This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
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Today's listener question, how do I structure and host online writing workshops? Oh, and they need to be profitable also. It's not just how do I make this cool creative writing workshop, it's how do I make money with it? I want to do both things. That's what our listener has a desire for.
And I respect that. Just to be very clear, our audience here on Side Hustle School, we're all about helping you make extra money. We're helping you turn an idea into income, go from something that you might just do as a hobby, but I want to help you do it profitably. Nothing wrong with not doing it profitably, just to be clear, but our specific target market is that Venn diagram of I want to do something I love and get paid for it. So let's talk about how to craft an online workshop that ignites the passion for storytelling, offering guidance and insight into the journey and so on.
Our listener today is Lucas. He is an author and writing coach, and he wants to get in on this world of online workshops. There are a bunch of them already, but that doesn't mean there's not room for him. So let's talk about it, what platforms, what structure, all that kind of stuff in a brief action-packed episode. His questions coming to you in just 30 seconds.
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Hey, I'm Lucas, a published author and writing coach living in Chicago. I've noticed a surge of interest in creative writing lately, especially among people looking for a creative outlet during these challenging times. I'm thinking about hosting online workshops to help aspiring writers hone in their craft and navigate the publishing world. How can I structure these workshops to offer the most value and what platforms would be best for hosting and marketing them? [Music]
Lucas, let me just start by giving you a brief recommendation that I think is gonna be helpful in terms of how you manage your time or how you spend your time on this project.
And actually, this is gonna be for anybody who's creating this kind of online workshop, online course, any kind of experience that you want people to sign up and pay for, and then go through. The quick recommendation is spend half your time making this course or this experience, and then spend the other half of the time marketing, 50/50. So more than talking about which platform to use and such, I think that is gonna be the most effective advice. I think a lot of people spend 80 to 90% of the time creating the experience, and then they spend a small amount of time marketing, and then they're really disappointed or discouraged because they don't get the signups that they need. On the other hand, some people will spend all the time marketing and don't come up with a great experience.
So that's why 50/50 is the right way to go. Again, this is just general. It's like a rough recommendation. So for the first half, when you're making the course, think about the structure. I think Lucas said, "How can I structure the workshop to offer the most value?" Well, what do people want?
In this case, I think what they want is access, like access to Lucas, perhaps access to guest speakers. They wanna be able to ask personalized questions. They want to feel like they are going through something with you and other participants. So I think you focus on that. And the more interactive content, the better.
Diverse topics, just try to understand that not every student is in the same place. So the more you think about that, then I think the better the course is going to be. We could talk about that some more, but that's the general perspective. There are lots of different platforms that'll allow you to build this course. So I don't think that's as important.
And then for the second part, the marketing and outreach. Well, the other part is don't do the 50% in the beginning. And then the second 50%, do them a little bit concurrently. So as you're building the course, you're also thinking, how am I going to market this? And how can I build the course in the best way that is conducive to other people talking about it and making it desirable?
And just kind of working these things in tandem, that's going to allow you to have the best experience and the best response, frankly. So I don't know how you do that specifically. Maybe there are some writing communities on Reddit or other specific writing forums, perhaps on Discord, maybe somewhere else that you engage with. Hopefully you've been building an email list. I always encourage people to do that.
So if you haven't been, that's okay, but start now. And we could say a lot more, but I think if you start with this, this is going to give you plenty to work on and hopefully you're going to build a great online workshop and wonderful experience that's going to work for you too, as noted. Lucas, cheering you on, listeners, cheering you on as well. Let me know what you're up to, sidehustleschool.com. New episodes every day, always available.
Wherever you get your podcasts, always completely free. That's all for now. My name's Chris Guillebeau. This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
From the Onward Project.
