A tough lesson from my Holiday Parties

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What I learned from my most recent events

My holiday parties almost didn’t happen, and I wrote about that here…but now that they’re over, I took a tough lesson away from the whole experience:

I’m going to have to charge for future meetups.

Probably not a lot - but something.

The reason I’m going to have to charge is because I’ve learned the hard way, from multiple events now:

• When there’s no cost to RSVP, people will RSVP.

• When there’s no cost to RSVP, people also feel fine no-showing.

I live in LA - the homeland of flaking - so I don’t take that personally. The real problem is the downstream effects.

If I expect 100 people to show, my partners and I will spend money to make sure 100 people are covered within the experience we’re planning - e.g. drinks, food, supplies, etc.

If only 50 people show up, then I’ve lost money equal to the amount needed to cover the difference.

Some might say “Avi, just spend money to cover 50 people”. There are two problems:

1. I want to make sure everyone who shows up has a great experience.

2. Predicting how many will show up is impossible.

So with free events, I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place - either I spend too much and lose money, or too little and y’all have a bad time.

The solution is to charge a small fee - just enough to make those who RSVP feel invested.

This has three benefits:

1. The total revenue provides a baseline from which expenses can be paid, so I don’t lose my shirt if I can’t find a sponsor

2. People who buy tickets are far more likely to show up

3. If people no-show, at least the cost of preparing for them is covered, so they aren’t costing me or my partners money out of pocket.

So, in 2025, I will continue to host Creator Logic events around the country, but I will start charging a small fee to RSVP.

The exception will be members of my community, The $100k Creators Club - their attendance will be covered by the cost of their membership, and I believe they will show up because community is something they value enough to invest in.

If you’re interested in learning more about The $100k Creators Club, click the button below.

Also, thanks to essentL for sponsoring the LA Holiday Party!

Want corporate-quality health insurance with a lower monthly premium as a Creator? essentL is a new Creator-founded health insurance company I’m an advisor to. They’re launching soon, so get on the waitlist now.

SoCom is a Social Commerce conference in LA

Social commerce - the selling of products through social content - is on the rise in the US:

• Affiliate marketing spend is >$10 billion

• Influencer marketing spend is >$7B

• Live shopping is $11B - $35B depending on who you ask

That’s a lot of money, and a huge chunk of it is going to Creators, including talented Creators with small- and mid-sized audiences!

SoCom is the first social commerce conference, and will be hosted in LA on Feb 6, 2025.

Guest speakers include executives from Pinterest, Gap, e.l.f., TikTok, YouTube Shopping, Mavely, Beyond Yoga, Walmart, GFuel, and many others.

I’m hoping to go and I live in LA, so if a bunch of you plan to attend, I’ll try to host a meetup after! Email me if you end up buying a ticket.

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For feedback, advice, consulting, sponsorships, speaking engagements, or anything else, reach out anytime - [email protected].

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Written by Avi Gandhi, edited by Melody Song,
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