Podcast 4: Workshop Ideas for Your Holistic Business
Mar 10, 2020
Workshops are a fabulous way to add another service and attract more income for your business. They come in all different shapes and sizes from in-person to online, in-depth to taster sessions.
Workshops are great for your business and can be created quickly and efficiently. They offer your clients an alternative way of working with you and are a great way to build a community around your services. They offer a specific outcome for your clients in a very practical way.
The difference between a workshop and a training
A workshop is different from training (or a lesson or lecture) as the person attending, gets to do things. Whether it’s cooking, creating a vision board, or making hand cream, if they’re not doing anything, you asking them to a class, and not a workshop. There are many options for delivering workshops and I have outlined a few of my favourites below.
Taster workshops
These are a great way to introduce someone to your work at an affordable price. Pick a specific problem that’s relevant to your ideal client and something they can achieve a small win towards resolving. Your client will both get to experience your approach and have achieved something in the process. It’s a way to inspire people to take the next step to work with you further.
In-depth workshops
These are a bigger version of the taster workshop and you will be able to help clients achieve more. You still have a very specific problem you’re addressing for your client and work through it in a practical way during the workshop.
This can be over a day, a weekend or longer depending on the topic and the work involved. You need to provide your clients with something of value that they have completed by the end of it.
Try and keep this simple and don’t overwhelm the attendees with over providing. I was guilty of this with the first workshop I ever delivered and wanted to provide as much value as possible. It had the opposite effect and I had to simplify it as it was too much information to be useful.
Collaborative workshops
Collaborating with other practitioners who have a similar client group to you is a brilliant way to introduce new clients to your practice. They are a way of building great relationships and can be fun if you find the right person.
A friend who’s a Pilates teacher specialising in rehabilitation teamed up with a medical herbalist to run a taster workshop on joint health. This was a great option to share the work and costs but also for them both to find new clients. Because each practitioner works in a different way, their approach complements the other. It made perfect sense, and both found new clients for their practice and have a workshop they can deliver again.
Online workshops
Technology has given us the ability to deliver something in real-time, and have people work along with us. You will need an audience to sell the workshop to as well as understanding how to use the technology. The benefit is you can reach a much larger audience than just working locally.
Online workshops can be delivered in the same time frame as an in-person event. Simply plan your day and build in breaks for the participants.
What do you do that you could create an online workshop around?
Workshops for peer groups
Running workshops for local groups is a great way to introduce more people to your approach. Identify groups that include your ideal clients and approach them about running a workshop for their members.
A great example of this could be a nutritionist working with a mums group on how to create healthy, easy meal plans for a young family. Another could be a mindfulness practitioner helping an office of stressed professionals understand how to find pockets of calm in their day, or a medical herbalist showing a group of friends how to make traditional remedies from store cupboard ingredients.
Workshops for colleagues
We’re all unique and have skills our colleagues don’t necessarily have but admire in us. You could offer a workshop for your fellow practitioners to help them upgrade their skills. If they are from different disciplines, you could teach them how to do something from your approach that’s appropriate.
For example, an NLP practitioner could run a workshop on using language to support working with clients. Or if you’re super organised, you can others create structure and process in their business.
Workshops for other businesses
What businesses do you know whose customers would benefit from a workshop with you? This is another form of collaboration and you are providing a workshop specifically for their customers. It is helping them provide a great service for their audience but in return, you will raise your profile and introduce people to your approach at the same time.
An example could be a workshop for your local health food store on foods that boost your immune system.
Workshops at conferences
More and more exhibitions and conferences are introducing workshops into their offerings. What conferences have you attended where you think you could run a workshop for the attendees?
Finding inspiration for your workshop topics
Finding a great topic that resonates with your audience is key to you filling a workshop. You need to make sure it’s practical and solves a specific problem for your client so they have a reason for participating.
A great place to start is with the questions your clients ask you. These are the things playing on their minds and the things you can help with. What questions would translate into a good workshop?
Is there something seasonal you could offer such as making homemade skincare products for Christmas?
What else is being offered as workshops both inside and outside your profession? Use this as inspiration for what you can create in your own business.
Here are a few ideas to get you thinking:
- Nurturing healthy relationships
- Creating seasonal remedies from your garden
- Self-care for stressed professionals
- Creating a winning mindset to improving your golf
- Building your confidence
- Finding calm in the chaos of life
- Foraging and making lunch from your gathering
- Creating a vision board
- Herb walks and making remedies
- Mindfulness for beginners
- Good posture for office workers
- Avoiding the afternoon slump
- Using coaching in your herbal medicine practice
- Creating a personalised morning routine
Workshops are a great way to add another income stream to your business and build relationships with clients. They provide a specific result for your clients and are a practical way for you to demonstrate your skills.
If you want to create a workshop for your business, book a discovery call and find out how I can help you.
Podcast 4 show notes:
- The difference between a workshop and training (1:13)
- Taster workshops (2:02)
- In-depth workshops (2:49)
- Collaborative workshops (4:08)
- Online workshops (5:08)
- Workshops for peer groups (5:50)
- Workshops for colleagues (6:44)
- Workshops for other businesses (7:33)
- Workshops at conferences (8:04)
- Finding inspiration for your workshop topics (8:30)
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Blog: Why collaborations are good for your complementary practice
