Are you charging for Biznik events?

What happen to calling an airline, purchasing a ticket, and expecting the person on the line to be competent for the services I am already paying for.

Is this the new answer to everything now days? Ala Carte style for everything? What ever happen to the concept, my customer is purchasing something from me, and the least I can do is be competent to answer their questions.

Is this the future of business? I am in a service oriented business all the way around. Maybe I should charge differently if you want my services or if you REALLY want my expertise. Like I can tell you what a good portrait would be, but if you want me to bring my camera, that will cost you extra. Lens of course are extra, and if you want to see it on anything bigger then a stamp, that will cost you extra.

This seems more of an issue of lowering peoples level of expectations. We aren't selling cars here. Not everything should be sold on a tiered mentality.

Maybe we need to do the best job we can for our customers right from the start. Just a thought.

Re: charging . . .

I always charge when I do Biznik events (which isn't nearly often enough, I know.)

Why?

1. My time is valuable.
2. If you don't charge, people don't show up.

Hey Lynn, this is one area that has been debated on Biznik for sometime.

And I truly believe this is a decision of personal choice, not a clear right or wrong way to do it. I have seen posts that "imply" if we don't charge for an event, we are either inferior, or have a bad self-concept. Or even worse, are those events really worth your time if they aren't charging. Personally, I have taken offense to those comments.

I do agree with Chris, my time is valuable. I feel everyone's time is valuable. Also, you do see more "no shows" when you don't charge.

With that being said, we haven't yet charged for any of our events. We have been told we should, but have yet to make that move. I'm sure it will happen at some point, but for now, we are happy to share our expertise with this community.

I know it's an old adage, the more you give, the more you receive. And there should be limits. But in the 16 years we have been doing this, when we share with others at the cost of building relationships and strengthening good connections, what goes around does come around. Good kharma!

I believe there is a place and time to make this kind of decision, whether it's using your heart, or your pocketbook.

So watch out. You may see a fee soon on one of our events!

~bob

Interesting topic here, Lynn. I understand what Rolland is saying with the example of the airline.

Answering the phone on the first (or second) ring used to be standard in the corporate culture, something found in the employee handbook. These add-ons that will "cost extra" used to be part of just normal, good customer service.

As far as charging for biznik events goes, the offering of free stuff with the goal of moving prospects down the path to purchase has become standard, even more so now in the Internet age, when so much stuff out there is free.

The goal with a free event, I think, is to: 1. build trust by being helpful and 2. show your expertise so when you offer something more substantial, people will say, "If the free stuff was that good, I'll bet the for-pay workshop will be incredible."

I also respect professionals who make it a policy to never give anything away. I can see their point, too. And it it works for them, that's great.

Just my thoughts.

Lynn... This is a regular topic on Biznik and I respect the opinions on both sides of this issue. Ultimately, every service provider needs their own Marketing Plan that works best for them, so there is no right or wrong answer.

In reply to Seth's blog: Yes, sometimes I am willing to pay for extra service based on my current needs.

I used to be a frequent flier and I ALWAYS paid extra for the airline and car rental VIP clubs because it helped me do my job better and the additional service was worth it (a good ROI).

Today, I am more selective about paying for extra services because I live a different lifestyle pace.

As for you question of: charging for Biznik events (I have tried both ways), and I have came to this conclusion.

I never used to charge my potential clients and networking contacts for "cold calls" in the past.

I have decided that Biznik networking has been invaluable in gaining visibility and finding new clients and networking contacts. It has replaced the necessary task of "cold calls" for me.

My return on investment for Biznik activity has been great enough that I will continue to do regular FREE events to grow my visibility and network connections.

It serves me well and if I can help someone by imparting some experience and wisdom without collecting a fee, I am thankful that I am in a position that I can do that. If, in return, they give me a referral or recommendation to another to use my paid services, I am grateful.

The extra value of someone paying for my time exclusively is demonstrated by what I give in a group setting. I do not hold back giving what I would give a paid client other than the focus of individual attention.

Thanks for posing the question Lynn. It is good to create an opportunity to express our opinions. ...Howard

I do agree with Howard, thanks for posting this topic.

I have been in mortgage industry, for 16 plus years. And with the invention of the internet, borrowers have become way to focused on the cheapest rate, instead of experience and honesty, and integrity.

It drives me nuts, because I am so used to working with customers by referal, and then my customers will have an idea of who I am because of the people refering to me.

I would love to start doing some workshops for interested customers/people. Maybe even training for new Loan Officers.

