thank you and congratulations on your decision to … · thank you and congratulations on your...

Thank you and CONGRATULATIONS on your decision to invest in growing your business through live events! You are about to embark on an exciting journey and we are here as your guides. We make you just one promise, if you participate each week and complete each week’s action steps as we go, YOU will absolutely have your personal live event at sea planned and ready to market. 90 days from today you will have the organizational components done and ticked off your check list so you can concentrate all of your time on marketing for success!

Now, let’s get started........

Have you ever attended a live event where, at the end just as “the offer” is made it looks like money is literally raining down on the Transformational Leader? It is both awesome to watch and a little bit scary. Lots of people are actually afraid of money, maybe even you! I know we once were.

But, we all know that nothing happens instantly and that a lot of hard work, planning and likely years of practice got this amazing leader to their position of seemingly instant success. Yet, there you are standing in the audience of a live event and 100’s sometimes 1,000’s of people are rushing to the back of the room to invest their money to help them solve a problem.

You may be thinking to yourself, “I am not in this for the money!” And, that may be true. Still, the hard facts are, the more money you make the more people you can help. The more people you help the more money you make.

Don’t you have clients with problems? Can’t you develop a program that would offer a solution for their problem(s)? What would it feel like for you if you were THE transformation leader standing in a room at your personal live event with 100’s or 1,000’s of people willing to invest in you because they know YOU have the solution to their biggest problem?

Welcome

“Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day!” – Jim Rohn

What if the money seemingly raining down was from the efforts YOU expended,the message YOU shared and the problem YOU helped solve?

Whether you are a novice or seasoned author, speaker, coach, trainer, transformational leader or online marketer there are five common proven ways to ensure you get known and get paid like an industry expert in any field including yours:

Top 5 Ways to Earning Expert Status 1. Become an Author2. Become a Speaker3. Become a Business or Life Coach4. Become an Online Marketing Expert5. Become an Expert at Producing Live Events

Of these options, celebrity transformational gurus like Brendon Burchard, Callan Rush, Janet Switzer, and Milana Leshinsky have each mentioned at one time or another that the fastest way of achieving expert status, have the most fun you can possibly have with your clients, make the best connections you can possibly make and be the most profitable you can possibly be is by hosting live events. A combination of all strategies is the path to true monetary success. But, the best place to begin and the quickest way to be perceived as an expert in your niche is most often proclaimed to be hosting Live Events!

Even with this knowledge many niche experts hold themselves back. They avoid using this incredibly powerful tool typically due to four major fears:

Too expensive. Too much work. No one will show up. If people show up, why would they want to see me? Or, a combination of any or all four!

Which is/are your greatest fear(s)? ___________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________

What if the money seemingly raining down was from the efforts YOU expended, the message YOU shared and the problem

YOU helped solve?

With this Action Guide, you have in your reach the ability to completely eliminate all four of these fears. The ability to do so starts by simply moving your live event thinking from traditional land based options to hosting your live event…….. “at sea”.

That said, you may now have new fears specifically related to the idea of hosting an event at sea!

Don’t worry we will discuss these four fears and all the new fears that may have come up at the thought of spending time on a cruise ship a little later on.

Please just trust that by the time we finish this process together, you will have everything you need to overcome ALL your fears and the fears or your clients.

You will be crystal clear how to host no cost high profit live events at sea that:

Will be tons of fun for you and your clients. Create literal raving fans of your clients so they come back to you time

and time again and they refer their friends and clients to you. AND, you are guaranteed to cut your costs by an average of 30-50% per

event.

Enhance Your ROI (Return on Investment)!

So, are you excited to begin?

First, please allow us to share a little bit about who we are, how we got here and why we are in a position to truly support you and help you grow your business hosting live events at sea.

Tag and I both started traveling at very young ages and quickly discovered that by experiencing new cultures and exploring new adventures we became better human beings. We began to care more about the people around us, whoever they are, wherever they are from, whatever adventure they are personally on at that moment in their life.

Enhance Your Return on Investment!

We also recognized that people around the globe have the very same fears

and challenges. And, we hoped that one day we could help give other people

the opportunity to travel and grow so they could experience life awakenings just

like we had the privilege and burning desire of discovering early in our lives!

As we entered the professional world, we both decided to pursue careers in

hospitality, first working for others including organizations like Caesar’s Palace,

Hyatt Resorts Hawaii, Kimpton Hotels, and the Regent Hong Kong. Later,

opening our own hospitality consulting business assisting hotels, travel

companies, and destination management organizations with the process of

buying, selling and growing their businesses.

