Eight simple strategies to help fill your next event

If you have an office or store front location, running an open house event is a powerful way to attract new clients. This gives prospects a chance to meet you and that helps them to get to know and like you to build trust. People do business with those they know and like.

The question is how do you spread the word and get people to attend? You want the room to be full for this event to be most effective. My favorite strategies are below to help you pack the house.

1. Create a powerful reason to attend. Put yourself in your ideal clients’ shoes and ask “What would compel me to attend this event?” Everyone is kind of skeptical, so you need a big draw to get people interested. You could hand out prizes, but make them connected to your business. Or run a networking event. There’s got to be a “What’s in it for me?” reason to get people to attend in big numbers.

2. Choose a day mid-week for the best response. Most people would rather not spend a night they usually go out to attend an open house. That’s why earlier in the week, Tuesday and Wednesday night, work better. Thursday and Friday nights, people rather spend with their partners, friends, or family.

3. Create a flyer. Communicating all your event details in a flyer makes sharing the event easy. Keep it simple, but do include all the details.

4. Hand out your flyer everywhere you network. Having a flyer makes your life easier because all the details are in one place. You can pass them out at your BNI meeting and any where you plan to network.

5. Email the flyer or announcement to your list. Email marketing is still a powerful way to communicate details. Use a catchy subject line to improve the open rate so more people learn about the event.

6. Post your event on Social Media. Let your fans know about the event so they can attend. Ask fans to share the event with their friends to spread the word beyond your reach.

7. Send a press release to the local paper. If your event is free, newspapers will often publish your event in the calendar section. You can also post to your town’s local news source online.

8. Ask your clients to bring friends to the event. Enlist your friends, family and colleagues for help to fill the room.

Your Client Attraction Assignment:

If you haven’t tried an open house event, try one soon. Spend time brainstorming a strong program title. Come up with the compelling reason to attend – the prizes, networking or what will draw people to the event. Then implement the program to meet lots of new prospects interested in what you do.