August 23, 2005
How Should We Market the Extreme Entrepreneur Tour on Campuses?
Things are progressing very well on the Extreme Entrepreneur Tour. Adam Witty, our partner on it, flew up from South Carolina for three days last week. During those days we had another meeting with Inc. magazine and did intensive planning on the tour. Unfortunately, I can't go into details on the Inc. deal until they're more solidified. However, I will say that things are looking good.
A big part of the tour is going to be getting students as schools to show up for the one-day event. Below are the ideas we have to accomplish this. What do you think? How can we get 500+ students to attend each event?
- Professors - Work with relevant professors to give students extra credit for attending the event. Also, work with professors so that students attend the event instead of attending class if the two conflict. We will design a lesson plan and assignment that professors can give their students.
- On-Campus Co-Sponsorships – Help facilitate marketing co-sponsorships between career services, student activities, the presidents offices, relevant student clubs, and entrepreneurship centers.
- Local PR – Work with our PR coordinator to land campus and local press for all events.
- Templates – Provide schools with template emails, press releases, and posters that they can customize.
- Early Bird Give Aways – Develop an online RSVP system that students are required to complete before attending the event. The first students at each school to register will receive special give aways. The system will alert us of low attendance levels in advance of the event and give schools extra time to do last-minute promotion.
- Free Food – Work with schools so that all students who attend are offered free food.
- Recruiting Opportunities – Work with sponsors and Inc. Magazine to offer students intrapreneurial work opportunities at large companies and Inc. 500 companies.
Posted at August 23, 2005 11:40 AM
Thats great news! You should definitely come to Babson! I will help in any way with logistics and promotion on campus. Invenio Group would even be willing to be one of the co-sponsors (we would then approach on campus organizations to co-sponsor with us).
Looking for online event solutions? Check out WhizSpark (http://www.whizspark.com) its a great company and I can get you in touch with the CEO if you would like.
I could even figure out something for the free food portion of the event.
Hey Michael, Jim Cooke here, and I cannot help but think of Eric Chester and Generation Why, his organization. There has to be incentive for students to check you out, but like PR said free food isn't always the catch. The facebook advertising method like I shared with you in my other e-mail sounds like a good idea for advertising, but there is something more that you can do. I found this by accident - PeoplePreneurs is a woman-owned small business that was created with a simple vision. We want people to be the best they can be! We are driven by the passion of seeing people better themselves, enrich their lives and have success. I know what you are trying to do for young people and the fact you are wanting to help them strive for entrepreneurship is a great thing. Not everyone will run their own business someday but the thoughts that can be created just by one who thinks like an entrepreneur are very powerful...
TOP 10 MUST DO'S FOR A SUCCESSFUL MARKETING EVENT
1. Choose lists carefully. Your target list is the single most important aspect for any direct marketing campaign. Develop a carefully targeted list of accounts that match your ideal customer profile rather than doing a blind mailing to a region.
2. Leverage the Internet. Take registrations via the Web and then send confirmations via e-mail that include hyperlinks to pages with an agenda and a map to the event.
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8. Use telemarketing effectively. Sure, it's a bit of self-promotion, but the fact of the matter is telemarketing promotion is critical! We typically see up to 70% of event registrants from telemarketing.
9. Reminder calls. Don't forget to remind registrants a few days before the event that you are looking forward to seeing them. If they have to cancel, then take a minute to see if there is anyone they'd like to send in their place.
10. Engage the sales organization - If they have target accounts, charter them with bringing a select group of attendees to the event.
http://www.leaddogs.com/toptens.htm
DO A TOP TEN LIST AND THE REASON THEY SHOULD ATTEND IS .................. DRUM ROLL... THEY GET TO BE THEIR OWN BOSS sEE yA lATER, jIM cOOKE
I think the free food idea is the best one.