“Your exceptional business growth strategies have helped us

increase incremental revenue by 500% and improve our customer

satisfaction ratings by 200%. Thank you! – Mickey Hale, CEO Imperial

Development Resorts.

During one particular project developing a new luxury travel product line for

one of the biggest travel consortia in the world, we discovered that there was a

thriving untapped market in the cruise industry for unique educational

transitional based programs sold exclusively through highly trained travel

entrepreneurs hosted by top experts in niche markets within the health, wealth,

relationships and spirituality worlds.

Exploring further we uncovered that the desire to host live events was huge in

the transformational industry but the barriers to entry (costs, risks, operational

knowledge) were high.

Coincidentally, around this same time, new cruise ships were being built that

eliminated most of the fears many potential cruisers and live event hosts had

about taking their first cruise (nothing to do, rocky waters, etc). They added

state of the art conference facilities to the ships including audio/visual options

that not only compete with what is offered through hotels for land based events

but often exceed those options.

We knew that we had a way to solve this challenge and present a viable

solution to the many gifted niche experts, like you, so that you can have the

confidence to host your live events and the financial ability to do so without

much risk, if any at all.

Helping you and other like-minded entrepreneurs share your message to as

many people as possible and grow your business to its’ highest potential is our

personal goal.

We have since helped solo-preneurs like Joyce Lee Kinney with

Diamonds in the Rough Coaching and corporations like

Vacation.com generate over $50,000,000 in revenue!

Wouldn’t you like to grow your business too?

Now, we totally understand and appreciate that there are some fantastic

programs in the market on hosting live events. We’ve paid for and still use many

of the techniques learned in those programs. We also dearly love and respect

who we refer to as our personal coaches for this journey.

Each alternative program gives unique tips and helpful strategies for optimizing

the opportunities hosting live events for your business can provide. They are

worth taking your time to explore.

What makes this program unique is that we are the only program that shares the

secrets to hosting live events “at sea” that help completely overcome your fears

and eliminate most or all of the traditional expenses required to host events

ensuring much greater profitability with zero risk. And, we focus on the action

steps required to get your live event marketing campaign up and running

successfully as quickly and stress free as possible.

In addition, when setting up this Action Guide, we recognized that each person

that participates is in a different stage of their business and has different

preferences of how to run your business.

You might be a seasoned professional that has a full-time team that helps you

organize, market and run your events. You might be just starting out and prefer

to run everything on your own either because you prefer to do everything on

your own or you prefer to keep the budget for your event as low as possible. Or, you could be someone in between that needs a little help with one aspect of hosting live events but prefer to handle other aspects yourself.

With that in mind, this action guide has been designed to provide you with excellent tips that will benefit whatever your personal preference may be:

Do It Yourself Do It With Someone Have It Done For You

The key, though, to your success is YOU!

Only you can complete the steps in each Action Guide each and every week. This will allow you to accomplish your main goal, a ready to launch live event at sea in 60 days or less, without experiencing overload while having some support as you explore and implement the process.

We are here for you BUT it is solely UP TO YOU!

There will be a total of 8 Action Guides. Each will be delivered to your inbox in regular intervals. This will allow you time to complete each step in each Action Guide without experiencing overwhelm.

These are designed to be completed in the sequence they are provided. So, try to resist jumping ahead. Focus on the action steps for that week. Perfect your answers. Then, you will be ready, and stress free, when the next Action Guide is delivered.

Action Guide 1: The Big Dream 7 Steps to Producing Your low NO Cost HIGH Profit Live Event at Sea

Action Guide 2: The Research 3 Tools to Help Uncover Your Unique Selling Features & Design Your Ideal Upsell Programs

Action Guide 3: The Fun 8 Proven Strategies to Ensure You Create a “Wow” Live Event

Customer Experience that Makes it Effortless to Retain Current Clients, Attract New Clients and Receive Endless Referrals

Action Guide 4: The Budget and The Negotiations The Secret to Creating a Profitable Budget Plan including 18 Live Event Expense Eliminators and Incremental Revenue Generators Putting More $$$ in Your Pocket & 3 Do Not Make These Mistakes in Your Contract Tips

Action Guide 5: The Brand 18 Steps to Branding Success

Action Guide 6: The Technology Eliminate Overwhelm and Outsource

Action Guide 7: The Marketing Focus on the Best and Eliminate the Rest

Action Guide 8: The Launch Product Launch Made Easy

Bonus: The Event Profit Optimizer Top Tips from Industry Experts on How to Fill Your Event and Optimize Your Profit

Now, watch your inbox and get ready to take immediate action! You are on your way to hosting your personal No Cost High Profit Live Event at Sea! Thank you for letting us share in your journey!

