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Hey, I'm Jenny.
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And I'm Lindsay, and you're listening to the Virtual Summit Secrets Podcast.
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This is a place for you if you want to learn hashtag all the things about hosting a virtual summit.
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We've hosted and produced countless summits, and we cannot wait to share with you all of our biggest secrets.
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So sit back, grab your favorite drink, and get ready to put on a killer summit experience.
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What if one of the smartest business decisions that you could make is not creating a brand new summit?
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So many hosts finish their events, immediately start brainstorming their next big idea, and then never think about running the same summit again.
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But what if the summit that you already built isn't just an event?
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What if it's one of the most valuable assets in your business?
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Today we're gonna be myth busting the idea that every summit has to be completely new every single year.
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We're talking about why repeating a summit isn't lazy, what you should update, what you should keep exactly the same, and how building event equity can actually make your summit stronger, easier, and more profitable over time.
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Let's talk about it.
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Hey, I'm Jenny.
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And I'm Lindsay, and you're listening to the Virtual Summit Secrets Podcast.
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This is a place for you if you want to learn hashtag all the things about hosting a virtual summit.
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We've hosted and produced countless summits, and we cannot wait to share with you all of our biggest secrets.
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So sit back, grab your favorite drink, and get ready to put on a killer summit experience.
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Hey there and welcome back to the Virtual Summit Secrets Podcast, the go-to show for entrepreneurs who want to host profitable, high-impact virtual summits without the overwhelm.
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We're your hosts, Jenny and Lindsay from Summit Success Squad, and every week we pull back the curtain on what actually works when it comes to planning, promoting, and profiting from virtual summits.
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Today's episode is one we've wanted to record for a while because we see so many hosts making this mistake.
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They finish a successful summit and then they never run it again.
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Instead, they start completely over new branding, new website, new speakers, new messaging, new everything.
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And honestly, we think that is costing hosts way more time and energy than they realize.
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One of our biggest beliefs is this a successful sum a successful summit shouldn't necessarily be a one-and-done event.
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Hosting the same event again isn't lazy.
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It's efficient.
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If you've already created something that your audience loved, if you already validated the topic, if you've already built the systems, why wouldn't you want to leverage that again?
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We'd much rather improve an existing summit than start completely from scratch building something we don't even know is going to convert.
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One of the biggest mistakes that we see hosts make after a successful summit is assuming that they have to create an entirely new one.
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But sometimes your next great summit is simply version 2.0.
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So where does this pressure come from?
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We think that there are a few reasons.
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First, people assume their audience will get bored.
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Second, they feel that if they're growing, they always have to create something new.
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And third, they think repeating an event somehow means that they are not being innovative.
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But here's the thing: think about your favorite annual conferences, your favorite annual challenges, your favorite live events.
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People don't stop attending just because they have happened before.
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In many cases, people actually look forward to them.
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And that's exactly what can happen with your summit.
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Now let's talk about why we love and host our own repeatable summits.
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There are some huge advantages to repeating a summit.
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And the biggest is time.
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You already know it works.
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You already have the website, the email sequences, the workflows, the graphics, the project plan, the automations, the speaker systems.
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And instead of rebuilding everything, you're just improving it.
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That allows you to spend your energy making the experience better instead of recreating every single asset.
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And if the summit converted well the first time, why wouldn't you give it another chance to succeed?
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Now you might be wondering what should actually stay the same because repeating a summit doesn't mean that nothing changes.
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There are definitely things that we do intentionally keep though.
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The core promise, the audience, the overall experience, and the branding.
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These are the things that create recognition.
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And over time, people begin associating your brand with that signature event.
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And we think that is incredibly valuable because consistency builds trust, recognition builds anticipation, and that is how events become known.
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Now, here's where people sometimes get confused.
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You absolutely don't want to rerun the exact same event forever.
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There should be fresh elements every year.
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For us, the first things we'd update are the speakers.
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Obviously, you're not gonna have the same speakers every year.
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In addition to that, that means new session topics.
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And also the bonus offers.
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These things naturally evolve.
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The conversations change, the examples change, new experts emerge.
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And at the same time, if your backend offer converted really well, there's really no reason to replace it just because you think you should.
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If it fits and it worked last time, keep it.
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Not everything needs to change simply because another year has passed.
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And one of the questions that we ask ourselves is, is this still serving our audience?
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And if the answer there is yes, there's probably no reason to reinvent it.
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Now we want to talk about something that we don't hear enough people actually talk about.
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And that is that we like to think about building event equity.
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So instead of constantly starting over, you're making one event better and better each year.
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You collect testimonials, you improve the attendee experience, you gather feedback, you refine your systems, you strengthen your messaging, you build anticipation.
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And eventually people begin to recognize that event.
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Instead of saying, oh, they're hosting another summit, they say, oh, that whatever it's called, summit is back.
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That's a completely different level of positioning.
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So now we want to bust a few myths.
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So the first myth is that people won't come twice.
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And actually, many attendees will happily return if they're getting fresh perspectives, updated speakers, and once again a great experience.
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Then we have myth number two.
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You have to reinvent everything.
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And that is definitely not true.
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It's important to improve what's already working so that you can maximize the event without having to start completely from scratch.
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Then the third myth is that returning attendees will get bored.
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And to that, we say, not if you're continuing to evolve the content.
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So think about podcasts, conferences, and annual industry events.
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People come back because they trust the experience, not because every single detail is brand new.
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So if you think there is even a possibility that you will host a summit again, we want you to do yourself a favor as soon as your summit ends, and we do mean as soon as it ends, because if not, this is going to get harder to do.
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But we want you to gather feedback.
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We want you to analyze your data, document your systems, and debrief while everything is still fresh.
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Those few hours of work can save you dozens of hours next year.
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And we wish that more hosts treated every summit like an asset that they are going to improve instead of just a project that they are never going to touch again.
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And at the end of the day, your summit isn't just an event.
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It is an asset.
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The most valuable summit isn't necessarily the newest one.
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It's the one that gets great results, serves your audience well, and inspires attendees to take action.
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If your summit worked once, don't automatically assume that you need to retire it.
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Ask yourself these questions.
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Is this topic evergreen?
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Does it still solve a meaningful problem?
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Can I make that experience even better this time?
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And if the answer to these is yes, you might already have your next summit planned.
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You just haven't realized it yet.
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So before you start brainstorming a brand new summit, we want you to take a look at your last one.
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Ask yourself, what worked really well?
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What could we improve?
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Could this become our signature annual event?
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Sometimes your next big win isn't creating something new.
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It's just making something great even better.
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Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of the Virtual Summit Secrets Podcast.
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If today's conversation changed the way you think about annual summits, then we'd love for you to subscribe, leave a review, or share this episode with another entrepreneur who's planning their next event.
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And if you're ready to create a summit strategy that's built for long-term growth, not just a one-time launch, then we'd love to help you.
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Whether you're planning your first summit or refining one that you already hosted, our strategy and planning sessions are designed to help you build an event that supports your business for years to come.
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Next week, we are going to be diving into one of our biggest values as summit strategists with an episode called The Summit Planning Shortcuts that we refuse to take.
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So we are going to talk about why some things simply aren't worth automating or rushing, why the speaker and attendee experience will always come first, and how maintaining quality control can make the difference between a summit people forget and one that they can't wait to come back to.
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So we will see you then.
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Thanks for spending time with us today on the Virtual Summit Secrets Podcast.
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If this episode was helpful, be sure to share it on social media and tag us at Summit Success Squad or personally share with somebody you know could benefit from it.
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New episodes will be released every Wednesday.