Ep 78. What Actually Happens When You Host a Virtual Summit

0:00 Growing your email list

0:05 Hey there. Welcome back. I know I always say welcome back. I don't know if that's the right way to start our conversation, but today I want to talk about what actually happens when you host a virtual summit. Not just the hype, but the real impact. Honestly, hosting a summit has literally changed my business in so many ways. So many ways. And I'm going to get into it right now.

0:36 So let's start with you get visibility. Like, huge. I'm not talking about, like, little visibility. I'm talking about like, like huge visibility. Like, huge. First of all, when you host a summit, there's this, like, you get put on a certain pedestal that you wouldn't normally if you weren't hosting your own events. It's like, gives you cred. It really does.

1:00 And if done right, you can get hundreds or thousands of new people on your list. How awesome is that? Like, usually in a span of like, a few weeks.

1:14 Like, where else can you get that email list growth without hosting an event? Right? Because you are leveraging multiple audiences through your speakers right now. Depending on the size of your event, obviously this number might shift. But don't get caught up on the vanity metrics of high numbers, because it truly doesn't matter. What is important is that obviously you want a good topic. You want it to be relevant to your business, what your offers are and all that stuff, which is all stuff I teach in the virtual summit lab.

1:55 But the important thing is, is that if you do.

2:01 If you do it right and you have, I don't know, like 10 or 15 speakers and your email list growth is like 200 of the right people, that is more impressive than. Than growing your email list by like 2000 of not the. So, not so the right people. Right? So that's just a thing to keep in mind when you're thinking about hosting an event. Like, if you have like, I don't know, like 50 speakers and your email list growth is like a thousand, yes, that's impressive.

2:32 But you're not maybe going to get a thousand subscribers if you only have 15 speakers. Like, so keeping that in mind, right? The next thing is, is that your authority shifts instantly. Instantly.

2:48 You're no longer just someone posting online. You are the host. You're the one bringing people together. That positioning matters huge. Really. Really, it matters big. After hosting my first event, I started getting weekly, sometimes daily in emails from people asking me to be part of their event. So much so that I had to say no.

3:18 Because if you participate in too many things and your business falls to the Side, right? Not a good thing. Never forget about your own business. So, but the real value, the real value when you're hosting your own events is the relationships. It's the relationships hands down. Like all of it is good, obviously, but hands down the relationships is where it's at. This is what most people underestimate because you're building true connections with speakers, you're building true collaboration opportunities and long term partnerships.

4:05 And honestly, you cannot put a price on that.

4:10 Building global business friendships

4:09 That's.

4:10 And all of this continues long after the summit ends. Long after the summit ends. Like I can't even tell you the list of biz besties that I've got globally. So many in Australia, so many in the uk, so many all over the United States and Canada and all over the world. I'm getting to know so many incredible human beings, right?

4:38 Just all around, win, win, win, win, win, win, win. So I'm going to tell you the truth though, it's not passive, it's strategic. And this is where people go wrong. They think, oh, host of host a summit equals get results.

4:58 But actually. Plan, align your audience, create the right experience, follow up properly. Follow up properly. So important. It's like a package deal, right? And here's the thing about hosting an event. You're going to see results right away. Obviously you, you just are. Whether it's, you know, income through sponsorships, income through VIP passes or whatever that looks like.

5:33 And then if you launch something post event, which you totally should, you're going to see income there. However, the income is going to keep on giving for years to come. I have people buying from me that joined my summit in 2022. To this day, like three, three years later, actually four, almost four years later, I can track someone back buying something from me that was in my first summit. How cool is that, right? So they keep on giving.

6:11 So the results don't stop when the summit ends. And that's what I'm talking about. The summit is just the beginning.

6:22 The real growth comes from what you do after, how you nurture your list, how you convert that visibility into clients. That is also very important, right? Like you don't want to like put on this, this, this production, which doesn't have to be big by the way, can be like super small, low lift and then you just leave them hanging. No, take this as the opportunity to drop into their email box weekly, right?

6:54 Like this is the beginning of something super magical. Don't forget that. So if you've been thinking about hosting your own summit, and honestly, I think every business Owner should host their own Summit. Whether it's five people or 50 people, I don't care. We should all be hosting our own events. Don't just think about list growth.

7:14 Think about the room you're building, the relationships you're creating and the long term impact. That's the winner for me right there, the long term impact.

7:29 So if you've been thinking about hosting a summit or even just wondering if this is the right step for you, this is exactly the kind of thing you want to think through properly before jumping in. Obviously for the obvious reasons. If you want to see how this actually works behind the scenes, I, I invite you to come and join my free community, the event and collab growth company. And at any, if anything, if you're not ready to host your own, you can participate.

8:04 You can start by participating in events. Come and join me in my school community in the event and collab growth co and all.

8:13 It's really easy. Julie C. Butler.com school I don't know if you guys can hear my, my dogs barking in the backboard. Like of course they're going to play now that I'm recording, right? But yeah, come and join me in my school if, if we know each other, great. Can't wait to see you there. How come you're not there already? But also if you're new to me, if you're new to my world, I can't wait to meet you.

8:38 And honestly, like, that's where we talk about this in a much more real, practical way. And you can start to see what this looks like for different types of businesses.

8:49 Growing a community for collaboration

8:49 But also it's a place where we can keep the conversation going and it's a community that I want to grow so that people, so that us as entrepreneur can find, can share our collabs. Like if we're hosting events, we can share them in, in my school group. Not just collabs, by the way, not just like virtual summits or bundles, but podcast guesting, freebie swaps, all the, all of that, anything that has to do with collaborations, this is, it gets a newer community, right?

9:18 If you're listening to this right now, I mean, hopefully it's going to be like, if you're, if you're listening to this, like a year after I've actually recorded this, I, I have high expectations for my group, but come and find us. And honestly, if you're at the point where you're like, okay, I'm ready to actually plan this and make it happen. Like, like, honestly, this is your sign. Don't Wait another minute.

9:43 That's exactly what I help with inside the Virtual Summit Success Lab. And I really encourage you to have a look at it.

9:49 Wrapping up this episode

9:49 It's honestly, it's an insane program, and it's really, truly amazing. I mean, I'm biased, but. Okay, so I leave you with that. Another short and sweet episode. I love it so much. And I'll talk to you in the next episode. Ciao for now.