Yours in hospitality, Tag and Ken

PS Let's take time to dream for just one moment and take one quick action step. A recent study showed that if a person writes something down they are 42% more likely to make it happen.

Live Free, Live Fun, Live Profitably, Dare to Live Large!

Now, close your eyes, take three deep breaths in and three deep breaths out and dream for just a moment. Dream about all the romantic, active, relaxing, educational, unique travel destinations that you have always wanted to visit then write them down below. This will come in handy in your First Action Guide. Please don’t force anything to come to mind and don’t filter anything out that pops into your mind. Simply imagine a day in your dream destination and write that destination down below or if you are more visual draw your dream destination!

Action Step 1: Dream

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Legal Disclaimers & Notices

All contents copyright © 2016 by Dare to Live Large, LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this document or accompanying files may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or otherwise, by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher.

This Action Guide is presented to you for informational purposes only and is not a substitution for any professional advice. The contents herein are based on the views and opinions of the author and all associated contributors.

While every effort has been made by the author and all associated contributors to present accurate and up to date information within this document, it is apparent technologies rapidly change. Therefore, the author and all associated contributors reserve the right to update the contents and information provided herein as these changes progress. The author and/or all associated contributors take no responsibility for any errors or omissions if such discrepancies exist within this document.

The author and all other contributors accept no responsibility for any consequential actions taken, whether monetary, legal, or otherwise, by any and all readers of the materials provided. It is the readers’ sole responsibility to seek professional advice before taking any action on their part.

Reader results will vary based on their skill level and individual perception of the contents herein, and thus no guarantees, monetarily or otherwise, can be made accurately. Therefore, no guarantees are made.

©2016 Global Hospitality Solutions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Every single thing that is important in life started with one tiny spark. One idea.

One invention. One chance encounter. The best sparks are most often ignited

in a dream seemingly from out of nowhere. But, what we have all come to

know is that those sparks ignited in our dreams have been influenced by our life

experiences. The more life experiences we have and share with others the more

quickly and more often the sparks ignite within us and others.

So, thank you for starting this journey together that begins with your dream. Let’s

hope we create some sparks together.

“If you want to succeed……..

……..you have to sparkle!” – Tiffany & Co.

As we travel through the next 8 Action Guides, please keep in mind there will be

times you are frustrated. There may be times when you feel things are not in

quite the right order. You may be one of the personality types that has to have

ALL the answers up front before even beginning any new journey.

What we remind you is that these guides are designed to get you into action as

quickly as possible. The goal is to have you ready to launch your personal Live

Event at Sea in 90 days or less. Just trust that if you participate you will be ready

to launch. There will always be some tweaking to do and you will likely improve

things as time goes by and you have more feedback from your clients. But, trust

that you will get there.

This is not the end all to your Live Event solution. It is the guide to get you

where you want to be Hosting No Cost High Profit Live Events at Sea in 90 days

or less.

This is your GO step!

Time to Commit:

“I am ready willing and able to move forward making Live Events a big part of

growing my business. I am ready to take action now!”

Signature:______________________________________

Action Guide 1: The Dream

“If you want to succeed........

........you have to sparkle!” – Tiffany & Co.


Action Step 1 Choose Your Dream Destination

Action Step 2 Start with the End in Mind

Action Step 3 Review Your Client Information

Action Step 4 Determine Your Purpose

Action Step 5 Plan Your Live Event Itinerary

Action Step 6 Select a Ship and Itinerary

Action Step 7 Are You a DIY, DWY or DFY Event Planner?

Getting Ready: Submit Your RFP (Request for Proposal)

Legal Disclaimers & Notices: All contents copyright © 2016 by Global Hospitality Solutions, LLC.

All rights reserved. No part of this document or accompanying files may be reproduced or

transmitted in any form, electronic or otherwise, by any means without the prior written

permission of the publisher.

This Action Guide is presented to you for informational purposes only and is not a substitution for

any professional advice. The contents herein are based on the views and opinions of the author

and all associated contributors.

While every effort has been made by the author and all associated contributors to present

accurate and up to date information within this document, it is apparent technologies rapidly

change. Therefore, the author and all associated contributors reserve the right to update the

contents and information provided herein as these changes progress. The author and/or all

associated contributors take no responsibility for any errors or omissions if such discrepancies exist

within this document.

The author and all other contributors take no responsibility for any consequential actions taken,

whether monetary, legal, or otherwise, by any and all readers of the materials provided. It is the

readers’ sole responsibility to seek professional advice before taking any action on their part.

Reader results will vary based on their skill level and individual perception of the contents herein,

and thus no guarantees, monetarily or otherwise, can be made accurately. Therefore, no

guarantees are made.

