That’s the power of hosting a weekend workshop to create your book.
People pay to attend the workshop.
By the end of the weekend, they want more. Some of them sign up to work with you further. Voila: new clients!
You get the transcripts edited into a manuscript, and people pay to buy your book.
Boom, boom, and boom.
More importantly, you get to make a difference by delivering a powerful experience for your workshop participants, your new clients, and your readers.
I know. I’m an INFJ, and I’ve scored as high as 100% introvert on the Myers-Briggs test.
The first time I hosted a live event, I was purely terrified. What if I couldn’t do it? What if I forgot what to say? What if I forgot how to talk altogether?
And underneath that: What if I’m not good enough, sparkly enough, or charismatic enough to deliver a workshop? What if I can’t really help anyone get results? What if nobody even shows up?
I got through that event on a wing and a prayer. Going in, I felt completely unqualified to do it. But by the end of it, the participant results felt nothing short of miraculous, and I was on fire with inspiration.
It felt like the workshop delivered itself through me, and I felt so honored to be the one who made it happen.
That event forever changed my view of myself and what I’m capable of. And I want that for you, too.
Where would I host this?
How will I know what to say in a workshop?
How will I find the people to attend?
What if nobody shows up?
Am I really qualified to host a workshop? Or write a book, for that matter?
How do workshop participants become clients?
And how the hell will I turn this all into a book?
I’ve got you.
Nobody is born knowing how to host the perfect workshop to become a bestselling book!
In it, I'll walk you step by step through:
Choosing to host on Zoom or selecting a live venue
Crafting your content to create a powerful workshop that becomes the perfect signature book, designed to showcase your expertise and attract your dream clients to your business
Logistics for hosting live or on Zoom
How to set pricing
How to get paid
How to sell out your workshop, even if you don’t have a big email list
How to make sure your workshop will run smoothly and truly help your participants
How to deliver your workshop, feeling confident and powerful
How to decide what to offer the people who will want to work with you further
How to present your offer so it feels natural (not salesy) and people want to buy
How to hire the right editor to turn your workshop recordings and materials into a stellar book
I’m always shocked at the depth of results people can get in a few hours working together, and I always end up with a high like nothing else.
It’s the power of co-creating. You have the synergy of the group, and you have the magic that comes from fulfilling your highest purpose.
You know you’re making a difference, because you can see it unfolding right in front of you.
Your participants love you and reflect back to you what’s great about you (even if what you’re doing seems like no big deal to you).
Their energy and inspiration feed your energy and inspiration, and yours feed theirs.
By the time the event is over, you feel so powerful and so connected, you wish it would never end. (But that’s ok, because you can support people even better in your high-level package!)
Above all that, presenting your material to actual people will also make sure your book will be clear, answer the right questions, and make the connection you need it to make. Win-win!
Because suddenly it’s not about you anymore. You have four forces conspiring to help deliver results: yourself, your content, your participants, and the structure of the workshop itself.
We’ll start with the structure of the workshop. When you plan your workshop, you will define the scope of what you’ll cover and the outcome people can expect to get as a result of attending. When people buy tickets, they’re signing up to get that outcome. They come in already expecting to get it. With that expectation, people are halfway to the finish line before the workshop even starts.
Once they arrive, you’ll deliver your content. Even if this seems like a big review to you, remember, it’s new to most of your participants, and you’re going to craft exercises to help guide them to the breakthroughs they need.
In creating this workshop, you’ll attract participants who are enthusiastic and eager to get the outcome. As you coach each participant, the whole group receives the benefits. Your participants’ strengths and experiences will also benefit the group, multiplying the impact you could have on your own.
And finally, don’t underestimate the power of showing up as yourself. It’s easy to dismiss the things that come easily to us and think everyone can do them, but that’s not the case. These are sometimes the parts that seem most magical of all to the participants.
When all of these elements come together, the result is far greater than the sum of the parts. There’s nothing else like it.
Not only that, your book will be set up to capture some of this magic and bring it to your readers, too.
Let’s say that you set your ticket price for your workshop at $197. That’s a screaming deal for your participants for a whole weekend workshop, but you’re a little nervous about this, so you set the price low so you have no doubt you’ll overdeliver. Then let’s say you sell 6 tickets. That’s $1,182.
In a small, intimate workshop like this, it’s more likely that a high percentage of your participants will want to work with you after. But let’s say only two people sign on as clients. You offer a $5,000 package. That’s $10,000 in back-end sales.
You get your workshop recordings turned into your showcase book, and it starts selling and attracting clients for your business. Even if it only brings in one new client a month for your $5,000 package, that’s an additional $60,000 per year.
Not only that, but you could also turn the workshop videos into an e-course. Let’s say you add the link to your email signature and also offer it to the prospects who don’t sign on as private clients. As a result, you sell 10 of those per month at $497. That’s another $59,640 per year in passive income.
