email sent without thorough testing of everything, including:

·      Buttons—are they clickable and do they lead where you think they do?

·      Links—watch for broken links, placeholders and 404 errors.

·      Spelling and grammar—proofread everything, including the names of your presenters.

·      Upsell/downsell funnels—make sure products are buyable and easy to access.

·      Content delivery pages—do your videos and downloads work?

·      Guest offers—opt-in for all of your guests’ free offers to be sure they work as expected.

·      Timers and coupons (if you’re using them)

This is just the beginning. There are many moving parts. Feel free to review my free Masterclass that covers the 10 hot steps for producing a virtual summit and top-selling book at the same time, See - Https://zoom.us/rec/share/zRsLI1rizfqkOaW8wEJTpkqZqVrcY8Q5eZlp58AB3ox3-hqj6xBuytzJ_dV1qMpF.GWZYxUHKHXhpmPwH

If I can help, just let me know

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Angela Heath, Dean of the Virtual Speaking Academy, provides training and coaching to help business builders be more confident, comfortable and creative while speaking online to capture more customers.