59. Are Summits Dead

Hello there and welcome back to another episode of the Virtual Summit Show. I am so excited to have you here. But before we dive into the episode, I just want to remind you that if you are like, oh my God, Julie, I am so hosting a summit this year. This is my year. I have the perfect program for you and you get an exclusive invitation to come and join me in the Virtual Summit Success Lab. It's my, my signature program that helps you go from A to Z to having a successful completed virtual summit that is going to keep people talking for months, if not years to come. So all you have to do is check it out@JulieCButler.com lab and if you have any questions at any time, obviously you can send me a DM or an email and I look forward to forward to hearing from you. So let's dive in because I'm really excited about this episode.

Today we're going to talk about are summits dead? And three reasons why they still work in 2026. Because I think that. I know sometimes I feel that. But we asked a question. Is it saturated? Are there too many summits? But I'm here to share with you that it's not. It is still a an amazing opportunity for you to grow your email list, your community to gain authority and get visibility. So today we are diving into a juicy question I've been hearing a lot and actually sometimes I even ask myself this, but are summits dead now? If you've been in the online space for a minute, you've probably seen the summit scene explode in popularity and then quiet down a little bit. But does it really? I don't know.

But I'm here to tell you that no summits are not dead. They've just evolved and we have like full on permission now to be super creative with virtual summits. Like I can't wait to share with you the virtual Summit that I'm going to be hosting with my amazing friend Kylie Kelly all the way in Australia. But we are going to be hosting a virtual Summit. A I say virtual Summit but let's like I don't know if it's going to be like yes, it's going to be a virtual summit, but it's going to be super awesome. And so make sure that you keep an ear out for that. And inside this episode I'm going to share three powerful reasons why virtual Summits are still one of the smartest strategy strategies. Strategy strategies for list growth, visibility and sustainable income in 2026 and beyond.

So I know I haven't Spoken about this in the welcome episode, but I just want to quickly touch on the fact that and I didn't do the data for 2025 yet, but I just want to say that about 40% of my income in my business since 2022 have come directly as a result of me hosting my events. Okay, that's half, almost half of my income. That is huge. Like if you're listening to this and you're like, I want my income to grow, listen to this number. 42%. I'm a data nerd. I love spreadsheets and I love knowing where every time someone buys something from me, I go and check how they came into my world. Because I'm a nerd like that.

It's even, it's even on my spreadsheet. But this is powerful. And if you remember anything from this episode, please be it that your net worth is in your network. Collaborations is the most powerful thing you can gift yourself in your business. I promise you. Not just that, but you're going to make beautiful friendships that are going to be lasting for years to come. Like the friendships that I have, like there are so many I can't even count them. Honestly, like the beautiful, like minded humans that I've attracted as a result of hosting my own events is.

It's a dream to, to be honest, it's a dream. Okay, so let's dive in. So reason one. List. List, sorry, list growth is still king, king, queen, whatever you want to call it. List growth is the number one thing you should be focusing on in your business for 2026. I like, I just have nothing else to say about that. So let's be real.

Your email list is your most valuable asset for years. I don't know, like when I started my online business. Most, if not all. And I'm not going to say all because I have made some sales from social media, but most of it, the sales come from my email. I'm not one of those influencers on social media that makes bank just by posting and dancing on reels. I'm not that person. And if you're listening to this, likely you are not either. Now I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with, you know, wanting to be on social media.

That's totally perfect. And some people get a mixture of sales from social media and sales from email marketing. That's kind of not what, like, I don't want to argue this, but for me, most of my sales have come from my email list. That is why for me it is my most valuable Asset, not my Instagram followers, not my Facebook followers. And certainly I, I'm not really on anything else but like, and certainly not Pinterest. I've tried. But I just want to say that for me, my email list is gold. And nothing builds a list faster or more strategically than a well executed virtual summit, hands down.

And I think I mentioned this in the welcome episode where this is the one way I have been successful at growing my email list by hundreds and thousands at a time was by hosting virtual events. Just one summit helped me add 14. So my first summit helped me add 1450 people onto my list. And not just any leads, but buyers who went on to invest in my programs and my low ticket offers. And you know, I mean yes, a lot, a lot of people are just here for the, the fun times and all that stuff and maybe they're not ready to buy yet, but that's okay. I welcome them all. But here's the thing about hosting a virtual event that I don't know, like, I don't, I don't know if you, I've mentioned or. The thing about hosting a virtual event is that it's not an overnight success.

It's not an overnight, no, how can I put this in words? It's the thing that you do in your business that is going to bring results for years to come. Years to come. I have people that are buying from me in 2026 that have joined my summit in 2022. That is the power of hosting virtual events. How cool and how wonderful is that, right? And in time, when ads are more expensive and social algorithms keep changing every five minutes, summits give you the to your dream clients and they come to you already warmed up. And the thing about hosting a virtual event is also, and I, I, I want to make, to like, I want to make this super, like, not clear that's not the right word. But I want you, I want us to be ingrained. Is that you know when you start your business or you've been in business for five years and you're like, man, I just want people to know about me and my business and what to offer.

