Four Steps To Designing A Workshop Retreat Or Tour

I f you’ve dreamed of              them as a worksheet to begin       traveling the world and         today.                             getting paid to do so,                                             leading group travel is a good        Start with your big picture        way to do it. I’ve combined the       vision. What do you want to do?    things I love best – leading          What pain are you relieving for    groups, visiting France, making       your potential participants?       art and savoring the richness of      Perhaps you want to lead a         travel – to create an enjoyable       healthy relationship group. Your   and lucrative income stream. I’ve     participants are people who have   been leading groups since 1994        failed at relationships and need   and designing a workshop,             tools and guidance to develop      enrolling people and providing a      healthy ones. Write this down in   memorable experience for your         a paragraph or two. Let your       participants is easier than you       creativity out here. Feel free to  think. You can do it, too.            draw, mind map or write about                                            your big vision. As you’re doing   Developing a group tour or            this, you’ll get additional        workshop takes imagination, time,     ideas. Use one notebook to         and most importantly, good            capture everything. That way you   planning. From navigating your        have it in one place for when you  marketing strategies to designing     sort it out later.                 course content to juggling the                                           dozens of details, your success       You’ll lead, but who will follow?  hinges on your organization.          Who are you creating this                                                wonderful experience for? Develop  The following four steps give you     a profile of your ideal            a sense of how to start               participant. Where does she shop,  developing your idea for a            what are her interests, what       workshop, retreat or tour. Use        publications does she read, what   would she get from joining your       ensure your success.               group? Most importantly, what                                            itch does your offering scratch?      Now you can dig into the fun       What problem does it solve? You       stuff – designing the content of   want to make sure that there is a     your tour, workshop or retreat.    market for what you are offering      Go back to your original vision.   before you create it. You’ll need     What do you want people to take    to know this for the next vital       away from this experience? What    step.                                 is most important to you? Now,                                           what elements do you need to have  Develop your marketing plan. Get      in place for that to happen?       a clear sense of what you will do                                        to promote your offering. Your        Take time over a few weeks and     ability to relentlessly promote       use these steps to get started.    your tour, retreat or workshop is     Give yourself time to flesh out    the key to its success. You want      the dream and inch it toward       to have strategies for online, in     reality. Then move toward          person, public relations              bringing people together to share  approaches to getting the word        the journey with you as you        out there. Don’t shirk this step      create your group, tour or         - spending plenty of time and         retreat.                           being thorough here will help          About the Author: Cynthia Morris is an expert in creative travel. She leads creativity and writing tours in France and has written Go For It! Leading Tours for Fun and Profit. When not on the road, Cynthia coaches writers and visionaries from her office in Boulder, Colorado. Published At: www.Isnare.com