The RARE Advisor: 5 Live Events Big as Ever

Many individuals think that live events are not successful the way they have been in the past, or that the options have been dramatically limited. The opposite is actually true. The answer, as so many times in life is the case, the answer is actually in the middle. Think of a bell curve. If you think and analyze like a bell curve, you want to be in the center of the bell curve. You don't want to be off on one edge or the other because you're leaving too many opportunities on the table. When that is the case, I think that there's a place for remote and there's a place for face-to-face.

Now, perception is an issue. Some people are so stuck in whatever worldview they might have had about how this stuff is operating in the marketplace (and what's working and what isn't) that they've shoehorned themselves in. But when it comes to dealing with your customers, you need to cover all the bases. And I don't mean where the client makes a choice to work with you remote versus face-to-face.  What I'm seeing is, that it's an option on almost a meeting-by-meeting opportunity or an event-by-event opportunity where you're doing it different ways to kind of help people through the change back to a face to face environment. The reality is, people are way ahead of where you think they're. The National Press Club has seen bursts with live vs. virtual vs. hybrid events and determining what format is best. According to The National Press Club, "There is no other medium that expresses the nuances of communication better than face-to-face interactions. Body language is a huge factor in communication. Posture, gestures, facial expressions, and eye movements are best translated live. Also, many people attend events, not just for the content, but for the opportunity to meet and interact with other attendees (and speakers) with similar interests. The human factor and relationship building experiences are the #1 reason that people attend events."

The National Press Clube also shared a graphic that gives you a quick little analysis of what works best: face-to-face vs. virtual vs. hybrid. And hybrid, by the way, is running a live event, but then also having a video opportunity. What I would probably recommend if you're going to go down that hybrid route is to run your live event, but then record it and you can make it available later. As you can see in the image, face-to-face comes in as having the most effective communication, increased collaboration, and it's easier to relay complex information (which our industry is is full of). It's tough to recreate some of those things virtually. Now, obviously, there are a lot of good things about virtual. And there are better things when you actually are combining them together. But live events themselves -  getting out of the house and getting back into the population - are back in bigger ways than ever before. 

There are 3 big types of events where we are seeing this phenomenon take place:

#1 - Restaurants

The chart to the right is restaurant spending, going all the way back into the '90s. And you can see it's been obviously on an increasing trend. There's a big dip during the 2020 pandemic, but look at where we are today. We are at the highest point ever. So people are back to restaurants. I mean, I don't know what your town is like. But my town has longer waiting lists at restaurants than they've ever had before. In fact, if anything has changed in the restaurant business thanks to COVID, a lot of restaurants don't take reservations anymore. So they've realized that, hey, people will come and they will wait. And while they're waiting, they'll order a drink or they'll do other things. And they'll sit there and maybe even spend more money because of the way they're dealing with that that's the change that's taking place. The the idea that restaurants are empty today is just ludicrous because they're exactly the opposite.

2. NFL Football

The average NFL crowd grew by 3.25% percent to 69,442 people per game attending in person in 2022, the second-largest figure in the last 19 years. In fact, the only year that beat it was 2016. And it only beat it by 45 people per game, less than a school bus full of people in a stadium. And from what I've read, they're expecting 2023 to set new records with year-over-year changes. Look at all of these teams and stadiums increased their attendance rates. In recent years, only a small handful of stadiums decreased. And then there's the stadium capacity - some of them are running over 100% I don't know if they're selling standing room only or what, but you're looking at all but one of them is well north of 90% capacity across the entire stadium.

3. Concerts - Taylor Swift

And then finally, look at what's going on with this whole Taylor Swift thing: she is blowing record after record out of the water. The Wall Street Journal is actually calling the impact she's having "Taylornomics". The Federal Reserve is crediting her with boosting the country's economy thanks to her live stadium tour. People are packing into these stadiums, they're out, taking advantage of being back to normal, and interacting in face-to-face scenarios. And then this is really interesting - the income generated through the extra spending by fans (hotels, restaurants, transportation, all the things that happen either leading up to or shortly after one of her one of her performances) on average is roughly $1,300 per person, NOT counting the ticket cost for the concert itself. The economic increase generated by her Eras stadium tour is expected to be around $5 billion. That is the same number as the combined - not individual - GDP of 50 countries.

We can help you on the digital side too, but I just want you to understand you should be doing both. Now, there are five most popular business builders that people are doing in a live environment:

1. Client Appreciation Events. It's simply about loving on your clients, enjoying time with them, and helping them enjoy each other's company as well.
2. Bring-a-Friend Introduction Events. Whether it's going to sporting events, or whatever social environment you choose, encourage your client to bring somebody along, who you end up getting to meet and hang out with as well.
3. Ideal Client Receptions. Our Advisor Protocol team coaches and mentors you on how to do these events. These have been really the driving force for new clients coming in to most of the practices affiliated with USA Financial. It is a phenomenal way to get in front of your like-minded prospects, thus essentially duplicating your ideal clients.
4. Fill-the-Room Prospecting Topical Seminars. We have a library of these available as well. These are most similar to what we were doing in a pre-pandemic environment. The key is that you're not selling products and you're not selling performance. The only thing for sale is an appointment with you afterwards. It's all about educating the consumer.
5. Retirement Design Lab Courses. Speaking of educating the consumer, the most recent addition (which is doing very well) are the multiple-day (usually two days) education courses. Some people are running them at universities or various other institutions, but people are coming to truly be educated. And generally speaking, those who are in attendance are very interested in becoming clients of yours afterwards. 

So, I just want to make sure you truly understand that getting back in front of people in a live session, regardless of what that live session is, is ultra important to create balance and continued growth in your practice.

Now, if you're interested, we have a new, free report called the 'Advisor's 12-Step Reset for Predictable Growth, Value & Lifestyle'. It's a smooth, 12-step process that I've uncovered and discovered over my 35+ year journey in this industry. And it's designed to generate a predictable practice with automated revenue and lifetime rewards.

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The RARE Advisor is a business model supercharged by Recurring And Repeatable Events. With more than thirty years of working with and coaching successful advisors, host Mike Walters (along with other leaders in the industry), discusses what it takes to grow a successful practice. With the aim of helping financial professionals and financial advisors take their business to the next level, Mike Walters shares insights and success stories that make a real impact. Regardless of the stage of your practice, The RARE Advisor will provide thoughtful guidance, suggestions for developing systems and processes that work, and ideas for creating an authentic experience for your clients.

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