Hosting A Successful Wedding Workshop or Showcase!

On Episode 64 of the I Do Wedding Marketing podcast releasing today, I share about my experience hosting the Engaged to Engagement workshop with Carissa Kruse weddings. Of course, to make it relevant for wedding professionals, I framed it in the mindset of hosting a Wedding Showcase or a workshop of your own!

The first thing I learned (for me) was to not go at it alone. I had never hosted any paid-for course, workshop or real offering before and I knew enough about Carissa to see she was a master at it. Pair up with someone who offers what you’re lacking. What I lack in organization and structure – two things Carissa has, I made up for in Networking and communication.

How could you apply this towards your business? I have seen photographers and DJs do

this before. A showcase for a photographer alone may be a little boring – pair it with a DJ performance, and you’ve got an event on your hands! Maybe your shortcoming is that you’re shy, or don’t have the following. Think about who else shares a common goal with you to collaborate with.

The next thing I learned was to be clear on the transformation. Just providing the value I learned was NOT ENOUGH. People know that industry experts have value to offer. The transformation however offers an audience more clarity and feeling towards why they are committing. I want to transform their social media experience from overwhelmed to EMPOWERED. I want someone to log on to their account and SEE ENGAGEMENT instead of seeing stress because I what I taught them.

What’s the transformation for your couples? Maybe it’s that by attending your bridal showcase they can achieve MONTHS of planning in ONE NIGHT, giving them the opportunity to ENJOY their engagement.

I also learned the important part urgency plays. Half of the workshop sales occurred during the early bird pricing period. The other half occurred THE DAY BEFORE. Give incentives for people to register early. Maybe they can enter the showcase 30-minutes early, to get first access to the vendors of their choosing. Maybe it’s primary parking, SWAG to take home, something that makes SENSE for you and for them. And of course, don’t sit back on those last minute posts and e-mail blasts. As I said, 50% of sales happened the last day. Reaching people at the final stretch can DOUBLE your guest count.

A huge part of the work shop I want to talk about is giving to receive. The day before the workshop, I invited industry colleagues to attend, as well as personal friends of mine who run their own businesses. Let me say, I did clear this with my workshop partner, who also believed in this mindset of giving and opening the door for colleagues or personal friends. But why did we believe this? Because we wanted active, interested participants! We wanted to workshop Zoom to look as busy as possible. Want to know the darndest thing? Most of the purchased tickets did not want to attend live! They wanted to watch the replay! So having those audience members for the live made a HUGE difference for us, and created an engaging atmosphere.

Who can you invite as a courtesy to one of your shows or workshops? Perhaps already booked couples, other vendors or personal friends? I do want to make clear that the tickets I gave away were to people who weren’t the target audience for purchasing, so I wasn’t stopping my sales, just like I wouldn’t expect you to.

In the spirit of giving to receiving, at the end of the workshop one of our industry colleagues told Carissa and I that it felt like we were sharing and caring instead of selling. And that was the truth of it. We weren’t in it to SELL. We were in it to experience, share and learn while teaching others.

The last thing I learned was that taking the plunge is the important part. If you’ve had a hankering to host your own event, digital showcase or workshop, go for it! Carissa and I met once a week via Zoom, where each week we just focused on THE NEXT STEP. We didn’t go 0-60. We gradually put one foot in front of the other, week by week. Pace yourself, plan your next step and take it day by day. Believe me, there were times we had to talk ourselves down. We were so excited we wanted to start right away. But we learned that focus and baby steps was the best way to work this in to our existing schedules.

What sort of workshops or showcases have you been looking to do for your business?

The Engaged to Engagement Workshop will still be available for replay purchase, so visit www.idoweddingmarketing.com to check that out! If you enjoyed this episode, have you reviewed us yet?! An apple podcast review helps this show to get discovered.

This transcript is from Episode 64 of the I Do Wedding Marketing podcast. Listen to the episode here.