Ba wo ni, ?

This is my final 'series' on the lessons I learned from hosting the Tourism Women Luncheon 2.0.

Paraventure you missed the last three newsletters, just search for "Lessons From TWL 2.0" and you can catch up with the 'series' *wink*

So the final lesson is on how to get people to attend your event and how to stop others who want to attend *chuckles*

, let me tell you one profound and hard lesson I have learned in this entrepreneurship journey of mine...

Your product/service or event is NOT for everybody

Oya, take a few seconds to let that sink in *waits for 10 seconds before proceeding, while listening to some jamz*

Listening to some Afrocentric Jamz with Silent Disco 🎧

Here are three (3) ways to get people to attend your event:

#1. Reach Out To People On Time: See eh, there is nothing as satisfying as reaching out to potential guests on time, . It saves you a lot of stress, trust me. I started reaching out to women in my community about three (3) months before the event. I sent a short survey link to over 100 potential guests to help me have an idea of how many were interested in attending. I left the survey opened for about a month and closed it when I had reached more that 50+ sign-ups. Here is a tip, if you have a guest cap, always reach out to double of the cap. For example, I wanted 50 guests, so I reached out to over 100 women. This will help you reach the cap you are looking for...na the Maths be that *giggles*

#2. Follow-up With Them: Call me Madam Follow-up! *laughs out loud* I can follow-up like no man's business, eh! To keep my registered guests updated, I sent them weekly newsletters till the d-day. The email included the link to make payment and my story about why I was hosting the luncheon. The idea was to ensure they understood why the event was important to me and how they could be part of it. Apart from emails, I followed up diligently on WhatsApp. Ah WhatsApp! The best place to follow-up *grins*

MY ADVISE: Please when following up, ensure you DON'T become a pest, o! After sending WhatsApp reminders about three (3) times and the person doesn't respond, please stop and leave them alone! Focus on those who have been responding and keep them updated. As for your emails, ensure there is a place where people can unsubscribe, in case they don't want to hear from you again. And please please please, don't take it personal. Take it that they have soaked up enough of you and are ready to move on...please move on too 🙏🏾

Me moving on and catching my trips *shines teeth*

#3. Make Their Mouth Water: Hehehe...this one is very important o! *grins* Let them know why they must attend your event. Share details of what they should be expecting...show them a tip of the ice-berg *wink* For those who jumped in on time, create personalised flyers and give them hastags so that they can share on their platforms. This will make others excited and interested in attending. Our personalised TWL 2.0 flyers did wonders! People kept reaching out requesting to attend the event even after the deadline.

Now here is how to say "NO" to people you don't want to attend your event *shines teeth*

#1. Niche Your Event: Let your event be for a certain group of people. My event was for women in Tourism. Unless the person wanted to join the Tourism space, then they could not attend.

#2. Have a Guest Cap: Now usually events have guest cap, that's the number of people required for the event. If your budget can take more, then have an extra cap. If not, stick to your cap.

#3. Have a Goal: Our event was for only 50 women, because we wanted a small and intimate event. So even when we had more people reaching out, we had to decline.

And there you have it...how to get people to say 'YES' to your event and how to say 'NO' to 'unwanted' guests *bats eyes*

In all make sure you give your guests a wonderful experience so that the next time you plan to host an event, they will become your ambassadors.

Also don't forget to send all your guests a feedback form. This will help you create testimonials and also help you plan a much better next edition.

I hope the "Lessons From TWL 2.0" have been helpful, .

One way to build visibility for your brand is to host both online and offline events.

If successfully done, you will be recognised as an authority or how do we say it these days, an influencer in your space *smiles*

It also helps to attract your ideal customers and potential business partners to your brand.

If you plan to host an event anytime soon, I am here to assist where I can, so do reach out *smiles*

Till then, remember...

Life is short, live it to the fullest, *smiles*

Sai wata rana *waves*

Your Wanderluster,

Ajala Nene

P/S: I recently cleaned and updated my email list. If you do not want to be getting newsletters from me, please do feel free to unsubscribe below. Honestly, no hard feelings *hugs*