‘How do you make any money?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, the daily news, free ads and classified listings. They must be expensive to maintain’.
Now, here is a person who is looking at what we are doing. She has done her sums and realised that if high wages were paid, there wouldn’t be too much profit. In fact, we are content with this present situation. We work for the long term, not for tomorrow. For the time being, building strength and awareness are preferenced over ‘personal profit’.
Read the eight values which are found on our Community Information page LINK:
The Eight values:
1. The Community recognises the purpose of each show is for visitors to discover ways to become ‘A Well Being’.
2. Demonstrate to Visitors this idea as a core value and objective of our shows.
3. Community Members are dedicated to Share and Promote their Shows.
4. Community Members support each other.
5. Community Members should know LizianEvents protect the reputation of the shows.
6. Ethos is of greater importance than profit.
7. LizianEvents are not the Event – The Community is the Event.
8. Dedication and understanding ALL the above values is essential to mutual success.
And read the information which follows:
Community Members must realise there is absolute transparency in our work. We have no intention of building Listings which Community Members pay for year in and year out. Remember All Listings are free – Our Well Being Shows connect Community to Visitors – For clarity, we do not run shows to sell listings in our directory.
It would be easy to charge £100 per year for a listing and with two hundred listed, we would earn 20 thousand pounds. Multiply this by two and the earnings would be 40 thousand pounds.
Would people pay?
I asked twenty businesses in a blind trial and eleven: Yes! Eleven said the would pay for being added to the listings.
It is easy to recognise there is plenty of incentive to make a loss at a show, in order to grow the subscription list. One must be clear, never confuse a busy show, with the promise of a paying directory to bringing more trade. The only way to grow a reputation is through action and demonstration. Only with this constant promotion will Visitors become aware of and return to a hive of activity.
The problem is: for many subscribers there would be no return on investment. LizianEvents ethically cannot follow this route. We are not saying it is wrong or immoral, from our standpoint, it is a burden we cannot add to our Community Members.
How does influence the answer to the original question?
Well, I often read or listen to people who say or infer ‘I’m not in this for the money’ when talking about their work. The second we hear the words, we know the opposite is the truth. We should never be afraid to make money. And, paradoxically, never be afraid to lose some on the way to success. However, in the long term, the objective must include a financial reward.
We made a definitive choice not to charge for our Classified or Advertising listings. We do not wish to have this as the underlying reality of our organisation. It is essential to understand this is the real reason for many to create events, and this applies to many genres of events. The exhibitor’s belief is the show is a reflection of the work of the organisers and the possible potential of a listing associated with the organiser. If the reality is that the show is a front or advertising space to ‘net’ or ‘capture’ customers who feed the business of ‘lists’: the outcome is obvious. What you should always ask for is EVIDENCE of the traffic to the Classified Listings. And every time you receive an enquiry ASK where your potential client found you about your and your work.
I’ll search for Wellbeing – Well-Being – Being Directory:
This is what we will see, there is no reference to anyone or even LizianEvents:
Here is Jurga Proudlove doTerra Nottingham search: There is no reference to LizianEvents:
Now search for LizianEvents: Only by searching for LizianEvents do we discover the directory:
The point is this you have to arrive at the Directory to find the information: The reality is people search the name, product and need. And the SEO of each website drives the searcher to the need. For a directory to be effective it has to have tens of thousands of visitors and subscribers. If you think the attendees at an event will search the directory, think again, they already have met with the exhibitors!
Why pay for a separate directory listing? It is pointless. If a customer wants a service, product or therapy, the customer will search FOR the specific need. She will not say “Ah! I need a massage, I think I’ll look at XYZ specialist listing”. The client will look up – Massage – their location is detected by the search engine.
And yet, our listings have great potential because Visitors come to our site for a mass of information. Therefore a LEN listing has great potential to fulfil its objective, and as it is free, it is an extra opportunity which should not be missed.
We offer free listings because this gives the person, business or service every opportunity to gain, with no risk to lose a penny piece. I would also caution against any listing which has monthly payments. Or reoccurring staying orders, as you know, they can quickly be forgotten.
Here is one way of looking at subscription directories:
Some years ago I knew a man who owned three gyms. He told me he had hundreds of people who had signed up for the two months free membership and six months later were never to be seen again. ‘How does this work?’ I asked ‘Easy, Ian they sign the standing order, and sometimes it is paid for years without question’.
LizianEvents could not take the risk of this situation occurring: in the long term it will damage our integrity. The reality is, people have to arrive at our websites – LizianEvents dot com or LizianEvents News to first discover and then search the listings. It does not matter how good the search engine optimisation. The search of the website is still specific. Do not believe me? Then check this information by searching for a name, see where the hunt takes you. The title will be the first ranking, and this is where the searcher will click.
So, only by building the growth to our two sites to the extent where thousands of people reach the site will the listings become an ‘additional’ advantage. Classified Directory’s which are ‘stand-alone’ are in truth ineffectual. There is no evidence to disprove this statement. We should consider that the most significant listing business is already in place and indeed struggling, its name? Yell.
There is an incredible number of online directory sites. My view is – if you are looking to use directory sites as a source of advertising use the mainstream ones and request past information from the newspaper or website in question about how many views each advertisement generally gets.
In conclusion:
We are working to establish a rock-solid business built on ethical principals. It is not possible to grow this business with a hidden agenda. The objective is to introduce as many Visitors to The Community as possible by following the foundational values. The Community has a clear understanding that we as organisers embellish the eight values as fundamental to our success. There will be those who do not accept the idea that an organisation could follow this way of meeting the objective.
We are prepared to explain the reasons behind the choices made, and the example of The Directory is used to demonstrate our integrity. Of course, there will be some who are dazzled by shining stars, swish websites and significant events. We are not aiming to follow this path, not that we could not build the most impressive of website and phone apps. The difficulty for us is in the long term, subscribers will realise the weakness of the promise.
One last comment:
We intend to continue to grow steadily, with transparency and integrity. As many of The Community know there are those who follow and choose to copy our innovations. We are show organisers, everything we provide is paid for by stall and entry fees. Establishing an extensive and highly profitable database would be easy, although, of no profit to The Community. Would I pay for an addition into a directory? One word: No.
If you can see the sense in this article, why not share it using the Facebook and Twitter links top and bottom of the page? Saving money is an essential facet of becoming a Well Being.
See You Soon