# The 13-Week Plan for Running Your First Virtual Summit With a Small List

> You can run your first virtual summit in 90 days with a small list. Here's the 13-week plan and checklist, from theme and speakers to booked calls.

URL: https://virtualsummits.com/summit-planning/first-virtual-summit-small-list-90-days
Author: Steve Eriksen (https://eventraptor.com/about-steve)
Publisher: EventRaptor (https://eventraptor.com)
Published: 2026-05-18
Updated: 2026-11-01
Section: Summit Planning

Maybe you're a coach, a therapist or someone who runs an expert-led service business, and your email list feels too small for a summit. You can run your first virtual summit in 90 days with a small list, because your speakers bring most of the audience. What matters more is a narrow theme, speakers who really do promote, and follow-up that turns registrants into booked calls.

The plan takes 13 weeks. Weeks 1 to 4 settle the theme, the offer and the speakers, and a [small workshop series can test the theme](/summit-planning/small-workshop-summit-test) before then. Weeks 5 to 7 cover the interviews, pages and emails. Weeks 8 to 10 are for promotion, week 11 is the summit itself, and weeks 12 and 13 go to follow-up and sales calls.

I know the small-list worry from the inside. I left my job on July 6, 2020 to start a coaching business with about 100 people on my list. My first summit, which started on August 31, 2020, took that list to 750. I built it in two weeks, and I wouldn't wish that timeline on anyone. That's why this plan gives you thirteen.

For each week below you'll find the tasks, a milestone to check yourself against, and the jobs EventRaptor or our done-for-you team can carry for you.

## Key Takeaways

- Decide your post-summit offer in week 1, before you invite a single speaker, so every session leads toward it.
- When you estimate your reach, count only the speakers who'll email their list, and recruit a few extra to cover the ones who won't.
- Start promotion about three weeks before the summit goes live, and get speakers their links, swipe copy and dates before that window opens.
- Put a call-booking link in your welcome emails, attendee dashboard and replay emails, because some good prospects will book without watching a single session.
- Keep weeks 12 and 13 clear for follow-up and sales calls, since that's when registrants turn into clients.

## Why a Small List Is Enough for a First Summit

A summit borrows reach. Every speaker who emails their audience puts your event in front of people who've never heard of you, and those people arrive already trusting the person who sent them.

So the number to watch is the combined audience of the speakers who'll promote. Your own list size matters much less. One planning method from the podcast archive calls this "list potential", and it comes with a strict rule: a speaker who won't email doesn't count, however well known they are.

Here's a real example. Lucy Bedewi, a personality-driven copywriter, hosted the Out-Earn Your Man summit in September 2021, and EventRaptor produced it for her. Her email list grew from 25 people to 825. She booked 4 discovery calls right after she presented, and all 4 became clients. This is one person's result. It doesn't predict results for another host.

If you're worried that respected speakers won't say yes to a host they don't know, I've covered that in [how to host your first summit before anyone knows your name](/summit-planning/host-first-virtual-summit-small-list-no-credibility). And if you suspect your small list is a weakness, read [why a small, engaged list can win more clients than a big quiet following](/growth-strategy/small-list-advantage-client-attraction). The rest of this article is about the calendar.

## Is 90 Days Long Enough for a First Summit?

For most first-time hosts it is, provided the summit is your main project that quarter, and later summits can anchor a [quarterly authority campaign](/growth-strategy/quarterly-authority-campaign). Liam Austin of Virtual Summit Academy told the podcast that 90 days is "a really good time to run a successful summit," and that going shorter gets too stressful. Jaime Slutzky recommends 12 to 16 weeks, with marketing starting about three weeks before launch. She also suggests checking your dates against holidays and slow buying periods before you commit.

So think of 13 weeks as the minimum. If your client load is heavy and you're doing everything yourself, push the date back or make the event smaller. A [micro event that builds authority without becoming a full summit](/authority-building/micro-event-authority) can be a sensible first step.

