Hey, it's Heather Wilson Schiltz of High Gear Success. And typically you hear me interviewing guests on Momentum, a motorsports podcast. Typically the conversation is not very much about me, but really focused on guests. And so this week's episode is going to be a little bit different. My good friend and marketing mentor, Crissy Conner, interviewed me on her podcast called the Visibility Impact Show. We talked about all things motorsports event organizers and marketing and operations. So. Be sure to give this episode a listen, especially if you're a motorsports event organizer to see how I support that segment in my business. And I look forward to your feedback. She is a marketing and operations consultant for motor sports event organizers who host competition and recreational events. She is the CEO of high gear success. She is a friend. is a client. Welcome back to the show. Heather. Wilson Schiltz Thank you so much for having me. I'm so blessed to be back for, I think this is the third time. Absolutely, it's been amazing, Ry. This is the first time that we've had you on with your new last name. So lots of changes. Yes, I'm still getting used to it myself. Heather, I have to ask you this to kick things off. Have you ever seen an event posted on Facebook after it already happened? Or maybe you listening have seen something that's already happened or maybe someone told you about an event and you thought I've never even heard of that. Heather, when you see something like this or you hear something like this, what does it tell you about where that event went wrong? Yeah, first I'm always bummed to find out about an event that I would have liked to have gone to after the fact. That's always a bummer. Secondly, we just have so much content floating out there in the world on social media, on the internet, on TV stations. Like there's just so much content to be absorbed. And so if you're not very strategic and intentional and repetitive with your marketing, you're going to get drowned out. by other people and other events and other organizations. So when I hear about that, it's like, oh, I wish they would have done a little bit more marketing. Yeah, and when we look at things like that, first of all, events are not cheap. I don't care where you have your event, it's not cheap. So it makes me sad that people don't do the work, right? Number one, especially if you would have wanted to attend the event, right, but didn't know about it. But secondly, they end their event having a loss instead of a profit. Yeah, I think people definitely need to put a lot of emphasis on marketing. It's not just a nice to have anymore. So many people invest so much time and resources into planning the event and hosting the event. But if you're not equally dedicating resources to marketing, everything that you're doing behind the scenes and at the event is not being boosted as much as it could be. So they're really like puzzle pieces that work together and you need all of those elements to really have a successful event. So let's dive into you and what does a marketing and operations consultant actually do for a motorsports event? Like walk us through what that looks like. Absolutely. So I work with a lot of clients from different segments within the motorsports industry. It could be motorcycling, it could be ATVs, UTVs, snowmobile. first things first, like having a conversation to really evaluate where they're at, what they've done, what they're currently doing, just to kind of assess the whole situation is really, really helpful. And that can take a long time too. It's not usually a quick conversation. to analyze kind of where they're at and then, um, just making sure that I'm going to be able to provide the services that are needed for them. And that is going to be a good investment for them. Just having that conversation upfront. But as far as what I do with event organizers, a lot of marketing operations PR to support their events. Again, puzzle pieces that play well together. So you said that many motorsports events have like failed to evolve and they're struggling to survive. What are the most common things you see when you evaluate an event and you know that this event is gonna be in trouble? Lack of processes for sure. So they don't really have a plan or a strategy. They're just kind of throwing spaghetti at the wall or tackling things as they come up. Staffing or volunteer changes and turnover is huge in organizations. And again, that knowledge coming and going and basically having to start over and over again. Outdated pricing is huge for a lot of clients that I've worked with or even just what I'm seeing in the field. So motorsports events have been around for a hundred plus years, but sometimes people have not evolved with their pricing. And that's not to say that you want to rip off customers or charge an exorbitant amount, but events do cost money and they do require resources in order to be done well. And People deserve to be compensated for their time too. If you're out there organizing events, it may have started from like a passion and a volunteer thing, but whether it's you personally getting paid because you own the business or you're part of a volunteer organization that supports a charity or something like those are important aspects too. And so outdated pricing can really impact how successful your event is going to be. Because if you're not charging enough, then you can't afford to have the marketing element. as a part of your event. And then it's just kind of going to backpedal from there. Right, especially like starting at the beginning and having like a pricing that's gonna cover all their costs also covers someone like you, which in turn can increase their visibility for their event and most likely increase their revenue as well. Absolutely. And also sometimes they just don't even have an idea of what their costs are. And so that's a problem too, from the operational standpoint, like you need to have a budget to figure out what things are going to cost that you need and to build