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Episode 84Jun 5, 2026· 18:58

Replay - How Bloggers Can Benefit From Participating in a Virtual Summit

▸ Show notes from the creator
Should you be promoting your blog in a virtual summit? Yep! Tune in and learn why. More Show Notes From This Episode: What’s up my bloggy friends! I'm slowly updating the show notes for this and every episode of The Bloggy Friends Show. My new home base for all things Bloggy Friends can be found here: https://www.famousashleygrant.com/podcast/ Be sure to follow me on social: Facebook | Instagram | X | LinkedIn | TikTok | YouTube ------------------------------------------------------------------- This podcast is supported by affiliate partnerships. Please check out a few of our partners below: – Start a podcast today here: https://rss.com?via=famous – Create content from your own voice with Castmagic's Suite of AI Tools: https://get.castmagic.io/dcjy15cirnts – Want to help support our show? Buy a girl a drink perhaps? https://ko-fi.com/famousashleygrant – Need content for your podcast or blog? Check out Tools for Motivation! The links above are affiliate links. This means my podcast will receive a small commission if you order through any of them at no additional cost to you. Affiliate commissions are one of the ways my podcast makes money so that I can create episodes free of charge. If you do purchase anything from my links, I sincerely would like to thank you for your support!
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About this episode
Should you be promoting your blog in a virtual summit? Yep! Tune in and learn why. More Show Notes From This Episode: What’s up my bloggy friends! I'm slowly updating the show notes for this and every episode of The Bloggy Friends Show. My new home base for all things Bloggy Friends can be found here: https://www.famousashleygrant.com/podcast/ Be sure to follow me on social: Facebook | Instagram | X | LinkedIn |…
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Full transcript
00:17
What's up, my bloggy friends? Famous Ashley Grant
00:20
here. And if you have been considering participating
00:22
in a virtual summit, this is the episode for
00:25
you. I highly recommend that if you are a blogger
00:29
and you are trying to get your name out there,
00:30
consider... doing a virtual summit. I have participated
00:34
in a virtual summit in the past where I have
00:36
been a speaker and I've also attended many of
00:39
them as a guest. And I think that they are the
00:43
coolest thing that people can use for what a
00:45
lot of people consider audience jacking or using
00:48
other people's people to get your audience to
00:51
grow. And so in this entire episode, we're going
00:53
to jam on all the things related to virtual summits.
00:56
And I will leave some links in the show notes
00:59
all about. how you can participate in them, or
01:02
even start your own, because I think that virtual
01:05
summits are the next big thing for podcasters
01:08
and bloggers alike. They have been around for
01:10
years, but I really see them becoming more and
01:14
more of a thing in 2024 and beyond. So let's
01:17
get into it. So virtual summits, they are becoming
01:20
more popular than ever, especially with more
01:23
and more people working remotely. This started
01:25
in the pandemic where people were working from
01:27
home and still trying to attend events or host
01:30
host events. And so you may have attended a virtual
01:33
summit yourself or maybe you've hosted one. And
01:36
if you have not hosted one or attended one. I
01:40
at least recommend you check them out. There's
01:43
a couple that are coming up right now. I know
01:45
that Podcast Summit is next week at the time
01:47
of this recording. And there's a bunch of other
01:49
podcasting summits and, excuse me, a bunch of
01:52
other virtual summits coming up in all kinds
01:53
of different categories. I mean, they've got
01:55
them on how to host a summit. They've got blogging
01:58
summits. They've got so many different virtual
02:01
summits. And I bet you if you were to type in
02:04
whatever it is you're into and virtual summit,
02:06
you'd probably find some. I have seen them for
02:09
doctor's office. offices. I've seen them for
02:10
lawyers. I've seen them for a whole bunch of
02:13
niches. And I just think that they're a very
02:15
cool way to get access to a bunch of different
02:17
people in an industry and learn more about what
02:21
your industry is about. And it's just a great
02:24
way to educate yourself on any different niche.
02:27
So virtual summits are a great way to connect
02:30
with customers and increase your bottom line.
