Right now we’re just getting into the peak season for workshops.
Holidays are behind us, the busy season is over. The weather’s colder and people are looking for fun stuff to do. They’re looking for new indoor hobbies.
So if you want make workshops your primary marketing strategy this year, there’s no better time than now to get started.
There are so many benefits to hosting workshops in your retail store.
- Retailers are attracting 50 -100 new customers per month with workshops
- Create a buzz on social media (nothing gets shared more than pictures of an event at your store)!
- Fill in the slow time with lots of extra foot traffic (and keep your staff busy)
- Build a customer base for your upcoming busy season
- Bond with your customers during a 2-3 hour workshop at your store
But the question remains…How do you get started hosting your first workshop if you’ve never done it before?
We’ve created a simple 5 step post to helping you plan your first workshop…
Five Steps to Hosting Your First Workshop
We get so many questions around how to get started with workshops. Finally, we broke everything down into a simple 5 step system to answer these questions.
We call these questions the 5 P’s:
- PROJECT IDEA: How do I find a project idea to use in my workshops?
- PRODUCTS: What products do I use in my workshops and sell afterwards?
- PROCESS: What is the process or steps that I should teach my attendees?
- PROMOTE: How do I promote and sell out my workshops?
- PAINT DISPLAY: Do I need a paint display and if so, how do I set it up?
#1: PROJECT IDEA – How do I find a project idea to use in my workshops?
If you’re going to do a workshop, you have to have a project idea. And not just any idea.
But you need a very specific criteria to follow. Hint: “Let’s Wing It” is not a good workshop strategy.
When you think about different workshop projects, you’ll want to make sure they fit within the following criteria.
A) BUDGET: You’ll need to create a budget for your workshop project. Obviously you’re workshops should be profitable so that you don’t get burned out doing them for free. But you can only charge so much for a workshop, so it’s good to have a budget for your projects. Think about the maximize price you can pay for a project in order to remain profitable and fit within the budget criteria.
B) VALUE: You want your customers to finish your workshop with comments like, “Wow, I would have paid more!”. Or, “That was great, when is your next workshop?”. These are good signs that you’ve provided good value for the money. Now remember, value isn’t always about how expensive your project is. People pay for experience, they pay for a fun night out, they pay to learn new things, and they pay to be inspired. Make sure your workshop provides value by teaching them something new, create a great experience, and inspire them.
C) TIME: How long does your project take to complete? You don’t want projects to drag on and on or your attendees will become tired, cranky, frustrated, and impatient. This can ruin the overall experience. The perfect time frame for a workshop is between 2 – 3 hours. If you plan for 2 hours, it will usually go about 2.5 – 3 hours by the time everything is wrapped up. So make sure your project fits within the time frame criteria.
D) SPACE: When you have 10 – 20 ladies in your store, you’re going to want to make sure there’s lots of space. You’ll want all of your guests to be comfortable. Setting up a workshop station is a great way to ensure everyone has plenty of elbow room. With that said, you’ll want your workshop project to fit within this workshop station criteria. A good idea is to set up a placemat that contains all of the paint, project, and supplies.
#2: PRODUCTS – What products do I use in my workshops and sell afterwards?
There’s no better time to make a sale then after your customers spend 2-3 hours learning how to use your products.
They’ll feel more confident, comfortable, and inspired. At this point, offering them products to buy is helping them achieve their project goals at home; plus, it’s a great way to maximize your time and efforts spent on the workshop.
A common mistake retailers make is they use too many products, options and accessories in a workshop. This can confuse and overwhelm your attendees. You don’t want them to leave your workshop feeling more confused than when they came.
When you focus on a few key products to use and teach in a workshop, your odds of selling these products after the workshop increase substantially.
A successful way to set this up is to break all of your products into multiple levels of workshops.
As an example, your workshop funnel could look like this:
101 Workshops for Beginners: Focus on simple products that cover the basics.
201 Workshops for Intermediate: Introduce new products and teach the fundamentals.
301 Workshops for Advanced: Bring in repeat attendees to play with finishes and learn advanced techniques.
The workshop funnel helps you keep workshops within the time frame, and allows you to stick to a few key products at a time. If attendees enjoyed the workshop and feel like they’re ready for the next step, offer them tickets for your next level of workshops.
#3: PROCESS – What is the process or steps I should teach my attendees?
The flow of your workshop becomes a whole lot easier when you have a step by step process to teach.