out a budget of what expenses you're going to have going forward. throwing out a random price without really having any... research of what it's going to entail to host the event isn't a great idea. You kind of need to work backwards and figure out everything that you're going to need to do and then develop a price that makes sense from there. And I would venture to say, and you can agree or disagree, that if you're seeing this in the motorsports industry, this is probably happening across many different types of events across the world. absolutely. It's not exclusive to motorsports. That's just the segment that I'm in. uh But yeah, absolutely. Events in general. There's definitely a lack of processes, lack of marketing, poor branding, all those things kind of come into play. You say poor branding and marketing comes up a lot. What does that actually look like in the event world? Yeah, I think developing a brand is so important. What do want people to think of when they think of your event? A brand can be, you know, people traditionally think of it as just a logo and that's a start, but there's colors, there's fonts, there's naming factors. So I've worked with some of my clients that host a certain segment of a ride. So let's say it's an adventure ride and they say, Hey, it's our spring adventure ride. Well, rather than spring adventure ride, is there some creative naming that you could come up with that makes that event like very exclusive to you and memorable for other people, then you can develop the logo, swag. it's just like a great marketing tool. So think about how you can make things unique to you and that people will remember your brand as a starting point. Well, and I think too, it can affect the experience, right? And that's how you get people coming back. Yeah, it's definitely the difference between an event that just like happens and maybe people come and have a great time versus an event that people really remember and spread the word about that's going to stick in people's minds. makes your job easier. So one of the things that you talk about is that you have a four step process. Can you walk us through each one and tell us what that looks like for a real event organizer? We touched on the first one a little bit. So just basically evaluating where they're at to kind of assess like, where do we need to go from here? Like, what does the plan need to be? And then that second step is really developing a customized strategy for them. And that's a lot of different pieces when it comes to operations and marketing. It's things like a website, their organic social media, a Google business profile, press releases, email marketing. Um, operational tasks like registration platforms, like there is a lot that goes into the strategy. Um, very time consuming just to get the strategy and that doesn't even include the implementation piece of it. So that's kind of the next step is implementing that planned experience requires resources. we talked about, marketing and operations are going to help you to streamline things and to get your. event in front of more people, which is hopefully going to translate to a bigger audience and more participation. But it's definitely an investment upfront and that makes a lot of people nervous to put money out if they're not really sure if it's going to pay off. And that's kind of the marketing world that we live in. And then the final step is to assess how everything went. So getting feedback from participants in a post-event survey. talking with your team, figuring out what's working and what you need to change and kind of just repeating that process over again. So you mentioned post-event survey and like assessing, like I'm assuming that most people probably skip this. And I would love to know like what's the one of the most important things they can do for their next event. And also how do you get participants to actually participate in that? actually find that a lot of participants are very willing to provide feedback. So as long as the organizer is sending out the survey, they're going to get a good amount of feedback. Those that don't send out the survey, like via email is usually how we do it, they hear that feedback from participants typically, but they mostly only hear the negative feedback. so oh I always encourage people to do the survey because then you're kind categorizing the topics and the content and aggregating that data. But also you get to hear the good and the bad. So usually questions that we ask is like, what did you like about this event? What, if you could change one thing, what would you suggest? So you're getting the good and the bad. And the good comments, I would say for the most part are like a large part of the survey. There's actually very few negative. you know, feedback loops that we get from people. the good feedback is like a really nice pat on the back, right? Like you're doing the right things. And if you had never asked those questions, you're only hearing the grumblings that are online or from the people that reach out. And of course it's not going to be a perfect situation for everybody. You're going to have the good and the bad, but that survey can really help you assess what's working and then figure out. Hey, that was a great idea from a participant. never even thought about that before. Like, let's try that going forward. So I'm a huge fan of asking, you know, for feedback from those participants. the positive feedback can also sell it for next year, right, or the next year's event. Absolutely great testimonials that you can use in marketing, whether they're anonymous or they tie their name to it. It's great quotes that you can use across platforms. So we know in our world that marketing and operations is going to be an investment upfront. How do you help event organizers really get over the fear of spending that money before they've seen the results? I think building trust, with a client is huge. And so there are clients that find me online from a Google search and they don't know me, right? They don't