In 2009, I started thinking about the hosting my own live event.
But even though I had a great coach to help me plan it, her events were far larger and much more involved than anything I wanted to do…
So I held back.
Then I started feeling pressured to move forward with this idea, so I contacted a nice hotel near the airport, submitted my request to host a 3-day event there, and then nearly passed out when the 15-page contract arrived – along with a required MINIMUM commitment of $15k from me.
Gulp. 😟
So I decided to toss the whole idea until I could come up with a way to do it that felt good to me – and that didn’t make my heart palpitate in fear!
I asked myself what kind of event I really wanted to do. Not what ‘everyone’ else was doing, but what felt easy, fun, and much more me…
What I came up with was this…
I didn’t want to hold it at the airport. I didn’t want to hold it at a big hotel. I didn’t want to hold it in the big city. I didn’t want to stress about filling seats or worry about paying for rooms that didn’t fill in our room block. I didn’t want to commit to thousands of dollars of food that I knew would mostly be wasted. I didn’t want to deal with sound systems and the cost and labor involved. Basically I didn’t want to do anything the way I was ‘supposed’ to.
So I started over – and by asking myself what I REALLY wanted (and following that guidance) – I found myself with a 1-page contract with no financial commitment upfront, with no commitment to paying for empty guest rooms, in a boutique hotel in a hip town near the sea.
Was I still nervous about filling seats? Sure.
Did I have lots of questions about all the things I didn’t know? Yup.
Was I afraid of what I didn’t know I didn’t know? Absolutely.
But by doing it my way, and starting from where I was realistically, I’ve successfully hosted 8 small workshops and have generated anywhere from $60k to over $100k NET every time.
I’m sharing this with you so you know I’ve been there…and I have a lot of wisdom to share with you as you plan and navigate hosting your own small live event, starting with my free training coming up next week.
Join us here:
https://aforest.lpages.co/psewebinar/
People ask me all the time what I’m reading, listening to, watching, and following as I continue to grow my lifestyle business, so I thought I’d share some timely goodies with you today. 🙂
So, I stumbled across Rachel Hollis when I found a bunch of unused credits in my Audible account. Her book, Girl, Wash Your Face sounded interesting and had a lot of good reviews, so I downloaded it and started listening to it on my walks last spring.
It just celebrated its 1-year anniversary and has been the catalyst for Rachel’s rise to the top of the inspirational/motivational speaker/writer circuit.
In the book, Rachel gets really real and is an engaging storyteller – but it’s her voice that drew me in (and I’m not a auditory learner) and the fact that I felt like she was sitting on the couch with me, talking with me, not reading her book to me.
Check it out here.
And just out on Amazon Prime is her documentary/behind-the-scenes look at her live Rise event, Made for More…
I took Chloe to see it in theaters last month and I don’t know who enjoyed it more – me or her. But it’s definitely something to watch yourself, with your daughter, with your girlfriends. It’s a keeper…
See it here
And her next book, Girl, Stop Apologizing is available for pre-order (Chloe actually pre-ordered it for me for my birthday since it comes out next month, which is my birthday month ;-)) right now too.
Pre-order here (there’s a cool bonus when you pre-order too).
If you’re looking for some inspiration and motivation, with a solid dose of realness, and genuine fun, check out Rachel – she’s pretty cool. 🙂
Note: Those are my Amazon Influencer links, so I may receive a tiny (and I mean tiny ;-)) commission if you purchase through my links. That said, I never recommend anything I haven’t purchased and loved myself.
I know you have many choices for live events, and that for most folks it’s a big decision to clear the calendar, make travel
arrangements, take time away, invest the money, etc.
