Here’s One Way to Double Your List

Last month, I hosted my first telesummit which was a huge success.

And… a heck of a lot of work. Telesummits can be a great way to grow your mailing list, but not if you don’t execute correctly. So, here are a few tips to make sure your telesummit efforts pay off.

If today’s step-by-step leaves you with a list building migraine, do not worry! Next week, I’ll share an alternative method to help you fit a telesummit into your schedule with grace and ease.

But for today, I want you to see the behind the scenes of hosting an A-list telesummit that will skyrocket your subscribers.

Step One: Set the Stage for Your Telesummit

A) What is the big, burning question that your dream client wants answered?

If you’re a nutritionist and you love to work with women, your dream client might be a woman over 40 who wants to know how she can look and feel 20 again.

Given this example, a good name for your telesummit might be Forty And Feelin’ Fine!

B) Decide on your format.

I recommend that you host your summit via audio. Not everyone will say yes to a video interview because they don’t want to worry about being “camera ready.” Make it easy for your guests to say yes, your audience to have their burning questions answered, and you to add to your list. I find that audio interviews are great for all of the above.

Step Two: It’s all About WHO You Invite to Speak

A) Make a List of Centers of Influence

You MUST invite thought leaders with a large following. They also need to be people who speak to your shared audience without being direct competitors.

So, if you’re a nutritionist hosting a telesummit, it won’t serve you to invite another nutritionist to the telesummit! The following that your fellow nutritionist will attract is already loyal to your guest. They don’t want or need another nutritionist to buy from.

Instead, how about an acupuncturist? Or a personal trainer? Or someone who teaches you how to tap into your psychic abilities? All of these experts probably share your audience and their expertise compliment your own.

Inviting complimentary guests rather than competitors also makes it enticing and easy for your guest expert to accept your invite because they won’t feel like they’re competing with you or your other summit guests.

B) Invite a DREAM A-List Keynote Speaker

Imagine featuring a well-known, highly respected center of influence who will share their knowledge (and name) on your summit. Clearly, an A-lister will help with notoriety and audience attraction – which is ultimately the point. It will also help your other guest expert invitees say yes because who wouldn’t want to participate on a project with your super speaker?

So, back to the nutritionist example. If the theme of your telesummit is how to find your healthy sweet spot, you would aim for the stars, inviting Dr. Oz, Suzanne Somers, or Jillian Michaels! Think about who in the health world would get your dream client excited to attend your summit and really go for it.

Now, before you start questioning the likelihood that this public figure will say yes, you never know! Just like you, they are looking for ways to add value to their following and spread their message. So dream big.

After you’ve aimed for the stars, think about high-level influencers who may not be global brands but who are well known in their own right (they may be a power coach rather than a TV star).

C) Don’t Invite Your Friends

It may seem easy and obvious to just invite the coaches in your life who you already know. But you must remember the point of your telesummit: list building. So, unless your friend has a large following, it won’t serve your goal to just invite the people who know and like. Be sure you’re inviting people who have a large following. My suggestion is that they have a list of at least 5,000 subscribers or more.

Step Three: Set the Date

Get it on your calendar!

Step Four: Invite Your Guests Experts

I know we just talked about guest speaker invites, but there’s more. Not every guest you invite to your telesummit will accept the offer, so cast a wide net. After your guests have accepted, confirm their talk topic, list size, talking points, and bonus offer.

As part of your invitation, make sure you’re clarifying the incentives for your guests. You’ve gotta think about why on earth someone would actually say yes. So, what are the real incentives?

Being on a summit allows for positioning, especially if you have an A-list keynote speaker. See tip #2A.
It also provides your guests with an opportunity to build their lists, sell their offerings, and present some awesome giveaways.

Step Five: Interview Your Guest Experts

The cool thing about a telesummit is that nothing happens live! All the content is pre-recorded, the email sequence is created ahead of time, and you can even pre-schedule your social media posts. Once the prep is done, you can set it and forget it. Then, subscribers to the summit will have a given period of time where your content is rolled out to them as though they’re attending a live, in-person event. Each day of your summit should feature 3-4 guest talks whose talks are presented at a given time according to the summit schedule you designed.

If you’re looking to offer video interviews, Skype can do the trick, but let’s be honest… sometimes the connection isn’t awesome. So, you might consider investing in Zoom. And if you opt for an audio interview, I’ve been using Audio Acrobat for a decade and find it simple, easy, and the perfect tool for a telesummit.

Step Six: Snag Some Summit Real Estate

This should include a registration page where people sign up. It also includes the content page, where all the interviews will be hosted. Use a URL that’s easy to verbalize and remember but also captures the essence and theme of your summit.

Step Seven: Create Your Copy

This includes copy for your…

Email marketing

Social media plugs

Promo emails for your guests (Not including the keynote…they have the luxury of sitting back until show-time. Their purpose is to share their glory!)

Your follow up sequence that your registrants will receive

Step Eight: The Summit Is Live!!

Here are a couple of secrets:

Only release 3 or 4 interviews a day. Your summit should have the same feel as a conference that you attend live and in person. Just like at a conference, only a few guests are featured daily.

Each day, send out a summary email to the subscribers on your list. Here you should outline the agenda and provide links to watch or listen to your interviews for a limited amount of time.

Step Nine: Follow Up and Follow Through.

Thank your guests & thank your attendees! Continue adding awesome value so these brand new subscribers become raving fans and happy clients. Remember that your initial goal for your summit was list building. So, don’t try selling stuff to attendees straight out of the gate. Build rapport and trust first.

Whew. I’m tired. It may be a lot of work to build a telesummit, but your list will thank you for it.

Amen.

Have you attended an awesome telesummit? What did your host do that you just loved?! Share with me below. 🙂