know my work. They don't have any ties to me whatsoever. And so I understand that can be a difficult sell sometimes if you don't know the person, I get a lot of referrals of clients, which is really great because it's a former client. somebody I know on my network, somebody that's in the industry that can say like, Hey, you need to talk to Heather. And then that. That trust is already built a little bit from the person that referred them. So I think trust is huge and I, I, completely understand that because I think about that when I'm searching out service providers that I want to work with as well. Like I want to get to know them a little bit before I just dive into buying something. And so I have like a strategy consultation call that we can do and kind of walk through those initial evaluations. It's not going to be like a full blown assessment. unless you pay for that, but that strategy consult gives you a little taste of like what I'm like and what my services could be like for you. So that's a great first option for event organizers to kind of get a one-on-one assessment. And then I also have a virtual fuel for thought, training and meetup that we do bi-monthly. That's completely free. That's my way of giving back to event organizers in the industry where you can come and learn about. a topic for like 15, 20 minutes that I'm going to teach you about. It's different every other month. And then you get to have conversations with other event organizers in the industry and really collaborate and learn from each other, ask questions, help each other out. Like it's a really collaborative environment. So those are kind of two ways that I can build trust with my clients. Well, it's yeah, it's also a great place to get to know you. And if they don't, maybe they did find you on a Google search, but they want to know more. So I love that. And we'll link that in the show notes so you guys can sign up for that. But if someone is listening right now and they're an event organizer who recognize himself and everything you just described, what would you tell them the next step is they need to take? To definitely reach out, like there's no harm in just reaching out and having a conversation with me to see if I could be helpful to you. And I am very honest when people come to me about whether I can help them or not. If I don't feel like I'm going to be the best fit for them, I will let them know and I will hopefully be able to refer them to somebody else. But I will never just take on a client if I don't feel like I can truly serve and support them. I love that. And that's, it's like, we want you to have a successful an event and maybe that includes me and maybe that doesn't. Right. And so just identifying that, but I'm sure you come up across this and is there a mindset shift that motor sports event organizers need to make from just like putting on an event to building that sustainable growing brand event that maybe they want to have year after year after year. Yes. So again, a lot of organizers that I've worked with have been hosting events for decades and they host a very quality event, but maybe not much has changed and they just haven't evolved with the times, especially on the marketing piece. And what I always say is like, you want, the most qualified people in place. if marketing isn't your background, I mean, I've spent, Almost 15 years doing that in motor sports. So that is my specialization. Just like you wouldn't bring your bike to me and ask me to be your mechanic. Like that's not, that's not my forte, right? And so I'm a huge fan of hiring the right people and putting them in place. And a lot of my event organizers are great at laying out the routes or the races and like the trail aspect or the street aspect. They've got a good eye for. what people want to experience, they just don't have that marketing component. And so I can really be that marketing arm for them when they come to me and we can work together to support their event and really make sure that they're maximizing again, everything that they can, that they're not putting all this time and effort into an event and then not marketing it. And when it actually could be a really fun event for people to know about. So those pieces definitely tie together. And I think it's interesting too, because I think a lot of times it's usually if they've had an event for years, right? It's this is the way we've always done it. But at the same time acknowledging you literally don't know what you don't know. And that's your job as an event organizer to help them or an event marketing person to help them see what they don't know. Because especially with AI now, I'm sure a lot of people are like, well, I'll just go ask AI what to do. You get some very interesting responses in AI. I mean, it can definitely support you in a lot of different ways, but it can also give you a lot of very inaccurate and unhelpful information. can't do the work for you. Correct. That is, I will say the hardest part for most of my clients is like the implementation piece. And so I can lay out an entire strategy for you, but if you don't have the people or the time or the motivation to implement it, it's not going to make a difference. And so that is something that I can help my clients with as well. It's like, I can do the strategy for you, but I can also do the implementation and then you don't have to worry about it. So that's really helpful to a lot of people. Do you ever experience? And I'm going to call, we're going to say it's a marketing problem, but it also be a visibility problem where people just aren't willing to, whether they need to put themselves out there or do more, maybe PR for the events that you're helping them like increase their numbers for. Yes. I find a lot of my clients don't necessarily value the photography end of things. And I feel like that's a super important piece that I always recommend that they hire a professional photographer for their events because you're too busy during the event to remember to take photos. And even if you