In this episode, Erica MacVittie, race director of the Malibu Half Marathon, shares her secrets for selling out events using digital marketing.
Erica MacVittie
https://www.linkedin.com/in/erica-segel-macvittie/
Malibu Half Marathon
https://www.malibumarathon.com
Brian Meert
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianmeert
Duke of Digital
https://www.dukeofdigital.com/
https://www.instagram.com/dukeofdigital/
AdvertiseMint
https://www.advertisemint.com
https://business.facebook.com/advertisemint/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/advertisemint/
https://www.instagram.com/advertisemint
In this episode, Erica MacVittie, race director of the Malibu Half Marathon, shares her secrets for selling out events using digital marketing.
Erica MacVittie
https://www.linkedin.com/in/erica-segel-macvittie/
Malibu Half Marathon
https://www.malibumarathon.com
Brian Meert
https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianmeert
Duke of Digital
https://www.dukeofdigital.com/
https://www.instagram.com/dukeofdigital/
AdvertiseMint
https://www.advertisemint.com
https://business.facebook.com/advertisemint/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/advertisemint/
https://www.instagram.com/advertisemint
Selling tickets for an event online can be extremely tricky. But in today's episode you're going to learn a few tips about how to sell out your event. Raise your pinkies.
Speaker 2:Because today we're going to talk about digital marketing. The Duke of Digital will guide you through the rapidly changing landscape of digital marketing social media and how to grow your business online. To submit a question for the show text 3 2 3 8 2 1 2 0 4 4 or visit dukeofdigital.com. If you need an expert to fix your ads the friendly team at AdvertiseMint is ready to help. Visit AdvertiseMint. That's mint.com or call 8 4 4 2 3 6 4 6 8 6. to grow your business.
Speaker 3:Here's your host Brian Meert.
Speaker 1:All right I am incredibly excited today because we have a very special guest a duchess of digital marketing and sales. Erica McVie who is the director of the Malibu half marathon and a friend we've worked together for multiple multiple years. And so I'm really excited today because the journey that you've been on and we see this a lot. We've worked with a lot of different event companies whether it's someone trying to run their first webinar and get 10 people to be there would be a huge success or a company that's trying to fill a giant an event is trying to fill a stadium full of people. And there's a lot of tools that have emerged and a lot of things going on. And for the last three years you have sold out the Malibu Half Marathon where it's sold out. That's it. There's no more tickets no one else can come. And I wanted to be able to talk today about that and some of the things of the tips of what you've done that have kind of led to that and go from there. So it's wonderful to have you on the show.
Erica:Hi Brian. I am excited to be here. So thank you for inviting me. Of course I don't mean to sound like an expert but I'm really happy to be able to share all my experience and as you said you know we came across I think four years ago and we've become friends and you've been part of my journey in trying to rebuild this event which I became manager and race director and 2015. So it's been you know a few years and I had a lot of potential but I wasn't doing too well but I saw something in it like a potential to build something that was bigger than just an event that could be something valuable for the people and the community that hosted the event in Malibu. And yeah in the last three years we were able to just sell out which is incredible and really then focus on creating an experience for the people that are with us that day. And it's been incredible.
Speaker 5:I love it. For anyone that doesn't know. I mean I've run the Malibu half marathon now a couple of times. It is for anyone that's a runner. This is partly my opinion the best race in America the most beautiful race in America. If you've never done it put it on your bucket list. Find a way to sign up before it sells out and do it. And you know this last week we just did it. The event was two weeks ago.
Speaker 4:Not even two weeks ago. It was November 3rd. OK.
Speaker 1:So it's almost two weeks like almost two weeks ago. My wife is eight months pregnant and I was like hey let we've gotta go. Thank you. She'll love that. So I was like hey let's do the five k we'll walk. I was like it's still you know two months away from when you're you know your due date. So we should be able to go slow and just enjoy it. And she's not a runner at all. So she remembered you went out there and she was like All right let's do this. And we started going and we she was walking and she's beautiful. The event is a perfect event. You're right on the beach you're overlooking the Malibu ocean it's sun it's the sun is shining it's perfect. The first time I ever ran it I was running the half marathon and on my way back because you go down and back. I look out over the ocean but I mean it's just pretend like dolphins start jumping in the water and I was like Come on now there's no way I get any better there's no other races that have dolphins jumping like that like it was just amazing. So she came through to the finish line and everyone's cheering her. They see that she's pregnant people along the route like keep going you can do it and we get to the end. She gets a medal. She's excited. And she we leave. We go around the corner and she was like I feel such a huge sense of accomplishment like I did something really important today and said I've never done any races before but it's like this was just incredible. She's hooked. Yeah. That's it. I think that's it were in every year.