7 Action Steps to Producing No Cost High Profit Live Events at Sea


Let the journey begin! Once again, congratulations on your decision to grow

your business hosting live events at sea.

Action Step 1: Choose Your Dream Destination

Many experts like to suggest you begin the planning process with your purpose.

But, psychologists suggest that when we stimulate our brains with hopes and

desires that create an emotional response in our brains we are more likely to

manifest it into reality. One of the greatest drivers of emotional response is the

fantasy of travel.

When you think of traveling does it stimulate your senses? Do you have visions of

a romantic rendezvous in Paris? Can you picture yourself climbing to the top of

Machu Picchu? Can you feel the salty breeze on your face while your toes

massage the amazing pink sands of Horseshoe Bay in Bermuda? Does your

mouth start to salivate as you imagine the smell and taste of the fresh delicacies

at one of the incredible food markets in Singapore?

Travel does stimulate the senses. And, when your senses are stimulated you take

action. So, your first Action Step is to Dream.

ACTION STEP:

In the Introduction Guide you were asked to list all the amazing places you

dream of visiting. Pull out that list now and circle your top 3 choices. If you

didn’t receive the Introduction Guide or don’t have it handy that Action Step is

repeated below.

Now, close your eyes, take three deep breaths in and three deep breaths out

and dream for just a moment. Dream about all the romantic, active, relaxing,

education, unique travel destinations that you have always wanted to visit then

write them down below. Please don’t force anything to come to mind and

don’t filter anything out that pops into your mind. Simply imagine a day in your

dream destination and write that destination down below or if you are more

visual draw your dream destination!


My Dream Destinations are:

At this point, many clients ask shouldn’t I be looking at this from MY clients’

perspective and where they might like to go? The answer to that is, yes. You will

be taking your clients perspective into consideration a little later on. We will look

at your client profiles to ensure that you have selected a location that works for

you and your clients.

For now, this is all about you and your dream. Besides, your clients work with you

because they like and trust you. Usually that happens when people enjoy similar

things. Therefore, it is quite likely that a destination you desire to explore is the

same destination your clients might like to explore as well.

So, don’t hold back. Dream BIG and dream many destinations!

My Dream Destination List

1st Choice: _____________

2nd Choice: _____________

3rd Choice: _____________

“Life is a banquet and most poor SOB’s are starving to death.” – Mame


Now let’s see if your preferred travel destination might work in conjunction with a

cruise?

As you can see cruising has grown to include most destinations around the

world with ports of call at almost anywhere your heart and your client’s hearts

could desire. If you prefer to stay close to home, in the United States and

Canada alone, you can cruise to and/or from:

Mobile, AL Honolulu, HI St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands

Long Beach, CA New Orleans, LA Norfolk, VA

Los Angeles, CA Baltimore, MD Seattle, WA

San Diego, CA Boston, MA Vancouver, British Columbia

San Francisco, CA Bayonne, NJ Halifax, Nova Scotia

Ft. Lauderdale, FL New York, NY Toronto, Ontario

Jacksonville, FL Portland, OR Montreal, Quebec

Miami, FL San Juan, Puerto Rico Quebec City, Quebec

Port Canaveral, FL Charleston, SC

Tampa, Fl Galveston, TX

Is your destination on the map? If your answer is no, don’t worry we might still

make this a good match. If your answer is yes, that’s perfect. The fun part will

be selecting the ideal ship and itinerary for your live event.

WORLD WIDE CRUISE DESTINATIONS


Part of that selection process will involve knowing exactly how much time you

will need to have available during the itinerary for you to share your gift and

message with your clients. And, this is one of the differences between hosting

your event at a land based hotel and hosting at sea.

On land, you can usually pick a day or dates and find the space you need

somewhere. On the ship, each itinerary is a bit unique. You want to make sure

that the itinerary you choose fits the needs and flow for your event. There are

cruises of just 1 night that could work with an introductory program. There are

cruises of 7-14 days that are ideal for programs with multi-day content. And,

there are world voyages of 180 days or more should you have a very high end

product such as a world leadership mastermind.

Determining how much time you need to share content, allow for break-out

sessions and networking events, and/or host coaching sessions will help guide

you towards an itinerary that will work for you.

To help define this you need to decide how your event will be structured.

Though you can certainly design your personal program any way you want. The

most popular programs for success include 1 day or 3 day events. A live event

at sea that would include up to 3 full days of content delivery typically requires a

cruise itinerary of 7-10 days.