## The 13-Week Plan at a Glance

| Week | Focus | Milestone | What we can take off your plate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Theme, ideal attendee, offer, dates | One-sentence promise and post-summit offer written | Planning the theme and offer with you |
| 2 | Speaker wishlist and invitations | Application page live, first invitations sent | Speaker application page, plus a directory of 3,800+ speakers |
| 3 | Speaker follow-up and agreements | Most of the lineup confirmed and signed | Speaker agreements with e-signatures and status tracking |
| 4 | Schedule, format, VIP pass | Run of show and interview calendar set | Schedule built from the session records, Zoom setup (done-for-you) |
| 5 | Interviews, first batch | About half the sessions recorded | Speakers upload bios, headshots and files themselves (where your plan includes it) |
| 6 | Interviews, second batch | All sessions recorded, notes taken | Session descriptions and speaker introductions written (done-for-you) |
| 7 | Pages, emails, speaker promo kit | Registration, thank-you and VIP pages plus dashboard drafted | Page templates, VIP sales page and swipe copy (done-for-you) |
| 8 | Registration opens, speaker kickoff | Every speaker has a promoter link | Unique promoter links and a leaderboard speakers can see |
| 9 | Main promotion push | Registrations climbing, quiet speakers nudged | Registration growth tracking and promoter reports |
| 10 | Final push and host prep | Reminders scheduled, intro and offer rehearsed | Reminder emails timed to the event, cover images (done-for-you) |
| 11 | Summit live | Sessions run, offer made, calls invited | Zoom join links on the attendee dashboard, or the whole event run for you |
| 12 | VIP close and follow-up | Sales calls booked and held | Registrants synced to GHL/CRMRaptor with tags |
| 13 | Review and nurture | Numbers reviewed, speakers thanked, next event pencilled in | Registrant exports and promoter performance for your review |

## Weeks 1 to 4 for Theme, Offer and Speakers

### Week 1 Is When You Decide What You'll Sell

Choose one narrow problem your ideal attendee badly wants solved, and write the summit's promise in a single sentence. Check whether someone has already run a summit on it, and if they have, go narrower or deeper. A general wellness summit is hard to promote, while one called "Sleeping Through the Night After Burnout" gives speakers and attendees something specific to say yes to.

Pick one main goal for the summit (new leads, sales or authority), then decide what you'll offer when it ends. That could be a group program, an intensive, a workshop or a strategy session.

I learned this one the hard way. At one summit I was too exhausted to put a proper offer together. Speakers and attendees loved it and it added 476 new people to my list, but it made only about $1,800 during the event. Those people will keep buying for years, so I still count it as a success. The lesson stuck, though: the offer comes first.

For example, a couples therapist might plan a summit called "Five Conversations to Have Before You Move In Together" and offer a weekend communication workshop afterward. If you're a therapist, keep the sessions educational and make it clear they aren't therapy, as explained in [our guide to virtual summits for therapists](/summit-planning/virtual-summits-for-therapists-explained). Don't use stories or testimonials from therapy clients, and check your licensing board's advertising rules before your pages go live.

Before the week ends, set the summit dates. Leave two clear weeks after them for follow-up.

### Weeks 2 and 3 Go to Speakers Who'll Promote

List peers who serve the same people from a different angle. Send personal invitations in batches, then follow up. Expect some speakers to agree to promote and then go quiet, and invite a few more than you need to cover them. One podcast guest who produces summits found that five or six speakers usually bring in most of the leads.

Be specific about what you're asking for, as covered in [recruiting summit speakers who promote](/summit-planning/summit-speaker-recruitment). Sheri Moise asked each speaker for two solo emails because her summit was small. Eden Fried made every speaker an affiliate and kept all their resources in one place, so promoting took them very little effort.

On EventRaptor, speakers apply through an application page, sign their agreement electronically and upload their materials. You don't need a spreadsheet or a pile of email threads. If your wishlist runs dry, the EventRaptor speaker directory lists more than 3,800 speakers who want to be invited to events. Jennie also runs Speaker Connections, a free Zoom networking event held on the first and third Tuesday of each month. Usually 70 to 110 speakers and hosts attend.

