Grow Your Business Using Virtual Summits

About this video

Dan Martell presents virtual summits as a growth tool for SaaS businesses, saying he coaches SaaS Academy clients on the model and claiming he has run dozens of summits producing, in his words, tens of millions of dollars in revenue overall. He argues a host does not need to be a strong speaker because the format borrows other people’s credibility and audiences. First, hosting known speakers — blog and Medium authors, YouTube creators, and book authors found from an initial hit list — transfers their reputation to the host and the host’s product. Second, speakers must be qualified for a built-in audience: ask whether they have an active email list they have actually mailed, since a one-day summit might have only six spots for fifteen candidates, and promotion by speakers is what builds the host’s list. Third, reverse the offer: sell an outcome aligned with the summit’s promise, ideally priced around five times the ticket — he uses a $100 ticket with a $500 offer as an example — and share, in his model, 50% with speakers whose promotion leads to ticket and offer sales. The simplest offer is the recordings, for example $50 on top of a $100 ticket, which lifts average order value. Fourth, keep a single focus: a narrow topic attracts ready-to-buy prospects better than a generic health or SaaS summit, and five to seven speakers should all address that one problem.

Key takeaways

• Borrow credibility by putting established authors, creators, and speakers on a stage branded around your product.
• Qualify speakers on whether they have an email list they actively mail, not just whether they are willing to speak.
• Design the paid offer around the same outcome the summit promises, using recordings as the simplest entry-level upsell.
• Martell’s example structure prices the main offer at about five times the ticket and pays promoting speakers a 50% share.
• Narrow the summit to one specific problem and keep the speaker lineup small and entirely on that topic.

Episode details: published May 2, 2022 · 10:45 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dan Martell’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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