Comments on: Announcing The Simple Dollar Personal Finance Seminar!

By: Rich

Rich — Fri, 13 May 2011 14:51:11 +0000

Oh, one more thing: consider the fact that people tend to value something more when they pay for it (and they value it more the more they pay for it). I’m not advocating that you don’t charge what people can’t afford, but perhaps that charging a nominal amount may actually help your cause. Heck, you could even offer coupons, discounts, even “scholarships” While it sounds like just base market segmentation and trying to eke out the last dollar out of people, I’m really just trying to describe a way to let you charge money in a way that people still have cheaper/free options but still feel that they got something valuable, thus making it more likely they’ll act on it.

By: Rich

Rich — Fri, 13 May 2011 14:45:53 +0000

Yeah, take a tip from the person above about auditory learners and YouTube. You have a perfect point about not wanting to charge people; take a page from Khan Academy and start producing YouTube videos. There does exist the potential for ad revenue there, though you’ll probably have to be careful to review what kinds of things get advertised (as I’m sure you do here).

By: Teenie

Teenie — Fri, 06 May 2011 13:33:06 +0000

I agree with Des. I attended the Dave Ramsey seminar years ago. I had already purchased a book and was a faithful listener. However, I just wanted to see him in person. The tickets then were $13 a piece. The seminar was about 5 hours long. I brought my sister so that Dave could convince her to give up her credit cards. We enjoyed it and wished we purchased VIP seats for $20 a piece. We did received a booklet and prized were given away (The winners were pre-selected). About a year later my sister told me she gave up her credit cards and that she was glad I brought her to the seminar. She said that giving up her credit cards was the best thing she had ever done. For me and my sister the seminar was “priceless!”

By: Jordan

Jordan — Thu, 05 May 2011 02:49:40 +0000

You’re an amazing person, Trent Hamm. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness on this issue.

Although, I will back up some other commenters and say, the process of teaching a room full of people is a really enjoyable and inspiring experience, and you might enjoy doing it one day!

By: Heidi

Heidi — Wed, 04 May 2011 14:10:45 +0000

That was great. Really. Seminars are great for motivation but do not encourage action. I think that the hardest step anyone can take towards change is the change itself. Going to a seminar is not taking that step, but taking the action Trent lists is that first step.
Well done, Trent. Encouraging real change is not always profitable.

By: Jacinta

Jacinta — Wed, 04 May 2011 12:21:34 +0000

I am a professional trainer. I teach people certain skills in that many other people do pick up for free by just reading websites. I have my own materials that I use, but they’re available on my website for free. Businesses pay to send their staff to my training courses, because an intensive course for a week is a very efficient way to teach those staff members a new skill when compared with asking them to try to teach themselves.

While it is possible for someone to find out all that they want about personal finance just by reading websites, that isn’t the same as giving them an easy path to doing so. (Although your free ebook and 31 days to fix your finances are pretty close).

A seminar takes the attendee from A->B. Some of those attendees won’t even know why they’re there. Others will have tried to get their money under control a few times and failed. Their destination is the motivation to make a change, and 2-3 goals to make *right now*. A good speaker can get them from A->B through a convincing presentation with a much higher success rate than any written text.

Your “seminar” made me smile, but it also made me shake my head. If that’s what you want, sure, but I think part of your reason is that you’d simply rather not stand in front of people and give that talk. That’s okay, neither would I. Taking people’s money in exchange for showing them the basic steps to get their lives in order isn’t evil. People usually respect stuff they spent money to learn more than stuff they were shown for free… (People are weird.)

By: Annie

Annie — Wed, 04 May 2011 11:35:44 +0000

This is a good post, very thoughtful and creative way to reach your audience.
I like seminars where there is value to what they are saying and you do that nicely with your free seminar.
thanks for sharing.

By: PF

PF — Wed, 04 May 2011 10:45:01 +0000

I Loved this!

By: kristine

kristine — Wed, 04 May 2011 02:19:35 +0000

This is SO odd. I read the posts backwards. The next post is about spending vacation time making yourself of more value to your employer.

This seems totally incongruous with not wanting to travel or take on more work to make an exorbitant sum, even for a short period of time, when a house in the country is the goal. Hard work, sacrifice, and going out of one’s comfort zone is touted here a lot. The discrepancy in the value placed on quality of life, one post to the next, is bizarre to me.

I understand feeling like a phony charging people what you already offer for free- content- but with a live experience people pay for the motivation just as much. Otherwise- why even tune in for similar posts?

By: Lou

Lou — Tue, 03 May 2011 17:29:02 +0000

Sweeet. I like the whole concept. I do agree with those who say , journalist-ically, that you buried the lead, but I liked the thought process.

You might consider a pod-cast or a video for those who don’t learn easily from the page or screen. That wouldn’t be near as much work as a seminar, no traveling and would help aural learners.

By: elderly librarian

elderly librarian — Tue, 03 May 2011 17:25:41 +0000

When you say “the money I would earn from a seminar might be sweet, but it would, on the whole, reduce my quality of life,” this obviously applies to many things we do and makes us question whether we should put the time and effort into a certain activity. Makes people think about WHERE they are putting their mental and physical energy, so I think it’s a great post.

By: joan

joan — Tue, 03 May 2011 15:14:34 +0000

@Stephan F & Sarah: FYI, Trent has a series of 17 podcasts that ran from June-September 2009 that are available on iTunes.

By: Laura in Atlanta

Laura in Atlanta — Tue, 03 May 2011 14:32:22 +0000

” . . although it would have been more effective if he had just posted the highlighted part with the invitation, instead of his rather clumsy explanation of his thought process …”

Agreed! I had the exact same thought!

By: Riki

Riki — Tue, 03 May 2011 12:51:12 +0000

There is, actually, a lot of value in listening to somebody speak on a topic.

I attend lots of photography seminars covering all levels. Even the ones that don’t teach me anything really “new” are inspiring and worthwhile.

Reading something on the internet isn’t even remotely the same experience. Paying for content isn’t always a bad thing.

By: Jon

Jon — Tue, 03 May 2011 12:45:12 +0000

Can you virtually hold the seminar in Florida, please? I’d like to write off some business travel to someplace warm. Or maybe Costa Rica?

By: Brittany

Brittany — Tue, 03 May 2011 12:41:01 +0000

Hee hee. Love the how to pay section.

By: Katie

Katie — Tue, 03 May 2011 11:53:53 +0000

Thanks Trent, for an incredible value, and for putting your money where your mouth is. You’re a scholar and a gentleman.

By: kjc

kjc — Tue, 03 May 2011 11:40:31 +0000

“All people pay for at such seminars is to listen to someone repeat the ideas that are already freely available in books and on the internet. My seminar would really be no different.”

You are also paying to listen to a speaker who is (hopefully) knowledgeable, entertaining, and MOTIVATING. Ideas come alive and touch people when they’re artfully presented – in writing, and verbally. You ought to understand that.

By: Dee

Dee — Tue, 03 May 2011 11:36:45 +0000

Thank you for staying true to your convictions. You are a true gentleman!

By: marta

marta — Tue, 03 May 2011 11:34:10 +0000

@Damon:

Who is saying it is a rip-off? Trent said that he felt PF seminars were preying on the weak by charging $40 a pop. I said I did NOT feel it was an excessive fee.

No one here seems to be thinking Trent is actually charging those $40.

You obviously didn’t read the comments that carefully…