(how to promote your summit and how to fix it)

Wondering why your summit isn’t getting the attention it deserves? Are you struggling to get experts on board to promote your summit? Dive into the top 5 reasons why they might be holding back and learn effective solutions to encourage their participation and boost your summit’s success!

Sometimes expert speakers are really just not going to promote your summit, even after all the hard work, hours spend on all the details… and all the reminders you’ve sent to expert speakers asking (and pleading) with them to promote.

Here’s 5 reasons why some people do this to you and your summit and how you can fix it – QUICK!

What’s a summit?

Online summits are virtual events designed to build your email list organically (and sometimes with some paid ads) using the power of Other People’s Audiences (or OPA – Listen to this episode of the podcast for details)

Summits can be set up different ways and with tons of customization. I prefer to produce and run a summit where all the trainings with experts are pre-recorded and then scheduled to be released over a few days when the summit launches.

Summits are generally free to attend but also have a VIP or all access pass option. I love a good VIP bundle and they can make the host a few hundred up to thousands of dollars.

My client Julie’s summit pulled in $10,000 in the two weeks before the summit went live and another $5,000 when the summit was actively open. Not to mention the other sales she made with other products and tripwires 🙌

Some people prefer to do live interviews but that comes with a ton of possible tech headaches and I really don’t recommend it unless you’re ready to take on that extra responsibility. With a pre-recorded summit, your registrants will get access to the trainings for about 24 hours with the option to upgrade to that awesome VIP I just mentioned. Experts are also invited to provide a free gift so it helps them grow their email list too.

I’ve produced over 350 summits at the time I’m writing this but I’ve also been both a host and an expert so I know the ins and outs from all angles.

I’ve seen it all by the way – everything you can imagine for summits and I’ve figured out the 5 main reasons experts just don’t promote (and how you can fix them)

(If you want more help with your summit – you can start here with my 3 Simple Ways to Make Sure Your Online Summit is Successful)

Reason #1: They don’t care

Ouch, I know, but true all the same. This could be because they don’t know you well, or something is lacking in your interactions. 

Sometimes it might just be they don’t have the time to care.

Regardless, that’s a them problem and not a you problem. That said, you’re not powerless.

There are a couple of things you can do to try and fix this.

The biggest thing you can do is develop a relationship with your experts. Go on their social media and like their puppy pics, their family pics, their reels and stories (but please don’t do this en mass right away or it will look a little much!) Sign up for their webinars, and just be responsive to their content.

It doesn’t hurt to also send them a few DM’s and just ask how they are doing. If the relationship with your experts feels totally transactional – they are not going to feel like they are vested in supporting you.

When you show people you actually care, most will be morally obliged to return the favour. Right now, all your expert sees is someone trying to use their credibility for personal gain without any benefit to them – change that. Make it about the things you mutually share, your vision for your niche and how you can support and encourage each other.

No one wants to invest in a one-way transaction where they give and get nothing in return. so make relationship building a cornerstone of your summit.

Reason #2: Lack of promotional materials

Your experts might not have the swipe, images, or whatever it is they need to promote, or they don’t know where to find that info and they are stuck.

This isn’t always your fault. You might have sent them, but they got lost in the mail or were misplaced by an assistant. 

Making sure experts are in possession of all materials is your job as host. Send follow-up emails with the links to the promotional materials. Make a loom video for them and share that. DM them. Make sure links are available in chat groups.

I also HIGHLY recommend an expert speaker mixer- a 1 hour Zoom call the week before the promotional period for the summit starts where I go over all the promotional materials, show the experts everything and get them on the side.

There are so many things you can do to ensure experts don’t have an excuse not to promote your summit.

Reason #3: They don’t know how to promote your summit effectively

I hope you’re choosing experts who know how to promote.

“How could I possibly know that,” you might ask. It’s easy. Look at what they’ve previously promoted online.

If they’ve been on summits before, they probably know how to promote.

If they’ve promoted something before, even better.

As host, it’s your job to train experts who don’t know how to promote. I recommend creating an experts only Facebook group and use this space to post videos, guides, and other training materials.

Also don’t forget the expert speaker mixer – it’s a game changer!

Reason #4: They’re too busy

It’s possible your experts have a lot on their plates at the same time you want them to promote your summit. This could be personal or business-related stuff.

It’s always smart to establish if the expert has time when you reach out to invite them to your summit. The last thing you need is a person who doesn’t have time to promote you because they have a dozen other things going on.

Just in case they’re busy, make sure you make things easy for your experts. That means all materials are accessible from an online drive without much effort. It means you cut away as much time as possible they would spend trying to locate links.

I once had an expert who’d recently had a baby. She thought she would have no problem juggling the baby and a summit at the same time. And it turned out the baby required more attention than she’d anticipated.

When I saw things weren’t going well, I had to step in to try and support her. She was really grateful and we found a way for her to get the promo out with a little extra help!

As a host, understand your experts are human, and life happens. When it does, make sure you can be there to offer empathy and compassion.

Reason #5: Only carrots, no sticks

This is going to be harsh and hard to hear. But quite often, your summit is not being promoted because there are no consequences for not promoting. And I don’t mean that the consequences have to be harsh. Let’s be honest – we should all be acting in integrity right? If you say you’ll promote… you should just promote.

But… Promotions are not a walk in the park. People would rather be doing something else with their time, or they forget, or something came up… and often if you don’t give them a nudge, your stuff won’t be promoted. This is why the follow up emails and relationship building is so key.

Sometimes… You have to be prepared to create consequences for not promoting. And this part really is a struggle for many hosts. Sometimes you have to be ready to say “Hey – it looks like something has changed from when we spoke about promotion and you agreed. I hope everything is ok but sadly I’m going to have to make some decisions that keep things in integrity. If my team and I don’t hear back/don’t see any promotion by X date, I’ll have to make some changes to the line up.” Basically, if they don’t get in touch (and often they will after an email with that phrasing), you’ll be removing them from the event.

And don’t hesitate to enforce those consequences. It’s hard, and it might feel like you’re being ungrateful for someone volunteering their time, but it’s the right thing to do. People shouldn’t get access to all the exposure you’ve worked hard to create for everyone and not do anything in return.

Do you know why your experts are not promoting your summit?

There are probably many other reasons your experts are not promoting your summit. In my experience, the main ones are:

• They don’t care about your event.
• They don’t have the necessary materials.
• Their promotion skills leave much to be desired.
• They’re busy.
• There are no consequences for not promoting or you didn’t communicate the promotional needs.

I’ve organized over 350 summits. I’ve dealt with more experts than I can count. If you want learn how to promote your summit and have an expert in your corner, book a free call with me.