So, it’s time to decide. Will you be presenting 3 full days of impactful content for

a larger audience? Will you be hosting a 1 day mastermind for a select group of

VIP clients? Or, perhaps you are leaning toward using this event to provide a

networking opportunity or two for your clients with an offer for 1 on 1 or Small

Group Coaching opportunities over the course of your cruise?

ACTION STEP: My event will require the following meeting time(s):

Day 1: _________________________

Day 2: _________________________

Day 3: _________________________

Examples of Special Events I would like to include in my program are:

1: _____________________________


2: ____________________________

3: ____________________________

ACTION STEP: What month and year are you planning your event for?:

Choice 1: _________________________

Choice 2: _________________________

Choice 3: _________________________

Hint: General guidelines for when cruises take place in different areas of the

world are listed below. However, there are exceptions so if the dates and

destinations don’t work with your preferences, a little more research may be

needed to find a ship and itinerary to match your preferences but it still may be

possible.

Alaska – May to September

Asia – Year Round

Australia/New Zealand – September to April

Bahamas – March to December

Bermuda – April to November

Canada/New England – April to November

Caribbean – Year Round

Dubai/Emirates – January to April

Europe – Year Round

Hawaii – Year Round

South America – December to April

Action Step 2: Start with the End in Mind

Steven R. Covey in his book 7 Habits for Highly Effective Sales People states that

when setting your goals you should always “begin with the end in mind.” So,

let’s Begin with Your End in Mind.

ACTION STEP:

Specifically as it relates to this event, answer the follow questions:


1. How many people do you plan to serve at this event? __________

2. How much money do you personally want to make from this event?

$_______________________________________________________________

3. What is the per person net profit you want to make from this event?

# of People Served / Personal Profit From Event = $____________________

We will be using this number in the Budget and Marketing Planning later on.

Action Step 3: Define Your Purpose

Now that you have your destination or a few destinations in mind, it is time to

determine the purpose of your event so you can design an approximate time

line for the actual event. This will be very important in selecting the right itinerary

as you will need to ensure that your dream cruise has enough time included in

the itinerary to facilitate the actual purpose for your event.

For example, is your event purpose to Educate? Offer Your Product or Services?

Entertain? Grow Your Client List?

ACTION STEP:

Pick one:_____________________________________________________________________

Action Step 4: Review Your Client Information

You have your dream destination and have started answering the questions you

will need to have the answers to in order to select the perfect ship and itinerary.

“Purpose! It’s that little flame that lights a fire under your %^&!” – Avenue Q


But, first check in with your database to make sure there is a great fit and no

disconnect.

Remember if you have a true following of clients they are likely to follow you

anywhere. Still it doesn’t hurt to explore a few areas to help ensure your

success.

ACTION STEP:

Review your database for geography.

Is there one area where most of your clients currently live?_____________________

If so, are the arrival and/or return cities of your dream destination easily

accessible for these clients? __________________________________________________

Is your chosen destination within 2 hours of driving time?________________________

Are there ample flights to and from the cities of your clients and your destination

of choice?___________________________________________________________________

Again, don’t get hung up on the answers to these questions. For a Live Event at

Sea people will tend to travel to the destination regardless of where it might be

particularly if you have a program that solves a big enough problem for them.

Action Step 5: Plan Your Live Event Itinerary

A sample schedule for a typical day at a live event at sea follows. But, this is

your event. Make it work for you (and your clients) whatever your personal

vision might be!

8:00am Breakfast is Included in Your Choice of Restaurants (or dine en-suite).

9:00am Welcome and Five Star Content Delivery

11:00am Coffee Break

11:30am Additional Content Delivery

1:30pm Lunch is Included in Your Choice of Restaurants

3:00pm Content Delivery and Active Group Activity

5:00pm Networking Reception Compliments of the Cruise Line


7:00pm VIP Dining Event

9:00pm VIP Entertainment Event

Action Step 6: Select a Ship and Itinerary

This is actually the fun part of your program researching what product will meet

the needs of your event and your clients. By product, we mean what incredible

cruise ship will you be calling home? What popular, adventurous, wild, exotic

destination(s) will you be exploring?

There are truly as many different types of cruise lines as there are different hotel

chains. And, within each cruise line ships can vary tremendously. They are all

spectacular. But, your clients will be wow-ed if you actually pick the perfect

match for you and them.

ACTION STEP:

What is your favorite hotel or hotel chain?_____________________________________

Do you think your clients answer would be the same or different? ______________

What is your favorite restaurant? _____________________________________________

When you dine out, do you prefer to dress (circle all that apply):

Casual Business Formal

What is your number one favorite activity? ____________________________________

To give you a breakdown there are typically 4 different segments in the cruise

industry. The primary difference between these segments includes differences in

price points, level of service, quality of interior design, and what is referred to as

space to guest ratio (how much personal space per person the ship offers).

