Hosting
classes
How to host group classes, online classes, webinars, 1 on 1
classes
Hosting
classes
what is your focus?
Your class should have a focus! This allows you to hone in on what you are teaching specifically. When I have a theme for my group classes, my classes are so creative and fun for the attendees. I’m able to add more decorations because there is a theme which makes the experience exciting for both me and the attendees.
When my online classes have a focus, it’s easier for me to target my audience and give that audience what they are desiring to learn. Having a broad focus doesn’t sell as many seats as a class that has a target focus.
If your class excludes a group of individuals that you are able to bring in, hold another class that targets that audience. I too am nervous about excluding groups but being able to market to that target audience will be more beneficial in the end.
Think about your clients and followers and focus on those post or topics that appeal to them the most. What are the current questions your followers and customers constantly ask you? Use those questions to help you market for your classes.
What age group is going to be your focus for this class? This will help you determine what techniques you can scale back on and by only focusing on the techniques that that particular group would like to receive from you.
For Example,
One of my favorite classes to host is the Color Du Jour Experience: Valentine’s Day Edition Class
I get to decorate keeping the Valentine’s Day theme in mind
Many women love Valentine’s Day whether it’s celebrating with their man or their friend.
The food that I get catered is inspired by the theme.
I get to focus on a Valentine’s Day inspired look i.e. smokey or sultry look with a red lip. I typically teach a look the attendees can create on Valentine’s Day for their night out. I always hold this class before Valentine’s Day so that they have more time to practice.
I get to create goodie bags that include products that will help the attendees complete the look they learned once they leave the class.
I always choose a nice prop that the attendees can take a picture in front of or with, so that future attendees can get excited about the theme classes to come.
Putting effort and thought in your classes will allow you to sell your classes out continuously. Everyone loves to attend an event with a nice theme.
narrowing in on content for the course
Focus on specific content for your classes that won’t overwhelm your audience.
Listen to the wants and desires of your audience.
Break down what your audience wants to learn in 5-6 steps.
When you break your steps down, first address the problem or what your attendees want to learn, then follow it up with the solution or what they are taking away from the class.
Example: Before I start my beginner class I say “I love teaching others how to complete a makeup application from the beginning to the end because with proper guidance, everyone should be able to complete an application on their selves. Of course after the class this shall be followed by “PRACTICING” those techniques.” (I give this spill every beginner class so my students know what to expect) I also explain why each step of the application is important and what steps can be eliminated for a faster application.
BE SPECIFIC : When you advertise for your classes, these steps should be listed as your selling points so that the right person signs up for that specific course. I too get lazy about this when I advertise my class, but when I am more specific about what exactly will be discussed in the class and why, this minimizes potential signees questions and it leaves no surprises about what will be discussed and taught in my classes.
List those specific points on the main page of your advertisement to make customers aware of exactly what they will get out of the class.
If you want to teach more content than those steps, consider sending out a pre-recorded video or notes to attendees beforehand to cut down on time.
Always offer a bonus from the class whether its products used in class, extra content, makeup giveaways, or a free online makeup tutorial, but still focusing on specific theme or topic(s)
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promoting your class
You may have the best idea for your course, but what is going to help you sell out your courses? I’m going to show you the best ways to advertise your class.
Create a flyer that goes along with your them using creativemarket.com or wix.com.
The flyer should include the name of the class, the time, and a brief overview of what will be discussed along with an appealing picture that’s going to catch the attention of your clients/customers and followers.
Include examples of flyers and video of how to create one. (note for self)
Use a platform that will allow others to register and submit payment to reserve a seat.
Eventbrite has been the easiest for me to use for my classes. Use the following link to help you with the steps of setting up your next event: https://bit.ly/2DBRy7
Once attendees register for the class and you close off registration, you are allowed to send emails with more information regarding the classes by importing the email list.
Eventbrite sends an automatic confirmation with the class’ information so it does some of the work for you.
Once event has taken place, send a follow up email thanking all attendees for registering for your class. With the follow up email, that will be a perfect time to ask attendees to leave a review, upsell a service, and or offer a bonus treat.
Utilize social media to advertise event
Create flyers for social media using both creative market and/or canva. Upload to both your profile and story. Pay for your flyer to be pushed out to a larger audience by promoting your flyer.