Speaker 4:Well you just said is exactly what makes me passionate about what I do because I think there's something more to a race. It's really that sense of if I were able to do this. What else can I do. Or there's nothing I can do when you have an objective and you know you train you put your effort towards not discovering that you can achieve it. I think it's very empowering. And actually when I started managing this event I was I didn't know anything about races so it was my chance. I knew the the founders of the event and they asked me if I could try to do something about just rebranding and rebuilding the event. So of course I was like I need to start from the basics. And I didn't even know what a bib was. So I had a lot of homework to do. So I joined a few you know round clubs around the city then finally decided I wanted to become a member of L.A. baggers OK. Which was training for L.A. Marathon. And sure enough you know. And the time came I had my first target half marathon and I remember crossing that finish line and I had never felt so much in general. You know maybe it's the endorphins or maybe it's the journey that takes you there but in that moment it was like OK now I know what I'm doing I'm not just organizing a race like I'm just allowing people to have an objective to feel discover and get together gain confidence you know turn your life around there's so much like it goes around that race like that before it's a journey leading up to that race that can change people's life. And this is what I love hearing those stories and feel like Kelly's on top of the world and see those miles that finish line. That's my favorite.
Speaker 5:You know I love this because you talk about the actual journey that people take. And I've been fortunate enough to see some of your journey over the last four years and I know you're a lot of times people see the end results and they're like oh this person just was always tremendously successful. But I remember when we first met you were starting out and it was just like obstacle after obstacle after obstacle and you from my perspective you knew what you wanted and you had a lot of barriers in front of you and you were like I am going to find a way around every one of these. But it has to be this way. I'd love to be able to kind of dive into that a little bit more about. When you first started like you you you're coming into this you're you're being signed on as the race director. What is it and how did you go from there to. You know the steps that you did to get it to where it became a sold out event great question.
Speaker 6:A lot of POC because I myself look back sometimes and feel Oh my God I can't believe we are where we are because it wasn't easy like to say that it was easy to have a vision and to get to that vision. Now it wasn't I was like you said it was full of obstacles. And looking back I would tell myself in 2015 and 16 I just trust that if the heart is in the right place like it would manifest eventually. But it took a couple of years. It's like a long time where I was a working progress but I feel that my experience is that when you have a sense you're objective. So it wasn't a pure like business agenda like I want to monetize this event. And wasn't that way of course. You need to be you know a financially sustainable. Because this you know you want to improve grow and flourish as a business. But that has to be something there. And once the heart is in the right place you attract the right people. So starting from you know I at you and you do business in that same way I do like with passion you get invested you believe in the objective that you're collaborating. And somehow I was able to start receiving help at a stage where I felt almost hopeless at times like how do I communicate what I want to do but also have the resources to make it the level of quality that I want it. And slowly you know we started to basically recreate and prove ourselves to people and on that we could deliver a great experience and that we were something more.
Speaker 7:And I think you know starting from might my team and creating the right team of people to support me because it's not you know it's definitely you know most of the time it's me curating all aspects but slowly I was able to create a team around me and that I have to give them a lot of credit for you know helping me create my vision and then of course really spending time reaching out to the community of runners because again it's not the event it's almost like the cherry on the cake. You still need the cake. You know it's an objective but the runners are out there all year round. You know being challenged by their own obstacles because training for an event just like it's like my journey with this event that's why I'm saying like running a race can be an analogy to life in general. Like there's gonna be obstacle whether are you know mental or physical whatever but you have an objective and somehow you need to find a way a path to get from where you are to where you want to be right. And so we spent a lot of time trying to engage with our community and be relevant to them like what can we offer a person that has an idea that would be great to run a five K to run a half marathon but how can we support them and you know whether it's connecting them with the right group giving them free resources inspiration motivation whatever it is. And I think that that is what you know you came in the picture and really helped me understand is that there is like the one to one communication where like we go and we do a presentation around clubs but then there are powerful tools on social media that allow you to have that conversation. And it's important to engage and I just didn't know anything about you know the social media world before meeting you and I thought it was you know more straightforward and I think it's very complex but it's also complex because there is a lot of options on how to do that.