What do you guys think about charging for that type of stuff?

ST

Training loan officers who will work commission type jobs seems like if they get the right training they will make money and it would be worth paying for training. On the other hand if they are bringing me a cut then I might reduce or waive there fee or reimburse it when they got to a certain level. I have seen it both ways. Some folks put together a team and then put on a seminar that will usually help at least 1 in that team and the hope is that will lead to referring to the rest of the team. For a lender it might mean having a good insurance person and real estate agent and then a 3 part seminar for free.
To charge or not... I am leaning to having more and more free events whenever possible. I just never know who will become my next referral or advocate.

Hi have to agree with Howard on this one. At first you think, "gosh, I'm spending a lot of my time and money on these events!" However, from my experience hosting events, it's been well worth the investment. I've not only made lasting relationships, I've made clients and business partners.

I believe at first, you should focus on your "voice" in the biznik community. It hasn't been until recently that I felt I could charge for specific specialty events. You must deliver outstanding value from the moment they walk in the door.

I was interested to see where this discussion was headed. I see one poster who states he charges for all of his events. Upon investigation they were a while ago, and some were in fact free. They were well attended with a reasonable fee for both the presenter and the attendee.

When I joined I did see events with a fee, but very seldom now. In fact a gentleman has an event on Monday (March 30) with a fee of $20. It looks like an interesting event, however he has no RSVPs and only 30 views. Contrast that with an event at the same time that is full and has had 200+ views. The fee based event is not even getting views, much less a commitment!

The Biznik community is now trained to attend (and apparently only look at) free events. Frankly, there is a lot of valuable information being given away and I suspect many presenters are simply not bothering anymore. This will ultimately impact everyone. Less events makes for a less valuable network.

Giving away information with an eye on a future investment is a marketing technique going back who knows how long. Shannon Evans and I have held a number events over the last three months and they have been well received. We've elected to essentially take a break to find other more profitable venues to present our information. We will simply have a more limited Biznik schedule.

The other issue of course is when you pay for a venue but don't get any fees from the event. The Mosaic is a popular spot for events because it is "free", however it is not convenient for a lot of people to travel there. No one wants to pay for the venue and not get any direct return.

To charge or not to charge, even Shakespeare would admit this is a good question. I think everyone should experiment with each and see what the results are.

I thought I would jump back in as I see this one is alive again. And Richard, you have some good points, there, especially that this community has been trained for "free" events, and there is no shortage of good ones.

I am doing my first paid one. I have done several free before even stepping into those waters. Building some groundwork and credibility. And I thought long and hard of what to offer. It ends of being a intensive , 3-hour workshop on WordPress. I knew that there had to be a lot of value in it, as with our free events we have been told "you should charge for these". Of course we haven't and will keep them free. But this workshop has very hands-on practical information and attendees will walk away with a lot of added knowledge.

It is interesting as I do some other smaller, free discussions on WordPress and those are doing pretty well. And of course, there is another event around WordPress that is free, and full. But, again, I felt I have more "practical applications" in this one.

So, with that said, we'll see how it goes. Right now I have 5 people attending and 200 views. So there is enough there to peak the interest. We will see. As you mentioned in the end of your article, experiment, and that is exactly what I am doing.

Thanks for getting the conversation started again as I know this has been discussed over time and in other posts!

~bob

I have noticed the same as Richard, Bizniker's have so many enlightening free events offered that it would really take something super fantastico to even consider paying. All of our time is valuable. The event host as well as the attendees. This may be why the freebies fly much better. It is almost as though, if we charge, we have a desperation about us. I attended one free event and at the end of the event was asked to pay $5.00. That's a small amount but it left a bad taste in my mouth and haven't been back to that individuals events. Still up in the air concerning this issue! ~~namaste~~yoga guide

Hi Cindy, yeah, if it's a free event, then it should stay free.

But I do disagree with you on if we charge, we have a desperation about us. That is totally untrue.

I am merely providing a workshop with very practical, hands-on training. This is the kind of workshop you would normally pay 3X or more for. I feel I am still providing "value" and "expertise" for a lot less than you would find elsewhere.

And as I said before, we offer several free ones as well!

Oh, yes Bob. A workshop is different than an event. Charge away....if it feels good do it! yoga guide

Funny, this topic came up in conversation between Richard Baum and I just this afternoon…

In my opinion, the number one reason why the Mosaic Coffeehouse is a popular venue to host events is because the venue's funding is based on donations. Also due to the fact that it’s right off of I-5 and has free parking for attendees helps too.

