Amazon Category:  Business/Investing Publisher: Training Shoppe ISBN-10:  0963437488 Type: Non-Fiction Pages: 368 Copyright: Jan 15 2002 n easy, clear language, Profitable Seminars walks the reader through everything you need to know in order to create, market and present successful seminars. The range of topics is comprehensive; learn how to: select a seminar subject, create a powerful seminar title, make the most of presentation software such as PowerPoint, determine your seminar price and break-even point, write and design powerful sales materials...even how to handle hecklers and equipment failures. Profitable Seminars shares the inside secrets Len has learned while giving seminars to thousands of managers across the country. Wouldn't most entrepreneurs love to change their marketing from a cost to an income stream? Those who create and present effective, financially viable seminars have done just that. But so much can go wrong in a seminar! The design, presentation, fee structure, and marketing plan must all work together to create the synergy for success. Training guru Len Wood offers concrete steps to success, not only for platform speakers, but for those presenters willing to work directly with a smaller group. Wood, a former city manager, has a strong background in finance, and his book, Profitable Seminars, walks the reader through an analysis of every cost and revenue stream: an area that most books on public speaking gloss over. Wood's language is easy to follow, his book is full of examples, and the range of topics is comprehensive: everything from how to select a powerful seminar title to … how to make the most of presentation software such as PowerPoint… price setting…even handling hecklers or equipment failures. The book is aimed at consultants, trainers, educators, entrepreneurs, and those seeking a new career before or after retirement. "Profitable Seminars is an excellent roadmap showing you how to achieve…lucrative career goals." Excerpt From time to time, we all dream of doing something else. Whether you are at the beginning, middle or later stage of your career, seminars and workshops offer a great opportunity to try something new. They also provide a great way to transition into active retirement. You can start building your own seminars before you leave your present job.

The Midwest Book Review
Profitable Seminars: 195 Tips On Designing, Marketing And Delivering The Goods is a no-nonsense, step-by-step, assembly of tips, tricks, and techniques to creating a successful seminar, selecting the best seminar curriculum materials, utilizing feedback, and much more. Written practical, easy-to-understand language that communicates without chance of misunderstanding, Profitable Seminars is very highly recommended for anyone planning to host a seminar for the first, and has a wealth of useful information and ideas for even the more experienced seminar organizer and presenter.

Cincinnati Post
Must-read books key to your collection ''Profitable Seminars: 195 Tips on Designing, Marketing and Delivering the Goods,'' by Len Wood, The Training Shoppe. ISBN 096343748-8, $29.95. 5 stars. Do you have a question on how to conduct a profitable seminar? It's answered in this book. Everything from making the decision on how to get started to how to change everything based on the audience feedback is covered in short, pithy, easy-to-read, and very informative ''mind bytes'' that make the subject very clear. No matter how you make a living you need to be always on the front line of communication if you expect to be profitable, and this book will give you those tools even if you never step on a stage.

ForeWordreviews.com.
Profitable Seminars - A Business with No Walls Business and Finance Profitable Seminars 195 Tips on Designing, Marketing and Delivering the Goods Len Wood Training Shoppe 368 Pages ISBN 0-9634374-8-8, trade paperback, $29.95 Jan 10, 2002 In Profitable Seminars, Len Wood takes readers step-by-step through the process of conducting a profitable seminar and creating a career with no walls or age limits. Wood writes that, “Unlike many businesses, seminars have no walls. You can take off in several directions, and there are no barriers or impediments to keep you from going where you want.” Wood starts the book with guidelines to assist readers in deciding their seminar subject or subjects. He helps readers determine which of the four types of seminars they should use: contract, sponsored, public, or free or low-fee. Wood takes each seminar type apart and lists the advantages and disadvantages of each. For example, he explains why low-fee or no-fee will entice a person interested in the subject to attend. Usually this type of seminar is short; generally, it is just a few hours long. This type of seminar is expensive for the presenter because he has no control over the number of attendees and little income from them. A present may offer books for sale or applications to a more in-depth seminar as a way to defray costs. Once readers have decided what type of seminar to present, Wood shows them how to move on to a new and profitable career with no limits. He explains to readers how to create a winning program, how to know their competition, where to get their material, and how to select their presentation approach. He explains the importance of each step in the preparation of a seminar, from identifying learning outcomes to interviewing experts, and shares advantages and disadvantages of different choices. He even discusses the importance of considering the physical presentation, including what equipment to use: flipcharts, whiteboards, slide projectors, or video presentations. Wood enhances each step with the T-type charts (advantages on one side, disadvantages on the other) that will make it clear to and easy for readers to decide which method to use. Once the new seminar leader has assembled his actual seminar presentation, Wood shows how to determine the right place to present the workshop. He explains ways to market the seminar with brochures and promotional materials, and emphasizes the importance of creating a brochure that focuses on benefits attendees will reap from the seminar, not the features of the seminar. Wood also explains why presenters should include a seminar guarantee along with cancellation and no-show policies in the brochure: “Tip Number 104: Seriously Consider a Seminar Guarantee. You should include a guarantee in your brochure. Seminar guarantees establish confidence. They are so prevalent today, people consider it a warning sign if you do not offer one. A guarantee is a cost of doing business. Sure, some people may ask for their money back. But, the fact is, very few, if any, will do so if you offer a quality program.” Wood includes the AMA guarantee and the Fred Pryor guarantee as examples. Wood emphasizes that seminar leaders must be thoroughly prepared to handle any mishaps that may happen. He encourages readers to carry fire insurance, Wood’s terminology for “crib notes”; presenters should not expect to use them, but they must have them handy--just in case. He explains that seminar leaders must be continually alert to audience boredom. Presenters must also strive to implement continual improvements in their programs, which is one way to make seminars profitable. Wood suggests that presenters go to other seminars and find out what their peers are doing or not doing. They should then plot these ideas on a mind map to see whether including these items in their own presentations would make them more successful. This may also lead readers to other ideas that they may want to include in their presentations. The book includes six appendices, the first of which is a decision-making exercise. Without decision-making skills, the seminar leader may find it hard to have successful and profitable seminars. A glossary includes those acronyms peculiar to the seminar business. A list of reference materials and an index are also included. Profitable Seminars is a well-organized and well-written book on the logical approach to developing profitable seminars as a career. Wood touches on every conceivable situation that the seminar leader might come across. He uses clear, proven methods (T charts along with mind maps) to assist the reader in making the proper decision for creating a new and profitable business. Among the 195 tips on how to do this, he has interwoven stories of seminar successes and flops. Wood’s style of writing is clear with easy-to-understand points on every phase of developing successful seminars. He captures his audience quickly, then carries them swiftly to what should be a successful and profitable future.