Speaker 5:I'd love it. I love it and I mean I love that you use the analogy of a race as a journey of a business and I've always said that a lot of conversations or people that I'm like if you want to know what it's like is like I want to start a business and I won't go to you and I'm like go find a friend or whoever your business partner is and go to a big race like do a marathon do a Tough Mudder or do something that's big and difficult and do it together. You have to start the race the same time finish the race in that same time. And what happens is you will see your dynamic evolve very rapidly in that experience and it's so true it really is a wonderful thing. So you mentioned social media and this is what I really wanted to talk with you about because the feedback that I get when I'm whoever I'm at events I'm always asking people like Hey how you find out about it you know. Where do you get your tickets. Like I always always strike up conversations and the feedback I would get from people is this race is beautiful. We loved the branding behind it. The experience was so good we felt a part of something that was there and almost all of them were like oh yeah we saw it on social media and they would be like oh yeah we we see different things or we see new poster training videos or things like that that they're like a part of us. And so I really wanted to dive into that a little bit more and talk about some of things you were doing so I guess to go to the first one in regards to social media is that people loved the event they love the visuals they love the location they love the actual run itself and everything about it. So when you know that's even before you get into it but what when it kind of comes down to your product of your experience what was your methodology for creating such a powerful event and so many people loved so of course I am very fortunate because our location.
Speaker 7:It's a brand by itself. We're talking about Malibu which is one of the most exclusive and beautiful communities and the United States. And that of course is something that we like to tell a story like you are getting an experience and one of this beautiful place and make it a weekend you know in Malibu. We have gas from all over the world wanting to common experience that community differently but at the same time having lived in that community and really understanding you have to have a lot of respect I feel because they are welcoming towns of runners. For that we can. That's their home and that's their you know precious place there. You know Temple and where they rest and and I think that that was something that I was always very conscious about. So one of the things that we also included is that we want to be able to welcome people and also make them part of what that community is. So we align with a local charity as the Boys and Girls Club of Malibu which I personally at first was ignorant about and I kind of think it's a very misunderstood charity because everybody the first feedback I got is you know why would Malibu need boys and oh up in Malibu. Malibu is only the rich and the famous and the wealthy and Malibu is so much more than that. And when I met with the people and not the team I felt that they were doing great work. I wanted to align. And so we we've been one of the biggest fundraisers for them. This year we raised close to fifty five thousand dollars for them and we started with a six hundred dollar check. I still let us also. So it's been an incredible growth even in that. And I think that that's what also makes it so special is that people that come for that weekend they feel like they're part of something and they really welcome home welcomed by the community. It is the end of Malibu. And you know the mayor was there. Council Members welcoming them to the community you really feel like for that day you're part of what life is in Malibu. So you have this great experience that we want to deliver for people in a beautiful place where you can do a lot of good for a great cause. And then the the challenge is how do you communicate that. Because if you're not able to tell that story you might be as well doing a great thing but nobody's gonna be able to connect. So that's where social media plays such a big part for me is to be able to tell this story. Do you think every business or every event has a story to tell I cannot speak for everyone else but what I've noticed is that definitely the them endurance industry. It's an old industry quote unquote. So some events at 30 years old 40 years old would make that makes them like historical events. But at the same time I don't see that all of the events have evolved to what the potential is today. So I felt there was an opening for me for sure to do things differently just because events were organized with a certain format for like 30 years and doesn't mean as what we want today. So I feel that only it's like my ignorance quote unquote was a blessing because a lot of time I stopped asking myself but why do I have to do it this way. Oh yeah. Is there another way to do things. And if other events are not utilizing social media doesn't mean I shouldn't be you know really diving into this tool and understanding how it can talk about our personality our event our story in a very authentic way. And I think that's what we did is like that scratch what other events are doing. Let's be the amount we want to be. And also from a branding perspective I feel like for a lot of people right. Like why do I invest so much in creating a visual experience. It is because I would like that for myself. I love that. Yeah. I want to be treated nicely I want the environment around me to be beautiful consistent inspiring beautiful. We are in a beautiful place and that's our ash that one of our I love that.