Many cruise lines have different ships that fall into different categories:

Contemporary or Mass Market

Examples include Carnival, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean International.


Premium

Examples include Holland America, Princess and Celebrity.

Luxury

Examples include Silversea, Seabourn, Cunard and Crystal.

Specialty

Examples include Avalon Waterways, Windstar and Ponant.

According to Wikipedia there are over 60 cruise lines and over 185 cruise ships

operating in North America alone. So, there will absolutely be a match

somewhere for you. Some of the major players in the cruise industry are:

AmaWaterways www.amawaterways.com

AIDA Cruises www.aida.de

American Cruise Lines www.americancruiselines.com

Avalon Waterways www.avalonwaterways.com

Azamara Club Cruises www.azamaraclubcruises.com

Carnival Cruise Lines www.carnival.com

Celebrity Cruises www.celebritycruises.com

Costa Cruise Lines www.costacruises.com

CroisiEurope Cruises www.croisieurope.travel/en-gb/cruises

Crystal Cruises www.crystalcruises.com

Cunard Line www.cunard.com

Disney Cruise Line https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/

Holland America Line www.hollandamerica.com

MSC Cruises www.msccruisesusa.com

Norwegian Cruise Line www.ncl.com

Oceania Cruises www.oceaniacruises.com

Paul Gauguin Cruises www.pgcruises.com

Pearl Seas Cruises www.pearlseascruises.com

PONANT http://en.ponant.com/

Princess Cruises www.princess.com

Regent Seven Seas Cruises www.rssc.com

Royal Caribbean International www.royalcaribbean.com

Seabourn Cruise Line www.seabourn.com

SeaDream Yacht Club www.seadream.com

Silversea Cruises www.silversea.com


Tauck River Cruises http://www.tauck.ca/river-cruises.aspx

Uniworld Boutique River Cruise www.uniworld.com

Windstar Cruises www.windstarcruises.com

You may have experienced cruising and already have a favorite. If not, try

visiting a couple of the cruise line websites to determine if they offer the

experience you are looking for. A few of our personal favorites and suggestions

for specific niches include:

Celebrity Cruise Line – Feature great spas and a private healthy dining option

called Blu. Ideal for health and/or spiritually related niches. Also, good for

executive clients. Newer ships have dedicated state of the art conference

facilities.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line – Great service with many activity options. Newer

ships feature some of the best conference spaces at sea. Most inclusive

program for hosting live events.

Norwegian Cruise Line – Famous for “free style” cruising giving you more options

than almost any other cruise line. Limited conference facilities. But, smaller

meeting rooms are nicely appointed and they do have some very interesting

alternative venue spaces ideal for small or medium sized events. Pricing tends

to be slightly lower. However, service levels, particularly for events are not as

polished as some other lines. A few ships offer larger meeting spaces.

Silversea – Exceptional value for the higher end market and small to medium

sized live events. One of the most inclusive cruise lines at sea so not much

additional money out of pocket while on board. Opportunities to host some

very unique and exciting excursions in the destinations they visit. If CEO’s,

Doctors, Lawyers, Real Estate Developers, or if you have with an Affluent

Mindset, Silversea is sure to be a hit!

If you are a beginner and doing it yourself we suggest working with Celebrity or

Royal Caribbean. Super conference spaces are available on Celebrity

Reflection, Celebrity Infinity, RCCL Oasis of the Seas, RCCL Allure of the Seas,

RCCL Ovation of the Seas and RCCL Quantum of the Seas. However, this space

gets booked quickly so plan in advance.


Our favorite special event venues for Royal Caribbean include Two70° and

Wonderland on Quantum of the Seas. They also have a workshop room that

would work for small groups painting, scrapbooking or other types of artistic

programs. This is also a great space for a creative breakout room for a small

group.

If you are comfortable handling things on your own and are hosting a live event

for under 50 clients any of the NCL ships could work for you. Our favorite non-

traditional venues with NCL include the Spiegel Tent and Fat Cat’s Jazz and

Blues Club on NCL Breakaway.

If you are seasoned in hosting smaller programs and masterminds and have a

higher end product, Silversea or Crystal will be an excellent choice.

We discuss the benefits and rewards of moving your Live Event from land to Sea

in the Budgeting Action Guide. However, for here, please note that in order to

make your program work as a No Cost High Profit Event for you, on average you

must have 32 participants at your event. This number goes up or down

depending on the cruise line and/or cruise ship.