02:32
And best of all, they usually cost. a lot less,
02:36
like up to 90 % less than what an in -person
02:38
conference or expo would cost to put on. So they're
02:41
great for almost any niche as long as your customers
02:44
can access the internet. They can be great for
02:47
coaches. They can be great for consultants, online
02:50
marketers, small business owners. You get the
02:52
idea. And as a bonus, you can use your recorded
02:55
virtual summit for future marketing and sales.
02:57
And I've seen some people actually build entire
02:59
businesses on virtual summits. So what they'll
03:02
do is they'll invite a bunch of people to talk
03:03
on a topic. they will sell tickets to this summit.
03:08
And sometimes they'll give away free tickets
03:10
just to get you an entry point and to get your
03:12
email address. And then they'll sell a discounted
03:15
version of the ticket so you can have access
03:17
to all of the recordings and notes and all the
03:21
things from the virtual summit. And maybe they'll
03:23
sell it at a low price point, like $47. Or if
03:26
you want lifetime access, they'll sell it for
03:27
$99 or whatever the number may be. So they give
03:31
you the free access. Let me try that again. They
03:38
give you free access in exchange for your email
03:40
address. And then that email address is shared
03:41
with all of the speakers. And so it's a great
03:44
way to build an email list really, really quickly
03:46
for someone who is brand new or trying to get
03:49
their name out there, trying to build an audience.
03:51
And then all of this amazing content can either
03:55
go into a membership site or it can be sold at
03:57
later dates. And if it's not timely, it can be
04:00
used as like an evergreen sales tool to create.
04:03
All kinds of different physical, excuse me, can
04:06
be used to create all kinds of different digital
04:09
products, including e -books or recordings on
04:12
the go or private podcasts or all the things.
04:15
There's so many different ways that you can use
04:17
a virtual summit in your monetization toolkit,
04:20
as it were. But as with any online activity,
04:23
you need to have reliable technology to host
04:25
a virtual summit. You'll want to have all the
04:27
required hardware, software, services needed
04:29
to deliver an excellent experience for your audience.
04:32
And without these essentials, you won't be able
04:34
to hold your audience's attention. So if you're
04:37
considering holding your own virtual summit as
04:39
a blogger, here are a few things that you need
04:41
to think about. So first of all, to host it yourself,
04:44
you first need to determine what type of event
04:47
you want it to be. There are so many different
04:48
styles of virtual summits, and each one has its
04:51
own unique benefits and features. So you first
04:54
have to decide which one is right for your audience
04:56
or if you should create a new style entirely.
04:59
Here are a couple of different examples of the
05:01
most popular virtual summit formats. The first
05:04
one is mastermind summits. Now, mastermind summits
05:08
bring together a small group of people to discuss
05:10
a single topic. And it's both educational and
05:13
inspirational and often very interactive between
05:16
all of the participants. And after hosting one,
05:18
you'll be. probably planning several mastermind
05:21
summits throughout the year for your customers
05:23
so that they can gain access to more experts
05:25
in their field of choice. The second one is a
05:29
product launch summit. This event is where you
05:32
bring together minds from different industries
05:34
to discuss a single subject and at the same time
05:37
launch your latest product. A good example of
05:40
this is probably podcast movement. Though they
05:42
are known for doing an actual in -person conference,
05:45
what a lot of people don't know is that they
05:47
also sell access. to all of the recordings from
05:50
the conference. And in a way, that's considered
05:52
a virtual summit. So they're talking about all
05:55
the various aspects of podcasting. And that's
05:58
like the unique, unified theme that is bringing
06:01
all these people together. But they don't just
06:03
talk about one aspect of podcasting. They talk
06:06
about monetization. They talk about building
06:08
an audience, building a community. They talk
06:10
about how to market it, all the things. And so
06:13
that is what a product launch summit would look
06:15
like. And although some companies have taken
06:18
it further, they're usually done in about one
06:20
day in length. Podcast movement, for example,
06:23
is usually three to four days. But you can use
06:26
this as a single product that you are selling.
06:28
So you host the summit and this is your product
06:31
that you are now selling as your digital product.
06:35
Another type of summit is called a content distribution
06:38
summit. You'll want to host something like this
06:40
if you already have an established audience,
06:43
but you need to increase your social media presence.
