How would you like to make money by putting on retreats? Well, in this video,
I'm going to teach you how to start a retreat business. Stay tuned.
So, starting your own retreat business is really, really simple. You start by having
your first retreat. So, in this video, I'm going to share with you what you must do
in order to plan and execute your very first retreat. So, step 1 is what I call
the discover and design phase. And the discover and design phase, you're
discovering your own reasons for doing a retreat and you're discovering the
audience that you're going to serve at your retreat. And then you're designing the
retreat experience that's perfect to get the outcome that they need want and will
pay for. The second step is to decide and commit and to identify where and when
you're gonna host your retreat. Because you can't sell anybody into it if you
don't know where it's going to be and when it's going to be. The third step is to
promote and enroll. And that means to market your retreat, put it out into the
world and also enroll people and sell them into the retreat. And the fourth
step is to prepare and plan the content. I laid all this out for you because a
lot of times the biggest mistake I find that people do when they're trying to do
their first retreat and start their retreat business is they start at the
end. They start by trying to design their retreat and create everything that goes
into it rather than backing up and making sure that the retreat is designed
to sell. One of my favorite quotes ever is "Sell it first, figure it out later." And
what that means is that we want to go out into the world and make sure that
this retreat is going to resonate with people before we invest a whole lot of
money and time in producing it. Alright, so let's go back into discover and
design. What is that entail? Well, it entails a series of P words. I've made it
easy for you to remember. The first is purpose. What is your purpose in putting
together this retreat? Is this something that you're doing because it's really a
with who you are and what you want to do? Or is it something that you think you
should do because somebody told you, "Hey, you should do a retreat. So, I really want
you to check in with yourself first and see is this something that excites you
and energizes you?" And if it does, let's move on to the second P. The second P is
people. Who are the people that your retreat will serve? What we want to do is
make sure that the people that we're drawing together are a good fit for you
and a good fit for each other. So, getting clear about who the target audience of
this retreat is, is going to go a long way towards making it much easier to market
and way easier to sell. Once you've identified who you want to serve, we want
to look at what are their pain points and problems. The pain points and
problems. I like to limit it to 3 key areas of pain points and problems. The
first is what are the pain points that they know and admit. These are the pain
points that they know they want a solution to. That they're already going
to Google and searching on the internet. How do I "blank". So, the pain points and
problems that they know they have and they're actively looking for a solution
to. The second piece, the second type of pain point a problem is the problem that
they know but don't admit. Generally this is more of an emotional problem. This is
something where they might feel anger or resentment or shame. I'll give you an
example. Our ideal client for our retreats is a business owner. Maybe like
you. An entrepreneur who wants to learn how to grow their business. And the pain
point that they know and admit the one they're looking for is "How do I make
more sales? How do I create a successful retreat? How do I attract more clients?"
Right? Those are the pain points that are on the surface. But that second level
might be, the emotional level the problem that they don't necessarily admit might
be, "I feel like a failure." Or "I feel like a fraud." Or "I've been working at this for
so long. Why haven't I figured this out already?"
And they feel frustrated and tired and exhausted. And generally they probably
wouldn't tell people about that. You ask them how they're doing they're like, "Hey,
I'm doing fine. I'm making it happen." The third type of pain
pointer problem is the problem that they don't know so they can't admit. That's
the blind spot. And the blind spot is often the work that really needs to be
done in the retreat. The problem with the blind spot is that you and I can see
that our target audience that our ideal clients have this blind spot but they
don't know it yet. So, if we use the blind spot, that problem
that they don't know they have yet to early in the marketing or sales process,
the people that we want to attract, won't be attracted. So, I recommend saving that
pain point for your marketing and for your actual retreat. So, we want to lead
with our pain points that people know they have and then address and connect
to the ones that they don't necessarily admit. Once we're clear about the people
we want to serve and the pain points and problems that we're going to help them
with, we want to generate the retreat promise. The promise of your retreat can
be almost anything. And we've seen so many different promises. We've had
coaches do retreats. SEO experts, marketing consultants, email marketing
experts. We've had spiritual leaders and chiropractors. Any kind of person can
lead a retreat. And the difference is going to be in the promise that their
retreat has. So, for example, our retreat which is a business retreat. Our promise
is that you'll create a business plan for your business. You'll walk away with
clarity and focus about what you're going to do and how you're going to do it.
