Speak Up! Done correctly, seminars can increase your company's visibility--and even ring up sales.

Anyone who's attended an interesting and informative seminarknows it can be one of the best ways to train staff, keep yourselfup-to-date on industry changes and learn new skills. On the flipside, seminars are also a powerful way to build awareness of yourcompany, market your products or services, and possibly create anew revenue stream for your business. Whatever type of businessyou're in, you probably have knowledge and expertise thatothers would find helpful--and that might encourage them to useyour services. Follow this checklist to make your seminarsgreat:

• Fee or free? When determining what or if to charge foryour seminar, consider two rules of thumb: 1) Most people willattend events for which they've already paid in advance, and2) the more you charge, the less overt selling you should do.If your seminar is held primarily to showcase your expertise, youcan charge higher fees. However, if you're trying to create anenvironment in which to sell your product or service, you need tocharge less or waive the fee. In either case, make sure you delivertimely, interesting and worthwhile content.

• Partner up. Consider defraying your costs by teaming upwith another business that's related to yours. For example, anattorney and an accountant could deliver an informativesmall-business start-up seminar to attract new clients for both ofthem.