But, we are mentioning this here now so that you know if you have a group of 32

almost ANY of the available ships at sea will work for you. As the number of

attendees increases you need to be more strategic in your research of which

ship will work best for you.

Need help making a ship selection, email us your answers to the Action Step

above and we will be happy to forward 1-3 suggested best fits for you!

Action Step 7: Are You a DIY, DWY or DFY Event Planner?

We are absolute supporters of doing what you do best and outsourcing the rest.

But, to be honest many Authors, Speakers, Coaches, Trainers, Transformational

Leaders and On Line Marketers just starting out don’t have the upfront capital

required to host land based live events.

If you do it yourself, the deposit on hotel space that is often non-refundable at

the time the deposit is made can be $10,000 and typically much more. If you

hire a professional event planner (which we highly recommend if you can) it


can run $35,000 or more. One very prominent industry leader recently hosted a

live event at an upfront cost of over $500,000.

We think everyone should have the opportunity to be able to grow their business

hosting live events. And, we know it is possible to do so at very low or NO Cost.

Week 4 we will share the details of how you can accomplish a no cost program.

For now, please understand that there is absolutely a catch to this great option.

Cruise Lines are extremely happy to work with you to host your live events and

have exceptional support and deposit policies. The one biggest catch,

however, is that you must typically plan much further in advance than you may

need to for a land based event.. And, the event participants will need to be

finalized approximately 60 – 180 days prior to the event dates.

So, a tip for success for your event is begin the process, the process you are just

starting now, 12 – 18 months prior to your preferred live event date. This will give

you the most options with the lowest rates and the time to concentrate your

marketing efforts to ensure you fill your event prior to the final name list deadline.

One word for the wise, in order to sell travel in the United States and most other

countries, it is required that you be a Licensed Seller of Travel. Laws vary state to

state and country to country. So, check with your local licensing department for

details.

There are several options for you to work with to ensure you meet the criteria of

the law and to obtain support with the operational side of selling your programs.

Do It Yourself

You are already an entrepreneur and many entrepreneurs love starting new

businesses. So, if you are a Do It Yourself personality, open your own Travel

Agency as part of your business model.

Though there are many details to opening any business, that we don’t go into

here, the basics of opening your own travel agency does not require a huge

investment and the benefits to you personally if you are going to produce live

events at sea can be many including an additional revenue stream that you

would not likely have from a land based event.


The basic steps to opening an agency include:

Obtain a Business Licence

Open a Business Checking Trust Account

Join a Travel Host Agency

Go Through the Training Provided by Your Host

Obtain Errors & Omissions Insurance (usually available through your Host

Agency)

Set Up Your Accounts with Your Preferred Cruise Line(s)

Participate in the Training with Your Preferred Cruise Line

Start Selling Cruises (or have someone do it for you) as Part of Your Live

Event

Again, word of caution, please review all legal issues with your attorney and do

not operate any business without proper licensing and insurance.

There are dozens of Travel Agent Host Agencies, some better than others and

some more costly than others. You can google travel agent host agency and

find an exhaustive list. A couple that we have used and find very friendly and

professional with super easy training and 5 star support are:

www.outsideagents.com

www.nexion.com

Do It With You

Within the travel agency community, there are a handful of expert travel

entrepreneurs that specialize in hosting live events at sea. They typically handle

all of your operational needs in regards to negotiating, booking meeting and

event space, taking all reservations for your event, handling payments with the

cruise lines, even joining you at your event to ensure everything goes perfectly.

If you are hosting an event of 100 or less you can save costs by having your

experienced travel professional handle most of the details that would normally

be handled by an event planner on land without the high upfront costs. Many

of these trained professionals work solely on commission from the cruise fare

received. Some may also charge additional consultative fees based on the

services that you need.

http://www.outsideagents.com/

http://www.nexion.com/


A word of caution, a registered travel professional cannot share the commissions

received with you as the event host unless you are also a registered travel

professional. However, depending on the cruise line, they may be able to offer

as much as 8% of the cruise fare to provide added values for your event such as

a hosted cocktail reception, VIP private dining event, spa services, etc. This

should be part of your negotiation with the travel professional.

If going this route, be sure you hire someone that has event experience on a

cruise ship and check references and credentials. There are over 60,000 travel

agents in the US alone. Very few of those have experience and expertise in

helping you facilitate a live event at sea.

A couple of referrals for travel professionals that specialize in this type of service

for a myriad of different business types include:

www.meetingsonships.com

www.corporatemeetingsatsea.com

You can also get a lot of guidance and support directly from the cruise line.

