Seminars For Less.com - good seminar mailer for retirement?

[BiggitySwat]

I came across SeminarsForLess.com the other day and they offer a great deal IMHO..... $2100 for 5000 gloss full color postcards to targeted lists, along with their call center to field your RSVPs.

Has anyone has a success story with this company? I am going to be launching a retirement planning seminar soon and wanted to have a great showing. I am targeting affluent seniors ages 55-70 in the area for appetizers and refreshments (no full dinner)

Or, would anyone like to recommend THEIR mailing house?

 

[patch36]

I used them for about a year and had success. I mailed 4 or 5000 pieces advertising 2 or 3 different seminar dates. Had varying crowd, but as many as 50 and as few as 12.

The restaurant is the key to getting a good response. The days of the week and times are important too.

 

[padthaiforlunch]

I came across SeminarsForLess.com the other day and they offer a great deal IMHO..... $2100 for 5000 gloss full color postcards to targeted lists, along with their call center to field your RSVPs.

Has anyone has a success story with this company? I am going to be launching a retirement planning seminar soon and wanted to have a great showing. I am targeting affluent seniors ages 55-70 in the area for appetizers and refreshments (no full dinner)

Or, would anyone like to recommend THEIR mailing house?

Presumably they have done this for other agents and have response rate stats for the mailer, the reservations and show rate. At $2.38 per mailer, we need the response stats to know if it makes sense to use them.

 

[Charpress]

"At $2.38 per mailer"

Don't you mean 42 cents per mailer? Seminar crowds advertises 29 cents per mailer. But, the small print is you need a mailing of 20,000 to get that rate and the postcards are plain, black print on a color background.

 

[padthaiforlunch]

There's a reason I don't work mornings.... Wow, I must have been tired. Or really stupid...
Guess I need to get a brain! What a moran.

"At $2.38 per mailer"

Don't you mean 42 cents per mailer? Seminar crowds advertises 29 cents per mailer. But, the small print is you need a mailing of 20,000 to get that rate and the postcards are plain, black print on a color background.

 

[patch36]

They were good to work with. I have also used the more expensive programs like RME. The response rate is higher, but so is the cost. Gotta figure out your own budget, goals and ROI.

 

[BiggitySwat]

They were good to work with. I have also used the more expensive programs like RME. The response rate is higher, but so is the cost. Gotta figure out your own budget, goals and ROI.

Patch, my goals are getting 25-30 people to come to each of my seminars, which will be held twice a month (for now). By sending out 5000 pieces with SeminarsForLess, my goal is a 1% return, which comes to 50 prospects that show up. I'm also using my own custom designed mailer and not their premade dinner invites due to my choice of venue.

My budget is roughly $500 per 1000 pieces, since we're only sending postcards and not letters.

The main issue is effectiveness. While I can't offer a "FREE GOURMET DINNER" because I'm presenting at a financial institution and not a steakhouse, I still am offering hors d'oeuvres and complimentary VIP valet parking.

I am hoping that not doing the seminar at a fancy place is not going to hurt my returns too much. Heck, I AM feeding the crowd....but they should be coming to listen to me talk about their retirement as well

I've done public speaking before and have always been able to make a crowd smile, if not roar with laughter. I guess I can put "Free Entertainment" on the mailer?

 

[patch36]

Patch, my goals are getting 25-30 people to come to each of my seminars, which will be held twice a month (for now). By sending out 5000 pieces with SeminarsForLess, my goal is a 1% return, which comes to 50 prospects that show up. I'm also using my own custom designed mailer and not their premade dinner invites due to my choice of venue.

My budget is roughly $500 per 1000 pieces, since we're only sending postcards and not letters.

The main issue is effectiveness. While I can't offer a "FREE GOURMET DINNER" because I'm presenting at a financial institution and not a steakhouse, I still am offering hors d'oeuvres and complimentary VIP valet parking.

I am hoping that not doing the seminar at a fancy place is not going to hurt my returns too much. Heck, I AM feeding the crowd....but they should be coming to listen to me talk about their retirement as well

I've done public speaking before and have always been able to make a crowd smile, if not roar with laughter. I guess I can put "Free Entertainment" on the mailer?

Your expectations are not unreasonable. Remember, the ONLY purpose of the seminar is to set appointments. Not later or some vague time in the future. You have to set appointments at the seminar. Charpress and other with experience in the seminar business know exactly what I am talking about.

We would give them an information sheet that needs to be filled out before they leave. I always told them that it was required by me and the IRS so I could document that I actually bought them meals. In your case you can modify the statement a bit. We worked the room immediately upon the conclusion of the presentation. If you do it alone, many of them will slip out the door before you get to them with the calendar.

Your financial pressure is not so great since you are not providing meals, but I have had many meal charges in excess of $1000. You need to be selling high ticket products and services, even if all you are covering is the mailing system.

Seminars for Less had a great service that folks called into and registered. It has been over a year since I used them, but the system worked well for me. I tired of the overhead of the seminars, my office expense, ect., so I now work referrals, reply card mailings, and a few internet leads for my business. I may decide to have an occasional seminar, but I am too busy right now to do that.

 

[Charpress]

115903the ONLY purpose of the seminar is to set appointments. Not later or some vague time in the future. You have to set appointments at the seminar.

Exactly.

"I will call you" is a "No".

"I need to check my calendar at home and will get back to you" is very doubtful and a probably no.

In response to the "I will call you" --I just move on.

In response to the "Check my calendar at home" I respond, "Let's just set an appointment for {whatever time} since I have blocked out time for appointments and we'll just call it tentative. You can always call to change the appointment if it turns out to not be convenient." This gets them to make an appointment about 75% of the time.

The downside with forcing appointments is you tend to get more cancellations, or worse, no shows.

Generally, if someone isn't worked up enough to be eager for an appointment, then you did something wrong in the presentation or they are a plate-licker. There are also bored people who make the rounds of seminars because of loneliness or whatever. Most mailing services allow you to block these people from their mailing list.

By the way, you Glengarry fans need to see this. If you don't know what it is, it's third prize (you need to watch the movie):

White T-Shirt - CafePress

 

[patch36]

Yup, I always scrubbed the list each time to eliminate the plate lickers. When we missed someone on the list and saw they were signed up I would call them to see if there was something I didn't explain well enough the last times they were there, and if so I would gladly set an appointment. If they couldn't justify their 'need' to come and sponge another meal, I would tell them I needed the room for others who had not participated in the past.

The plate lickers are shameless. They will go to as many of the 'Free Meal' seminars as they can.

Charpress is right on about appointments. We used an assumptive method to get the appointments, but we did not force them to see us. My wife set most of the appointments by simply asking, 'is morning or afternoon best for you?' , never ask if they want to set an appointment...