Seminar Planning - How much will you charge?

The other day I was talking to a speaker about her upcoming seminars. She had chosen a topic in which she was an expert and had good information to share that would help entrepreneurs grow their businesses. She planned to charge what sounded like an acceptable price but the more she told me about her seminar, the more I was concerned that she would not be able to cover her costs, let alone make a profit. We sat down and reviewed her goals for her seminar and discussed her budget.

This is where you really need to start with your planning - writing goals and setting budgets. I know, this can be considered the boring parts. It is more fun to visit different venues, select menus, design handouts - anything but make goals and plan budgets! But how will you know your seminar is a success unless you have something to measure against? And how will you spend appropriately, and not go into debt, without knowing how much money you have available to spend?

If your goal is to make money off of the admission price alone, you need to charge enough to cover the cost of renting the venue, food and beverage, marketing, travel and any staff costs you incur while planning and holding your seminar. If however, you plan to sell products and services during your seminar or sign up new clients who will buy your products and services, the price of admission is not as important. In fact, some speakers hold free events, sharing a wealth of information on their topic, so they can sell the audience expensive courses, CD sets, coaching, memberships and other products and services.

Set your goals and your budget and determine how you plan to make a profit. Then you can determine how much you are going to charge.

For basic information on products you can create and sell, read "Speak and Grow Rich" by Dottie and Lilly Walters