Speaker 5:I mean there's the fact that you're creating a product or an event that is something that you're like this is what I would pay money for and I am surprised quite a bit seen businesses that we work with or that approach us that a lot of them come with. Well I did. I cut every possible cost and I tried to make the quickest possible thing to be able to give someone so I can get their money. I mean you are the opposite. You're like No I'm going to create something that's beautiful that I would want to pay money for and out of that came three years of completely sold out events.
Speaker 7:I think that that is the challenges when you're growing. Because I was in a well-funded company and you come in and you can invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in marketing. So you need to be responsible about how you manage. Like I had really little resources especially when I started. So again I think it was magical. The fact that I had people like you really want to help because there was passion there and feeling like this thing might not really go somewhere and I will be cool you know to support and I I've received so much help. And at the same time just be trusting that if I treat everybody like I would want to be treated this thing is gonna pay off over time. And it was really like the quality of the swag the medals the branding and the site you know around the site the sponsors I choose to buy it and you know the type of communication on social media and every year thanks to of course you know growing the business I'm able to curate a little bit more and aspect and is still working progress. I have million ideas and I feel sometimes I feel like I just stop and be happy. But at the same time I was just reflecting on that is that maybe the secret is never be happy like continue to aspire and look around because as soon as you get comfortable you start slacking. And it's good to challenge yourself and like Did I what could I do better.
Speaker 5:What is going out there what could I add that's different and how can I really differentiate myself from you know I'm still running at them but can this be different can people go back home feeling something different inside like they they're real it was like a memorable event that's going to stay with nuff forever you know that memory then I have accomplished something there you know I love it I remember back in business school there was a term they would throw out called Kaizen which I think is a Japanese term but it means continuous improvement and it's always kind of stuck with me that you know there always is another level another I mean it's really with running you're always pushing yourself you're trying to be your personal record you're trying to go one more step and it's very much a great analogy for business which is you know it's never really done it's a journey that you're on and it's one race to another to another Ryan to keep you've got to keep moving forward one step in front of each other.
Speaker 7:I agree I agree and I feel like I like this opportunities to talk because you remember we went to lunch it was a few months ago and I was I maybe May. So six months away from my event and I had my obstacles you know because I feel every year you need to be able to do something to you know distinguish yourself and convince somebody that yeah I want to spend my time and resource and I want to be there and know you know on November Malibu running this event and this year especially I feel that social media has been the key for my you know for conversing to having a conversation with runners all over the world. And it was it was great but also to hear what your experience you were telling me you know and you are continuously evolving and now now we're having a podcast here you know this is a great a great way and it's just share that you know it's not easy. Nobody is gonna just come and give you an on you know everything for free like it's it's hard work Yeah but it pays off and it's great if you're passionate about what you do. It is true that you know things happen but it is a lot of work.
Speaker 5:You know I love it. So let's let's go back to social media because I feel like that's an area that you did extremely well with the communications with the design with the branding everything together.
Speaker 7:So you know give me your perspective on social media in regards to the actual event attendance so my favorite platform for engaging is for sure Instagram but of course Facebook is still a great way to communicate so I make sure that at the very least I'm you know I'm really really present on this two platform and Twitter occasionally but I got I feel that the best way for me to tell a story is for sure Instagram. So we focused all of our ads on Facebook and Instagram and at the same time even when you designed a strategy for ads you don't want to adjust or at least that was my choice not only be you know bye bye bye bye bye and I'll give me your money because I feel that that would be unfair I would feel harassed by a business that constantly is knocking on my door and asking me for something. So I think the the way that I want it to come across was I have a different lines of dialogue going. Some are just purely educational. There is some free content or you know there's a new blog post and use that information however you want. You know for another event or your personal journey whatever it is the second one is inspirational. You know just get out there and be with people. It's a very isolating world we live in. And we're on our desks and not work so much on running or being outdoors can be such a great way to connect back with nature with the whole world and people. So it's just you know just hey just go out there lace up your shoes or do whatever you love go for a walk and you know just seeing other people experiencing you know an outdoors event can create that kind of you know and a fact and then of course there is messages that go around. And then there is a great event going on in Malibu. And where else do you want to run. You know by the beach and one of the most sought out communities in the world. And you know we got like a second summer in November in Malibu and then of course this year it's been in the last year Malibu had experienced one of the most traumatic experiences with the whole sea fires. And that's why it was some very passion about the charity I support because they acted you know they were the charity that actually rolled out all of the relief support throughout that time. They were really key to supporting people that experience you know losing their homes and I mean it's been very traumatic. So to be there again a year later with the mayor welcoming us to Malibu we felt really strong as a community. We've bounced back. We don't give anything for granted anymore and we're very fortunate which I think it's something we should not forget. And you know what. Why not. Why not decide that the Malibu half marathon or the five k to be dot excuse to get on that journey.
