When I hosted my first workshop, 4 people registered and two people showed up. Sound familiar?
Maybe for you, it was not a workshop. Maybe you had a plan to find clients by working with another practitioner. Or maybe you’ve spent time on social media, trying to build your name.
And despite your best work and intentions, you fell short. You did not see the success you expected and you had to go back to the drawing board.
Maybe more than once.
The good news is that you’re not alone.
I’ve been there. And I’d like to say that it’s all in my past but not everything works as I would like.
But today, most things I do for my business succeed. I’m finding the people who want my help. And I’ve several ways to present the information that people need so that I have a sustainable business.
Workshops were my first attempt to attract clients. I’d just graduated from nutrition school. I joined forces with a naturopath and we planned a series of 4 workshops. He would teach the health concepts and I would teach the food and cooking strategies.
Good plan, right?
We promoted them at the clinic where he worked and the health food store where I worked. We had just two people – two sisters – I recognized from the health food store. They talked over each over and us – they were hilarious but not the ideal clients I was hoping for.
I had no idea that what we’d done was just not enough.
I learned two lessons:
1. You need more marketing avenues to get the attendees you want
2. Any one who books need to pay upfront – as I said, 4 booked, only 2 showed up. People are less likely to not show up if they’ve paid.
I took the lessons and tried again. This time with a fellow nutrition professional. We did gluten-free baking classes. We improved our reach for marketing. I promoted at the health food store and the nutrition school where I taught. My partner went to several different practitioners and put up flyers. And we place a blurb in a local newspaper that promoted cooking classes for every September.
We sold out every class, which we hosted 5-6 times a years
What did I learn?
1. Spitting the money for cooking classes did not provide much income
2. Hosting it at my partner’s house when I did most of the cooking/baking part was like moving my kitchen to her place for every class
3. It was exhausting and did not help the sustainability of my business.
So, I thought, what if I find a place that allows me to do it by myself, have more people and I don’t have to share the profit?
I did several of those. They went well and the money was good even though I paid rent for the facility.
What did I learn?
1. It was not much fun because again, as it was like moving my kitchen to somewhere else for every workshop.
2. It was mentally and physically stressful
Enter online workshops.
With today’s technology, any topic can be taught. It allows for attendee participation. My costs are lower. I can reach more people beyond my local area. And it’s so much less stress to host them.
We all have an opportunity right now to reach more people. We may not like that we can’t do some things in person. But online is really just as good. You can see and speak to attendees and they can see and speak to you.
I can tell you that online workshops have given me consistent revenue, more control over how I present information and great personal satisfaction.
If you would like to learn more about how you can host online workshops, then join me for Mastering and Marketing Online Workshops. Discover how hosting online workshops can help you can help you attract more clients, have more to offer existing clients and earn more revenue.
The program will show you how to develop engaging workshop topics, discover your hidden strengths and structure effective events that will attract attendees
See you online!
