Workshops and live events help small businesses and entrepreneurs in many different ways. If you’re thinking about holding your own event for your Cannabis business, it’s important to clarify exactly why. The reason is that all of your major decisions in planning and running the event follow this “why.” There are many benefits or potential reasons why you might want to hold a workshop.
Your Expertise Can Help Others
No matter what part of the Cannabis industry that you’re in, you have knowledge, experience, and expertise that can help others. You can help your customers solve their problems. It’s a shame not to put this expertise out there for other people to use. Take a minute to think about your specific expertise. What questions do you typically answer for your customers? What is something you know a great deal about that a layperson might not? These are the kinds of things you can teach others through your workshop.
Workshops and live events offer a great way to create a new income stream for your business. There is very little overhead cost and once you have a few workshops under your belt, the details like setting pricing get easier. You can also offer the workshops for free and have exclusive promotions that are only valid during the live event.
The main costs of running a workshop are securing the venue and preparing materials such as handouts. However, you can find a free or low-cost venue if you search, and you can cut down on material costs by sharing files digitally. In some cases, you may want to hold an event at your facility. You can include a “VIP” experience for your top customers with an exclusive tour. In other circumstances, it may be best to hold an event at an organization that you’ve partnered with.
I’ve seen some amazing events that succeeded simply because the event was hosted by a charity, educational center, or another popular location in the community. You can get a good deal of your promotion and marketing online for free. Cross-promotion with other organizations is especially effective. This is great for a Cannabis business that can’t buy advertising on social media. A charity or other group can promote the event as long as they don’t mention Cannabis terms or Cannabis photos in their advertising. Plus they may already have a great community that will respond to your event at no cost, simply because of their cause.
Expand Your Audience
Holding workshops is a great way to bring new people into your audience. Naturally, most businesses aim their workshops at their current customer base at first. But then, your participants will tell others and spread the word, and there are strategies you can employ to extend your reach.
Once you hold your first workshop, you can then use it to draw new audience members. Record your event and make a highlights video that shows people what they can expect. Share these photos and videos on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook, among other social media outlets. Ask your participants for testimonials where they tell others about the workshop for “social proof.” Ask people to share their own photos with tags and hashtags for your business or event. All of this can go into marketing for your next event.
Establish Yourself in Your Niche
Your workshop can help you establish yourself or your brand within your niche. If you’re holding events and sharing your knowledge and expertise for people, this shows that you’re a credible authority. If you keep doing workshops, you’ll eventually have a huge following of people who have taken your course and will vouch for you.
The first step in planning your workshop is to decide on your “why.” It may be helpful to clarify it by writing it in a statement. Write one sentence and be as specific as possible about why you want to hold your live event. Say it out loud. Does it make sense without detailed explanation?
“Why? Why would they listen? Why would they want to come? Why is this information vital to the success of the patient, business, or industry?” Answer those questions well, and your event is certain to succeed.
About The Author
Tony Darrick Baker is the owner of Xeal Publishing LLC, a digital marketing agency specializing in Medical Cannabis marketing and publicity. Baker is a public speaker, consultant, and co-founder of Illegally Healed, a Cannabis patient advocacy group with over 400,000 followers on Facebook.