Speaker 5:I love it. I love it. Did you. What would you say would be kind of your your split between how much you would go with stories Instagram Stories or how much you'd go with your news feed.
Speaker 7:Post So originally I was more attached to the news feed of course because we come from that time where that was everything. And that's like your portfolio. For somebody that visits your profile I like that to be extremely curated but stories just allow you that freedom. And I've started to experiment more with stories. So I have more structured content but then I have just me address saying maybe you know show them the medal preview and that's very raw very authentic. And I kind of like that for sure.
Speaker 5:And Amy I guess I know a little bit because I saw a bunch of the stories that were happening at before the event and there were times that you were I think it was fun to see was the journey through the process of this event is coming and here we are meeting with the sponsors. And here we are marking out the miles. This is what mile one looks like it is what mile 2. And I feel like it's it's those type of things that bring someone into the behind the scenes this stuff that for you is generally just work. It's just you know the things on your to do list but you bring along everyone in your community and be like. Here we are. We're gonna be looking look at the weather today. I think even before the event there were some fires that were going on in the L.A. area not near Malibu but you were like hey here's an update on air quality here's things that are going on like you're using this as your ability to instantly connect with people to let them know here's what's happening here's what you need to know.
Speaker 7:I was just about to add something to that. I feel that stories have been incredible to me like an incredible communication tool. Exactly because given what happened last year people were definitely on and are alerted. And we had a couple weeks with the Santa Ana winds being particularly strong. And you know fires you know within reach starting to happen and people start reaching out to me via all sorts of means emails comments and being able to just post a story saying you know we are monitoring we're not concerned we're going forward. Know pon with great it was exceptional. I cannot think how that could have happened. And I'm just five years ago. So for me it was two things. The first thing was discovering like freedom to use stories and to just bring people into my journey. So that's for sure I don't want to. I want to be inclusive like there's no secret. Those are the people working behind the scenes and you know this is what it takes you know to come here because I do want to remind people that we're we're just like them or a group of passionate people that think that if we can do a good job that's you know going to be a great satisfaction and you know the rest is really it's my participant do everything you know. And also you know just show them how we build relationships with you know local agencies for the performance or the sponsors that are a big piece of my puzzle. And you know to be able to have the right partners like and everything really elevates and experience.
Speaker 5:Let's talk about that for a minute. I mean I know when we first started working together you were you were extremely passionate about I want the right partners. I mean I think most people when they're starting an event or do anything like hey you want to give me money to sponsor. Yeah. You're in. I mean it could be something completely random or not related to it at all but they'd be like let's take the money and let's go. You know how. Walk me through some of that in terms of you know one you want to be able to have the event generate revenue so you can continue and you can grow to you want to have the right partners how did you find that balance.