are taking them on a phone, it can be good for some candid shots here and there, but it really can't capture the essence of the whole event or be in multiple places or take really great action shots of moving motorcycles especially. So I always recommend having a photographer and then that's going to help me as your marketing person because I'm going to have content to help promote your event and even going a step further is hire a videographer as well because then you'll have the video content that you can clip into Reels, YouTube shorts. So that's super helpful. I feel like a lot of event organizers aren't, they focus on the event, but they don't personalize it to them. So they don't want to be on camera or they don't want to talk about themselves. Well, maybe it doesn't need to be about you specifically if you're not that kind of person, but how can you showcase your staff or your volunteers? So people get to know the personal element behind it. Well, and I think to your point of the photos, the videos, the first thing, if I'm going to go to an event that I've never been to, the first thing I want to do is I want to see not stock photos, but real life photos of what it looked like to be there. And you can almost like as a, as a customer, right? Or a potential attendee, you can literally like put yourself like in that moment, like, my gosh, I want to experience that. And so we can almost like bring the event to life before it actually even happens. Absolutely. And the other thing I would caution against since we brought up AI is I despise AI photos and so many things go wrong in them when people tell them to generate things. I've seen motorcycles riding on the wrong side of the road, wrong side of the double yellow line. um People with multiple arms, things that just don't make sense in the photos. that people are like, hey, it looks great. And maybe at like a quick glance it does, but then there's, there's a lot of things that are deeper and going wrong in those photos. So I'm definitely not a fan of AI for image generation. also don't want to make an image look way more luxurious than it is. And then they show up to the event and like, this is nothing like it was pictured online. I mean, and some of my clients don't even know that you can't just pull a random photo off of Google and use it because that's somebody else's work. You can't just steal a random photo. You can't use another event organizers photo that they posted on social media. I've clients say like, this other event literally is using my photos to promote theirs. Like that is not, not a good thing. So. The first year, you're probably going to have to rely on your phone to go out as you're setting up the event, take some preview photos. But I always recommend having a photographer, videographer at least every other year, but really every event would be ideal. So again, build that into your budget. sell the event for you for upcoming years. So, so yeah. So if people are interested in learning more and working with high gear success, how can they connect with you and learn more? Yeah, the best place to reach me is highgearsuccess.com that has links to all my social media platforms. Reach out on the contact page to send me an email and also join the Fuel for Thought virtual meetups for event organizers. There's a registration button on there where you can sign up to get the notifications for those meetings that again are no cost to you and happen every other month. So that's a really valuable place to start. Is there anything that we didn't cover or that you just want to reiterate before we end this episode? Marketing and operations can get very overwhelming very quickly and it can take you down a lot of rabbit holes. I always say like one thing leads to another leads to another. And so a lot of times I'll have clients that will come to me and they just want this one specific thing. They maybe just, they want email marketing set up. That's great. I can do that for you, but without a quality website, without social media. It's not going to work as effectively just on its own. So really all the pieces play together and that's where it does get expensive and time consuming because there's so many different pieces that all are intertwined. So it's hard to just come and say like, I just want this one thing. I don't want to worry about anything else. I'm kind of doing you a disservice if I just do that one thing. I can, but just being upfront like. it's the whole ecosystem that really works together. So I would encourage people to really kind of like open their minds and take a step back and think about how everything is tied together and really put together a quality budget that's gonna be producing the best results for them. which is gonna produce the best event, the best experience, and it's just gonna create that ripple effect that keeps them coming back for more. Yeah, I think in today's market, you can't afford, you literally can't afford to not have marketing built in because if you're not doing that in a couple of years, your event isn't going to exist anymore because it wasn't sustainable. So just planning for the future, not just for the now. Absolutely. Absolutely. Heather, this has been an amazing episode. know it's going to help so many people make sure that you reach out to Heather if you need more visibility, more marketing more all the things for your event. And I know she has so much experience with this, she's going to serve and support you in the best way possible and also reach out to her even if you're like, I have no idea if I can afford this. honest truth is you don't know until you ask and so you can budget it once you find out so book a call with her. Check out all her details in the show notes and make sure you connect with her. And if you love this episode or know someone who could use this episode, make sure you share it with them so that they can listen and get to know Heather more to Heather. Thank you so much for being on today's show. And I can't wait to have you on again. Thank you so much.