Wondering why your online events aren’t hitting the mark? Are you committing these online event planning mistakes? Learn how to dodge them for smoother, more successful virtual events.

Thinking about launching an online event like a summit? I’ve got 4 common mistakes you should try to avoid (these will help your event be more successful no matter your experience level).

#1: Not giving yourself enough time to plan your Online Event

Time is one of those things you absolutely have to account for when planning a summit or any online event. Not building in enough time to plan it out and get everything done in the time you’ve set aside is one of the greatest event planning mistakes I see, even among people who’ve done online summits before.

If you happen to be someone who struggles with anxiety or overwhelm like I have in the past, not giving yourself enough time to effectively plan your event and everything that goes into it can be super overwhelming and means you might miss something (like getting your Facebook ads set up in time- ask me how I know!) really important that can be a difference maker in how the event goes.

On the other hand, giving yourself too much is just as dangerous. If you give yourself nine months to plan a summit, it’s very likely you might not get anything done because you keep putting tasks off and other projects tend to get more facetime.

Too little and too much time are both not good. Which one do you lean more toward? If you’re somewhere in the middle, that’s great.

My sweet spot is about 120-145 days. I tend to add an additional three to four weeks if the the planning period for the summit overlaps with holidays like Christmas and New Years.

#2: Not researching your experts

I once came across someone claiming they spend 20 to 30 hours per week planning a summit. As someone who has planned over 300 summits for me as well as for my clients, that’s too much.

I have a business to run. I have other clients to take care of. There’s absolutely no way I’m spending 20 hours a week on a single summit.

Now I know it’s easy for people to go the rabbit hole that is research. If that’s you, try using a timer. Only give yourself 15 minutes to research an expert. Maybe a little more. But definitely not hours and hours on one expert.

When researching experts, look at who they’re connecting with on their business and social pages. How do people respond to their posts? Are there likes, shares… or is it crickets?

If an expert has 20,000 followers, but only an average of six people engage with each post, that’s a red flag 🚩.

I also encourage you to sign up for their mailing list using a throwaway email address. Take note of how they interact with subscribers.

#3: Not creating enough touchpoints to create a transfer of credibility

The main goal of your summit is to build your list. That said, a secondary purpose is building up your credibility.

Credibility should be transferred from your experts to you as an expert in your own right. The only way that you can do that is by interacting with them during the summit.

Let’s say you do a summit where you get 1,500 people sign up. Congrats!

If their only point of contact with you is a daily email and to see you occasionally nod your head in an interview, then they’re not going to build that know, like, and trust factor with you are they?

For those who don’t know, the know, like, trust factor is a marketing principle that states before purchasing from you, people must:

• Know you exist.
• Like you and what you offer.
• Trust you and your brand.

After the summit’s over, it’s going to take you six to eight weeks to connect with your registrants and get them to be on board with you.

You could actually cut that down by creating touchpoints.

The touchpoints you can create on a summit are nightly panels with you and your experts, daily Facebook Lives in a Facebook group with your registrants, videos that you send to them, gamification, etc.

#4: Not communicating enough with experts

You just started planning your summit that’s 120 days away and you’ve managed to snag an expert within the first week of planning. Well done.

What you need to keep in mind is there’s seventeen more weeks to go before you actually launch the summit. That’s one-third of a year, and it is really a long time.

Unless you and the expert are friends, they’ll likely forget about you. That’s why you need to continuously connect with them. How? Like their social media posts, send some friendly DM’s just saying hi and being supportive. Don’t forget to also send them regular emails to make sure they’re getting stuff done for the summit AND consider providing updates on what you’re doing for the summit so they feel like they are part of it!

The main aim here is for you to stay front of mind with your experts as much as possible.

People are more likely to promote you if they are constantly thinking of you.

What to do instead: Stay away from event planning mistakes and host a successful summit

Organizing a summit is not easy. There are so many event planning mistakes that can trip you up.

By avoiding the four mistakes I just spoke about, you can spare yourself a lot of headaches.

I’ve organized well over 300 summits. If you’re struggling, book a free call with me today and we can talk about how to create a summit that fits your life and helps attract your ideal clients.