The possibilities are endless.
Of course, I can’t promise that you’ll get these results or any specific result, because I don’t know anything about you or your business. I think we all know that most people never do anything, so they don’t get any results. But I do guarantee that if you use this program and it doesn’t work, I’ll give you 100% of your money back. You get a whole year to try it.
The complete 6-module Workshop Magic program
Bonus: Printable workbook including the content of the entire program, so you can learn by video or by reading
Bonus: Schedule-planning guide and templates, so you can map out your workshop and know what's going to happen when
Bonus: Pricing cheatsheet, so you can set the right price to fill your workshop and attract ideal participants
Bonus: Email launch templates and sample emails, to help you fill your retreat by email
Bonus: Sales conversation outline, so you’ll know what to say if you’re inviting people one-on-one
The complete Author • Expert • Bestseller program:
Setting up your book to showcase your expertise and attract clients and acclaim
Publishing your book with Amazon and other venues
Launching your book to bestseller
Keeping your book selling profitably in the long term, so it can keep bringing your clients and opportunities for years to come.
The complete 6-module Workshop Magic program
Bonus: Printable workbook including the content of the entire program, so you can learn by video or by reading
Bonus: Schedule-planning guide and templates, so you can map out your workshop and know what's going to happen when
Bonus: Pricing cheatsheet, so you can set the right price to fill your workshop and attract ideal participants
Bonus: Email launch templates and sample emails, to help you fill your retreat by email
Bonus: Sales conversation outline, so you’ll know what to say if you’re inviting people one-on-one
The complete Author • Expert • Bestseller program:
Setting up your book to showcase your expertise and attract clients and acclaim
Publishing your book with Amazon and other venues
Launching your book to bestseller
Keeping your book selling profitably in the long term, so it can keep bringing your clients and opportunities for years to come.
Writing is great. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with it by any means. But here are some advantages to creating your book by hosting a weekend workshop instead.
You finish your book fast, getting all the content captured in a weekend.
You get to thrive on the energy of the group the whole time you're creating.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a bad writer, or a slow writer, or no writer at all. You can still finish your book in a weekend this way.
Your participants will ask questions and guide you, automatically ensuring that the book will connect with your future readers.
Most authors write their books and hope money will come in later, when the book sells. By hosting a workshop to create your book, you’ll get paid while you’re creating it, and again when it sells.
After spending a weekend with you, there’s a good chance that some of your participants will sign on to work with you further at the end of the workshop. Hello, new clients!
You can also turn the videos from the workshop into an e-course and sell it to create an additional stream of passive income.
Hosting a workshop creates a real deadline, so it ensures that your book will actually get done.
I learned this from one of my first clients, Ari Meisel. He hired me to ghostwrite his book from the recordings of a workshop he had delivered.
Once he had the workshop recorded, he spent very little additional time on his book. He may have spent an hour or two creating the project posting and another hour or two looking through applicants.
Once he hired me, he sent me the materials. I had the recordings transcribed, and I edited them into a manucript. Then he may have spent another couple hours reviewing the manuscript I created for him.
He’s a master of efficiency, and I’d bet he had less than 6 hours of his time in that book.
He was delighted with his book and said I “absolutely nailed it and delivered a perfect product.” Because he wanted to sell it on his website, I formatted it for PDF for him, and it started making him money.
Later, he went on to get a traditional publishing deal with TarcherPerigee, a Penguin imprint, and the book was published almost verbatim as I wrote it.
You’re a coach or service provider who loves getting great results with your clients
You want to take your business to the next level by having clients coming to you
You’re ready to make a greater impact by reaching way more people than you could in your one-on-one or group work
You’ve been wanting to write a book but don’t like writing or don’t feel like you have the time
You’re willing to show up and be authentic in your workshop, so you can make a genuine connection with your participants
You don’t have a business or have never worked with clients before
You just want the fastest way to make a quick buck
You really don’t care about helping people get results
You need to be able to control everything in your experience
You let your excuses stop you from getting what you want, instead of finding resources and solutions
If you implement everything I show you in this program and you still can’t produce the manuscript for your book from your workshop recordings, I’ll give you 100% of your money back. I’m so confident, I’ll give you a whole year to try it.
Meet Cara
Cara Stein is an idealist who has stopped trying to play it cool. She believes the only reason people don’t like business or marketing is that they don’t know how to do it well—yet. She's often praised for her no-bullshit style and her wry humor.
Cara has been helping people finish and publish their books since 2012. She’s guided over 200 books through the publishing process. She’s also the #1 international bestselling author of five books of her own, including How to be Happy (No Fairy Dust or Moonbeams Required), Getting Unstuck, and Finish and Publish: Write the Book You’ve Always Wanted to Write. Her peeves include chipmunks, fakery, and the word “peeve.”