Seminar worth it?

[Chazm]

@Chazm What does MBI stand for? Do you have the website for the company who does your mailers for you?

I honestly have no idea what it stands for.

 

[axeman462]

Medicare Beneficiary Identifier, it's their Medicare number found on their card.

Lol MBI is the direct mail company that Chaz uses

 

[axeman462]

@Chazm What does MBI stand for? Do you have the website for the company who does your mailers for you?

 

[axeman462]

Mbidirectmail.com

 

[Tscholar]

I didn’t do seminars 5 years ago. At first I would get 3-4 show up for each seminar. Then I focused on my 2 best locations. I do two dates at one (I’ll get 15 to show at one) and one date at another.

I have no reason to lie. I do monthly webinars too and I get around 20-30 show there. I used to get 50 during Covid.

@Chazm can I require an RSVP for my educational events by a certain date? And if no one RSVPs, do I have to show up? I'm not going to register these with the carriers or my FMO.

 

[bluediamond]

@Chazm What does MBI stand for? Do you have the website for the company who does your mailers for you?

Medicare Beneficiary Identifier

 

[PrivClientSG]

Ive been thinking about doing seminars to get medicare clients. Its out of my comfort zone, but if It will help my business Ill do whatever. I talked to someone who only does seminars, and he explained how he does turning 65 lunch/dinner seminars where a person gets a mailer for a complimentary lunch or dinner and a short medicare presentation. The company that does this handles all of the mail send outs as well as the RSVP system. They also give you tips on how to do the presentation and they have databases of who to mail to. This company charges .75 per mail piece, and they mail around 3,500 mailers so about $2,600. On top of that he pays $15 per meal so an additional $525-675 for the food. All in he spends about $3200. He said he gets about a 1-1.3% response rate to the mailers so in the end he will get about 30-35 people to attend the dinner and not everyone becomes a client.

Its not cheap so I'm hesitant to sign up to do this. Im thinking I probably can do the same thing, find a venue but with no food (provide water and maybe snacks), send out mailers (not sure where to get demographic lists to target turning 65), and hopefully people show up.

For those who do/have done seminars, what are your thoughts?

I can't speak to your marketplace, or the costs you've referenced; however, I can very much speak to seminars for client acquisition. People can say it's marketing, PR, name recognition, etc. -- whatever you want to call it -- but if you don't get a client, sell a product, generate revenue for you, as a result of the seminar, then it was a very expensive whatever you want to call it. Period.

That said, the seminar for client acquisition model can absolutely work. It can be very profitable. Step one is to keep it simple. Add up all your costs, all in, pre, event, and post, including follow up calls and mail, labor, etc. Arrive at a number. The entire seminar cost me X. That's how much you are putting at risk. It's your investment. Then figure out how many sales, how much revenue, how much do you have to make -- to make X plus Y%. Now, Y% is your own -- risk vs. reward, cost vs. return, etc. -- number. It's your profit. How much are you putting at risk to potentially make this return (which is also a projection-based, hopeful, conjecture number). For me, and the seminars I did, it was 25%. Later on it was 50%. Now I was in a completely different marketplace doing a completely different series of things. I don't do seminars any more. Not the kind that I pay, produce, put on, etc. I still do "speaking engagements" and the like.

Some people are willing to spend $10,000 to make $12,500 or $15,000 (once a month, once a quarter, etc.). Others may not be willing to put $10,000 at risk, to make that kind of return.

Good luck and all the best!!!

 

[Chazm]

@Chazm can I require an RSVP for my educational events by a certain date? And if no one RSVPs, do I have to show up? I'm not going to register these with the carriers or my FMO.

You can request an RSVP but not require one.
You’re supposed to show up even if there are no rsvp’s. I don’t register them with anyone.

 

[Fisher]

Are they worth it? My numbers strictly from once-a-month T65 dinner workshops Apr 2022-Sep 2023: $35k spent, $95k gross 1st-year commission generated. I'll keep doing this.

 

[Tscholar]

You can request an RSVP but not require one.
You’re supposed to show up even if there are no rsvp’s. I don’t register them with anyone.

So, if you don't get any RSVPs, do you still show up? How will anyone know since it's not registered. Here is a mailer that one of my clients got. They required a RSVP for a Medicare educational event.

Are they worth it? My numbers strictly from once-a-month T65 dinner workshops Apr 2022-Sep 2023: $35k spent, $95k gross 1st-year commission generated. I'll keep doing this.

How many people on average per dinner do you sell? i.e. 10 sold/30 invited, etc.