What is a virtual event? The complete guide for 2026
What a virtual event is, how it works, what it costs and why it's one of the best ways to grow an online business, with real results.
von Navid Moazzez·Aktualisiert 27. Sept. 2026·5 Min. Lesezeit·Navid.me wird von seinen Lesern unterstützt. Wenn du über Links auf dieser Seite kaufst, verdiene ich unter Umständen eine Affiliate-Provision. Mehr erfahren.
In November 2014, I hosted my first virtual event, The Branding Summit.
I had almost no audience. It still brought in over $20,000 in sales and close to 3,000 attendees. On 28 November, I quit my part-time job, and the same day I made over $5,000 from the summit's all-access pass.
That one online event changed my business and my life. Since then I've hosted many more, up to the AI Creator Summit, which 100,000+ creators from 110+ countries have tuned in to.
Here's what a virtual event is, how it works, what it costs, and why it's still one of the best ways to grow an online business.
What is a virtual event?
A virtual event is an organized event that happens online instead of in a physical place. People register, then watch, learn and interact from wherever they are.
It can be a single 60-minute webinar or a 5-day summit with 30 experts. What makes it an event, and not just a video, is that it happens at a set time, people sign up for it, and they experience it together.
Virtual events are the fastest way to build your email list while growing your influence, revenue and impact at the same time.
How do virtual events work?
Most virtual events follow the same flow:
Most creator events mix both: pre-recorded expert interviews for the content, and live sessions for energy and connection.
Types of virtual events
The most common formats are:
- Virtual summits: many experts, one topic, several days. My favorite.
- Webinars: one session that teaches one thing, often with an offer at the end.
- Virtual workshops: hands-on and interactive, usually smaller.
- Online conferences: bigger events with several tracks.
- Challenges: a series of daily lessons with homework over 5 to 30 days.
- Live cohorts: a group going through a program together over several weeks.
- Virtual product launches: an event built around opening a new offer.
I break down all of them, with examples, in 19 types of virtual events.
Virtual vs in-person vs hybrid events
- Virtual
- Low
- In-person
- High
- Hybrid
- Highest
- Virtual
- Anyone with internet
- In-person
- People who can travel
- Hybrid
- Both
- Virtual
- A few tools
- In-person
- Venue, travel, catering
- Hybrid
- Both, at the same time
- Virtual
- Recorded and reusable
- In-person
- Often lost
- Hybrid
- Recorded
- Virtual
- Chat and community
- In-person
- Strongest
- Hybrid
- Uneven between groups
- Virtual
- Growing a list and selling
- In-person
- Deep relationships
- Hybrid
- Established events
For most creators, virtual is the place to start. You can reach people in 110+ countries from your laptop.
How much does it cost to host a virtual event?
Much less than most people think. Many creators host their first summit with a few hundred dollars, or even less.
You need a microphone, a camera (a phone works), a way to record interviews, a registration page, an email platform and a checkout.
The expensive part isn't the tools. It's your time, and AI now does a big part of that work.
Why host a virtual event?
- Build your email list fast. My List Building School summit added over 26,000 subscribers in 2 weeks.
- Get paid to grow. An all-access pass can make an event profitable before it starts.
- Borrow authority. Standing next to respected experts makes people see you as one.
- Build relationships. Every speaker is a new connection in your industry.
- Create a product. The recordings become something you can sell again.
- Get months of content. Every interview turns into clips, posts and emails.
More in 21 benefits of virtual events.
Who hosts virtual events?
Coaches, consultants, course creators, authors, podcasters, membership owners and SaaS companies all use them. If there's an audience for your topic online, there's room for an event around it.
The niche can be surprisingly specific. Diana Rowan, one of the world's top harpists, hosted the Virtual Harp Summit. Her first summit brought in 2,100 email subscribers and 460 all-access pass sales, and she built a membership on top of it.
Looking for a topic? Start with these 50 virtual event ideas.
Real virtual event examples and results
- Host
- Me, 2014
- Result
- $20,000+ in sales, close to 3,000 attendees
- Host
- Me, 2016
- Result
- 26,000+ subscribers in 2 weeks
- Host
- Chandler Bolt
- Result
- $370k+ and 30,000 subscribers in under 2 months
- Host
- Caitlin Pyle
- Result
- 60,000+ subscribers and $502,000 in revenue
- Host
- Steph Gaudreau
- Result
- From 62 subscribers to 19,560 new ones
- Host
- Jen Taylor
- Result
- $100,027 from all-access passes
- Host
- Brian Appleton
- Result
- 3,500 sign-ups, 465 sales, $20K in sponsorships
- Host
- Me, since 2024
- Result
- 100,000+ creators from 110+ countries
Here's how some of them describe it in their own words:
For 100 more, see my list of virtual event examples.
How I host virtual events today
When I hosted my first summit, I built every page by hand and edited every interview myself.
Today I host my summits on AI Summit OS, my set of summit templates from registration to replay vault. Claude builds from them, so a summit site comes together fast. AI edits the recordings, writes the transcripts, cuts the clips and drafts the emails.
What hasn't changed: the right topic, the right speakers and a real offer still decide whether an event works.
The future of virtual events
- AI-produced events. One person can now run an event that used to need a team.
- Smaller, more focused events. A 3-day event on one outcome often beats a 10-day event on everything.
- Live and interactive. More live sessions, Q&As and cohorts, less passive watching.
- Evergreen. Events that keep running and selling after the live dates.
FAQs about virtual events
Answers to the questions people ask most about virtual events.
A virtual event is an organized event that happens online instead of in a physical place.
People register, then watch, learn and interact from wherever they are.
Virtual summits, webinars, virtual workshops, online conferences, challenges, live cohorts and virtual product launches.
My favorite is the virtual summit, because it grows your list, your network and your revenue at the same time.
Much less than most people think.
Many creators host their first summit with a few hundred dollars, or even less.
A webinar is one type of virtual event: usually one presenter and one session.
A virtual event can also be a multi-day summit with many experts, a workshop or a conference.
For growing a list and selling online, usually yes, because they cost less and reach anyone with internet.
In-person events are still better for deep relationships.
Yes.
Most creator events make money from an all-access pass, sponsorships, affiliate offers and a backend product like a course or a membership.
Final thoughts on virtual events
A virtual event is an online gathering people sign up for, experience together and remember. For a creator, it's also the fastest way I know to grow a list, build relationships and make money at the same time.
You don't need a big audience or a big budget to start. My first event proved that to me.
If you're ready to host one, start with how to host a virtual summit, then plan your promotion with 21 online event marketing strategies. My upcoming book Virtual Summit OS teaches the full method, rebuilt so AI does most of the work.
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