The single most important real estate in your printed promotion is your cover and for your e-mail promotion, above the fold. That means your image and headline must draw your audience. The purpose of a headline is to get someone to read the next line.

Too many conference promotions are all about the conference organization, the event, the location, the speakers, the networking opportunities.

Get inside their heads. Make them say, “Oh, this event is just for me.” What are the benefits to the attendee?  Use one of the benefits as your headline. Make it about:

• The attendees

• Their business

• How the conference is going to help them make money

• How the conference is going to keep them out of jail

• The experience of the location

Target, target, and target again. If you are not entering information into your database that differentiates your members or attendees, start today. For example, Omaha Steaks sends a great, oversized print piece that stands out in your mailbox, with a bargain price you can’t refuse. Unless you’re a vegetarian, of course.  So create two different brochures or e-mail pieces, or more, as needed, to target the different audiences.

In your marketing pieces, walk the edge of the abyss. Don’t be afraid to offend. Your audience will sit up and take notice. If you’re using the name of the event, the theme, the picture of the iconic landmark, it looks like everybody else’s promotion. Focus on benefits such as price, convenience, and availability.

A compelling message/marketing piece has these 12 components.

1. Specific purpose
2. Killer headline
3. Clear statement of value
4. Compelling story
5. Irresistible offer
6. Overcoming objections
7. Testimonials
8. Risk-free guarantee
9. Definite and urgent call to action
10. Multiple ways to respond
11. Bonuses
12. A "P.S." restating the offer

Your speakers don’t know about marketing, so teach them! In fact, one session description can be a stand-alone promotion. Try this one on for size, Rosenberg says.

“This year, Ron Rosenberg is presenting a brand-new program where you’ll discover:

• A membership guarantee that will deliver over $7.2 MILLION in dues

• How participating in a ‘conspiracy’ led to record conference attendance

• One simple change that generated a 1,446% increase in conference registrations

• A basic niche-marketing strategy that increased membership by over 20%

• Easy-to-follow copy strategies that increased event revenues by over 94%”

(That was essentially the description for his MPI program.)

That is, use open-ended questions on your evaluation surveys, and rewrite the responses to be specific and compelling, and get permission from the author before using them. They will always say yes. It’s important to use their full name, title, company, location, and photo with the testimonial.

Testimonials should address challenges and specific objections (it’s too far to travel, it’s too expensive, it’s a bunch of thinly-veiled sales pitches). Go back to your attendees after four to six weeks and ask them what they’ve implemented since they’ve attended the conference. These can turn into great testimonials.

“Joe Johnson’s recent presentation for the members of my Triangle Internet Marketing Mastermind group was so jam-packed with red hot ideas that I thought the bulb on the projector was going to explode from displaying so many powerful concepts in such a short period of time!”

“The entire audience (of veteran internet marketers nonetheless) was furiously taking notes and sitting on the edge of their seats for nearly two hours. I actually had to go to the bathroom so bad I almost burst because I couldn’t miss a second!”

“Trust me, you need to beg this man to find you a spot in his always booked calendar to speak at your next event.”