Speaker 7:I think you need to make that decision for yourself first. You don't want to you know you you want to keep a standard and again going back to I have a lot of respect for the people that are coming for that weekend and I want to treat them as VIP if you have got in your heart you want to be able to provide them or expose them only to the best. And of course you know that man. Maybe you hour waiting a little bit longer to prove yourself first because once you prove a product once they start selling out sponsor started can come in. But it also it is true that behind the brand are still people so even out there. My experience was that I connected with really amazing people I have my presenting sponsor and now they've been presenting sponsor for two years now and with me for four years. And it's wrong not BMW. And that when the manager decided to invest in this account I was an absolute nobody. So again you know behind that brand there is still a person that has that can have a vision and if your vision aligns then you know the sky is the limit. So they have been with me for so long now and they've seen such a progress and seeing how passionate they are and how I could bring them along with my journey that's been great and then this year we've welcomed new great partners such as New Balance Los Angeles which has been an incredible partner apparel and footwear just really willing to create an experience as well whether it is really giving you know free goodies to people incredible discounts for participants of my event really making them feel special which is what I always want everyone to help me you know create as an experience and then we are a community partner pepper Diane Gratz video business school and you would like why a business school because they are concerned about community. So all of a sudden you know if you have that objective you start attracting partners that one not just do business they want to be relevant to a community. We have our rental company Bright event rentals that all of a sudden after just being my you know my choice for a rental company loved what I was doing for the Boys and Girls Club of Malibu and all of a sudden they became a sponsor of the charity Lounge which I think is one of the best charity VIP lounges that you find.
Speaker 1:And again it was I want to really reward people that run for charity and with bright Event Rentals you know by my side we were able to create a really curated space like you really feel like you are the VIP nobody better than you is you're talking about this and I've lived it now several times you come across the finish line and it is it's not like a Hollywood red carpet but it's like a Malibu green carpet where it is just beautiful booths and everyone's like hey welcome here. Here's a space you sit down you know like everything is just it's like I don't know like a little magical moment. It's relaxed. It's laid back it's not over overcrowded there's a VIP area like all these fun little elements there's celebrities walking around you're like I know these people this is crazy. And it really just is that that Malibu experience that so many people live and you know want to experience and they get a little piece of that. Yeah. At the event. All right well let's let's. I have a couple more questions. You know when it comes to driving sales I mean anyone that's running event that's what keeps them up at night. That's what they're like if we don't get tickets sold for this event or we don't get sponsors on board or both.
Speaker 5:You know we're gonna be in trouble.
Speaker 7:What are some of the tools or strategies that you found worked best for increasing sales as far as driving participation I would definitely think that the social media adds of course like organic reach is harder and harder. So I've seen that change over the course of the last few years and for me it's really being learning this year that I I need to really look after the way that I know I have a presence on Facebook and Instagram that I would say is it's it's not just the social media of course it's you know we've talked about this when and you know you've educated me on this so many times is that a consumer's journey. It's it's basically many many things that happened before that purchase takes place and maybe they've seen a flyer one day then they went to the wrong club and they saw a presentation and those still on the fence and none they see a nod and that feels like the right time. So it's I don't think you need to neglect any of the aspects like the meeting one to one is still important. Being out there doing your Ross route outreach is really important but also to be there in the experience. I spent so much time on social media and of course I can not nothing that all of my audience doesn't do the same. So it is helpful for me sometimes when I've been thinking about something that adds pops up and that time I'm ready on my computer and I'm gonna hit purchase. So I think that that is something that for me it takes a lot of resources for sure. And but it requires attention and I love it because it's a great tool to have that conversation I can speak with people can message I can engage with my audience as if they were in my living room and I think that this is the future is to keep you know really investing and in you know what you're creating with that kind of attention to just put something that's also you know useful to people out there it can just be ads and needs to be an honest conversation.
Speaker 5:I love that I love that and in fact you know I can say because I watched a lot of the process of what you've been doing. There's two areas I think you did really really well or that are kind of rules of thumb in our industry one you used a lot of consumer generated content people that had their photos taken at a race from the year before. I had several friends that were like oh my gosh look I'm one no I'm on the news feed right. They did a story about me. This is great. And so you brought them back in and they're talking about them in the race from last year. I think that was beautiful. The other thing that you do really well is and this is critical. A lot of people think you just need to make one image or one video and you need to pound pounded home and you show it to people a thousand times and eventually give you their money. And that is the probably one of the biggest myths in social advertising is that you need to reach people at different places with different information and different offers or values or stories and all of those combined lead up to changing someone's perspective where they're like I want to do this race this is what I want. It's a it's an event I like to do.
