When I hosted my first telesummit in 2008, my virtual assistant (VA) was ill equipped to help me. To be honest, both of us were pretty much stumbling in the dark.

While I was able to earn just $200 shy of $20,000 from my first telesummit, I really needed someone who could manage the entire thing for me. Because when my telesummit was over, I was too tired to be bothered with the next product launch in my funnel.

A year later, I hosted another one, but my VA was frank with me stating that she couldn’t dedicate the hours that it’d take to help me put it together. It wasn’t that she was incapable. Not at all. It was because she would have to work the equivalent of another work day during her family time to help me out.

And I totally understood.

That’s why after I hosted my second telesummit in 2009, I trained 3 people on the methodology I use to run telesummits. They became known as the very first Virtual Event Managers. I combined my 15-years experience in project management with complex world of virtual events and came up with the term virtual event management.

I mentored and coached these 3 ladies and now, the team has grown to 12. This fall, I will open the doors to train more VAs, meeting planners, Online Business Managers and project managers on how to set up telesummits for others using this step-by-step process.

Based on my early experience, VAs can definitely do the job and help you run a telesummit.

The only issue is that you, the business owner, still needs to be involved in the process as a project manager. You may have to instruct your VA on what to do, but if you have no clue what goes into setting up a telesummit, and your VA doesn’t have that experience either, then this may be a case of the blind leading the blind.

A Certified Virtual Event Manager (CVEM) may be what you need so you remove yourself from the picture altogether. In fact, here are 5 reasons why hiring a Certified Virtual Event Manager will be better for you in the long run:

1. They are totally dedicated to your project. I recommend that CVEMs work on no more than 2 virtual event projects at once. That’s how many hours goes into setting up a telesummit. Some CVEMs have closed down other areas of their business just to focus on virtual event management. This type of focus is critical when trying to see a return on your investment.
2. No long term contracts. When you work with a CVEM, your relationship lasts anywhere between 3-4 months. That’s how long it takes to plan, launch, promote, produce and close-out your virtual event. Once the telesummit is over, so’s your relationship with the CVEM. You can now divert your financial resources to other areas in your business.
3. They make fewer mistakes because they’re using a proven process. CVEMs follow a very clear methodology and use scripts, templates and checklists so they’re not re-inventing the wheel each and every time. This helps to reduce errors and remove the guesswork.
4. They are continually upgrading their skills – in how to run telesummits. CVEMs take a series of continuing education courses so they understand the best practices in setting up virtual events for others. CVEMs also connect with each other and share lessons learned from real world project experiences. CVEMs are also encouraged to tweak the process based on new discoveries so that more efficient ways of producing telesummits are being used by all.
5. Finally, they free up your time. How? By removing you as the project manager. Too often, you end up spending an additional 6-10 hours per week (one business was spending this per day – in addition to running her business during the day) following up with speakers, sending instructions to your VA, getting the status on the sales page and other aspects of the virtual event setup. A CVEM takes your place and manages all these pieces for you. That way, you can focus on the tasks that actually help you make money.

So, what’s the next step?

• If you’re interested in talking to a CVEM about your virtual event needs, click here to fill out the Request for Help form.
• If you’re interested in becoming a CVEM so you can make money running telesummits for others, click here to find out when the next training session begins.