When you think big picture, you can break down your workshop into steps.
For example:
Step 1: Introduction – Create a short introduction to get your attendees exciting about what they’re going to learn.
Step 2: Build the Project – Start the building process. Once the introduction is complete and attendees begin their projects, all of the pressure is off of you and the workshop starts to go pretty quickly from here.
Step 3: Paint the Project- The painting process can include multiple colors of paint, and a simple technique to teach your attendees.
Step 4: Personalize the Project – This is where your attendees can add their creativity and make a project that is unique to them. It’s amazing to see 8-12 attendees with the same ‘project’ have completely different looking finished projects because of the personalization process.
The teaching process doesn’t have to be difficult or complex. Keep it fun, easy, and entertaining.
#4: PROMOTE – How do I promote and sell out my workshops?
Okay, you’ve got a workshop project idea, you know what products you’re going to use and the process you’re going to teach…Now, how do you fill the seats? Better yet, how do you sell out your workshop?
SELLING OUT YOUR WORKSHOP
Selling out your workshop is key. You want to keep the demand high. This is the secret to keeping a waiting list of excited attendees ready to sign up for your next workshop. Nobody wants to come to a class if they’re the only ones signed up. Once you create the reputation of always having ‘sold out’ and ‘in demand’ workshops at your store, the overall impact on your brand will shock you.
YOUR PRIMARY MARKETING STRATEGY
Remember, you’re marketing more than just a workshop. When you promote your workshop, you’re also promoting your store. Workshops and events get shared on social media…and every time you host a workshop or share a picture of your class, this is more people aware of your store, and the culture that you’ve created around in-store workshops. It’s going to be a fun place to shop; to hang out!
PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS
Here’s a couple simple ways to market your workshops and create a buzz.
- SOCIAL MEDIA – The best time to post about your workshop is AFTER it’s already sold out. Put a picture of a sold out workshop with ‘SOLD OUT’ across the image. This will raise awareness for your next workshops. If it’s your first workshop, just put out a post asking what type of workshops people would like to attend. You might be surprised with the response you get.
- WORKSHOP POSTER – If you want to catch the attention of your shoppers, put a workshop poster on your door, in your front window, or next to your register. When people see the poster, they’re want to sign up!
- WORKSHOP SIGN UP SHEET – Even if you’re not sure when your first workshop will be, you can start collecting names and contact information simply by putting a workshop signup sheet next to your poster, paint display, or register. This is a great way to gauge interest before putting much time or thought into your first workshop.
#5: PAINT DISPLAY – Do I need a paint display and if so, how do I set it up?
If you’re hosting your first workshop without setting up your paint display first, you’re missing out on a lot of business.
People will buy the paint, even before doing a workshop. And then after the workshop, they’ll buy more!
When they know you have a paint display, they’ll come back again and again to try other colors, replace their sealer, or buy a new brush.
With each visit to your paint display, they’ll get exposure to your other product categories and seasonal goods.
A paint display set up on a 4′ to 8′ gondola shelf is a great way to attract attention to the upcoming Paint Therapy workshops in your store.
One way to set up your display is to break it into three sections:
Section 1: PROJECTS – This is where you keep your workshop projects, or other paintable projects for sale. You can also ‘show off’ project ideas in this section to get customers excited about projects they can do at home.
Section 2: PRODUCTS – This is the central part of your display. Here’s where you want to display your paint by color, basic sealers, and paint brushes. You may want to include selling tools such as color charts, instruction cards, or shelf talkers.
Section 3: PERSONALIZE – Finally, you’ll want to offer multiple accessories and options for your customers to get creative with finishes. You can display products that help your customers personalize their projects such as Glaze, Metallix, Stencils or Knobs. These items help keep your customers engaged and trying new things.
It’s important to make sure that your display makes a ‘statement’. It’s all about the experience economy. You want it to be eye-catching, and something that draws them to the display. It’s a symbol of your new store culture, and the ‘home base’ to your workshops.
PAINT THERAPY WORKSHOP SYSTEM
The fastest way to get started with workshops in your store is by following the Paint Therapy Workshop System. If you’ve never hosted a workshop before, why not follow a proven system that’s been developed over the years? We’ve done all the ‘heavy lifting’ for you.
Simply put…our system WORKS for attracting new customers; it works for marketing your store; and it works to build a better relationship with your customers.
If you want help getting started with your first workshop, check out the Paint Therapy Packages!