When you find your calling it’s a little like falling in love. Coaching. Yoga. Healing. You tumble head over heels into your new passion, and you just can’t get enough.
You devour books and blogs, take every opportunity you can to go deeper in your learning, and tell everyone you know about the life changing power of your new ‘crush’.
Deciding to become a teacher yourself takes your commitment one step further. And yet, when it comes to sharing the work yourself, what once flowed so smoothly can suddenly hit a rough patch.
You still love the work you’re doing – if anything, as you learn more and more about your passion you feel it even more.
But trying to pass on that spark can be a challenge. When you’re offering individual sessions or group classes, it’s as though you’re constantly in “selling” mode – talking to people who are considering working with you explaining how this work can make a difference.
However much you love what you do, it’s easy to wind up feeling like an infomercial, repeating the same pitch again and again.
And if you are someone who does your best work in response to an invitation to share, it can be especially challenging to “talk about what you do.” After all it’s so personal.
This is one reason I’m so passionate about small retreats. Because each one helps you tell a love story. One that features your potential client in the room and makes the work super personal to them.
What’s your story?
Retreats aren’t only containers within which your clients experience huge transformation.
They give you a structure within which to tell the story of the work that lights you up, in a format that has your retreat participant as the star of the show.
As you start to plan the program for a retreat, you begin to create a narrative of what it is you want to share: first this… then that… then that.
As retreat leaders, we weave together the threads of every certification we’ve gained, course we’ve taken and teacher who’s inspired us. We take our clients on a journey through the work so that they begin to fall in love too, because they see what’s possible when they open up to what we teach.
Where’s the value?
As well as telling a coherent story with what you’re teaching, it’s important to get clear on where the value is for your clients. What will bring the people attending your retreat the results they’re looking for? If you’ve been studying for a while you likely have a wide ranging skillset. For example, as a yoga teacher you might have taken lots of trainings in different methods and with varied focuses. How can you bring them together in a way that gives your retreat attendees what they need – to sleep better, feel at home in their bodies, or alleviate stress?
As you tell a story that blends what you know, and what people want to learn, you’ll soon see how you can start to monetize your training into experiences that are transformative for your participants and lucrative for your business.
Continuing the story
Your first retreat is only the beginning. Now you’ve given your clients a taste of the work you love, you’ll likely find they want to be a part of that story. People who experience huge shifts on retreat with you want to come back again, and need your support to keep integrating and implementing the work into their day to day lives.
In this way, the next steps unfold organically. Instead of endlessly repeating the same “elevator pitch” you’re taking your ideal clients with you on a journey as you get to know them and their needs, and your own path evolves.
Your story continues together. There’s always more to share and more growth to experience, and those clients often turn into trusted friends as you build on your knowledge together.
Love stories are compelling for a reason. The Retreat and Grow Rich(™) approach gives you a framework to turn your passion into a deeper relationship of serving and growing alongside your clients. It’s one of the most rewarding paths there is, and it all starts with a spark.
(And I’m sure we all agree the world could use a little more love right now).
If the love story appeals to you, and you want to learn more about the approach, you can grab the first step here: RetreatRevenueRoadmap.com