Customer Reviews

How to Develop and Promote Successful Seminars and Workshops: The Definitive Guide to Creating and Marketing Seminars, Workshops, Classes, and Conferences

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

By "depends" I mean your level of experience. If you're new at seminars and workshops this book is a solid goldmine of basic information. Shenson did a good job of providing the theories and the very practical. Lots of forms and check off lists. Good basic stuff. If, on the other hand, you have experience - it's a bit elementary, and a bit dated. With a 1990 copyright, the book pre-dates PowerPoint for example. The focus of the material is definitely on the promotion of the workshop - not the development. While there's much it doesn't speak to - it's a good starter for the novice.

This is a good introductory book for those that need to develop and promote successful seminars and workshops. The book covers what one needs to know about developing a program, market testing, setting the right fees, marketing, promotion, advertising and publicity. The reader is provided with useful practical tips and advice that I have used to good effect.

The book is well written in simple English that is easy to follow and understand. Despite the book being a bit dated, the advice it provides is still relevant and very useful and practical. Even the veteran has something to learn from this excellent book.

Those who wish to capitalize on the growing business of seminars, workshops, conferences and training classes are recommended to read this book for guidance and directions.

While this book gives a good starting point for a seminar newbie, it is quite hampered by its dated material. All statistics and pricing examples are from the late 1980's. There is no recognition anywhere in the book that the Internet exists, PowerPoint can be used in presentations, etc. For instance, you are warned against using carbon copy paper. Hello? Good in 1990, but needs a serious and thorough updating to reflect current trends and technologies.

After reading this book, I feel like I've hired a professional advisor to coach me through starting a training practice. The book covers all the bases: how to choose a topic, how to promote your workshop, how to price it, details about booking facilities, the importance of the back-of-the-room selling, and other topics. The chapters have an authentic feel, coming from someone who has learned from his own mistakes and the mistakes of others, and gives practical and useful tips.

The chapters on testing different mailing lists, prices, days of the week, headlines, brochure sizes is very good. The author refers to dozens of research studies, illustrating how different lists can lead to drastically different profitability. His numbers sense is very good, showing how to calculate break-even attendance, how to decide how much money to risk on initial marketing, how lower attendance can be more profitable than high attendance.

The chapter on making money from selling videotapes, audiotapes and consulting services is also very good, where the author shows several examples of how speakers increased their profits 30% or more by selling additional products at the speaking event. Again, the author shows great business sense about how to increase your profits.

My only complaint is the book is 20 years old and I wonder how much is still relevant. For instance, he has case studies of promoting a seminar through the daily newspaper and direct mail but has nothing to say about the internet, which must surely be an important part of marketing seminars in the 21st century. The dollar figures are all from 1990, so when he says you can conduct a market test for under $1,000 it is meaningless. What is that in 2010 dollars? And is the advice even valid today? These clearly outdated examples make me question how much of the rest of the book is also outdated.

Still, when I was finished reading I didn't feel like I'd read a book; I felt, instead, like I had gained experience. And it gave me a strong foundation and a sense of confidence about moving forward.

This is a good, broad, introductory treatment for someone with little experience looking at getting into the paid seminar business. The book is not going to be very useful for those with any seminar experience, or those with a a strong marketing background.

It seems the target audience for this book is very small; as hardly anyone is going to be planing large-scale, paid seminars unless that have both marketing and seminar experience.

I just ordered this book and was immediately put off by the fact that its copyright is 1990 and there is absolutely nothing in here regarding the internet. With email marketing, web sites, email, forums, blogs, you name it... I cant imagine any "how to" book on promoting a workshop not including the power of the internet.

I suppose its a good book, but with no information on web marketing, it has little value for me. It needs a major edit to include internet best practices.

An Excellent book, togather with cases charts and comparisons,The only thing I am sorry about why I didnt buy it before.Although written in the 90s it has some limitations, but if you are in the business, this could really multiply your profits.

this is a great book and it answers all questions you will have on workshops,seminars, and more.

This book is very insightful and is used by leaders in the business. I highly recommend you follow the principals and simply laid out processes to start, build, and grow your business.

I used this as a reference when myself and a professor friend owned a training workshop business. Our business was profitable and this was a good book to have around for reference.