How To Make Your Fortune With Self-Improvement Seminars

Ever since the beginning of time, ambitious people of the worldhave attributed some "indescribable secret" to the success ofthose people with wealth. These people have spent, and willcontinue to spend, millions of dollars to cultivate these"secrets" within themselves.
Particularly since the early seventies, there has been a growingdemand by the public to attend classes, workshops, andself-improvement seminars that will enable them to align theirthinking as well as their actions, with those of people who havealready achieved success.
The popularity of such best-selling how-to books as WINNING ISBELIEVING...THINK AND GROW RICH...HOW TO DEVELOP A WINNINGPERSONALITY...OVERCOMING SHYNESS... IMAGINEERING... NEW LIFEOPTIONS... WINNING BY NEGOTIATION... SUCCESSFUL VISUAL-VERBALCOMMUNICATIONS... CONVERSATIONALLY SPEAKING... and countlessothers lends reinforcement to the "need" for self-improvementseminars.
You can promote and stage these seminars either as a generalistsor as a specialist in a specific area of expertise--and attainwealth for yourself almost beyond your current imagination! Themarket potential has only barely been scratched, affording a realground-floor opportunity for those with the gumption to takeaction.
Dale Carnegie--the author of the book, How To Win Friends andInfluence People--was certainly one of the first, if not "thefirst" self-improvement seminar market/teacher. Back in the GreatDepression of the thirties, he recognized this need in people toimprove themselves--he worked out a deal with the localmanagement of his hometown YMCA-- got the word around that he washolding classes on self-improvement--and the rest is one of thetruly classic unemployed-to-multi-million-dollar success storiesof our time.
A self-improvement seminar is conducted much the same as aToastmaster's Club meeting...It can be held just about anywhere,from the informal atmosphere of someone's living room to theformalities of the Hilton Convention Center.
Basically, a self-improvement seminar is a gathering of peoplewhere one or more speakers talk on a specific subject. More oftenthan not, only a certain aspect of self-improvement, such as HowTo develop A Positive Mental Attitude--is the thrust of theseminar. In other words, the more successful seminars deal with"specialized areas" of self-improvement.
These speakers usually wind up their talks with audienceinvolvement questions and answer sessions. Most of them "winddown" with the speaker circulating thru the audience, plus lotsof opportunity for the purchase of self-help books and tapes bythe people wanting on-going motivation and reinforcement to whatthey've just heard. Always-sometimes even as the featured subjectof the seminar--there's a great deal of motivation projectedduring these meetings. At the bottom line, motivation is more thepurpose of these seminars than the attendees learning somethingthey don't already know. The favorite words of most seminarspeakers is usually, "It's the difference between having a dreamand taking action--a matter of saying I can, believing it, andthen doing it--because you can!
Successful seminars are generally based upon the concept ofgiving you the power to believe you can. The speakers usuallyspeaks from insights and expertise gained from their own lifeexperiences. Self-improvements seminars give the attendees thetools--and the motivation--to succeed. Thus, a well-organized andwell presented seminar that helps people up the ladder of successcan't help but succeed because we are a success orientedsociety--it's an easy sell with an income potential limited onlyby your ability to express yourself.
You won't need an office to make it big with self-improvementseminars. The public doesn't visit you--you take your programs tothem. Self-improvement seminars appeal to almost everybody--fromblue-collar workers to top executives.
The average cost per person to attend a seminar is very close to$300--so your basic audience will be from the upper-incomebrackets--but if you handle the promotional aspects properly,you'll pull them in from lesser income brackets as well.
Many seminar promoters employ sales teams to call upon topcompany executives and either get the to partially pay the costof several employees to attend as educational or businessimprovement investments--or to foot the bill for the sponsorshipof a "group seminar" for all of that company's middle managementpersonnel. Many specialty speakers make in excess of $100,000 peryear with regular motivational and/or self-improvement seminarsin this fashion.
In the beginning though, you'll get your start by stagingseminars for the general public in restaurant banquet rooms,hotel ballrooms, and convention centers. These will entailadvertising costs, plus the charges for the rented space, and an"on hand" inventory of the materials you want to sell to thepeople who attend your seminars.
Generally, you'll do best with an intensive radio advertisingcampaign during the week preceding your seminar date. In ametropolitan area of half a million population, you should spenda couple of thousand dollars on radio advertising, plus half asmuch for flamboyant newspaper advertising. Some seminar promotersinvest a quarter of their budget in newspapers, then a half goinginto radio. Of course, the allocation of your advertising budgetshould be related to the previous proven pulling power of eachmedia within that particular market. Not too much concern isgiven to television advertising, excepting for guest appearancesof the community service talk shows.
Most promoters spend all of this effort and money to promote aseries of free seminars. These free seminars usually draw hugecrowds, during which special "front men" turn everybody on withsuper-motivational stories designed to wet the appetite of thosein attendance for more. These free seminars generally last only45 minutes to an hour, and are strictly motivational in purpose.
Each person in attendance is handed a brochure describing theup-coming "main event" as they leave these free seminars. Anattempt is made to get an commitment---at least a deposit for thecost of the "real thing" which is usually set for the weekfollowing. Those who do commit themselves to attending the bigone are then contacted by professional telephone sales people andgiven the complete sales presentation between the time of thefree seminar ad the date of the real thing. With goodadvertising, up-front motivational speakers, attractive programbrochures and experienced telephone sales people--you can counton closing about 30 to 35% of those who attend your freeseminars.
If you don't have the confidence or inclination toparticipate--be the principal speaker--at your seminars you canhire local sales training people, professional people from themedical specialties, local "experts" known thru your areanewspapers or broadcast media, and or/ nationally known speakerswiling to travel and operating thru speakers' bureaus. You mightwant to contact Burt Dubin of Personal Achievement Institute--225Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 305--Santa Monica, CA 90401...or DottieWalters of The National Speakers' Bureau--400 W Foothill Blvd.,--Glendora, CA 91740.
Finally, a reiteration of the fact that there are literallymillions of people in all parts of the country willing and ableto pay you for helping them to improve themselves. You can startwith meetings in your living room, or your local restaurant. Allit takes is action on your part to get it set up, and a push fromyourself to start making it happen. Best of luck, and now getgoing with it.