This morning kicked off with Mac McIntosh's session on how to drive more leads and sales with marketing events. He's an engaging speaker who says staging an event is not the best way to begin the sales process.


It's like asking someone to go to Vegas for the weekend on a first date. The better approach, he argues, is to ease into the relationship with the business equivalent of meeting for coffee: Maybe start with a white paper, then an invitation to a webinar. Once you establish credibility with a prospective customer, she's more likely to attend an event–and make a purchase.
McIntosh's Top Ten list of what you should do with an event includes:
* Think hard about who should attend
* Develop compelling promotional copy
* Double check for scheduling conflicts
And on the Don't list:
* Don't take up too much of your attendees' time
* Don't forget to leverage co-sponsors
* Don't schedule your events on Monday morning or Friday afternoon
McIntosh also offers a pragmatic warning: That great lead might actually be a prospect who has already made up his mind to go with another company, but has to go through the motions of checking out the competition.