Because I am telling you now, you are amazing and you have incredible gifts to share with the world. And I want for every single one of you that's listening to achieve your most desired goals financially and you know, lifely, if that's a word. But I want you and I know that you can achieve this. And how else do you know? Is there another way that is as easy as hosting an event going to Bring you the visibility that a virtual event brings you. Not just that, it builds your authority. Because right away, think about this. What comes to mind when you think about the host of an event? They must be somebody important if they're hosting an event. Right? That's what comes to my mind.

Oh my God. They're hosting an event. Like I want to be part of it because they must be someone special or good or they know what they're doing or talking about because they're hosting an event. So right there you get elevated on that. That like silver platter and. But not just that. It builds your credibility. It builds, builds your, your expertise because you are bringing together a group of entrepreneurs, experts who can, you know, bring whatever to the stage to teach other people whatever your event might be about.

Right. And so it's just amazing that we can also reach and serve the collective like that. Okay, number two, and I think I've already touched on this a little bit, but authority is the new currency. People don't just want information anymore. They want to learn from leaders that they trust. And that's what happens when you host an event. You are building trust at lightning speed. That is priceless.

When you host a summit, you're not just gathering speakers. You're positioning yourself as the expert who leads the conversation in your niche. Summits build instant credibility. You go from who's that? To oh my God, I've seen her everywhere. And this is like my coach was telling me this yesterday. She's like, you know, it's like that moment when people are talking about you in rooms you are not in, that's what starts happening. Summits build instant credibility. Think about that.

That is powerful. And that is what you want for your business and that is what I want for you. Every single one of you watching, not watching, but listening to this. Especially in 2026 where authenticity and connection matter so much more than ever. Your face, your vibe, your voice, that is what builds the trust. And trust leads to sales. And that's all I'm going to say about that. Okay.

Reason number three, Summits are no longer one offs. They are launch pads for real. This is the part that most people miss. You're not just hosting an event and it's going to stop there. Like, I've witnessed this. I have, you know, experienced this. I've been hosting summits since 2022, mid late 2022. And my.

I have been reaping the rewards of that first summ since then. Now I've hosted more summits. I hosted my first Bundle in the fall. And let me tell you, that was such an incredible experience. But a summit isn't just a four day event. It's a full blown visibility and sales system. It grows your list, it fills your funnel, it sells your offers on the back end and when done right, it keeps working for you long after the event is over. And not to mention that you do it once.

You can rinse and repeat, by the way, right? Like the strategy that you put together, the, the all of the work that you put into hosting an event. You can just rinse and repeat and do it again and again and again. Like that first summit I hosted. I did it two more times after that and I didn't have to do anything. It was all done for me. All I had to do was obviously speakers, change the names on the sales page and the dates and all that stuff, but that's it. You can repurpose summit content for evergreen funnels, right? Which I've not really done yet. But you can turn it into passive income streams and use it to launch new offers again and again.

But also you can launch post summit, right? Like you can. Like my first, no, 2023, the fall I hosted a summit and I launched my book at that summit. It was incredible. So I just want you to know that it's not just a summit, it's a business building machine. And it's the perfect way to, to accelerate your business success. Okay? Now, are summits the right strategy for everyone? Maybe not. But if you want to grow your list, increase your visibility, build real authority and create repeatable income, then summits are not dead. In fact, in 2026, they're more relevant than ever.

Then summits shut, then summits are not dead. In fact, in 2026 they are more relevant than ever. Especially when you keep them aligned, specific and energy conscious. And I teach, I go through all of this in the lab. I teach all about how to pick a topic that is so aligned with, you know, attracting your ideal clients, obviously, because that's what you want. But you don't need 50 speakers either, by the way. Like, it can be like a small, intimate summit. You don't need huge audience, right? That's another thing.

Like you don't need a huge audience in order to host your own summit. You can have it. And in fact, I recommend hosting a summit if your audience is on the smaller side. Because how? Like this is the perfect way to grow your email list. You just need a clear concept, aligned strategy and a system that supports you. So our summits dead Absolutely not. Honestly, I think that summits are the new normal. They're evolving, and if you do them right, they can evolve your business, too.

So I'm going to leave it at that. But I am. Thank you so much for being here and listening. And if you have any questions about this episode at all, or if you're just, like, on the fence about hosting your own summit, come and find me. Send me an email. You know, ask. Come and find me on the dms. Even though I'm not hanging out on Instagram, I'm still checking my DMs.

But the thing is, is that I really encourage you to think about what it might look like in your business if you hosted a virtual event and added, you know, 100, 500, a thousand, 2,000 new people onto your email list. What can that do to your business? Right? And actually, I actually have the perfect tool for you to play around with the idea of hosting your first virtual event. It's my idea. Kickstart Virtual Event GPT. It's a. It's an AI assistant that will help you come up with the theme. A name, a title, an idea for your first event, whether you choose it to be a summit or a Bundle. But it's juliecbutler.com GPT and go ahead and download that.

It's a super fun AI assistant, and I really highly recommend that you go check it out. But also, I want to know what you've come up with and. Or if you're going to host an event in 2026, I want to know, like, maybe you've been on the fence and you haven't been sure. And, you know, you're kind of like. And maybe this episode sparked something in you and you're like, I am doing this, Julie. That's it. 2026 is my year. I want to hear from you.

So I leave you with this. Thank you so much for being here and I wish you all the best and I will talk to you in the next episode.