But I also work with a spiritual coach. And the outcome from her event is that
you will have a total life transformation in the way that you
perceive yourself and in your empowerment around your own life. We also
worked with a chiropractor and he has retreats where people relieve their pain
in their spine and walk away with more awareness about how they're sitting and
standing in order to alleviate the problems that they're experiencing in
their body. So, the promise of your retreat is a very simple statement about
what you can expect when you leave. And it's really focused on an outcome, not on
a promise. For example, if your outcome is you're
going to learn how to do this thing, it's not as exciting, is by the time you leave,
you will have done this thing. So here's an example of a great event promise. One
of our clients Leon Webster has a retreat called Just Done It, Weekend. In
that weekend, you actually create your email marketing landing page to
subscribe people to your list. You create the lead magnet that people get when
they sign up for your list that free gift that people want. You map
out your whole content for the whole year of all your email marketing for
every single month. So, that's called "Just Done It." That's the event promise that
you're going to leave. And you will have already actually done all the work. So,
coming up with your retreat promise is a huge piece and goes a long way toward
helping you market and sell your retreat. The next thing you'll want to lay out is
your packages and pricing for your retreat. Now what I found is that when
you sell your retreat by itself, it occurs for people very different than
when you sell your retreat inside of a package. Selling it inside of a package
is actually way more effective. So, instead of selling just a three-day
retreat or whatever it is that you're selling that event, selling it as a jump
start package or a launch package that includes a three-day retreat has a lot
more perceived value. Don't ask me why. So, when it comes to packaging your retreat,
look at what else can i package in with it to create a bundle and create
something that's more cohesive than just an event. And I think part of the reason
is that when it comes to pricing (which is the next piece of the puzzle) there's
a higher perceived value for a package or a program than just for an event. And
that's where pricing comes in. You want to consider a lot of times I see that
people under price their retreats. And so, think about pricing your retreat not
based on the fact that it's 3-days or not based on where it is or whether
they get food or all that. But based on the value of that promise. The value of
the outcome that people are getting. Now, just to give you an idea,
my favorite retreat price point is around
$2,000. I feel like that's a great entry level into an intimate 3-day
experience that delivers a powerful outcome. And it sets you up to have good
enough clientele that can afford that $2,000 price point that they could
potentially be a good client for after for that big back-end for whatever
you're going to sell on the back end of your retreat. And we haven't talked about
that here but we will. The final P is the problem solution. The problem solution is
where we identify what's the problem that my retreat will solve; The solution
is your retreat but then there's a new problem. What is the new problem that you
can offer a solution for at your retreat? The idea is problem-solution, new problem-
new solution to create a back end from your retreat. So, once people get that
resolution that they're looking for, there's always a new problem. And what is
that new problem and could you deliver a solution to it over time so that you've
got a monthly recurring back end. Alright, so that was discover and design. Step 2
of creating your retreat is to decide and commit. That means putting a date on
the calendar and deciding where you're gonna do your event. Now, one of the
things that people often do when they're creating their first retreat is they go
try to find some exotic location that ends up costing them a whole lot of
money. And then feeling a whole lot of pressure to enroll people into that
exotic experience. I would recommend doing things a little bit differently. I
recommend hosting your foundational retreat. This $2,000-ish price point
retreat. I recommend hosting it closer to home
near you ideally near a major airport, if possible and enrolling people in that
and then saving that exotic retreat style experience for the back end
program for the people who enroll in your long term big back end. And so, for
this first, foundational, initial retreat that delivers a powerful outcome, this
promise that you've designed, it's really important to find a venue that allows
you to deliver that promise and that keeps
your cost low. Why? Because we want to.. Well, obviously, we want to make money and
we also don't want to apply a whole lot of pressure to your first time out the
gate. Especially if you're trying this as a new model. So, I highly encourage you
finding... I've done retreats in my home. I've done retreats in in a condo, a
common area. I've done retreats by borrowing a friend's upstairs of her gym.
I've done retreats in a friend's backyard. And I had no clients who've
done them on houseboats on in golf clubs, right? There's so many different places
to find where people can gather. And since a retreat is generally small, you
don't need a whole bunch of space. You really don't need to spend a whole lot
of money. Make the retreat about the achievement of that promise, not about
all the bells and whistles that go along with it. And so look for a venue ideally
one that's low cost and set those dates. I recommend setting the dates about 60
to 90 days out from now to give you time to design it. Give you time to promote it
and give you time to enroll people in it. And I love a 10-person
retreat. I think 10 person retreats are the perfect number. You can definitely go
bigger, But especially if it's your first time out the gate, consider having it be
it a small intimate affair so you can get your feet wet and really practice.
The third piece is to promote and enroll people into your retreat. Now, my favorite
way to promote an enroll into a retreat is literally personal outreach, picking
up the phone, going to events, shaking hands, kissing babies and basically
having really solid 45 minute to 1 our conversations with people who could be a
good fit. I subscribe to the 6 foot rule. Anybody that's within 6 feet of me, I
tell them about my retreat. And that's what the people on our team do too. And
so promoting, number one is just networking. Getting out there and talking
and connecting. Another great strategy to promote your retreat is to get on stages
deliver workshops and seminars that explain to people that third pain point.
That blind spot that they might not even know they have. Putting out Facebook lives,
doing webinars. Just getting the word out and educating people about that third
pain point is a really powerful way to get people's eyebrows to perk up and say,
"Huh, I'm interested in this retreat." And then enrolling them first step into
signing up for just a conversation. A meaningful conversation. Get on the phone
and check in with them about what they want and why they don't have it. And
seeing if they're truly a fit for your event. And I cannot stress this enough. We
want to make sure that we only enroll people into our retreats that are a good
fit. These are small intimate events. And if you get one bad apple in the room, it
will spoil the bunch. So, it is so important that you make sure that the
people you enroll are a right fit. So, promoting and enrolling people is
that third step. And then the final step is planning your retreat; is creating the
content for it. Generating the activities in it. And
since you've already been selling (remember, sell it first figure it out
later) then you already know who's going to be there and what their needs are. So, you
can customize your retreat to the people who are going to be in the room. One of the
things that we do but I think is really powerful is before people come to our
retreat, we have an intake call with every single attendee. And in that intake
call, we get clear about what their particular situation is, what their
particular needs are and then we customize the retreat and we make sure
that we address each and every person's needs and desires. So, now you know that
the best way to start a retreat business is actually to host your first retreat.
If you're interested in learning more, click the link below and get my Retreats
To Riches Roadmap which will help walk you through these steps that I just took
you through in much more depth so that you can make sure that you have a
successful first retreat. Enjoy.