Host Your Own Event: Teach A Mini-Workshop

Author: Alyice Edrich

Are you tired of book signings, author interviews, and chat rooms? Do you like speaking in front of small groups? Would you like a fun way to promote your non-fiction book? A workshop could be the answer you’ve been looking for!

When writers think of workshops, the first thing they think of is learning new writing techniques, or how to sell their talents to other publications, but not all workshops are geared towards writers and yours doesn’t have to be, either.

A mini-workshop is a one-day event, taught by one person, geared towards teaching the audience something specific. If you’ve written a book that instructs or teaches the reader how to perform a certain task, you can host a theme-related workshop, sell copies of your book, and earn a few bucks in the process.

Determine Your Workshop’s Theme

The first step towards hosting a workshop is to determine the theme of your workshop, and that theme should be related to the book you plan to promote. Since you won’t be able to cover every aspect of your book, it’s a good idea to pick an area of your book that could stand alone.

Once you’ve determined your theme, you need to make sure your workshop offers something of value; therefore, you need to ask two important questions:

What do I want my workshop to accomplish?
What do I want my attendees to get out of this workshop?

Discover Your Target Audience

Once you’ve decided on a theme, it’s time to find an audience willing to attend your workshop. Who would be most interested in what you have to offer? What age group, gender, profession, etc. would find your workshop beneficial and worthy of his/her time and money?

Find A Building

No workshop can exist without a building to host it in and chairs to sit in. If you cannot afford to rent a room large enough to host your event, consider cross-promoting with a local establishment.

One writer, I know, receives a fifty-percent discount for hosting a writer’s workshop in the banquet room of a local hotel if attendees rent a certain number of rooms during the event.
Another writer, I know, receives free use of the local library’s event room as long as the workshop is free to the public.

Decide On Refreshments

Refreshments can be as simple as donuts and coffee, or as elaborate as hors devours. What you offer your attendees will depend on the length of your workshop and the time you begin your workshop. Again, if you cannot afford to pay for refreshments, consider cross-promoting.

One writer, I know, negotiated free coffee, tea, and bagels into the price of renting the event room.
Another writer, I know, talked a local bakery into donating donuts and juice provided she mentioned the bakery in her promotional materials. This can be done by simply saying, “Refreshments provided by (company name).”
A local group in town always receives free plates, cups, and silverware from the local grocery store and all they have to do is put up a table sign, at the event, that says, “Refreshments provided by (company name).”

Decide On Door Prizes

Door prizes are a great way to entice people to come to your event, but you want to use door prizes wisely. Your door prizes should relate to the theme of your event and offer something of real value. Again, consider cross-promoting to cut costs.

Many manufacturers offer promotional samples for special events, free of charge, but it’ll take some legwork to find the right contact person. Local stores will provide a few trinkets, provided they receive some form of publicity for doing so. The publicity can be in the form of a verbal announcement during the prize give-a-way, a small blurb on promotional materials, a listing in the program’s schedule, a store coupon distributed to each attendee with the mailing of his/her event ticket, and so on.

There are several ways to distribute door prizes:

Product samples could be given to each attendee during sign-in.
Elaborate prizes could be given away to attendees who properly filled out a questionnaire at the end of the workshop.
Smaller prizes could be distributed during the opening speech, during a refreshment (or potty) break, or after closing remarks.

Decide To Include Or Omit A “Hands On” Project

Depending on the type of workshop you are hosting, a “hands on” project could really help your attendees understand your book’s topic better and entice more people to attend. For instance,

If you wrote a book on hosting the perfect tea party, a “hands on” project could be teaching your attendees how to make, pour, and serve the perfect tea.
If your book is on learning the true value of journaling, your event could include a journal and pen with each paid admission, then your “hands on” project could be teaching your attendees how to use the journal, using one of the techniques discussed in your book.
If your book is on starting your own clown business, your event could include one-time hypo-allergenic clown make-up kits with each paid submission, then your “hands on” project could be teaching your attendees how to apply clown make-up, how to make certain facial expressions, and/or how to perform short skits. (Just don’t forget to get your attendees to sign a waiver releasing you from any allergic reaction they may get from the clown make-up.)

Sketch Out A Marketing Plan

A marketing plan is essential to the success of your workshop. You could have the perfect topic, the best refreshments, a great location, and cool prizes, but without attendees, your workshop will flop.

The main question your attendees will ask is: “What’s in it for me?” You want to clearly address this question in your promotional materials.

In other words, when the attendees leave your workshop what will they walk away with? What will they learn? What kinds of prizes will be given away? Will there be a “hands on” project they get to take home?
The main question you need to ask is: “Who will realistically show up to my workshop?” You want to get real because this will determine where you advertise and with whom you advertise.

If your workshop is only a couple hours long, you won’t get people traveling from other states or countries to attend your workshop, so don’t advertise globally.

But you could get people traveling up to four, possibly eight, hours from their homes if your workshop is enticing enough. So go ahead and advertise outside your local area, but keep those advertisements to a minimum.

The bulk of your efforts should be spent promoting your workshop to a local audience. If your workshop is free to attend, you can get free coverage from the local newspapers, radios, and television stations. (Just remember to leave out the fact that you’ll be selling your books on a table in the back of the room.) But if your workshop costs to attend, you’ll have to pay for advertising and that can get costly.
What kinds of promotional materials will you distribute? Cost-effective promotional materials include flyers, yard signs, coupons, postcards, brochures, and a web page. A little more costly, but also great for getting the word out about your event are classified advertisements, e-zine and website ads that target your local audience, and late-night radio spots. Expensive and probably not worth the money would be television commercials and prime-time radio spots.

Figure In Costs

Once you’ve booked the event room, figured in the estimated costs for serving dishes and silverware, refreshments, and promotional materials, you’ll have a good idea as to what this event will cost. And don’t forget to include a cushion, of at least five percent above the actual expenses, as a safeguard for any unexpected expenses.

Once you’ve figured your estimated expenses, it’s time to decide what type of income you’d like to receive from the event. Will you base your fee solely on the number of books sold during the event or will you receive a set income based on the number of attendees?

In the end, your event will only be as successful as you want it to be. The more you advertise and promote your event, the more word-of-mouth will spread, and the more attendees you will have.