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Social Media Decoded
How I Filled a Room With Leaders (And What It Really Takes Now)
00:09:08
In today's episode of Social Media Decoded, Michelle Thames pulls back the curtain on the real strategy behind selling out her recent live event — without relying on ads, hype marketing, or shouting online.
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Excludes Massachusetts A It's Michelle. Hey Thames and welcome back to social media decoded Today I'm unpacking something real. My latest event sold out and it wasn't because of ads, a viral moment, or posting 16 times a day. It failed because of alignment, relationships and clarity. I want to break down the strategy behind the scenes. What actually works right now. If you want full rooms, book calendars and in demand driven business, grab your notebook. This one's a blueprint. Now let's talk about the myth about selling out. Now, most people think selling out events means a big spin on ads, hustle nonstop online and hope for a viral moment. I tested an ad. It brought in one ticket. Everything else came from the trust that I've built, the people who've watched me be consistent, and the community that believes in what I'm building. So I selling out isn't magic, it's momentum. And momentum comes from proximity and consistency. Now let's get into the real strategy. Okay, here is what actually filled that room. One seeded before I sold people knew it was coming before the link dropped. I've been talking about this event for the longest. I really, really started to go hard with marketing in April. But even last year, after last year's events, I had already priming people for this year's event. So people knew it was coming before I even dropped the link. The second thing is I communicated the vision and not the logistics. The promise was from this event, transformation and connection, not here's the agenda. And I did have a few people reaching out like oh, what's the agenda? But really for me, the important Thing was not just the quote, unquote agenda. It was the transformation that was going to happen in that room. And I took a long time and thought about that a lot. And it's something that can't be replicated, honestly. Okay, like, you can go to someone's event, cool. But you can't replicate me. You can't replicate what I provide. You don't have my exact thoughts in my brain, so it's kind of hard to replicate that. So I communicated the vision. I didn't really want to just say, oh, we'll be doing X, Y, Z number three. I activated relationships. I have been to a lot of different events. I've been to networking. I genuinely built relationships this year and it paid off so good. Okay. I reached out to align people. Personally, I didn't pitch. I invited them and invited them to share. So it's important for me just to be able to connect with local entrepreneurs in my area, local women, but also like my network. So I did reach out to my network and ask people to share if they were willing to share. But I did that only at the last minute, I would say the last few weeks. I also showed the journey. I did not show up one day, like surprised by this. I bought my community along the journey. When I was looking for spaces, I showed the event venue. When I was booking speakers, I showcased that when I was preparing for the event, I showed that marketing is not just promotion, but it's preparation. Preparation. I was preparing for this event all year, and I'm just so excited and happy that it all came together just how I envisioned, but even better than I envisioned, actually. All right, let's talk about the lessons from the room. Being in that room reminded me that when you call in the right people, the energy is just different. The energy in that room was amazing. It was intentional. It was well thought out. The right people were there. And I have just been sitting in this and that that is my gift, to be able to bring the right people together in the right atmosphere and create an experience for them. And so I'm forever grateful that I'm really leaning into my gifts because sometimes you can do things right. We have all these amazing careers and we do all these things, but sometimes it just doesn't feel like it's the right thing. But for me, doing events and curating experiences for women entrepreneurs is. It's my gift, and I really do love connecting people. I am a super connector, and I am leaning into that gift of mine fully this year in 2025. Moving on to 2026. The second thing I learned was you don't need thousands of people. You just need alignment, okay? Alignment. There were 40amazing women in that room and it was pure alignment. I honestly prefer small, intimate events. You probably won't see me doing a 200 person plus event in this era of my life. Okay, maybe in the future, maybe. But in this era of my life, small intimate events. And you do not need thousands of people to make a difference. The rooms you build are proof of the brand you're becoming. And so this room just reminded me where I am going and what I am good at doing. And so I'm so just very grateful about the super intentionality. Okay. That I put behind this. So the other lesson that I learned is that quiet leaders win long term. Now I'm not the one to be out here, you know, boasting and sharing, you know, Louis Vuitton on the social medias and the things. I'm very much the girl next door. Okay. I don't feel like I need to be loud. I win in the long term. Always. Always. Okay. Because I'm consistent, number one. And because I actually do care about this work that I am doing. So this was not a fluke. This event was intention, it was strategy. It was spirit led business plus systems and execution that all came together to make this such a powerful event. And I'm so grateful. So let's talk about some takeaways. I have a few takeaways from this event that I want to share with you. And here are three actions that you can take today. Okay. If you are hosting an event or wanting to host an event, the first thing is you should start seeding your next thing now. Talk about the mission before the link. Okay, My next thing is my retreat happening Here in Chicago January 17th through the 19th Martin Luther King weekend in Oakbrook at the Hyatt Lodge. Oakbrook. And when I say it's beautiful, it's beautiful. The Elevate in the Line retreat. If you are interested in joining us, we have five spaces left and I would love for you to be there. The second thing is to focus on real relationships. One thing about me is I love to send a good DM voice note. Okay. Human first. Human first. I love a good voice note to explain to individuals about the event and just to build relationships. I really do love voice notes on Instagram and these other platforms. The third thing is to build a pre launch Runway. Your audience needs time to catch the vision. Okay. Start selling seats before the tickets go live. So develop you a really great pre launch strategy. If you want help mapping out and building your 90 day visibility plan like I do for myself and my clients. I do have a few VIP day spots open this month for November so still have a few spaces we can sit down, build your strategy and I deliver the assets with you within 24 hours so we can meet in person if you are in Chicago or this is via Zoom for four hours. Okay send me a DM that says VIP and I'll send you over the details. And if you want to be in the room next time, get ready. Okay, a few more spaces will be added so we have 40 people this year. I'm envisioning 50, maybe 60 more connection, more power moves are so if you wanna be in the room next year, make sure that you're on my email list so that you never miss any of my events. In fact, I will be hosting events almost every month in Chicago in person and online as well. So thank you so much for listening. Please share this episode with a friend who's stepping into their leader era. And remember, you don't need to shout to be seen. What you do need is strategy, community and alignment. I will talk to y' all in the next one.
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