Everyone loves a great event! They’re the perfect place to learn, grow, connect, and celebrate. Events also educate new and existing customers about your brand.

Before guests attend your event they begin creating an idea in their minds about you who are and what your business stands for. First impressions begin far before the event starts and you need to make sure they have a world class experience. This is how you’ll keep them coming back for more!

I’ve had the pleasure of hosting events that attract over 750 people and generate over $1 million in revenue. Below, I’ve compiled four common mistakes event hosts make that can really hurt your brand’s image.

1. Don’t Offer Early Bird Discounts

Early bird discounts are a quick way to make a few sales and get people to purchase tickets. Honestly, they cheapen your brand. If you’re a BossBabe who wants to make major bank in her business, doing an early bird discount won’t convey the high caliber feel you want with your brand.

The problem with doing these early bird discounts is it creates a sense of lack and urgency on the business’ side. It tells your audience you don’t wholeheartedly believe in what your event is worth and they shouldn't either.

Find a price point that works for you and stick to it. If you market your event right, your guests will pay whatever you set the price at.

What you can do instead of discounting tickets is add an extra bonus or two for those who do purchase early. For example, if you’re hosting a VIP cocktail reception, give them free access. Or maybe you’ve scored some great swag bags for higher ticket purchasers and you can include bags at your general admission for a limited time.

2. Don’t Run Flash Sales

Flash sales for an event creates the same kind of lack and disbelief over your mission as early bird discounts.

Again, think of another way you can add value to your attendees instead of discounting the ticket price.

3. Don’t Leave Money on The Table

When I worked in fundraising, a popular phrase in events is “don’t leave money on the table”. What this means is make sure you capitalize every opportunity you have at the event to sell to people (within reason).

Do you have a new program or product about to be released? Announce it at the event so people can purchase it. People attended your event for a reason and they want to continue learning/using what you have to offer.

You can always find clever ways to market it throughout the evening that make your guests excited about embodying your brand.

4. Don’t Nickle and Dime Your Guests

There’s a right and wrong way to sell at events. In the example above, if you have a new program or product – sell it!

But don’t find little ways to nickle and dime your guests. What I mean here is going for low hanging fruit to make a quick sale.

Like selling raffle tickets. I’ve seen many events station volunteers around the room and sell raffle tickets for something like 5 for $20 or 1 for $5.

This can hurt your brand’s image two ways:

1. Volunteers continuously interrupt guests conversations to sell to them.
2. You end up walking around with your hand out at every turn of the event. It’s not fun for either side and creates a sense of lack around your brand.

Instead, surprise your guests with some raffle tickets when they register and tell them you have a great prize that will be announced later in the evening. This could be something contributed by a sponsor, free access to your VIP party, or maybe a free session with you!

The same goes for t-shirts, books, or something small. Give all your guests these as a nice gift. They’ll be great advertisers for you way after the event ends.

Looking for ways to make major bank at your next event? Read these must have tips here.