47 min
362: Low Risk Ways To Host Your First Retreat with Megan Gunnell Selling the Couch
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- Careers
Hosting a retreat sounds like a great idea, right? When you stop and think about all the logistical and financial details, that’s when many fears and questions come to the surface. Perhaps the biggest fear is whether enough people will pay for your retreat to make it a success. Join us as we dive into this topic with today’s expert guest!
Our Featured Guest
Megan Gunnell
In addition to being a business owner, author, and triathlete, Megan Gunnell is a Clinical Social Worker who has been hosting 1-day retreats, workshops and weekend/week long retreats for 20+ years.
She hosted her first one at a local community center–complete with harp music! From these humble beginnings, Megan’s retreats have evolved into weekend retreats and international retreats that started in 2012 in Costa Rica, Italy, France, and other places around the globe.
In this episode, we discuss why therapists find it so appealing to consider hosting a retreat, along with common fears related to the risk of hosting your first retreat.
Megan explains how to find suitable venues that offer 100% refund options and points out the important legal and logistical considerations. We wrap up our conversation by discussing retreat marketing, which is vital to the success of your retreat. Megan shares what she has learned along her journey as a retreat host.
Megan's Website and Thriving Therapists ® Facebook Group
You’ll Learn:
Megan’s inspiration to expand beyond private practice into hosting retreatsMegan’s #1 lesson learned: Start small and grow later.The attraction of retreats? They are transformative spaces for people to pull away from everyday life and reinvigorate their passion and purpose.The major differences between private practice work and group retreats as income sourcesLegal considerations around liability, disclaimers, emergencies, etc.Megan’s low-risk tips for hosting retreats:Start small with a test audience and test venue with a half-day or one-day retreat.Look for 100% refundable venues through a certain date prior to the event.Do the math and “beta-test” your audience.Making your retreat a profitable ventureFinding 100% fully refundable venues—and why international properties are desirableMegan’s top marketing strategies for retreats:Be very clear about your intentions. (Who is this for, and what is the purpose?)Think about your runway. (Make sure it is long enough to “land the plane.”)Build a warm excitement with your audience around the date for open registration.Handling the cancellation or rebooking of your retreat with flexibility and transparency
Resources:
Want to launch your podcast? Check out our free podcasting workshop
https://sellingthecouch.com/podcastingworshop
Want to launch your online course?
Please check out our free 7-Day Course Creator Starter Kit For Therapists: https://sellingthecouch.com/coursekit
Mentioned in this episode:
Thrizer
Thrizer is a payment platform designed for private pay therapists, built to help clients automatically tap into their out-of-network benefits and save on therapy upfront. Thrizer can help instantly verify clients’ out-of-network benefits ahead of a client’s first session, so they get the transparency upfront on...
Hosting a retreat sounds like a great idea, right? When you stop and think about all the logistical and financial details, that’s when many fears and questions come to the surface. Perhaps the biggest fear is whether enough people will pay for your retreat to make it a success. Join us as we dive into this topic with today’s expert guest!
Our Featured Guest
Megan Gunnell
In addition to being a business owner, author, and triathlete, Megan Gunnell is a Clinical Social Worker who has been hosting 1-day retreats, workshops and weekend/week long retreats for 20+ years.
She hosted her first one at a local community center–complete with harp music! From these humble beginnings, Megan’s retreats have evolved into weekend retreats and international retreats that started in 2012 in Costa Rica, Italy, France, and other places around the globe.
In this episode, we discuss why therapists find it so appealing to consider hosting a retreat, along with common fears related to the risk of hosting your first retreat.
Megan explains how to find suitable venues that offer 100% refund options and points out the important legal and logistical considerations. We wrap up our conversation by discussing retreat marketing, which is vital to the success of your retreat. Megan shares what she has learned along her journey as a retreat host.
Megan's Website and Thriving Therapists ® Facebook Group
You’ll Learn:
Megan’s inspiration to expand beyond private practice into hosting retreatsMegan’s #1 lesson learned: Start small and grow later.The attraction of retreats? They are transformative spaces for people to pull away from everyday life and reinvigorate their passion and purpose.The major differences between private practice work and group retreats as income sourcesLegal considerations around liability, disclaimers, emergencies, etc.Megan’s low-risk tips for hosting retreats:Start small with a test audience and test venue with a half-day or one-day retreat.Look for 100% refundable venues through a certain date prior to the event.Do the math and “beta-test” your audience.Making your retreat a profitable ventureFinding 100% fully refundable venues—and why international properties are desirableMegan’s top marketing strategies for retreats:Be very clear about your intentions. (Who is this for, and what is the purpose?)Think about your runway. (Make sure it is long enough to “land the plane.”)Build a warm excitement with your audience around the date for open registration.Handling the cancellation or rebooking of your retreat with flexibility and transparency
Resources:
Want to launch your podcast? Check out our free podcasting workshop
https://sellingthecouch.com/podcastingworshop
Want to launch your online course?
Please check out our free 7-Day Course Creator Starter Kit For Therapists: https://sellingthecouch.com/coursekit
Mentioned in this episode:
Thrizer
Thrizer is a payment platform designed for private pay therapists, built to help clients automatically tap into their out-of-network benefits and save on therapy upfront. Thrizer can help instantly verify clients’ out-of-network benefits ahead of a client’s first session, so they get the transparency upfront on...
47 min