How To Plan A Business Event

Utilizing Business Events Successfully

Running a small business is a challenging, thought-provoking endeavor. Today’s small business owner needs to employ every tactic available to them in order to entice customers and increase sales. While there are many ways of capturing the attention of your clients and customers, one of the most engaging, effective, and fun methods is hosting a business event. Business events are gatherings of invited professionals for a night of fun and learning about your business. Here are some keys for hosting successful business events.

Get Creative

The image conjured to mind when the words “business event” are uttered is usually of a drab, boring meeting where stuffy suits sit around and lecture, trying to rope in anyone who will listen. This is the exact wrong way to host a business event. The best events think outside the box, they create a theme, premise, or activity which will enhance engagement and excitement. Plan your event around the content of your product, and let those in the room be immersed and awed by what you’re selling. Don’t just talk, engage. Find a way to get your clients up and about or think deeply. While the product should be front and center during the night, a lecture or uninspired presentation will almost never attract clients. It’s called a business event, so don’t open with the product – open with the event!

Set A Budget

This is less fun advice; business events are, at the end of the day, another piece of marketing – and marketing costs money. Don’t go overboard with expenses or try to impress clients with an opulent, unaffordable affair. Your bottom line is still the most important factor in the event, so be sure not to stretch your business’s resources too thin. The good news is that a great idea is conceptual, it doesn’t require you to break the bank. The success of the event lies in the engagement and the execution; anything more expensive may be nice to look at it but it simply won’t be necessary. Like everything else in your small business, overhead is everything. Try utilizing a free event planning service to help you secure a location, catering, and perhaps even a concept.

It’s Not An Event Without The Press

A trusted way to generate buzz even beyond the event is to invite members of the press or public relations. The key is to tell your people who have invited, identify them at the event itself, and treat them like V.I.P.s. Some freebies and good food and drink will ripen them up to learn all about your company and report back to their readers or listeners, free press for your company and the event you poured so much effort into. The event should be your primary focus, but any positive news coverage is just icing on the cake.

Use Technology To Your Advantage

The future of business meetings lies in a number of great services which will help you manage and cut down on the tedium of the event. Managing RSVPs, checking in guests one by one, issuing and receiving business cards, and having an employee spend valuable time collecting data from the night are all antiquated in today’s smarter business environment. Tablets are great tools to manage guest lists and RSVPs, as well as organizing event information and scheduling. There are a number of interactive ways to use today’s technology when hosting a business meeting, whether through organization, efficiency, or simplicity. There’s no wrong way to use technology at your event, as long as it’s streamlining the most labor-intensive and headache-inducing duties of your employees.

Make Your Product The Star Of The Show

Planning a business event can be a slightly tedious task, even when the event itself is fun and engaging. With so many details to manage and maintain, event planners can easily get caught up in their plans, bypassing the number one rule of business events – attracting business! At the end of the day, your business event is most successful by the amount of business it attracts, whether by direct purchases, client introductions, or word of mouth. In each instance, your product will be the calling card of the event, the star of your engaging, entertaining show. There are many ways to integrate your product into your event, like constructing your theme or premise directly around the function of the product itself. Any way you choose to showcase your star attraction, just remember that the event is nothing without it. Don’t get caught up in the minutia – have fun and keep the product in mind.

Put On Your Best Business Event

These are the keys to planning a successful business event. Keep it engaging, keep the budget small, keep the press excited, and keep your product at center stage. Follow these principles and you’ll put on an event sure to attract clients and increase your bottom line.