06:45
This is more like an interactive version of a
06:47
webinar where you get people engaged with each
06:49
other. They share content. You share brand updates
06:52
and behind -the -scenes news. Another summit
06:56
is live conversations. A live conversation is
06:58
more of an interactive virtual summit, and it's
07:00
usually just one person, similar to a webinar
07:03
where you're hosting for about an hour or so.
07:05
You're doing this with usually just yourself,
07:08
but sometimes you'll do it with another person
07:10
in the industry. And you guys just chat and have
07:13
a live conversation with each other or with the
07:15
audience. And you can do this for networking,
07:18
content distribution, connecting with and providing
07:20
value to your audience. It's very similar to
07:22
doing a live podcast, but it is considered a
07:25
form of a virtual summit. So those are the most
07:28
popular types of virtual summit. But what kind
07:31
of tools do you need if you want to host one?
07:33
The first thing you need is to get the proper
07:36
tools, things like your desktop, your laptop,
07:38
your phones, your tablets, etc. You need to consider
07:41
your audience numbers and you may find that it's
07:44
going to be easier to manage chat replies or
07:46
interactions better on one device than it would
07:49
be on another. So things that you want to consider
07:51
are having a high quality microphone. You want
07:54
your viewers and listeners to be able to hear
07:57
you clearly. You also need a really fantastic
08:00
internet connection. This is even more important
08:02
if you plan on doing your summit live. A lot
08:05
of virtual summits are hosted and held prior
08:08
to the actual live event. meaning all of the
08:10
recordings are handled ahead of time. So whenever
08:14
it goes live, so to speak, it is actually a pre
08:17
-recorded audio that is being pushed out as if
08:20
it were live, but in truth, it was recorded in
08:22
advance. So if you are going to be doing one
08:25
that is live, make sure you have a really good
08:27
internet connection. And I'll also say that with
08:29
this, if you're going to do it live, make sure
08:32
you do a test run just to make sure you understand
08:34
all the bells and whistles and how you're going
08:36
to do it. Do you plan on having more than 50
08:39
participants in your virtual summit? You want
08:42
to probably opt for a wired connection, not Wi
08:45
-Fi, and test your provider's upload speed before
08:47
your summit actually begins. The last thing you
08:50
want is to bring all these people in, especially
08:52
if they're paying for it to be there live. You
08:54
don't want them to miss it just because your
08:56
internet wasn't reliable. Other things that you
08:59
need is video conferencing software. I've seen
09:01
people do this with Zoom. I've seen people do
09:03
this with Riverside. GoToMeeting. And the other
09:07
one that I've also seen a lot is Virtual Summit
09:10
Software that is hosted by or not hosted. I'm
09:13
sorry. It is owned by Dr. Mark Wade. I actually
09:16
had the immense pleasure of interviewing him
09:18
for Podcasting 101 with RSS .com. And what I
09:21
will do is I will leave the link to his episode
09:24
from Podcasting 101 in the show notes, because
09:27
if you swap out the word podcaster for blogger
09:29
throughout that entire episode, it's everything
09:31
you need to hear. It is just a fantastic episode
09:33
and I highly, highly recommend it. He talks about
09:36
how if you participate in one, you can build
09:39
an audience or if you host one, you can basically
09:41
turn that into a income stream for your business.
09:44
Other things you need if you want to host a virtual
09:46
summit, emailing software to invite your attendees
09:49
and to keep up with them as the summit gets closer.
09:52
You want to remind people about it so they actually
09:54
show up. You want a landing page for your event
09:56
and sales page. I've seen people do this with
09:58
landing or leadpages .com. I've seen people create
10:01
their own pages on their own websites. Some people
10:05
who have used programs like Stealth Seminar,
10:06
they actually have a plugin where you can create
10:10
a landing page in the software and it links to
10:12
your domain. That's an option as well. And finally,
10:16
you want a payment processing of some kind to
10:19
collect payments for any sales. And Virtual Summit
10:22
Software is really good at this because they
10:24
have upsell pages. So whenever you bring people
10:27
to your landing page to participate in your summit,
10:30
they can get their free ticket. And then after
10:32
they get their free ticket, That's when you can
10:34
start offering them options like purchasing the
10:37
recordings or the downloads or whatever it is
10:39
that you want to offer your attendees. So when
10:43
it comes to software, there's a lot of software
10:45
options available for hosting your virtual summit.