Speaker 6:You taught me this that it has to be that has to be diversity and the type of tone and information. And again if you stop for a second and you think how your thought process your own personal you probably would intuitively understand that you know you need. You need different ways to be sort of like inspired to do something and you know I have tried actually to you know that there was a time where I could only be able to just you know take one piece of content and put it out there but where I'm this year where I was able to finally you know execute on what you told me a long time ago and be able to see what if you know today we're talking about this now it's a give away. Now it's a question now it's a video or now it's an image. Now it's you know a graphic you know of something more elaborated I talks about the brand. It's everything. It's just it's actually really exciting for me or I imagine any brand to be able to have a way to tell so much about who you are. And another thing that you've actually encouraged me to do and it took me some time to feel comfortable is it's asked questions says Why are you always just giving information to your audience why are you engaging. Ask what they think daily. I love it. I love that just you know what did you think about this. Are you training how's it going. Are you following my training plan. Did you like the metal shows how you wearing and where are you. You know do you have a hang up in your house and just things like that. Was it difficult what did you think about this preview because people are amazing to supporting you giving you great tips and again you know you want to be relevant to them so it is so rewarding to just feel like this is not a passive. This is not TV. This is social. This is a conversation and it's social which means asked to be a two way which I love love love.
Speaker 5:Yeah it really does go back to the point of this is why you're selling out events is people are relating with you you're having the questions you're engaging with them and every moment that you have that sort of thing where you ask you know what would you rather run in the morning or the evening. You like questions that are just back and people get to engage back with you. It builds that credibility. It builds that value of trust. I like you I like the event. I like what's going on. And you know they're seeing your posts like that and they're seeing other businesses being like bye bye bye bye bye bye. Which doesn't seem very personable at all. So it's just it's fantastic to hear that and I think that's a great tip. One final question as we come to a close here is there are other people out there that maybe running the online webinars or maybe it's a musician that's trying to to fill their first show or maybe it's a big venue and they're trying to sell concerts. You what would be. Is there any final tips or advice that you would give to people that are trying to fill an event with people for it. You know there's a deadline and a date when it's going to happen. Any other thoughts or things that you would give to them is as your parting advice.
Speaker 7:Good question that's a big question and I to be completely honest I don't feel I am an expert so I don't know. I can only offer really what was my experience. I do want to say something I never did everything because I had that of course selling out was something that I could aspire to but my focus was on the people's journey. And a lot of things were a result of that. So yes we started to hit capacity and then we could sell out. And that has helped in so many ways because a lot of other business struggle with last minute and people don't want to commit until the night before and it's extremely stressful for somebody that's trying to plan something or you know a service or a performance or whatever. So I think that that's the number one like Don have that as an end goal just be focused on you know the service the product being top quality I think that that's number one. And then it would be really try to just get the right help you know for me especially on social media I'm no social media expert I needed help to take my vision and structure it on social media so I knew I wanted to have a type of conversation that treated people a certain way and made them feel a certain way. I didn't have the tools to know what how that worked. And in so many ways in other aspect of my event it was about just trying to find the right people or to team up with you know because that's you know and again try to find people that are as passionate as you are or as knowledgeable as you need. And you know and I think that that's definitely it's the people are behind me and help me get my vision. So I try to stay connected with that feeling but definitely it was finding the right help.
Speaker 1:I love it. Wonderful advice from the Duchess. Erica from Malibu if you haven't already signed up or you don't know about this raise go to Malibu marathon dot com check it out.
Speaker 5:Put this on your bucket list. You'll probably see me there next year running around.
Speaker 7:I'm not the fastest runner but check us on social media are you can find those at around Malibu on Instagram Twitter and Facebook. The date for next year is not set yet when normally either the first or the second week of November. But we'll set out to save the date soon so as far as you follow us you'll know you've got to get in quick because it sells out every year.
Speaker 1:That's wonderful. Thank you so much for being here and we appreciate you being on the show and I appreciate you.
Speaker 8:Thank you for listening to the Duke of digital podcast with Brian Schmidt. Want to network with other business owners. Join our exclusive group at Facebook dot com slash groups slash Duke of digital. Fancy the Duke diva five star review on your favorite podcast app and you could be mentioned on the show. The Duke of digital was produced by advertise mint and recorded in Hollywood California. All rights reserved.