When uploading a flyer to your stories, create a call to action button where the ‘swipe up” option can be used to be take your followers directly to the link to sign up. You can also create a poll asking how many people are interested in the topic in hopes that they say yes causing more people to become interested enough to sign up.
Use students past reviews to promote upcoming classes. People feel more comfortable signing up knowing someone else had a great experience in the classes prior. Your brand’s tone should be built on trust and honesty so that people continue to invest in your brand knowing they are going to walk away with something.
You don’t have to utilize the same flyer over and over to advertise for the class. Choose pictures of clients that showcases what the class is about and use those pictures that resonates with your audience.
Choosing the best price for your class
When choosing the proper prices for your class, there are a few things you should consider.
Look at your competition when pricing your class to see what they are charging and what they are offering for their class. Then look at what you’re offering to see if you can charge the same price if not more based on what you will provide for your students.
Consider your experience and level of expertise and factor that in to the overall fee.
Look at what you will be spending for the class and the number of hours that will be needed for the class (including prep time). You should make some type of profit on your classes that will make it worthwhile. Ideally, your class payout should equal to at least a weekend worth of revenue.
Make it FUN!
Classes are supposed to be fun! Make your classes as engaging as possible. Remember the more fun you make the class, the more exciting it will be for you to teach the class. Here are some ways to make it fun.
For your class to be fun, you have to be fun. Create a light and inviting experience where your students will feel comfortable. It may not be your personality, but try to be your best self during the class. Just remember it’s only for a moment that you have to put on. So set aside all of those outside factors that may be affecting you and ignore them for a moment of time.
Providing food for the attendees for your class will definitely help sell out a class. Everyone loves to eat! Try to price your tickets at a price that will allow you to hire a caterer. Initially for my classes, we would pick up fruit, vegetable, and sandwich trays. That may be a more reasonable option starting out.
Beverages are always fun to incorporate in your classes whether alcohol is included or not. This is where you can incorporate a signature drink to go along with you theme. We love to serve mimosas for morning classes where we typically provide brunch food. For afternoon and evening classes we love to offer different types of wine. I have noticed that alcohol allows the attendees to relax more and keeps them from being intimidated about the makeup application process.
Before I changed my class name to The Color Du Jour Experience, it was previously Moscato & Mascara. It always sold out because my attendees knew exactly what they were getting out of the class. They were learning how to apply their makeup while drinking wine.
Be sure to hire a photographer and/or videographer for the class to capture the fun. You can also be your own photographer and capture those moments with your attendees enjoying themselves in the class but hiring a photographer is preferred so that you can be a part of the pictures as well.
When I first started my classes I hired a videographer to create highlight videos of my classes. My husband @colordujourphotography captures the best photos for me during the class and we not only use the content to advertise for the next class, but we upload the pictures to my Instagram story to get my followers excited enough to register for the next class.
Giveaways keeps the students engaged.
I always provide some type of giveaways for my classes. Initially, I would reach out to companies and ask if they were willing to sponsor my classes. Surprisingly many companies would.
I tended to avoid the larger companies because they have so many people reaching out to them so they are more compelled to help artist with larger followings. I would also avoid the smaller companies because they may not have the funds to provide products for other companies. I tend to reach out to companies that have the potential of being a popular brand but has not reached that point. It doesn’t hurt to reach out to the smaller companies but be wise about who you reach out to, to avoid offending anyone.
Trying to decide on how to give away the products, use tickets and call out number or choose a name out of a container to ask them a question.
Sometimes attendees feel like giveaways are unfair if they didn’t receive anything so if you can, try to make sure everyone walks away with something to make it fair.
Allow for Growth
Don’t expect your classes to be perfect at the beginning. My classes were not always what they are now. I made improvements after every class. How did I improve my classes?
I handed out a review cards at the end of each class. I appreciated the honesty from my attendees and it helped me make my classes better. You have to have tough skin when reading these because some attendees can be unreasonable.
Give your best each class, but remember you cant please everyone.
I listen to all complaints to see how I can avoid someone feeling the same way in my next classes.
Improve the way the class is presented to make sure the students are not overwhelmed with the information.