As business owners, we have these epic ideas and we have these fully formed visions for where we want to go. But we need help finding the starting line. And if that's you when it comes to starting or scaling events in your business, then this episode is for you.
Inquiring minds want to know, how are entrepreneurs like us daring bravely to build a stage? Ditch the sleight of hands and step up to the mic?
How do we create our own transformative events?
So we can get our message out into the world in a bigger way. It's not only profitable, but it's actually something we can be proud.
That's the question.
And the answers are inside this podcast.
My name is Sarah fee for welcome to Green Room Central.
Hey, it Sarah, I have an invitation for you right now. You can join entrepreneurs from across the globe who share a passion for hosting their own events become part of the community that inspires and cheers you on over at Green Room central.com.
Well, hello linchpin nation, and I'm so excited to be here with you today. And I've got something fun to share.
Well I think it's fun, because I'm super passionate about events, I want to give you the the three step formula to putting on World Class events.
And if right now you're saying but Sarah, I'm not aiming for world class right now I'm aiming for getting started, well, then this is for you.
I wanted to break down the process and kind of demystify putting on your own events, whether that's a mastermind or a conference, or a small group program that you just want to elevate just a little, this is the process, this is the framework to the lens within you should look at every single virtual or in person or hybrid event, you're going to start to plan.
I want to break it down for you into three phases.
And they are picture it, plan it and produce it.
And don't worry, I'm gonna break it all down for you. But if you're taking notes, write that down, picture it, plan it produce it, that's all you got to remember right now.
So when we're diving into the first step, picturing it, this is where you cast your vision for why you're hosting an event that makes sense to follow, then you're using this time to really paint a picture of the experience that you want to create.
And I'm going to share how to do that. First, you're going to figure out your two y's. So those two y's are pretty simple.
Why are you hosting this event for your business?
And why are you hosting this event for your community?
Okay, so for example, for your business, you know, you want to make money? Well, okay, then let's be clear, let's put that on the top of the like list of why you're hosting this event.
It's going to serve as a North Star as you move into all the other planning for your event. Second, is why are you hosting this event for your community? What are they going to get it out of it out of it? Why are they going to think differently?
What are they going to do differently? What are you going to help them like workshop? Like, what's, what's the why? What's in it for them? Okay. And I want you to clear crystal clear on this.
There's, there's no phoning caterers or shopping for cute swag items before you complete this step. Okay. All right.
So moving on, I want you to figure out next what experience you're building.
So under picture it we've got two why's and then we've got a what and this is where you map out the content kind of the the agenda for the the live time that you have together with your guests and the environment that you're going to wrap it in.
So all the other stuff that goes into an event like you know if it's in person, what venue you want to host it at, that's the what the content and the environment that you wrap it in.
Lastly, under picture it is who so we've got two wise a what and now who and the who is is pretty self explanatory, but you're identifying who should be in the room. And it doesn't matter if it's a virtual room or a physical one.
I want you to be so clear on who should be there and perhaps maybe even more importantly, who shouldn't be there. What you've got is for somebody, and it's also not for a whole lot of other people.
And I want you to be so clear on this, because this room that you're putting together is full of serendipity, and magic. And the magic gets awful little, if you're just filling the room with all these warm bodies, they're not gonna meld the way that you envision it to be, and something's just gonna feel off in the room.
And so I want you to be so super crystal clear on who, who you're for and who you're not for. So that that, I mean, you've done this in your business up till now, right in your marketing, like when you're Mercury marketing, other products and services, the same goes true for your event, don't get freaked out about your, you know, a fear of not filling your event, and flooded with people that shouldn't be there, okay? Now, you're doing all of this, in this picture at phase, this casting your vision, this, the wide times to the what and the who you're doing this so that you don't lose direction throughout the rest of the planning process.
I want it to be the motivation that keeps you going, when times get tough. I want your vision to be the lighthouse that really guides you through this process.
And you're going to feel like when you do this, you're gonna feel like you're making something that matters. And I know that's important to you in this process.
Yes.
So it's just like, why we as entrepreneurs are always writing down our goals. Every single day, you know, you've got your notebook, the constant reminder keeps us on the right path.
And as someone with with focus and attention issues, this is especially important. Alright, so now let's move on to the next step planning it. So this is the second phase. This is where you design your event with purpose. And how do you do that?