Second, I would just like to mention that you can be successful at charging events. Don’t be discouraged by charging for the value of your events. I'm charging $50 per. person on April 5th and it's nearly full (13 people) last time I checked! If people are aware of the value delivered at the event, participants have no issue committing their time and money.

We as event hosts, often donate hours of our time and finances in preparation for an event. If you’re sharing something of outstanding value to the community, charging a fee for your time, investment and teachings shouldn’t be an issue. If you price your events at reasonable fees, people will be fighting for their spot on your RSVP list. Don’t sell yourself short.

I think everyone has made some fantastic points and so I don't have too much that can be said except to rehash everyone else's comments, which I won't do. I charge for all of my seminars, I will hold mixers for free. This has come down to a choice that I have made because I wanted an additional revenue stream for my business. It was not worth my time to hold a free seminar with unqualified buyers. I believe that a free seminar says to your potential clients 'I don't value enough of what I do so I'm giving it away'.

I love the Biznik community but with all the free events it does set the standard that people should get things for free and shouldn't have to pay.

However, this does raise another point... how many people who hold their seminars are just rehashing common knowledge? You can't expect people to pay money for a seminar if the information that you are presenting can be obtained quite readily from the Internet, Books, Biznik forums, or that is being provided for free from another bizniker. If you are just rehashing common knowledge (and from what I see 95% of you are) I'm not going to pay my hard earned money for it.

When your looking to put on a paid seminar, make sure it meets the following criteria:

• The information is new and fresh

• The presenter makes it interesting and relevant

• The seminar has both content and context (information and how to use it)

• It is customizable

• People leave feeling like they have something they didn't before (for some its information and for others it might be a tool or an idea)

• It has educated the participants

Cheers,

Liam

Good range of views here. This is a complex issue with so many variables.

Liam, I agree with you that paid workshops must go the extra mile. Presenters need to raise the bar in terms of value. Just like any workshop, any information product, any membership, you have to deliver exceptional content.

However, I don't agree that "95% of presenters are rehashing common knowledge." And how do you decide what's rehashing, anyway? The value of the content is in the eyes of the beholder. For instance, a solopreneur who has been in business for six months might find a basic workshop on, say, finding your USP, very helpful. Paid or not, she would likely get a lot out of the workshop. A 20-year marketing veteran? Not so much. From someone with a Master's in Education and years teaching adult learners, for me, it still just boils down to making the content relevant for your audience.

Bob and I teach blogging and marketing with eletters workshops (both free) and we have gotten very favorable responses in terms of information and new skills people take away. We do have people from these classes approach us later to help them with their marketing. They have also signed up for our marketing e-tips, which allows us to stay in regular (weekly) contact with them. So we see great benefit in hosting workshops, even though some of them they are free.

On the paid issue, we are offering our first workshop with a fee: WordPress Simplified. It's an intensive, three-hour lab experience where all attendees will be able to go online and walk through each component of the WordPress dashboard, play with widgets and plugins, and learn other new skills. Each attendee will walk away with a far better understanding of managing their WordPress blog or website. Better yet, they get to practice the steps, which is far more effective than watching a video, listening to a podcast, or reading a book. And to hire someone to figure this all out for them would costs at least four times the amount of the class fee.

There are many ways to look at this issue because we all have different needs and goals. Thanks, Lynn, for getting this interesting discussion going.

This discussion keeps coming up and you can read a lot of great thoughts on the topic here.

I outlined three types of events and how I think they should be (fee vs. free) on Sept. 25, 07 on this thread. It's all still relevant today.

One caveat I'd like to add is that you have to build your reputation in the community before people are going to see and know and trust your value to pay a significant amount for an event. I see that the people who try to charge and feel like it didn't work are often people who have not yet built up their relationships, reputation and value in the community.

Some people seem to come out of nowhere and say "pay to hear me talk" and are then disappointed when no one RSVP's. Then others see that and are afraid of charging. Vicious cycle.

I am a big proponent of charging for some events and I lay it out pretty clearly in that FEE VS. FREE thread on Sept. 25, 07 on page two of the thread

Karrie

Hi Karrie,

I appreciate you providing that thread it was a very interesting read, especially reading some of the replies. I don't agree that you have to have an established reputation in the community before people will pay. I was a member for a week and then posted my first seminar that charged $50.00 per person and had 14 people attend. I think it comes down to a few different things: Value your topic is offering, A unique and relevant topic, and Timing.

Cheers, Liam