Each cruise line does have a dedicated team that specializes in meetings and

events. They are more than happy to assist you through the process. You can

find additional information by clicking on any of the cruise line url’s provided

earlier in this week’s action guide. Then, type meetings and events in the search

box. All contact information for that cruise line and some very useful information

on planning your event will be made available to you.

And, of course, Tag and I have a Done With You option available for anyone

interested in getting some help but doing some of the work on their own.

Done For You

The Done For You option is for you if you want nothing to do or very little to do

with the operational side of your actual event. Typically, for a flat fee and/or

sometimes for a profit share arrangement, you can hire a professional meeting

planner to handle all the nuts and bolts of your event so you can concentrate

on content and delivery, which is what you do best, right?


Again, this can be a costly endeavour but the return on investment is often well

worth the investment. Expect to pay a minimum of $5,000 all the way up to six

figures depending on the size and scope of your event. For a typical 3 day

event, expect to pay in the area of $35,000.

This could be the best investment you will ever make. But, if you are just getting

started and/or don’t feel you are ready to make this kind of investment you can

absolutely host an effective live event at sea by yourself and/or with some help

at little or no upfront cost. The decision to invest in a Done For You Solution really

boils down to whether you want to participate in the planning and operations

process or if you want nothing to do with it. And, it also depends on how

elaborate an event you are planning to host.

The more moving parts, the more support you will need to invest in. For

example, if you will have other partners sharing your stage, if you will be using

sponsors, if you expect the need for sales support after you have made an offer

at your event, you may want to make this Done For You investment from your

very first event.

Those who specialize in planning events for our industry have a wealth of

knowledge well worth paying for. So, don’t shy away from making the

investment. But, also, don’t be afraid to Do It Yourself. What we hope to offer in

this program is some confidence for you so that you can get started with your

first live event at sea without the upfront costs if you choose to do so. Yet, if you

want that expert support and you have the financial means to make the

investment for a professional meeting planner for your first event, by all means,

hire the best.

Some land based event planners with an absolute stellar reputation in our

industry include:

www.poweredbysage.com

www.eventsbybludiamond.com

www.reddogevents.com

Most have never hosted an event at sea, but if you invest in their services, they

will work with the cruise line just like they would negotiate and work with the

hotel to ensure you have a successful and profitable event.


For Done For You Solutions that have experience and expertise in specifically

hosting live events at sea, try:

Landry & Kling Events at Sea www.landrykling.com

Or, Tag and I also have a Done For You solution that includes partnering with

you on your event so you have no upfront costs. We will share more about

those opportunities later in the program.

ACTION STEP:

Review each of the three options available to you (DIY, DWY, DFY). Research

the websites and suggested solutions provided for you. Then decide........

........ which type of event planner are you going to be?

________ Do It Yourself

________ Done With You

________ Done For You

Action Step 7: Submit Your RFP (Request For Proposal)

Now, it is time to get some preliminary RFP’s into the marketplace to determine if

your itinerary and cruise ship are available. Armed with the decisions you have

made in this week’s action guide you are ready to get your first proposal.

Caution, there is still a whole lot of work to do. But, this program is about taking

action. So, we will fine tune things and fill in all the details as we go. It is

important to get the ball rolling and start obtaining an RFP or two if you are

going to make your deadline of having a ready to launch Live Event at Sea

offer in 60 days or less.

ACTION STEP:

Decide if you are going to be a DIY, DWY or DFY event planner! If you are going

to be a Do It Yourself, use your answers in the action steps above to submit one

RFP for the cruise line and itinerary you prefer. Simply visit the website for that

cruise line, enter meetings in the search box and complete the RFP section you

will find on most of the cruise lines meeting and event website pages.


If you are planning a Done With You or Done For You process, take this same

information, select who you may wish to work with and schedule a discovery

call with that company or person. They will then direct you through the next

steps.

The link for a sample of what is available for your meetings and events with

Royal Caribbean International is below. As part of your action steps for this

week, please download their brochure below and review this information prior

to submitting your first RFP. You will find this information very helpful.

http://www.royalcaribbeanincentives.com/docs/rccl-pdfs/mi-overview-

brochure.pdf

That’s it until next week. Congratulations you are moving fast and we hope you

are feeling the excitement. Your next Action Guide is about The Research so

you can get crystal clear on what the greatest challenge your clients are having

and how you can solve it through your Live Event at Sea.

Thank you, again, for allowing us the opportunity to share this journey with

you. If you have questions or we can serve you in any way, please email us:

Tag&[email protected]

Yours in hospitality,

Tag & Ken

Live Free, Live Fun, Live Profitably, Dare to Live Large!

“If life is a banquet, then travel must

be the dessert!” – Author Unknown

mailto:[email protected]

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