That's a great question. And you answer that question by answering three questions. So the first question is, when when are you communicating, it's so important to have a plan for when you're communicating not only to market your event, promote it, but before, during, and after your event to your guests. And then it is so important that this consistency carries through through all the phases of the event, because when you're consistent, your vision doesn't get lost, your vision is carried to the event on the back of your communication. And so you need to have a plan for when you're communicating. Okay, it's it's it's not unlike any other marketing plan that you have for a launch. Because this one's so important. I want you to start this one in your journal. If you're taking notes, you cannot overdo your communications. The second thing under planet that I want you to keep in mind is who is your support team, I want you to know who your support team is because you're going to need to ask for help. Otherwise, you're going to burn out.
This is especially true for in person events. But it is also very, very, very true for virtual events. You'll need someone there in a virtual setting who can be helping manage the chat who can be helping manage guests support during the event.
You're going to need someone to you know, work on responding to your guests in a timely manner in a virtually virtual setting if they needed anything.
In an in person setting of course you're you're going to need to help with, you know, the schlepping of the stuff you're going to need help with the setting up of the the tech with you know food if you're serving it.
All of these things you cannot be your highest and best self onstage you know even if that's just in front of you know 10 People in an intimate, you know high ticket setting you cannot be your highest and best self if you are doing all the things yourself.
And so whether your event is virtual or in person, your need your to need support. And I know that you know this because you didn't get this far in business, doing things yourself, you've been very carefully all along the way asking yourself the question of, What can I do today? What decision can I make today, that will help me do less tomorrow. And that delegation skill that you've been honing is going to be so very, very useful when you move into adding events in your business, because the same thing holds true, you can't do it all. And if you try, you're going to give less than you wanted to give to your event guests. And I know when you're live with people, you want to show up as your best self. Alright, so let's move on to number three. Under planet we've got we've got when are you communicating? Who is your support team? And now we're moving on to where, where's the money coming in and going out? All I want you to know right now is that the key to profitability with your events?
Is an awareness of the money stuff. It is that simple. I mean, yes, we can make it super complex. And we will probably have episodes down the road where we dive in deep on this one.
But I want you to know that you cannot stick your head in the sand and expect to come out profitable on the other end, it's gonna require a detailed awareness of the money stuff, okay? Now, when you do these three things well, when you nail the planning phase of your event, when you design it purposely, when when you know when you're communicating, and who is your support team, and you know where the money is coming in and going out, you're going to avoid losing confidence along the way.
And I can't underscore enough that confidence when it comes to hosting your own events is huge, huge. Mindset is one of the two things that people who are new to hosting events, and extremely experienced at hosting events is the two things that they all share in common that they worry about mindset, and filling it this combination of things, the communication, the support, the money stuff, when you are able to nail these three things, you really are able to build up a sense of confidence in what you're working on, that's going to serve you so well.
Throughout this process, I can't underline this one enough for you, I want you to feel so, so darn confident about this transformative experience that you're creating for your guests. And this is the key right here in this planning phase.
So who's excited to plan an event now? Right, so let's move on to producing it. Hey, I don't want you to miss out. Did you know that this conversation always continues inside the linchpin nation community. It's a free modern discussion forum exclusively for greenroom central listeners that will have a profound impact on the way you look at events in your business. Get answers to your biggest questions here behind the scenes nuggets from event leaders, and get access to helpful templates, guides and checklists. As you start and scale events in your business, be part of the daily discussion with entrepreneurs just like you, you can join for free over at greenlam central.com. I'll see you inside.
This is that third phase that I've been talking to you about this is where we make it happen.
This is this is where the magic happens, you know, either on site at an in person event or the day of for a virtual event.
And this is where we make things happen with excellence. And you put all the work of you know, that you put into picturing it and planning it, put all that work into your event and we don't want anything to get in the way of you hitting your target.
There are some things that we put in place to manage all of that kind of day of stuff. So that you know the balls stay in the air. Right. So that we you know, eliminate problems for their problems. There's one step to ensuring that you really knock it out of the park on event day.
And I call it the the how times two, it breaks down like this. How will you stay organized so how are you going to manage the project that is your live event? You know, an event is like a project like anything else in your business. It allows you to keep all the balls in the air.
