Tell anyone within 3 feet of you what you’re up to.
“I really don’t think I did anything that special or beyond the tips you gave us since launch, but here are a few things I did that might be useful for others…
I talked about the retreat. A lot. I started talking about it before I even paid the deposit then really kicked into high gear once I had the trip launch date. In these early conversations I wasn’t giving a direct sales pitch, I was talking about how excited I was to lead the retreat in Oia. I think this excitement spread to my students.
The day before my trip launched I began a FB campaign. I posted daily about the trip, but each time I posted I used a different picture from Santorini and a little different “spin” on the retreat. This, I think, helped to capture people’s attention because the graphic was different and my opener was different. I did a lot of research on Oia and Santorini so that I could intrigue people with all the different things the location has to offer, not just yoga.
I used MailChimp to market to my student and client list. My address book isn’t that large (around 300 people) so I didn’t have a huge bucket to pull from. My initial emails (day before launch, day of launch, and 2-3 days later) were group emails. Once I had a solid “hot prospect” list, I crafted individual emails to those people (around 25). The text was primarily the same for all individuals, but the opening lines in my email were specifically to the person I was addressing. This does take a little more thought and time, but is worth it.
I kept telling people the retreat would sell out quickly. Part my “law of attraction” philosophy and part invoking urgency for my students to book.
I asked people to spread the word. A few of my students are bringing partners and friends who have never met me or taken a class with me.
Ultimately, it just takes persistence and a big smile. Being in front of people makes a huge difference for marketing, so if there are ambassadors that don’t teach many classes or have small classes, they need to get out there in person. Go take classes, go to other teachers’ events, etc. I learned this marketing rule many years ago: Tell anyone within 3 feet of you what you’re up to.
Originally published July 2015