### Week 4 Is for Locking the Schedule and the VIP Pass

Decide whether sessions will be live, prerecorded or a mix.

| Format | What It Asks of You | Good Fit When |
|---|---|---|
| Live on Zoom | You show up for every session | You want energy and real-time connection |
| Prerecorded | Batch recording up front | Your calendar is full of client work |
| Mixed | Recorded talks plus live hosted moments | You want both, which most hosts do |

Then book every interview into the calendar. Settle what goes into your VIP pass, such as lifetime replay access, a bonus workshop or a workbook. When Jennie and I ran Own Your Stage in February 2022, we sold 109 VIP tickets at $47, which gives you an idea of what a simple pass can do.

## Weeks 5 to 7 for Recording and Building

### Weeks 5 and 6 Are for Batching the Interviews

Record your interviews in blocks of a few days rather than spreading them across the month. Sheri Moise booked an extra 15 to 20 minutes after each interview to write down what stood out. She didn't write her landing page until every interview was done, so the copy used her speakers' own words. The one time she skipped the notes, she had to listen to the whole interview again before she could write that speaker's email.

### Week 7 Is for Pages, Emails and the Promo Kit

This week you build the registration page, thank-you page, VIP page and attendee dashboard. You also write the [welcome, reminder and replay emails](/summit-planning/pre-event-nurture-path-attendees-excited-before-day-one). Put your call-booking link in the welcome email now so you don't forget it later. Each speaker's promo kit should hold the dates, two or three swipe emails, social images and their unique link.

On a [done-for-you summit](/lets-build-your-summit), our team writes the VIP sales page, swipe copy, session descriptions and speaker introductions, and makes the social and video cover images. Your part is to review everything and make sure it sounds like you.

## Weeks 8 to 10 for Promotion

Registration opens in week 8. Hold a short speaker kickoff, hand out the links and remind everyone of the dates. That starts the roughly three-week marketing window Jaime Slutzky recommends.

In week 9, watch the promoter leaderboard. Speakers can see it too, which tends to do some of the nudging for you. Send a friendly note to anyone who hasn't emailed yet. And email your own list as well, however small it is. Those are the people most likely to buy.

Week 10 is your final push, and it's also when you rehearse. At my first summit I barely introduced myself for the first two days. On day three I finally pushed through the fear. So practice your daily welcome and the way you'll mention your offer until they feel natural.

## Week 11 Is the Summit Itself

Show up every day. Introduce yourself, connect each session back to the summit's promise, and mention your offer and booking link without apologizing for them. Attendees find the Zoom join links on their dashboard, and reminder emails go out on the event's timing.

If we're running the summit for you, the team takes care of production, so your job is to teach, host and sell.

## Weeks 12 and 13 Turn Registrants Into Conversations

This is the part many first-time hosts skip, and it's where the clients come from. Close the VIP offer, send replay emails that carry your booking link, and hold your sales calls.

Jon Schumacher put a call-booking link in his summit's welcome emails. He sent people who booked to a page with case studies and talks he'd given, so they could prepare for the call. The three consulting clients he signed hadn't watched a single session, as far as he knew. The summit gave them a reason to raise their hand, and the pre-call page did the rest.

In my experience, a good follow-up process might turn 10 to 15% of registrants and attendees into clients. Treat that as my experience, not a promise. Without a follow-up process, hosts add hundreds of people to their list and convert few or none. Because registrants sync to GHL/CRMRaptor with tags as they sign up, your follow-up can start the day the summit ends, and the people who aren't ready yet keep hearing from you.

In week 13, export your registrant and promoter data and look at what worked. Which speakers drove sign-ups, how many calls were booked, and what people bought. Thank your speakers, keep nurturing, and pencil in the next event.

## How Much of This Can You Hand Off?

As much as you like. Jennie and I have hosted 13 summits of our own and over 40 summits for clients, and the work that slows hosts down is nearly always the admin: chasing speaker headshots, rebuilding schedules, copying links and tagging contacts by hand. On EventRaptor the schedule, speaker pages and attendee dashboard come from the speaker and session records, so nobody rebuilds them for each new speaker. Own Your Stage, the first summit we ran on EventRaptor, took about 20 hours of admin, though we weren't beginners by then.

EventRaptor takes no ticket fees on summit sales, and support runs 24/7 by live chat and email.

## Setting Up Your Summit in EventRaptor Step by Step

If you're running the summit yourself, set it up in this order. Each step lines up with a week in the plan above.