10:48
I've mentioned a few here already. I've also
10:50
seen people use things like Facebook or YouTube
10:52
to host a small virtual summit. But these platforms
10:55
are pretty basic. And if you want something where
10:58
you can have like polls. or ask your audience
11:01
questions and be able to catch up with them in
11:03
real time, they may not be good enough for, you
11:07
know, actually being able to engage with your
11:08
audience. So if you only have about 50 attendees,
11:12
though, that's not going to be a big deal. You
11:13
can use a smaller software or, you know, something
11:17
like that. But many of the other tools that I
11:20
have mentioned, like, you know, the Virtual Summit
11:23
software or GoToMeeting and all the other ones.
11:26
they offer some really amazing tools that give
11:29
the host more control, not only over their content,
11:32
but also over how they engage with the audience.
11:34
So what I mean by the control over the content
11:36
is once you put something on Facebook or you
11:39
put it on YouTube, you can usually download it
11:41
in some way, shape, or form using some type of
11:44
software. When you use a platform like Virtual
11:47
Summit Software or GoToMeeting or even Zoom,
11:50
it's much harder to download this content for
11:53
free. So if you are paywalling it, and you want
11:55
to make sure that people can't get access to
11:57
it after the fact, you'll want to use the software
11:59
that's going to actually, you know, take it offline,
12:02
so to speak. Even though it's still available
12:04
to those who have paid for it, the people who
12:06
haven't will not be able to have access anymore.
12:10
So like I said, one of the best options for hosting
12:13
a virtual summit is virtual summit software.
12:15
They offer the best virtual summit and webinar
12:17
platform on the market right now for the price.
12:20
And usually if you purchase a a package with
12:25
them they not only give you the software but
12:28
they also teach you how to use it how to promote
12:30
your first summit and all those good things so
12:32
this software it allows you to create a custom
12:35
landing page and I'm not sponsored by them in
12:37
any way shape or form I've just checked out a
12:38
few of them and this particular one is is really
12:41
awesome from all the ones that I have seen if
12:44
I ever host a summit of my own I intend to use
12:46
this software personally so The cool thing about
12:49
once you host one is then you can turn it into,
12:52
like I said, evergreen sales products. And one
12:55
of the most valuable ways to monetize your virtual
12:57
summit is by turning it into a product that you
12:59
can sell later. So you record your summit and
13:02
you turn it into an evergreen sales webinar or
13:04
a video series or repurposing it in some way
13:07
that makes it into an actual product. This could
13:10
be an e -book, a workbook, a workshop, anything.
13:13
We previously talked about the Summit software
13:17
and how to host it, but now let's discuss how
13:19
you can actually monetize your Summit. So like
13:22
I said, you need to create a sales page. It's
13:26
the first thing you need to do whenever you're
13:27
creating your actual Summit. You can use the
13:30
software to build your landing page in Lead Magnet
13:33
or whatever program you are using. Make sure
13:35
that somewhere, some way you have a landing page
13:38
and a lead magnet. And the reason this is so
13:40
important is it actually will give you a way
13:42
to keep in touch with your audience. Even if
13:44
they're not purchasing tickets, if they're getting
13:45
them for free, you want some way that you can
13:48
get in touch with them before, during and after
13:51
your summit. Next, you want to funnel to larger
13:54
products. You want to create a sales funnel that
13:56
leads your viewer from the summit to a larger,
13:58
more profitable offer. This could be things like.
14:01
More extensive summits, masterminds, courses,
14:04
coaching, all that jazz. And it's important to
14:07
know where these people are entering your funnel
14:09
and how to ensure that they'll be on board and
14:11
find value in your upsell. So ensure that you're
14:14
not putting people through an information overlord.
14:18
Ensure that you're not putting people through
14:20
an information overload when you're trying to
14:22
sell them something new. And then finally, they're
14:26
selling your summit as part of a membership.
14:28
I know a lot of internet bloggers, internet bloggers.
14:31
I know a lot of business owners that are actually
14:34
using summits as their way to create a membership.
