Host Your Own Event for Under $200 | Businessing

Host your own event and every advantage moves to your side of the table. You pick the room, you pick the topic, you pick who's in it, and you're the one standing in the middle of it.Pat runs the math out loud. A qualified lead from a big conference booth can run you four hundred dollars. A morning spread from Panera and a couple jugs of coffee for eight or ten people runs under two hundred. Then he walks through how he actually builds an event, starting with the test every event has to pass before you invite anybody: does it save them time, make them money, or build their network. Plus picking your format, curating the room to owners only, why you have to over-invite because 20% of your yeses don't show up, and the difference between hosting a community and hosting an audience. He started with the Breakthrough Breakfast. Three people, some bagels, ninety minutes. Six years later it's a conference.Idea Slam Mailbag: I'm terrible at telling my story on social media, so how do I do it without sounding like a sales pitch? Pat's answer is to quit using your own words. Ask your clients to describe what you did for them, then go say that. Nobody cares about your why. They care about what changes when they hand you a credit card.The AI story of the day is the one nobody wants to answer out loud. Forty-six percent of Gen Z workers say leaning on AI is making them less sharp, and half of employees say they're too dependent on it at work. Pat's take: working with a thought partner is fine, handing over your judgment is not, and telling those two apart is going to be the whole game.Businessing is the daily live show where small business owners figure out what to do next. Hosted by Pat Miller, founder of the Small Business Owners Community: owners only, nobody pitching, $9 a month.In this episode:00:00 - Nobody taught you how to run a business, and today it's building your own room01:15 - Why not host your own event instead of standing around at somebody else's02:01 - You went to the chamber breakfast and left with nothing02:39 - The math, and the $400 lead at a conference booth03:37 - Do it in the morning, because breakfast is cheap to cater04:04 - When's the last time you had a bagel with an ideal client04:56 - The Breakthrough Breakfast: three people, coffee, ninety minutes06:13 - The test every event has to pass before you invite anybody07:01 - Pick your format, then curate the room07:50 - Only the people who sign the checks understand the people who sign the checks09:02 - Over-invite, because 20% of your yeses won't show09:29 - Community or audience, know which one you're throwing11:05 - Ten minutes of presentation, then let them grill you11:50 - Don't let them leave without selling the next one13:04 - Barbara asks: host it alone, or partner up16:27 - Money Masters Bookkeeping17:56 - Idea Slam Mailbag: telling your story on social without the sales pitch18:48 - Nobody cares about your why19:13 - Ask your clients to describe what you did, then use their words22:38 - Mitchell asks: how do you do the math on a sponsorship25:58 - Foureva Media27:27 - AI story of the day: are we forgetting how to think29:43 - AI is a junior employee, and a thought partner isn't cheating30:36 - Collaborate all you want, but keep the judgment32:36 - I walked into the conference venue this morning and saw the whole thing34:26 - This week in the SBOC, and Monday is the last show before the conferenceResources mentioned:SBOC26 Conference, September 15-17 in Brookfield: https://event.smallbusinesscommunity.com/26conferenceMoney Masters Bookkeeping: https://www.moneymasters4biz.com/Foureva Media: https://fourevamedia.comWatch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BusinessingShowApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/businessing-with-pat-miller/id1870663109Listen anywhere: https://businessing.captivate.fm/listenFridays Off Newsletter: https://fridaysoffnewsletter.comSmall Business Owners Community: https://smallbusinesscommunity.com#SmallBusiness #Entrepreneurship #PatMiller #SmallBusinessEvents #Networking #EventMarketing