Having been to many live events over the last 15+ years, I can share from experience what sets Simplify & Amplify apart:
- intimacy – just you, me and 29 other lovely, supportive, positive, like-minded creative spirits in the room
- 100% content – because I’m still the how-to gal
- all-Alicia – no other speakers,
no pitch-fest; I promise you won’t get sick of me though 😉
- tailored to the attendees – I ask you specifically what you most need from me during the retreat well before you even arrive
- connections and conversations before the retreat – to help you make the absolute most out of our in-person time together
- Business Ascension Models – you get to pick and customize the right business model f
or you with my help
- deep-level connections with me and your fellow attendees – attendees become fast friends and they are like family to me
- actual work done while you’re at the event – that’s why you’re there
- actual coaching given at the event – that’s why I’m there
- no high-pressure hyped-up NLP sales pitch – that’s just not my style, never had been, never will be
A few other fun things that make S&A unique:
- A plethora of food choices and time to enjoy them – no matter what your desired diet is!
- Portsmouth – a walking city of shops, restaurants, on the ocean – attendees even walk to Maine to get a lobster roll at Warrens!
- A large, airy meeting space with huge windows and lots of natural light
- I’m getting wind of a local hike being organized on the day after the event 😉
So what do you think? Is Simplify & Amplify the live retreat you’ve been searching for but have yet to experience?
I’d really love to have you join us…
Special early-bird discounted rate of just $197 is available for limited time…
Click here to find out more and reserve your seat now
It’s a very windy and wavy day at the lake today – I’m about to get blown off the beach here!
But I’ll take it over the oppressive humidity of yesterday. YUK.
Which reminded me of a moment that happened between James and I during the summer almost 10 years ago…
He was up for a job in Georgia… and he’d often tease me that he couldn’t move me below the Mason-Dixon line because I’m not a fan of the heat or humidity.
But we were seriously considering that move – we’d already enrolled Chloe in a Montessori school in Athens, GA, in fact.
But there was one conversation we had that made the final decision for us. We were here at the lake, and out to a rare dinner alone while my parents babysat.
He said, “I can take this job OR I can believe in you and your business.”
My business was a fledgling at the time, and even though my desire was bigger than my doubt, I still had my moments of uncertainty.
It was his utter belief in me that cemented it for us – and as you may know, we didn’t move to Georgia. And my business became quite successful over the next couple of years.
My point?
You have to truly believe in your ability to make your desire your reality AND it helps immensely to have someone who believes in you too – especially when you’re just starting out or when it’s hard or scary.
If you don’t have that utter belief, if your desire is not bigger than your doubt, then there’s some work to be done – and I invite you to consider joining me at Simplify & Amplify so I can help you with that.
Click here to learn more…
It’s easy when it’s flowing, right?
When your cash flow is stable and predictable, when your expenses are covered and there’s money to spare, when you’re planning vacations or home remodels or other ‘up-lifts’ to your life.
That’s when it’s easy to pay attention to your money.
It’s when you’re struggling month-to-month, when your program isn’t filling, when your offer falls flat, when you start scrambling to make the next offer because, well, you need the money – that’s when it seems easier to not actually look at your bank balance.
But here’s what I know (and you probably do too):
If you don’t pay attention to your money, it will demand your attention – and usually not in a good way!
I’ve made huge strides with my money mindset over the last 15 years – from huge credit card debt, defaulting on student loans, owing back taxes, and a credit score so low, FICO wouldn’t even give me a number, to personally debt-free, student loans paid off, taxes in good standing, a very good credit score that allowed me to co-sign on our mortage and buy my Jeep (two things I could not do the last time we bought a house and I needed to buy a new car).
None of that happened overnight, of course, but the more I paid attention to my money and the more I cleaned up my money mess, the more it flowed – and the easier it came too.
I’ll be talking about money throughout our retreat this fall. We’re going to work on not just identifying the big boulder(s) that are impeding the flow of money to you, but I’m also going to share with you what I do that increases the flow every single time it starts to slow down.
And it’s not just one thing, and it’s not just intellectual concepts – these are real things I do that I’ll be teaching you as well. They’re simple but powerful ways to increase the actual flow of real money into your business and life.
Oh, and if you register early enough, we’ll be playing with some of these in our private Facebook group before the event too. 😉
Click here to find out more
Cheers,
~ A
PS: Know you need to clean up your money mindset/mess? It’s overwhelming when we don’t even know where to start. But I’ve got you covered…
The super-early-bird rate is available for a limited time so be sure to check out the page asap –> http://www.simplify-amplify.com/
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