14:37
What they do is they host a big summit and they
14:39
invite all kinds of industry experts to talk
14:42
about any different subject, whatever it is that
14:45
their business is based on. Then what they do
14:47
is they take all of those videos and they put
14:48
them into a monthly membership because the idea
14:50
is you can't always get all of the content within
14:53
two, three, maybe even a week. two, three days,
14:56
even a week. Sometimes it's hard, especially
14:59
if they have a lot of speakers. For example,
15:01
one of the summits that I attended, there were
15:03
48 speakers and you only had 48 hours to listen
15:08
to all of these speakers. Without paying for
15:11
the membership, it was impossible to do. So to
15:13
be able to actually hear everything that everybody
15:16
had to say, get access to the people that were
15:18
speaking, you could pay for the membership and
15:21
have access to those people. And you can do this
15:23
by packaging it with other products. For example,
15:26
if you have those conversations already recorded,
15:30
you could add additional conversations. You could
15:32
add coaching. You could add all kinds of different
15:34
things to make it a valuable membership that
15:36
someone would actually be willing to pay. One
15:38
of the ones I saw recently, it was like $20 a
15:41
month to get access to all of the speakers, and
15:44
you had to pay for a year up front. So that's
15:46
just an idea of something that you can do. So
15:50
what are the best ways that you can see a return
15:53
on investment from participating in a virtual
15:55
summit? The first one is that you want to give
15:58
sponsors a seat at the table. This tip came from
16:00
Jonathan Zacharias, who's the founder of GRO.
16:03
And what he said was invite industry experts
16:06
from up and coming companies who would co -sponsor
16:08
the event with you in order to make the much
16:10
needed splash. For a summit, you always need
16:13
a variety of expert speakers. Why not invite
16:16
someone who's also seeking a seat at the table?
16:18
His idea is that if you assemble this virtual
16:20
summit, it could be an opportunity for them,
16:22
giving them hard data about who is taking part
16:25
and why they can build credibility by being seen
16:27
as an authority alongside the other participants.
16:30
So long as they have something of value to add
16:32
when speaking on the topic, they can help you
16:35
get your return on investment much quicker so
16:37
you can make it a better overall event. Brendan
16:41
Thomas, who's CEO of Twibi, he said that it's
16:44
important to define your goals and metrics if
16:46
you hope to be successful. What he says is before
16:48
the event, determine what you hope to achieve,
16:51
whether it's increased brand awareness, lead
16:53
generation, or thought leadership opportunities.
16:55
And he also recommends that you identify key
16:57
performance indicators, also known as KPIs, that
17:01
align with these goals and track them throughout
17:03
the event. This can include metrics such as registration
17:06
numbers, attendance rates, engagement levels,
17:08
and even post -event follow -up activity. When
17:11
you track these metrics, he says, you can assess
17:13
the success of the event and make data -driven
17:16
decisions about how to improve your future events.
17:19
And there's a lot more ways that you can actually
17:21
see a return on investment from hosting or participating
17:25
in a virtual summit. Additional ways include
17:27
make it as niche -specific as possible, build
17:30
relationships with attendees, offer virtual sponsorships,
17:34
evaluate networking opportunities that are gained,
17:36
and bring value to your target audience. I'll
17:39
leave a... an article in the show notes about
17:42
how to see ROI from participating in a virtual
17:45
summit. It's filled with a bunch of great tips
17:47
from 11 of the experts that I spoke with who
17:49
either hosted or participated in a virtual summit.
17:52
And I just loved everything that they had to
17:54
say. So I'll definitely leave that. If you go
17:56
to famousashleygrant .com backslash virtual summit,
17:59
you can see all of the information about how
18:01
to create one of your own, how to participate,
18:04
why they're beneficial, and the link that I promised
18:06
to Dr. Mark Wade's amazing episode that I did
18:08
on Podcasting 101. So I hope that this kind of
18:12
got you excited about the idea of virtual summits,
18:14
whether you want to host one or just participate
18:16
in one. I think they're a really cool idea. Like
18:19
I said, I have participated in one myself and
18:21
I am considering participating or hosting one
18:23
myself in the future. And I think they're just
18:26
a neat way to engage with your audience. So I
18:28
hope you found this helpful. And if you did,
18:30
please share it with someone. And until next
18:32
time, may your page views be high and your bounce
18:34
rate below.
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