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How to Sell out a Seminar Without "Selling"

Feb 17, 2022

Jiu Jitsu seminars create excitement & foster camaraderie. They can bolster a student’s lagging desire to train & they are the perfect opportunity for your students to train with their idols.


And there’s no shortage of BJJ practitioners & famous fighters looking to fill their seminar schedule. High level talent is out there, ready & willing to supplement your teaching and create a more well rounded training program for your students.


Then why are so few academies hosting seminars with big name talent?


Money… specifically, fear of losing a LOT of it. Hosting seminars can cost some serious coin… and it SHOULD! Anyone who is worthy of conducting a seminar has dedicated their lives to mastering their skills. They should be compensated fairly for their time & experience, in addition to their travel & lodging.


So how can the average academy owner host a big name seminar & cover the thousands to needed to simply break even? Easy! You sell it out.


For the record, the old days, back when a ‘big name’ alone could pack the mats are long gone. Effective strategic marketing is a must-do, always. So instead of asking the question, “should I market this?...” your new question must be, “What is the best marketing strategy to achieve my desired result?”


Your answer has two parts, “Hype” & “Scarcity.”


Hype is easy when you’re a fan of the person you’re bringing in. Imagine that someone asked you, “Why him? (or her?),” “What have they done?,” “What ‘s their claim to fame?”...  And most importantly, “What’s in it for your students?” & “Why should they care that this person is coming in to teach?” Then simply answer those questions.


Share those answers on all of your social media channels, on your website, & in your emails. People can only get excited if they know what’s happening. Take an active role in spreading the word face to face with your clients daily and reminding them often. Don’t expect word to travel on its own.. (Although if you promote it correctly, it will do that too.)


Some of your students will buy a ticket just from your hype alone. ‘Hype’ buyers are motivated to ‘move toward pleasure.’ They take action because they know the seminar will be amazing. They anticipate a ‘positive’ experience and they will take action to acquire it. Unfortunately, most people will not make quick decisions on the promise of ‘future pleasure,’ and you won’t fill the mats with ‘hype’ buyers alone.


Most people require a ‘pain point’ to take quick fast action. Like cows running from a cattle prod, the fear of pain, or a negative stimulus, creates a stronger and faster reaction than the promise of a benefit later on. Scarcity, specifically the “Fear of Missing Out,” is the negative stimulus that will make your students jump off the fence, or grab their smartphones, & buy a ticket.


Scarcity must be REAL to be effective. Your mat space is clearly limited. So people will believe you when you tell them that only a select number of people will get in. Identify how many people you can hold comfortably on the mats & publicize your maximum number.


Next, open your availability using the same method that airlines use to board planes. Your top clients get access first, then move group by group down the ladder, until you open up full access to the general population… unless you run out of space before that happens!


If you’ve ever seen people waiting at a gate at an airport, then you’ve seen them literally jump up and run to a line when the zone before them is called. This is the exact same feeling of anticipation that you need to sell out your seminar quickly.


If people will stand like cattle for an extra 20-30 minutes in an airport line over the fear of missing out on an overhead storage bin, then they will be crawling over each other for the exclusive opportunity to train with the superstar that you’re bringing in to teach. Add hype to the equation and you’ll easily fill the mats at your next seminar.