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September 30, 2005

Seminars versus "sellinars"

The results of a recent survey by a software trade association showed that while spending was up for seminars, satisfaction was down.

The biggest complaint? People are tired of paying high enrollment fees and taking time off work for presentations that are nothing more than a thinly veiled sales pitch.

There are two primary models for seminars. The “seminar model” is to provide fantastic information with either no sales pitches allowed, or only a short mention of your products or services. The “sellinar model” (my term) is to have a lot of speakers give very little hard information, then segue into a compelling sales pitch.

Many seminar companies and speakers favor the “sellinar model”. Because the speakers are contractually obligated to split the profits with the seminar company, both make a lot more money than they would without the platform sales. Others feel that it’s a conflict of interest to charge a lot of money only to have the audience bludgeoned with non-stop sales pitches.

Personally, I think there has to be a balance between the two. Look, no speaker can possibly cover all aspects of a valuable topic in an hour or so. So it’s in the audience members’ best interest to be able to purchase further information on something they’re truly interested in. But you can also pack a lot of useful information into an hour, and I believe that each speaker is obligated to do so.

What do you think?

Posted by Bob Serling at 08:38 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 28, 2005

The truth about response rates

How do you really measure response rates? Is the old concept of aiming for a 2% response rate true or misleading? Here's the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth...

The idea of aiming for a 2% response rate to your marketing campaign has been around forever. It originated with direct response mailings and has carried forward to online marketing as well.

Just how good a gauge of response is this really?

Well, if you apply a little common sense, you'll quickly see that it's completely meaningless. Here's what I mean. 2% response rate for selling cheap items - in the $15 to $20 range - will kill you. There's just not enough profit there to make it worth the investment of your time, energy, and money.

But how about a 2% response rate if you're selling time share units at a luxury resort where the average selling price is $50,000 or more?
In this case, 2% would shoot your profits off the charts. But you're not likely to get a rate anywhere close to this.

So what do you use then as an accurate, completely reliable gauge of response to your marketing? The answer is simple: dollars in versus dollars out. Did you make a profit or not? And if you did, is it enough of a profit to keep the campaign going or would you be better off investing your resources in another campaign or project?

Always remember, the only thing you can deposit in your bank account is dollars, not percentage rates of response.

Posted by Bob Serling at 04:25 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack