Customer Reviews

Marketing and Promoting Your Own Seminars and Workshops

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I was encouraged to buy this book by all of its positive reviews, but was disappointed to find it to be almost completely useless for me. First, our training seminars are reasonably well established: I was looking to better "market and promote" them, as the title of the book says. Unfortunately there are only 2 or 3 pages on this subject in the entire book, and they are little more than recommendations to buy the books & tapes from other promoters that the author works with.

This book does not provide helpful information so much as it plugs the author's many other products that promise to do so. It reads like a self-help book from the 1990's.

I was looking for a professionally presented source of good usable information (something that we provide in our seminars) but instead got a hard lesson on used car salesmanship 101. I am confident that those who leave my seminars got their money's worth, but I expect that Fred Gleeck makes a lot more money at his. Two different ways of doing business, I guess.

Fred Gleeck isn't big on theoretical concepts. This book is full of specific information and how-to taken from his experience profitably promoting more than 1300 seminars.

You will find useful ideas all through the book as Fred tells how to create and plan the event, prepare and present your seminar, market effectively, create profitable products for back of the room sales, and follow-up with customers after the seminar. Any randomly-selected page probably has a tidbit of information that will show you how to make (or save) thousands of dollars.

You want theory? There are lots of books out there that will give you that. You want to make money with your seminars? Buy, read and use this book.

I bought this book, hoping to improve attendance at some workshops I teach for my employer. Our clients pay a nominal fee for the class, so it is important that we market the class effectively to gain participants. I currently have a very successful "following", and gain new clients all the time. Still, it is important to seek new clients actively. I hoped Mr. Gleeck's book would help me to do that.

Mr. Gleeck's advice may work in a hard-core sales environment, but in the real world of adult training and consulting his advice would put me out of business! I am speaking particularly of his advice regarding delivery of the workshop. For example, he advises us to use self-depreciating humor to gain clients and win over our audience. I fail to see how telling the client I'm a schmuck will make him/her trust my knowledge enough to take my class!

The book was actually painful to read. Mr. Gleeck had an arrogant tone throughout the book. I'm glad he thinks he's wonderful because his advice was useless to me. Honestly, I am extremely sorry I wasted the money, and the time, on this book.

Whether you're just getting started doing seminars or a seasoned pro, Fred Gleeck has packed this book with a ton of useful information that can make your seminars very profitable!

With 15 years personally in the seminar industry myself, I've made an incredible income, but have lost a lot as well. Using Fred's seminar system I've learned how "He has never lost money on a seminar he promoted".

Plus he covers:
Designing and creating your seminar
The seminar success formula TR=SR+PS+CB
Key ways to promote and getting others to promote you
The best days/months and cities to do seminars
Delivering content rich seminars
How to develop and sell your backend product line
And a great resource list with names and contact info

Don't even consider doing a seminar without first reading this book, it will save you time and prevent you from making costly mistakes. This is the best investment you'll ever make as you enter or continue doing seminars. I highly recommend it too anyone looking to make money in the seminar business.

Although the book was quite informative, the author was less that stellar in his follow up or even on making good on the "generous offer' he makes in his book (on the bottom of every page of the entire book). As a matter of fact, I sent the email requesting the "half hour teleconference", that he offers on page viii, he writes that this is was worth a minimum of $350. And I am sad to say that this was his reply:

Thanks for the feedback.
I suggest you unsubscribe. That way you will no longer get the emails.
Thanks,

Fred
On Wednesday, May 17, 2006, at 03:39AM, Kathi Cassidy
<kathicassidy@yahoo.com> wrote:

>Dear Fred,
>
>I must say, I expected more from you in the way of
>follow up. After reading your book I was excited to
>learn more from you, so I signed up for your
>newsletter (big disappointment, there) and requested
>the telephone consult you so generously offered (but
>did not deliver on).
>
> While I still have not heard from you or a staff
>member to set up a time to conduct this "free
>telephone consult", I am receiving a deluge of emails,
>all giving me the very same information that was in
>your book.
>
> I must say, Fred, you are not following your own
>advise (give the customer more than the expect). And
>now you send me emails promoting a seminar in Europe!
>Why would I travel that far to just to be disappointed
>again?
>
>Thanks but no thanks,
>
>Kathi Cassidy
>U S Technical Trainer
>G M Collin Skin Inc

If this is his idea of customer service, I know I will be be putting any more money in his pocket, if you are smart, neither will you!

Kathi Cassidy
US Technical Trainer
G M Collin Skin Care Inc

This is one of my two favorite books on how to actually market seminars and workshops (the other is by Howard Shenson). Fred offers very practical strategies and tactics that really work. Having been in the seminar business for over 10 years, and having read most everything written on the subject, I found that I learned many valuable new ideas that I've successfully implemented and which have greatly helped in attracting people to my programs. I like Fred's style-it's like he's in the room speaking with you and highly recommend this book to anyone who sincerely interested in increasing the number of individuals who attend their programs. A great investment!

This is an awesome book! I got a lot out of it and, since I have so much experience in the direct response and speaking industries, it's very difficult for me to find books and other information that I don't already know.

This book offers so many things that I could immediately use to increase my bottom line, not just for my speaking business but my business in general.

If you are an aspiring speaker and can afford only one book, get this one. If you are an entrepreneur and have an entire reference library (like I do), it cannot possibly be complete without this book.

Fred Gleeck is paid a boatload of money to present a portion of this material at seminars, and he has a mentoring program in the $20K neighborhood. In deciding to buy this book, my thought was this: an $11.00 investment to tap into a prime knowledgebase would be money well-spent. And of course, I wanted to experience other approaches to the seminar and public speaking business, and after doing a lot of research, Fred Gleeck and Robert Jolles were the names that kept coming up again and again, with rave reviews.

Our company has been running successful seminars and symposiums for almost 20 years, and I will happily confess that I learned a ton from this book; I learned a new way of looking at seminars, profitability, and how to market seminars. I wasn't sure at first how I felt about his heavy-handed revenue-driven approach to seminars; I feel that educating is also an important component in the seminar equation. I got over my first impression, opened my mind, and when I did, I began to see ways to modify Gleeck's methods to allow them to work within our seminar structure, and within my comfort zone. I'd considered adding shorter informational seminars to our program, and again, this book gave me a sense of the structure, timing, and incidentals for several types of seminar/speaking events that we are planning to implement into our program. Other reviews of this book make this point again and again. Just having a solid knowledge of your seminar material, doesn't insure your success. Having a strong seminar structure, and a tight marketing plan that has been successful for others, certainly enhances your likelihood for success.

This book explains the why, when, how-to, and where-to of producing profitable, successful seminars, speaking events, and co-hosted seminar events. There is also information on public speaking in general. Mr Gleeck is very much a bottomline guy, and a successful one, so if you want to conduct profitable, successful seminars/events/public-speaking engagements, then I recommend you read this book and integrate the material that makes sense to you. There's a lot of incredibly valuable information in this book.

This is flat out the best book on the topic, and I have read them all. Fred Gleeck systematically spells out all the components to a powerful seminar, and then makes sure you see how best to promote it to success. The sections on content creation, marketing techniques, and developing your unique product line are worth many times the price of this book.

This is a great resource book if you are interested in doing seminars of any kind. The author is very experienced at seminars and he shares with you all his secrets!
He has opened my eyes about creating a back-end product portfolio.
You will want to read this book with a highliter in your hand! I would definately purchase this book again.

I have no financial connection with the author and this review is unsolicited.