Free Business Training Seminars

Q:I was wondering if it's a good idea to offer free seminars to help gain customers? I am working on a business for PC/Network repair and thought that a good marketing idea would be to offer a free seminar for say, the first 20 people that sign up.

A:Free seminars are often a good way to find interested prospects. Just be sure to have a means to collect names and contact information for the people that attend your seminar. Will you be targeting consumers or small businesses with your seminar? Consumers can be rather fickle, so I'd recommend targeting small business owners. You can follow-up after "wowing" seminar participants with a phone call to offer your services. The bigger challenge is actually marketing your seminar. Will you use direct mail, local advertising, etc.? You might find after weighing the costs of marketing your seminar that you would be better off just selling your services directly and not giving away your advice for free... Maybe you can hook up with an organization of some sort that has business dinners and speakers. When I was in quality, I used to do a lot of presentations for the ASQC (American Society for Quality Control). Also, you should join Toastmasters, perhaps, to bone up on your speaking skills. My suggestion would be to offer to speak at a Lions, Rotary or other club luncheon where business people are already gathered. You would only need to prepare 20 - 30 minutes of material and then be available to answer questions after the meeting. You could speak on maybe only one or two of the topics you listed and offer a "special" package to the attendees. Another productive venue would be a Chamber of Commerce function. Even if you tell people the basics of computer/network operation, most business people are afraid of those machines. They would rather call someone to take care of them than try to do it themselves. They have a business to run and most just don't have the time or patience to mess with the tech stuff. One of my computer clients has a technical business - audio and video production. Even though he uses computers for everything from printing labels and order forms to capturing and editing video, when he needs virus definitions updated or his email program configured, he calls me! The arrangement works well for both of us.