And I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna sugarcoat things here and, and pretend like, it's no big deal. There's a lot of balls to manage when it comes to keeping the planning for your event organized and moving forward.
But it's important that you treat your event just like any other project in your business, and you stay organized and you set deadlines. So how will you stay organized?
That's that's a question to answer. In this produce it phased and then the second thing to think about here is, is just knowing how to be proactive so that you eliminate problems before they become problems. And what do I mean by that?
It simply means being prepared. It's, I like to think of it as like a visualization one on one. I want you to picture the journey that you and your guests will move through and make sure that you've got all the things that you need along the way. Are you going to make an offer? Did you create the offer forum, if it's in person, or if it's virtual, do you have the link ready, who's going to drop the link in the chat. You know, if you're in person who's going to hand the order forms, the offer forms out, like Where were you, your guests go when they completed them. It's like that level of detail of visualizing the journey that your guests are on with you, is absolutely vital to ensuring that you eliminate problems before they become problems. And that's when things look like you know, it's easy, breezy. So two things, know how to manage the project and know how to be productive or proactive.
It's really all about organization and preparation. And you've been living this since the day you started your own business. So I know you can do this, it's just about remembering that this is a key piece of events, too. Sometimes, I think it's easy to forget, you know, when we're starting a journey on adding a new piece to our business, all of the fundamentals that really apply across so many facets of life in business, right? This getting organized this preparation part, it really helps you ensure results, I don't think I have to say this, but I'm gonna do it anyways, success in front of a live audience feels so good. And I want you, I want you to have that I want that for you, I want you to get where you're going. You know, like, I know that you have this vision of this event dream like on your heart, and I want you to, I want you to get there and achieve that like exactly what you set out to achieve back in that picture at phase that we started with.
And I want you to achieve transformation and growth for your community, all the y's that you set up to achieve when you know for your guests back in that picture, it's step and it's all all about nailing this, this produce it phase which is again those two, those two, how's like how you're gonna stay organized?
And how are you gonna, you know, be prepared to kind of prevent the problems before their problems. So that's the formula. It's it's three steps, three phases. I think if I were to give you an action step, you know from this episode today, what I want you to do kind of sometime in the next 72 hours while this is still fresh in your mind, is just kind of review any notes you took. You know it I love to jot notes down on my phone while I'm listening to podcasts on the go. You know, if you're feeling like you're stuck, or you have questions, or you just need like, you know, a piece of advice to get going just drop a question in my DMs after the after you listen to this episode, and I'll help you get unstuck. I'm really all about staying in a state of momentum. I really think staying in a state of momentum is all about not tolerating being stuck. So raise your hand ask a question in my DMs if if something comes up and just remember, you know, it's super simple, it's three steps. It's picture it planet and produce it. And you can do three steps, right?
Yes. All right. Awesome.
Thank you for hanging out with me today on this first episode of green room Central.
I'm thrilled and excited For you to be a part of this journey with me, learning from all of these amazing guests that I have lined up for you, I'm excited. I'm really really excited to help provide inspiration and strategies for you, so that it helps motivate you and arm you with the information you need to take the next step on your event journey in your business. Thank you for listening to the greenroom central podcast. If you love this episode, then please take a screenshot on your phone and post it to Instagram. And be sure to tag at Sarah Fejfar. And let me know why you liked it and what you'd like to hear more of, or who you'd like to hear from in the future that will help me know what to create for you. And if it's on your heart to host your first or next event in 2022 and you need a jumpstart let's connect for a strategy session just go to green room central.com. In a two hour intensive, private session, I can help you pivot scale or start your event vision from scratch. Together, we're going to build an actionable plan so that you feel confident and clear on your next steps. Go to www dot greenroom central.com right now.
Now in case you're curious, this podcast is built on Kajabi. I am loving how easy it's been to get things set up but but more so I'm thrilled that my entire business is run within one platform, from my emails to my pages to My Courses and now to my podcast. It's all under one roof. If you love simplicity and scalability as much as I do, then I recommend you go to greenroom central.com to get a free 14 day trial run from Kajabi, who I am thrilled to say is a sponsor of this podcast.
I appreciate your commitment to leveling up and learning the mindset and strategy of live events. Keep going. Keep learning if you want more, head over to greenroom central COMM For show notes and all the links from today's episode
