Here’s the scenario – you book a workshop at a local community center for four weeks from now. You rush home – call your mom in excitement – and then immediately begin working on your workshop content. You invite a few friends and send an e-mail out to your list. You even stop by the store and pick up some drinks and snacks for the event.
Then you get to the event. One person walks in. Then another. And then another. But then it stops. There are four people in the room. You give your workshop content anyways. But it just wasn’t worth spending all that time preparing only to speak to 4 people. While it was fun, it just seems like a slow path towards filling your business with great clients.
Has this situation happened to you? It has happened to many of the folks that come to work with me. Here’s the interesting part –
if you can just fill a room with 20 people, you could walk out of that workshop with five new clients. Doing workshops like that can make your life SO much easier.
So what’s the trick to fill your room?
You have to plan, organize and manage the marketing – even if you are partnering with another organization.
1.Gather Information. Start by asking questions to the organization that is hosting your event.
- How many workshops/events do you do each month?
- Do you charge for them? How much?
- How many people come to each event on average?
- How do you let people know about the events?
2. Manage the Marketing. Once you get answers to the questions above, go ahead and give some suggestions for how you can help the organization market for your event. For example you might:
- Write e-mails that will be sent out twice before the event.
- Write the flyer that they will set out at the front desk.
- Write the blurb that they will put in their newsletter.
- Create a description of the event to put on the back of the class schedule.
- Set up a booth a couple of evenings before the event so that you can talk to people and invite them personally.
- Write out a script that teachers and/or managers at the organization can use to invite people to your workshop
Once you agree on what marketing materials you’ll create, be sure you stay on top of checking to see that the e-mails are sent, the fliers are put out, the newsletter is created, etc. Don’t assume that just because you sent the materials, the tasks will get done.
Many organizations are thrilled to host you as an event or workshop leader. But they don’t have the time or knowledge to really understand how to market your workshop properly, and fill the room with great people. But with a little help from you, the workshop can be a smashing success.
Yes, it is a bit of work to help the organization prepare for a great event. But at the end of the day, it is absolutely worthwhile for you to speak in front of a room full of eager individuals and potentially gain some new clients.
So remember before your next workshop – ask questions and manage the marketing. I hope to see you in front of a room full of people someday soon.
