Promote your meetup the easy way, a checklist for getting people to show up.
The hardest part of organizing a meetup is getting started. There are so many things to do at first that it’s easy to feel paralyzed. To break yourself out of that mindset, follow this list.
Step #0 Who and Where?
All you need to get started is an idea, but you need to have at least an idea to get started. The idea can be simple but it needs to answer the questions “who” and “where”.
For example: people working on a tech business in Boston, MA.
Keep in mind that only about 30% of people who RSVP for a free event will show up. I’ve heard this number is closer to 80% for paid events.
So, if you’re hosting a free event and you want ~12 people to show up, you need to get at least 36 RSVP’s. Facebook “Going” responses, Eventbrite tickets sold, or people in a chat group all count as an RSVP.
A note on mindset. People don’t like to sign up for an event that might happen. Yet, people are happy to sign up for an event that is definitely happening.
Approach all your communications from the mindset of “I am hosting this event” not “I’m thinking about hosting an event”. People will respond much much better to the first.
It doesn’t matter that you started planning today, if you set your mind to it, it will happen. Speak with confidence.
Step #1 Create a place where people can gather.
You need a virtual place that’s exclusive to your attendees.
A Facebook Group is the easiest way to start.
However, if you can get people in a chat group (WeChat, Messenger, Telegram etc) that’s even better. In my experience, people engage with chat groups more than any other type of platform.
Despite bad press and vocal opposition, almost everyone still has Facebook. It also has some of the very best tools for moderating a group that hosts events.
It doesn’t matter which platform you choose, pick one to start with.
Meetup.com is great for getting signups, but terrible for discussion.
You will need to create a separate gathering place if you use Meetup.
Hosting a group on Meetup.com also isn’t free. It costs $9.99 per month per group (with fewer than 50 members).
If you want to kickstart your attendance it’s well worth the cost. You can fill your first meetup with people using Meetup alone.
To get the most for your money, send everyone that signs up an individual message and encourage them to come.
Step #2 Find at least one existing community to share your event with.
If you can find one place where you ideal event attendee is already gathering, that’s awesome. Start there.
When you post, post as a user looking for like-minded people. Don’t post as an event promoter trying to sell tickets. Be grassroots.
Post a message like:
“Anyone else located in Boston?”
“I’m organizing a meetup in Los Angeles”
And share a link to the gathering place you create in step #1.
Step #3 Market to a broader audience.
If you got enough interest to fill your event in Step #1 and Step #2, you might be able to skip this step. Remember your goal is at least 3x as many RSVPSs as your desired attendance. Chances are you’ll need to share in many places to find all your people.
Again, the easiest place to kickstart your group is Meetup.com. A cross post on Meetup is often enough to get all the attendees you need.
Other easy, free, places to post:
- Facebook (both your own timeline and in other relevant Facebook groups)
- Twitter (@mention people in your target community)
- Eventbrite (good for tracking signups, but won’t help you fill your event)
- Forums
- Slack Groups
Finally, if you’re a true hustler, find physical locations to put up flyers: co-working spaces, cafes, etc
One more note on signups: the closer you get to your event the more signups you will get. Most signups happen in the week immediately before the event happens.
Keep pushing until the moment your meetup begins.
Step #4 Keep your new community engaged.
At first it’s going to be you posting. You might feel like you’re shouting down a well. Keep going.
Looking for a venue? Ask the people who already signed up, they might know a place.
Visiting a venue? Did you buy snacks? Take a picture and share it with the group.
Any milestone at all you should share with the group. People are more likely to jump in and help if they see you making progress. And they are more likely to attend if they can see from your posts that the event is a real thing that’s happening.
Don’t post only in your gathering place. Anything worth sharing is worth sharing on as many platforms as possible.
The checklist summarized:
Time estimates are my own recommendation for how long you should take to finish a task. Your experience may vary.
0. Pre-reqs.
- Describe your event in one sentence that says who is attending and where the event will be [5 minutes]
- Decide how many people you want to come [1 minute]
1. Create your gathering place.
- Decide your platform [1 min]
- Create the group [5 min]
- Set a name and cover photo [15 min]
2. Share the event.
- Identify a community online that would be interested [15 min]
- Share your event [5 min]
- Engage with anyone who responds [15 min-1 hour]
3. Market.
- Post on Meetup.com & other platforms [20 min/platform]
4. Engage!
- Post updates [15 min each/platform]
- Discussion [15 min — 30 min/day]
Looking for a venue? Read this next: https://medium.com/six-legged-mammal/how-to-find-a-free-venue-for-your-meetup-in-3-easy-steps-941901975579
