When people hear that we launched four virtual summits in less than two years—and that our fourth one came together in just five months—they usually ask the same question: "How did you do it without spending tens of thousands of dollars?"
The answer isn't a secret tactic or a hidden shortcut. It's a fundamentally different approach to building relationships and creating value. Let me break down exactly how we did it.
The Traditional Summit Model (And Why It's Broken)
Most people approach summits the wrong way. They start with the event and work backward. They think: "I want to host a summit, so I need to find speakers, build an audience, and create content."
This approach is expensive, exhausting, and often ineffective. You end up cold-pitching speakers who don't know you, paying for ads to reach an audience that doesn't trust you, and creating content that feels forced because there's no genuine relationship behind it.
We flipped the script entirely.
The Relationship-First Approach
Our approach starts with relationships, not events. Long before we ever thought about hosting a summit, we were building genuine connections with people in our space.
This meant:
- Engaging authentically on social media (not just liking posts, but adding real value in comments)
- Showing up consistently in communities where our ideal speakers and audience members hung out
- Offering help without expecting anything in return
- Documenting our journey publicly, which attracted like-minded people
By the time we were ready to host our first summit, we didn't have to cold-pitch anyone. We were inviting friends and colleagues who already knew, liked, and trusted us.
The $1.80 Strategy in Action
One of the most powerful tactics we used was Gary Vee's $1.80 strategy, adapted for our purposes.
The concept is simple: every day, leave your "two cents" (thoughtful comments) on the top 9 posts in your target hashtags. That's 18 comments per day—hence, $1.80.
But we took it further. We didn't just comment on random posts. We strategically engaged with:
- Potential speakers we wanted to build relationships with
- Influencers whose audiences aligned with ours
- Community members who were actively engaged and likely to attend our events
Over time, these daily interactions compounded. People started recognizing our names. They began engaging with our content. When we eventually reached out about speaking at our summit, it wasn't a cold pitch—it was a warm invitation from someone they already knew.
The Summit Stack
By our fourth summit, we had developed what I call the "Summit Stack"—a system for launching events efficiently without burning out or breaking the bank.
Layer 1: The Speaker Pipeline
We maintain an ongoing relationship-building process that feeds our speaker pipeline. This isn't a one-time effort before each summit—it's a continuous practice.
Every week, we're connecting with new potential speakers, nurturing existing relationships, and staying top-of-mind with people who might be perfect for future events.
Layer 2: The Content Engine
Each summit generates massive amounts of content that we repurpose across platforms:
- Summit recordings become YouTube videos
- Key insights become blog posts and social media content
- Speaker interviews become podcast episodes
- Highlights become promotional material for future events
This means each summit doesn't just generate value during the event—it continues generating value for months afterward.
Layer 3: The Audience Flywheel
Every summit grows our audience, and that larger audience makes the next summit easier to fill. It's a flywheel effect:
Summit 1 → New audience members → Summit 2 (larger) → More new audience members → Summit 3 (even larger)
By our fourth summit, we had a substantial email list and social following that we could activate immediately. We didn't need to start from scratch each time.
Layer 4: The Systems
This is where most people underestimate the work involved. Behind every "effortless" summit is a mountain of systems:
- Email sequences for speaker outreach and follow-up
- Registration and reminder automations
- Content delivery and replay systems
- Affiliate and promotional tracking
- Post-event nurture sequences
We invested heavily in building these systems after our first summit. Each subsequent summit required less manual effort because the systems did the heavy lifting.
The 5-Month Timeline
Here's roughly how we structured those five months for our fourth summit:
Month 1: Theme and Speaker Outreach
- Finalized the summit theme and positioning
- Reached out to our warm network for speaker commitments
- Began promoting to our existing audience to gauge interest
Month 2: Content Planning and Tech Setup
- Worked with confirmed speakers on their topics
- Set up the tech stack (landing pages, email sequences, streaming platform)
- Created promotional assets
Month 3: Promotion Begins
- Launched the registration page
- Activated our email list and social channels
- Speakers began promoting to their audiences
Month 4: Intensive Promotion
- Ramped up promotional efforts
- Conducted pre-summit content (interviews, teasers, behind-the-scenes)
- Finalized all logistics
Month 5: Event and Follow-Up
- Hosted the summit
- Managed real-time engagement and troubleshooting
- Launched post-event offers and follow-up sequences
The Real Secret: Compound Relationships
If I had to distill everything down to one insight, it would be this: relationships compound like interest.
The connections you make today might not pay off for months or years. But when they do pay off, the returns are exponential.
Our fourth summit was "easy" (relatively speaking) because of all the relationship-building we had done over the previous two years. We weren't starting from zero—we were building on a foundation of trust, credibility, and genuine connection.
What This Means for You
You might not be ready to host a summit tomorrow. That's okay. But you can start building the foundation today.
Start engaging authentically with people in your space. Offer value without expecting anything in return. Document your journey publicly. Build relationships before you need them.
When you're ready to launch your summit—or any big initiative—you won't be starting from scratch. You'll be activating a network that already knows, likes, and trusts you.
That's the real secret to launching quickly and affordably. It's not about tactics or hacks. It's about playing the long game with relationships.
The best time to start building those relationships was two years ago. The second best time is today.
