As some of you will already know, I run workshops and training to help business owners start writing their own blog. Things don’t always go to plan but that’s OK. Getting together with other business owners is generally a good thing in my book. I wanted to share a story (because that’s what I do) about how a workshop went a little bit wrong and still worked out brilliantly.
Making plans
Before the one that went wrong, I’d delivered two workshops that had gone pretty well. They’d both been hosted by other people. One was a lovely lady called Clare Farthing that I’d met networking online. She specialises in mentoring women and acting as an accountability partner to help them set goals and stretch themselves to get there. (If you’d like to find out more about her Facebook group for women in business go here.) The other workshop was arranged by one of my networking groups, who offer regular training to members.
Both workshops had been well received so I decided to strike out on my own. I booked the room, set up an account on Eventbrite to start selling tickets and began sharing my event online.
Bookings
Before I chose my date I contacted some of the people who’d expressed an interest to see what dates would suit them. I sent messages out to let them know about the event and kept on sharing it on social media. The early signs were good. I got a booking almost straight away. Then it all went quiet.
A week before the workshop date I still only had one booking. I considered cancelling. I knew the lady who’d booked had done it to invest in herself and I didn’t want to let her down. So I adapted. I cancelled the room and we met in a local restaurant instead.
Getting together
You know what? I went from feeling a bit despondent at my one person to having a fantastic time. I woke up on the morning of the workshop feeling excited. My morning was going to be spent talking to someone that I enjoyed spending time with.
We talked about blogging and I saw lightbulbs go off in her eyes. Best of all, I was able to tailor everything I was talking about to suit her. I realised that I didn’t need to talk to a room full of people. It’s enough to inspire one person.
What now?
I’ve realised that you can turn things around when they go a bit wrong, but I still found myself hesitating about booking more workshops. What was stopping me? I took my question to the place I take all of my business questions – my coaching group. I already knew what had gone wrong the first time. Ultimately, I’ve realised that I want to take a different approach. I still want to talk to people about blogging and teach them, but I’m not really into putting the big events out there.
All of this means that I’m changing my approach. I’m still going to put workshop groups together, just in a different way (sign up to my mailing list using the form below if you’d like to know more about that). Other than that I’m going to go out and talk to more people about blogging. That could be a talk at a networking group meeting or a workshop for your team.
If you’d like to invite me along to speak to your group or deliver training to your team, send me an email at info@kirstyfrancewrites.co.uk.
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Are you a business owner or a writer? It’s completely possible to be both, especially if you have a writing or marketing based business. However for most people it’s one or the other. If you went into business to make a product or offer a service that’s nothing to do with writing, the idea of a workshop that focuses on writing blogs could seem like a complete nightmare. A room full of people picking your writing to bits? No thanks! Of course, there are services and workshops that are designed to provide critiques. They’re mostly for writers. Here’s why my workshops don’t.
Trying something new can be a bit scary. You hear all these people who say ‘what have you got to lose?’ and ‘you get more confident when you try scary things’. (
Do you need a blogging workshop? How do you begin to decide? How do you decide what training you need in your business? Or, to put it more accurately, how do you decide what you actually need when you’ve been bombarded with an endless stream of adverts and emails telling you why this course is the one you absolutely have to have. The minute you joined that Facebook group for small business owners or changed your employment profile to ‘self-employed’ or ‘owner’, your card was marked.
I’ve been to a few different conferences during my working life and they’ve all taught me something different. The biggest benefit is that I’ve become more discerning about the ones I attend. The drive to behave like a business owner and only invest where it’s warranted gets stronger every day. In terms of attitude I think I went from one extreme to the other – either ‘I mustn’t spend any money’ or ‘I’m going to spend everything I have spare – it’s probably worth it.’ I soon realised that ‘probably worth it’ didn’t cut it. Now I’m somewhere between the two. I have to consider whether it’s worth my time and the money I’m spending on it. So, here are a few of my conference experiences so you can think about what you get out of a conference – hopefully I’ll save you from making some of the mistakes I did.
I know, I know – brainstorming is such a corporate word you’re probably squirming already. However, I’m afraid to say that it’s the best I have for this particular subject. ‘Putting your heads together’ and ‘having a strategy session’ where you ‘think outside the box’ are equally bad as potential entries in buzzword bingo and ‘coming up with new ideas’ is just a bit pedestrian. I quite like brain dumping but that means something a bit different for me. So, what am I on about? If you aren’t already using brainstorming in your business it’s probably time to start. Call it whatever you like, it’s the perfect way to boost your business.
You know that you need a content strategy which aligns with your goals (and if you don’t read my last two blogs 
Believe it or not, there are those who think that people who talk about strategy are out of touch with their clients’ lives. They probably think that a strategy is created somewhere off in cloud cuckoo land. I disagree. You can use whatever word you like for it, but a strategy is basically a plan. You’ll probably have seen a meme that says something like “a goal is a dream with a deadline”. If you have a goal, you need a plan to make it happen. That’s all a strategy is. So the question is, does your strategy match your goals? If not, here’s how to make it happen.
I’ve found that there are two types of business owner. The ones who love strategy and planning and actively seek out tools to help and, well, the other kind. To be fair even they could be split into two camps. People who know they need a strategy but just can’t quite bring themselves to do it and the ones who would happily wing it forever. Ultimately, guess which businesses have greater success long term? Yep, the ones with a plan. So why do you need a content marketing strategy? It’s an important piece of the overall puzzle. Here’s why.
As I write this we’re heading towards Christmas and I know that a lot of you are starting to wind down. I’m always reluctant to write off the end of a year but I understand the impulse. This year seems to have flown by. There’s political turmoil that’s making everyone feel tired. There have been a lot of changes in my personal life this year too. I’m ready for some time off. But that doesn’t mean I’m switching off altogether. This is a good time for reflection and thinking about the year to come. So I thought I’d give you some Christmas themed food for thought. There’s something about Christmas stories that really hit a nerve and I think it’s something we can learn from and carry through our marketing for the rest of the year. So I asked myself a question. Why do Christmas stories resonate with us?