1. **Create the event (week 1 or 2).** Choose the Summit event type, add the name, timezone, start date and registration window, and paste in your Zoom join link. Leave it unpublished until it's ready.
2. **Bring in speakers (weeks 2 and 3).** Send invitations or open applications. Speakers sign their agreements and upload their bios and files on the platform, so you aren't chasing anyone by email.
3. **Build sessions and the schedule (week 4).** Drag sessions onto the calendar and add tracks if you need them. EventRaptor builds the speaker pages and attendee dashboard from those session records.
4. **Publish the registration page (week 7).** Edit your registration and thank-you pages in the page builder. Drafts stay separate from what's live. Add a custom question or two so you learn something about each registrant.
5. **Schedule the emails (week 7).** Set up a welcome email for new registrants, reminders timed to the start of the event, VIP promotions and follow-up emails. Send yourself a test before anything goes out.
6. **Hand out promoter links (week 8).** Each speaker gets a unique link, and a leaderboard they can all see makes sharing feel like a friendly game. Registrants sync to GHL/CRMRaptor with tags, so follow-up can start right away.

## The Checklist You Can Copy

**Week 1**
- [ ] One problem, one audience, written in a single sentence
- [ ] Topic research done, with your angle narrowed
- [ ] Main goal chosen: leads, sales or authority
- [ ] VIP pass and post-summit offer outlined
- [ ] Format picked and summit dates set, with two clear weeks after them for follow-up
- [ ] Therapists: board advertising rules checked

**Weeks 2 to 7**
- [ ] Event created with timezone, dates and Zoom link
- [ ] Speakers invited, agreements signed, files uploaded
- [ ] Interviews recorded and sessions scheduled on the calendar
- [ ] Registration, thank-you and VIP pages published
- [ ] Welcome, reminder, VIP and follow-up emails tested, with your call-booking link in the welcome email
- [ ] Speaker promo kit ready: dates, swipe emails, images and promoter links

**Weeks 8 to 13**
- [ ] Promoter links sent to every speaker and a short kickoff held
- [ ] CRM sync and tags confirmed
- [ ] Post-summit event or sales calls scheduled
- [ ] Follow-up sequence written for registrants and VIPs
- [ ] Numbers reviewed and speakers thanked

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Can I Run a Virtual Summit With a List of Under 500 People?

Yes. Most of a summit's registrations come from speakers emailing their own audiences, so your own list size matters less than how many of your speakers promote. Lucy Bedewi started with 25 people on her list and finished with 825. That's one person's result and doesn't predict another host's.

### How Many Speakers Should a First Summit Have?

Invite as many as you can interview comfortably in about two weeks, plus a few extra, because some speakers who agree to promote won't. My first summit had 27 speakers over four days and my second had 37. One summit producer on the podcast said 20 isn't bad when you're starting out, and he keeps his own events to about 30 or 35.

### How Many Hours a Week Does a 90-Day Summit Take?

It depends on how much you hand off. Liam Austin suggested that hosts doing everything themselves should plan on anywhere from half their working time to full time, and he recommended getting an assistant to help. With a done-for-you team, your time goes mostly into interviews, hosting and sales calls.

### Can Therapists Host a Virtual Summit?

Yes, as long as the summit is clearly educational and isn't presented as therapy. A summit lets you teach alongside respected peers, which builds visibility and professional referral relationships. Don't use testimonials or stories from therapy clients, and check your licensing board's advertising rules before you promote it.

### Do I Need to Be Technical to Run a Summit on EventRaptor?

No. We designed EventRaptor around a client who'd only been using computers for two or three years, and she ran her summit without help. If you'd rather hand it all off, the done-for-you team can run the summit for you.

## Your Next Step This Week

Before you do anything else, write two sentences: the promise your summit makes, and the offer you'll make when it ends. Then count 13 weeks forward on your calendar and check those dates against holidays and your own client load.

If you'd like help turning that into a real schedule, with speakers, pages and follow-up mapped to your business, [Book your Client Attraction Planning Call](/planning-call). We'll go through the plan week by week and tell you honestly whether a full summit or a smaller event fits your next 90 days better.